最新15篇文章贯通英语四级词汇MP3 Unit7-Part5

 

[00:00.00]For many merchants, Christmas 

[00:03.27]has become the economic 

[00:04.69]boom season of the year. 

[00:07.32]It is estimated that 

[00:09.50]a major percentage of the annual 

[00:11.36]yield of revenue from sales 

[00:13.44]is generated during the month

[00:15.74]or more of intense 

[00:17.71]Christmas shopping before Christmas. 

[00:19.89]As a matter of fact, 

[00:22.31]there has been some debate 

[00:24.27]for years that Christmas 

[00:26.24]has become too commercialized 

[00:28.32]and that the true meaning of 

[00:30.29]Christmas is gradually disappearing. 

[00:32.26]An escalating¹ tendency has been 

[00:37.95]to buy more and more 

[00:39.26]expensive gifts each year. 

[00:41.56]Some people go into debt, 

[00:43.64]sometimes owing more than 

[00:46.04]they can easily pay back. 

[00:47.90]Some people are personally 

[00:50.42]beginning to rethink 

[00:52.06]this commercial approach to Christmas. 

[00:55.89]However, toy manufacturers and

[00:58.08]their contemporaries in advertising 

[01:00.60]make a killing² during this period. 

[01:03.11]Christmas shopping hits a peak 

[01:06.06]on Boxing Day, the  day after Christmas, 

[01:09.57]when stores offer great discounts 

[01:11.97]to unload the unsold Christmas merchandise. 

[01:17.00]This is usually the busiest

[01:18.86]shopping day of the year.

[01:21.27]Christmas has spread far 

[01:24.44]and wide across the globe. 

[01:26.85]My wife and I lived

[01:28.27]in Beijing last year.

[01:30.13]During the Christmas season, 

[01:32.44]we saw many Christmas decorations 

[01:34.73]and heard a lot of

[01:36.81]western Christmas music in department stores. 

[01:40.75]It seemed little different

[01:42.71]from Toronto, Canada. 

[01:45.12]We celebrated³ Christmas much 

[01:48.07]as we would have in Canada, 

[01:49.93]except that we weren’t with 

[01:52.67]our families in our homes 

[01:54.21]during that very special family

[01:56.07]oriented holiday season. 

[01:59.59]We have great memories of Christmases 

[02:02.00]of the past and 

[02:03.31]look forward to many more great 

[02:05.40]Christmas memories in the future.

1 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。