托福口语练习 影响选择的原因（在线收听）

Listen to part of a lecture in a business class.

请听商务课上的部分内容。

If a consumer has to choose between two products, what determines the choice?

如果顾客要在两种产品中做选择的话，什么会影响这项决定呢？

Assume that someone, a purchaser, is choosing between two products that cost the same. Ok?

假设某个人，一位消费者，要在两种价钱一样的产品中做选择。

If people have a choice between two identically-priced products, which one will they choose?

如果人们要在两个价格相同的产品中选择一个的话，他们会选哪个呢？

They choose the one they think is of the higher quality, of course.

当然会选他们认为质量更好的那个。

But what does it mean for a product to be a high-quality product?

那么，一种产品要怎样才能被称为质量上乘呢？

Well, business analysts usually speak of two major factors of quality:

商务分析员通常认为有两种影响质量的因素：

one factor is reliability and the other is what we called features.

一种因素是可靠性，而另一种就是我们称为特色性能的因素。

So reliability. What's reliability?

首先说一说可靠性。什么是可靠性？

Well, a product is reliable if it works the way we expect it to work, if it can go a reasonable amount of time without needing repairs.

一种产品如果能够符合我们的预期，能在一段合理时间内持续使用而不需要修理，那么这种产品就是可靠的。

If a product, a car for example, doesn't work the way it should and needs repairs too soon, we say it's unreliable.

如果一种产品，比如说一辆车，与我们预期不符并且很快就需要维修，那它就是不可靠的。

So product reliability means, basically, the absence of defects or problems that you weren't expecting.

所以产品的可靠性基本上就是指没有意料之外的缺陷或问题。

It used to be that when people thought about product's quality, they thought mainly about reliability.

过去，当人们想到产品的质量时，一般都是指其可靠性。

Today, it's different. People still do care about reliability, don't get me wrong,

不过现在可不一样了。别误会，人们当然还是很在意可靠性，

it's just that manufacturing standards are now so high that, we'll take cars for example today.

只是现如今的制造标准都很高了，就拿汽车来说吧。

Today's cars are very reliable. So reliability is important but it's not gonna be the deciding factor.

现在的汽车都非常可靠，所以可靠性虽然重要但已经不再是决定因素了。

So if reliability isn't the deciding factor anymore, what is?

那么如果可靠性不再是决定因素了，什么才是呢？

Features! All those extras!

特色性能！所有的那些额外性能！

The things a product has that aren't necessary but that make it easier to use or to make it cool!

那些产品不一定非得具备，但有了会使产品更容易使用或者更酷的性能。

For example, new cars today are loaded with features like electric windows, sun roofs, air-conditioning, stereos and so forth.

比如，现在的新车都配备了像电动车窗，可开启的遮阳篷顶，空调，音响等等性能。

When people are comparing products today, they look at features,

人们如今在挑选产品时，更加注重产品特色，

because reliabilities pretty much equal across the board.

因为所有产品的可靠性大致都一样。

And that's why manufacturers include so many features in their products.

这也是制造商在生产产品时添加了那么多性能的原因。