时间:2019-01-06 作者:英语课 分类:2006年VOA标准英语(十二月)


英语课

By Mil Arcega
Washington, DC
21 December 2006
 
watch UK OnLine Shopping


 
Britain's leading e-commerce industry group says the UK has overtaken the United States in the growth of on-line shopping.  The Interactive 1 Media in Retail 2 Group, or IMRG, says on-line purchases hit a new record last month when UK shoppers spent nearly $6.3 billion US (3.2 billion British pounds) on on-line goods and services.  That's 45 percent higher than for the same time last year, compared to 25 percent in the US. 


More British shoppers are avoiding the holiday rush and buying their Christmas presents on-line.


"I will be doing a lot of shopping on-line, because I'm away from home.  So, it's easiest and I can just ship things home," said one woman.


But armchair shopping in front of a computer is not for everyone. Another holiday shopper said, "Actually not at all. I like to go shopping out in the streets."


 
James Roper
Despite some hold-outs, the country's leading e-commerce group says the UK's 25 million on-line shoppers are breaking new records.  IMRG Chief Executive James Roper says last month British shoppers spent about $9 million every hour on on-line purchases. "In 2000, this was less than one per cent of retail.  This year it passed 10 percent of retail.  So 40 per cent growth year on year is absolutely huge."


Roper says the UK accounts for about a third of all on-line purchases in Europe.  And in terms of growth, it has already surpassed the United States.


"In terms of America, American retail and European on-line retail are about equivalent by value.  It's interesting in the UK, something like 10 percent of on-line shopping happens on the Internet -- I mean, 10 percent of shopping is on the Internet, whereas in America it's 7 percent or less."


But the rapid growth presents a bit of a logistical problem for the state run postal 3 service.  James Eadie is a manager for the Royal Mail. "This year to cope with the massive amount of volumes that we have to handle, which includes one hundred million items ordered on-line, we'll be employing thousands of extra people, using 4,000 extra trucks, eight extra train services, 10 extra plane services -- 40 plane services a day instead of 30."


"Nevertheless, Jenny Jones, a Green Party member of the London Assembly, says on-line shopping does have its advantages. "Well, it's obviously, there are quite a few environmental advantages because people are going to make fewer journeys which means the roads will be clearer and there will be less air pollution.  So I'd say that is a real plus."


On-line sales are expected to increase exponentially.   IMRG estimates British shoppers will spend nearly $14 billion on-line in the ten-week run-up to Christmas.



adj.相互作用的,互相影响的,(电脑)交互的
  • The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
  • This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。
v./n.零售;adv.以零售价格
  • In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
  • These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。
adj.邮政的,邮局的
  • A postal network now covers the whole country.邮路遍及全国。
  • Remember to use postal code.勿忘使用邮政编码。
学英语单词
air evaporation gum test
algorithmic processor description
allowance of regular attendance
anthropogenic emissions
at the other extreme
attractable
automatic stamping press
axiomesiocervical
better halves
bima
bishop's-miter
black game
black-backed jackals
block diode
break-make contact
chawffe
christobalite (cristobatite)
common mallows
contact cleaner
coys
cumulative weight distribution
d'amico
dawish
dead stock
determination for main engine location
deviation of average
dichloro-succinic acid
diplomaed, diploma'd
discrete-address beacon system
dock warehouse receipt
DT-VAC
ECNE
encoding microinstruction
entry number
Fabre, Jean Henri
focal point of stress
four-times accented octave
gd (gravity damper)
holographic contouring
hysterographically
Ignace Jan Paderewski
IIL microcomputer
industrial white oil
inflationary policy
jump grading
lead sulfide
light chestnut colored soil
loverlike
low-moisture food
m'sieur
Mariupol'
marlocks
MATH-1
maximum immersed beam
medemo
Minnehaha County
modified Mathieu function of the second kind
monnerot
nonemployment
Nusselt (number)
oenomania
Orland Park
owner-occupants
oyamel
pedestal bearing motor
pillar shaper
pine overcoat
pineocytomas
polythene insulation
porcelain plate
postocular bristle
propeller accessories
radiation balance meter
radix sort
rami dorsalis
rational trend
red couch grass
regular maintenance of bridge and tunnel
resonance, frequency
roller mill for soap
roof bolting method
sarapes
seed powder
semi automatic plating unit
sexiled
shipping facilities
shrill
smoke-wreathed
Sormetal
suborder Brachyura
table calculation
take my oath
tantalum filament
textile trade
thaw depth
the time is not so far distant when
three-f bomb
threshing machines
torrox
two-level deckhouse
unnecessities
virtual memory types