英语博客：Expanding Walmart.
时间：2019-01-11 作者：英语课 分类：英语博客 A cup of English
For a while now, there has been a lot of construction going on at our local Walmart. I am a frequent shopper there, as it is only a couple of blocks from my house. Walmart is expanding. After a few years of doing tremendous business here, the owners have decided 1 to turn it into a superstore. That means that it will soon sell fresh fruit, vegetables, and meat. It will become the 'one stop shop' for a lot of people, including myself. Instead of shopping at Walmart, and then needing to go to a regular supermarket for food items, everything will be in one place. That's a relief! The local shops and supermarkets won't be very happy about it, but that's competition I suppose. It will force a lot of merchants to lower prices and create more special offers. Walmart is quite a ferocious 2 animal. There are more than 8,500 stores in 15 countries, and it's annual revenue is similar to that of a small country. Personally, I'm looking forward to the expansion. Because so many people shop at Walmart, their produce is quite fresh; they don't have goods hanging around on shelves for weeks. We call that a fast 'turn-over'. So, by Christmas, I think, it will be ready. For now, the machines of different kinds are digging, and banging, and lifting. One of the employees I spoke 3 to told me that she had to hear a jack 4 hammer for 8 hours one day. The workmen had to do a job close to her check-out till. By the time she went home, she said, her nerves were shattered. When you walk in the building, all of the aisles 5 have changed position. The pet food is where the stationary 6 used to be, and the stationary is where the diapers were. It's a little confusing. The parking arrangements have changed because work is taking place on a large area in the front of the building. These things take time; it's good to see the progress each time I go there. I expect that in true American style, there will be a grand opening with all sorts of freebies and special deals. But until then, there will be cranes, dump trucks, and jack hammers creating all sorts of noise and commotion 7.
Grammar notes.
Related vocabulary and expressions: one stop shop, a relief, ferocious, to hang around.
1. If I have time, I love to go to specialty 8 shops: a bakery, a delicatessen, a wine shop. But most of the time I go to 'one stop shops' for convenience sake.
2. My headache has finally stopped. What a relief!
3. The new lion in the zoo was quite ferocious.
4. I wish those kids wouldn't hang around in the mall. It's as if they have nothing to do.
- This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
- There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
- The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。
- The ferocious panther is chasing a rabbit.那只凶猛的豹子正追赶一只兔子。
- They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
- The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
- I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
- He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。
- Aisles were added to the original Saxon building in the Norman period. 在诺曼时期，原来的萨克森风格的建筑物都增添了走廊。
- They walked about the Abbey aisles, and presently sat down. 他们走到大教堂的走廊附近，并且很快就坐了下来。
- A stationary object is easy to be aimed at.一个静止不动的物体是容易瞄准的。
- Wait until the bus is stationary before you get off.你要等公共汽车停稳了再下车。
- They made a commotion by yelling at each other in the theatre.他们在剧院里相互争吵，引起了一阵骚乱。
- Suddenly the whole street was in commotion.突然间，整条街道变得一片混乱。