美国国家公共电台 NPR High-Tech 'Bodega' Falls Short Of The Real Thing
时间：2019-01-16 作者：英语课 分类：2017年NPR美国国家公共电台9月
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
A couple of high-tech 1 entrepreneurs thought they'd put a personable name on an impersonal 2 product. Paul McDonald and Ashwath Rajan, formerly 3 of Google, unveiled a box this week with glass doors stocked with nonperishable items that people can unlock with their cell phones while a camera records what they take and charges them. It's essentially 4 a tech-connected vending 5 machine. But the entrepreneurs chose a name for their venture that many people found offensive - bodega. The name's taken from small neighborhood shops, usually in New York, stocked with products people run out of or suddenly crave 6 - candy, gum, soda 7 and, yes, cigarettes, newspapers, lottery 8 tickets, condoms, tampons and soap.
Many bodegas are in Hispanic neighborhoods run by Hispanic and Asian shopkeepers. They become a stop for people out to walk their dogs or take a stroll from their apartments who decide to linger for a few minutes to buy a magazine or candy bar and talk to other people about how bad the Mets are, how nice the weather is, and kvetch about politicians, landlords and the Number 7 train from Flushing.
Bodegas are often the place sixth graders stop after school to buy a Coke or a candy bar. The bodega owners know their name and tells them, run home and do your homework. The bodega owner will often let a good customer just take something they need if they have no money until they get their paycheck. There is no app for that.
Real bodegas are small affordable 9 businesses you don't need a stock offering to open. But if the high-tech-minibar faux bodega takes off, it could be at the expense of bodegas owned by real people who keep a cat on the counter and become vital characters in a neighborhood. To me, it's like sacrilegious. You want to take this name and use it to make money off it, Frank Garcia, who chairs the State Coalition 10 of Hispanic Chambers 11 of Commerce, told The New York Post.
The instant reaction on social media was so sharp that Paul McDonald and Ashwath Rajan had to quickly write on Medium, we did some homework - speaking to New Yorkers, branding people, and even running some survey work asking about the name and any potential offense 12 it might cause. But it's clear that we may not have been asking the right questions of the right people. Despite our best intentions and our admiration 13 for traditional bodegas, we clearly hit a nerve, said the entrepreneurs. We intended only admiration. But their statement leaves a question unanswered - will the name stay?
(SOUNDBITE OF PRETTY LIGHTS' "YELLOW BIRD")
- The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
- The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。
- Even his children found him strangely distant and impersonal.他的孩子们也认为他跟其他人很疏远，没有人情味。
- His manner seemed rather stiff and impersonal.他的态度似乎很生硬冷淡。
- We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
- This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。
- Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
- She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。
- Why Are You Banging on the Vending Machine? 你为什么敲打这台自动售货机？ 来自朗文快捷英语教程 2
- Coca-Cola had to adapt almost 300,000 vending machines to accept the new coins. 可口可乐公司必须使将近三十万台自动贩卖机接受新货币。 来自超越目标英语 第5册
- Many young children crave attention.许多小孩子渴望得到关心。
- You may be craving for some fresh air.你可能很想呼吸呼吸新鲜空气。
- She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
- I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。
- He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
- They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。
- The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
- There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。
- The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
- Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。
- The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网
- I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
- His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。
- He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
- We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。