时间:2018-12-19 作者:英语课 分类:VOA双语新闻 2009年12月


英语课

  A massive storm that dumped about a half-meter of snow from Virginia to Maine did more than frustrate 1 motorists. It added to the woes 2 of retailers 4 that were already bracing 5 for weak holiday sales as the United States struggles to emerge from the deepest and longest recession of the post-World War II era.

风暴给从维吉尼亚到缅因州的大片地区带来近半米厚的降雪。大雪不仅给驾车者带来烦恼,也令原本就在应付疲弱的节日销售的零售商们雪上加霜。这个假日销售季正值美国经济从二战后最严重、持续时间最长的危机中艰难复苏之际。

The storm's timing 6 could hardly have been worse, blanketing the most-populous regions of the United States on the last weekend before Christmas, when millions of Americans are preparing to exchange gifts.

这场暴风雪来得极不是时候。它在圣诞节前最后一个周末席卷了美国人口最为密集的地区。而这也正是数百万美国人准备互赠礼物的日子。

"To have the biggest [shopping] weekend of the year wiped out in almost half the country by wicked winter weather and record blizzards 7 is really going to hurt sales and operating profits, and it is really going to hurt government revenue," says retail 3 analyst 8 Burt Flickinger of the Strategic Resource Group.

零售业咨询公司战略资源集团(Strategic Resource Group)的零售分析师伯特·弗利金格说:“一年中最大的购物周末因为近半个国家遭遇恶劣冬季天气和创记录的暴风雪而彻底毁掉。这的确会损及销售和营业利润。这也确实会对政府税收造成伤害。”

Even before the storm, the National Retail Federation 9 was predicting a one percent drop in U.S. holiday sales compared to last year. Although an economic recovery is believed to be underway, U.S. unemployment remains 10 stubbornly high and consumers appear more focused on saving and debt reduction than spending.

即便在暴风雪之前,美国全国零售联盟就曾预测今年节日销售额会比去年同期下降一个百分点。尽管经济已经开始复苏,但美国的失业率仍旧居高不下,消费者看样子更注重储蓄和减轻债务,而不是花钱。

Again, retail analyst Burt Flickinger, speaking on Bloomberg Television.

弗利金格在接受彭博电视采访时说:

"People are more cash and credit-constrained than at any other time in U.S. history," he noted 11. "So they are only buying for children and immediate 12 family members. Just for need, not for want."

“眼下人们在现金和信贷方面的状况比美国历史上任何时候都要紧张。所以他们只给自己的子女和直系家庭成员购物。也就是只买必要的,而不是想要的。”

To combat sales losses, many retailers are extending store hours in the few remaining days before Christmas. While traditional stores clearly lost revenue in recent days, other businesses may actually profit from inclement 13 weather.

为了应付销售损失,许多零售商都在圣诞节前所剩无几的日子里延长了营业时间。传统商店这几天的收入显然受损,但是其他商家却可以趁恶劣天气获利。

Many online retailers saw a jump in orders, as shoppers unable to leave their homes turned to their computers to make purchases. And grocery stores and supermarkets also saw a jump in business ahead of the storm, as people scrambled 14 to buy food and supplies.

因为无法出门,购物者转而打开电脑购物,这令许多网上零售商的订单见涨。此外,抢在暴风雪来临前夕购买食物和日用品的人们也带旺了食品店和超市的生意。

"The grocery stores had a surge in business," Flickinger said. "They were up 100 percent [in sales] per day for two days in a row before the storm."

零售分析师弗林金格说:“食品店生意激增。在暴风雪之前,它们的日营业额连续两天成倍增长。”

Consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.

美国消费支出占据整体经济活动的三分之二。



1 frustrate
v.使失望;使沮丧;使厌烦
  • But this didn't frustrate Einstein.He was content to go as far as he could.但这并没有使爱因斯坦灰心,他对能够更深入地研究而感到满意。
  • They made their preparations to frustrate the conspiracy.他们作好准备挫败这个阴谋。
2 woes
困境( woe的名词复数 ); 悲伤; 我好苦哇; 某人就要倒霉
  • Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
  • She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。
3 retail
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。
4 retailers
零售商,零售店( retailer的名词复数 )
  • High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
  • Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。
5 bracing
adj.令人振奋的
  • The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
  • The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。
6 timing
n.时间安排,时间选择
  • The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
  • The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。
7 blizzards
暴风雪( blizzard的名词复数 ); 暴风雪似的一阵,大量(或大批)
  • Even in the summertime we might be struck by blizzards. 甚至在夏天,我们也可能受到暴风雪的袭击。
  • Blizzards battered Britain for the third day. 大风雪袭击英国已进入第三天。
8 analyst
n.分析家,化验员;心理分析学家
  • What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务?
  • The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。
9 federation
n.同盟,联邦,联合,联盟,联合会
  • It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
  • Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。
10 remains
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹
  • He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
  • The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
11 noted
adj.著名的,知名的
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
12 immediate
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的
  • His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
  • We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。
13 inclement
adj.严酷的,严厉的,恶劣的
  • The inclement weather brought forth a host of diseases.恶劣的天气引起了种种疾病。
  • They kept on going,even through the inclement weather.即使天气恶劣,他们还是执意要去。
14 scrambled
v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 );攀登;争夺;(军事飞机)紧急起飞
  • Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
学英语单词
a drone
ACL-60
Alexandrian Wiccan
alizarin blue-black nb
alpha paper
antilock
bandel
be in the front line
be incident upon
bilderback
blending bunker
bln
bringing you down
calcaneocavus
cam action reel
camouflage building
cAMP receptor protein
caribbean blue
cathe
chemers
chopsteak
CM copper
coleroa chaetomium
cppd
decision network
diergism
dignifying
dipped
electrode earth
error comparator
few-group model
filiality
foreign exchange turnover
forthwax
fractal dimension
frozen-heave force
fuel breather
gangway width
gas emanation
Gauss-Jordan elimination method
general pressure drop
generator cut out
ground return circuit
haugh unit
have the face to do something
incendiary fire
individual life policy
inspectingly
interstade
intransitivize
jakowski
jostled
Kaitumälven
knife cheek
late-onset desister trajectory
linguocentric
Lutembacher syndrome
madia-oil
manpowers
melanoderma cachecticorum
mourner
multi-way connector
mystic meg
non-rationality
non-trivial
nonterminal position
not care a chip
Nothofagidites
oil absorption of talc
oundy moulding
photopheresis
prayer stick
prepurchase customer service
real-time multicomputing
Recombinate
resting metabolism
robo-
rudimentum processus vaginalis
ruhh
safety drilling method
salganea taiwanensis
scalar impedence
separate bill of lading
service revenue
shaft-basis system
sodium expulsion
Soleymān Kalay
stentor steel
survival instinct
take a noble part
tank pressure gauge
telepathist
terra japonica
they-all
tunkus
under-glaze
underwater concreting
user effort
uterine cotyledons
utilization coefficient of strokes
webcasters
wine set