2005年NPR美国国家公共电台十一月-Auto Market Expands in China

And while some Chinese are experimenting with Frappuccinos, others are interested in buying their first car. China has quickly become the world's third largest car market and it keeps getting bigger. Automakers like what they see and are looking to influence this first generation of car consumers. NPR's Lisa Chow reports.

In this Nissan TV commercial, a young couple dressed for work hops¹ into a bright yellow sedan. They drive out onto a highway and emerge dressed party, enjoying a lifestyle beyond all but a few Chinese.

Wujie is 37, ambitious, well-traveled and affluent², and she's ready to buy her first car. Her job as a communications manager at a US multinational³ firm earns her about 60,000 dollars a year. That's more than 40 times the average salary in China. On this day, Wujie takes a cab to the outskirts⁴ of Shanghai. She walks into a Volkswagen showroom. With its spacious⁵ floor and high ceilings, it would look familiar to any car owner in America. But you won't find SUVs or pickup⁶ trucks. The offerings here tend towards sedans in subdued⁷ colors, white, shades of grey and blue.

Wujie eyes a Volkswagen Golf, selling for just under 16,000 dollars. If she buys it, she'll pay with cash out of her savings⁸. She'll also have to pay 4,500 dollars to register it and nearly 200 dollars a month to park it. For Wujie, it's worth the expense.

Wu jie: It's basically for uh, convenience and also for lifestyle coz more and more people have car. When we're hanging around till midnight, you can't find a taxi. Sometimes the weather is awful. And especially during the holidays, it's really difficult to get a cab.

Wujie has done her homework. She wants a global positioning system and she wants a red car, but she is open to alternatives.

Wu jie: Actually I was thinking green might be good, too, like dark green.

While Wujie focuses on colors, she is not particularly interested in a test drive. Although, test drives in America often make or break a deal, they seem more like an afterthought in China, an exercise just to make sure the car works.

Wu jie: The more I look at it, em, the more I like it.

Wujie is just demography⁹ the companies are going after. That's according to Kevin Lane, a partner at the consulting firm McKenzie & Company.

Kevin Lane: They are an emerging, what I would call, consumer class. People who already have been able to afford to buy a broad range of consumer goods, have been making enough money to save and in some cases pool family resources to buy a car.

Lane estimates that by 2010, China will surpass Japan, becoming the world's second largest car market, a big step in a society that for generations has known only bicycles and buses. Lisa Chow, NPR News.

And tomorrow we (will) look at China's burgeoning¹⁰ software industry. This is Morning Edition from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne. And I'm Steve Inskeep.

1 hops   

跳上[下]( hop的第三人称单数 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• The sparrow crossed the lawn in a series of hops. 那麻雀一蹦一跳地穿过草坪。
• It is brewed from malt and hops. 它用麦精和蛇麻草酿成。

2 affluent   

adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的

参考例句：

• He hails from an affluent background.他出身于一个富有的家庭。
• His parents were very affluent.他的父母很富裕。

3 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

4 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

5 spacious   

adj.广阔的，宽敞的

参考例句：

• Our yard is spacious enough for a swimming pool.我们的院子很宽敞，足够建一座游泳池。
• The room is bright and spacious.这房间很豁亮。

6 pickup   

n.拾起，获得

参考例句：

• I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。

7 subdued   

adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He seemed a bit subdued to me. 我觉得他当时有点闷闷不乐。
• I felt strangely subdued when it was all over. 一切都结束的时候，我却有一种奇怪的压抑感。

8 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

9 demography   

n.人口统计，人口学

参考例句：

• Demography is the analysis of population variables.人口学是对人口变量的分析。
• It was once a rule of demography that people have fewer children as their countries get richer.按人口统计学的一贯规律，一个国家里的人民越富有，他们所拥有的孩子就越少。

10 burgeoning   

adj.迅速成长的，迅速发展的v.发芽，抽枝( burgeon的现在分词 )；迅速发展；发（芽），抽（枝）

参考例句：

• Our company's business is burgeoning now. 我们公司的业务现在发展很迅速。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These efforts were insufficient to contain the burgeoning crisis. 这些努力不足以抑制迅速扩散的危机。 来自辞典例句