【英语趣味课堂】男人与购物-Men and Shopping

Silvia: So Diego, you've asked me about shopping, but what about you?

 

Diego: I think that now I have to pay for everything myself I'm a much more conservative¹ shopper² so I only buy strictly³ what I need.

 

Silvia: And that's all.

 

Diego: I think so, yes.

 

Silvia: But do you have anything that you can't resist not buying?

 

Diego: Well, I try to save most of my money because I like to travel. Instead of going shopping, I try to save as much as I can, and then when I'm traveling, I can do whatever I want and worry less about money, so that's where ... I mean if I have to say like what is the thing I shop the most, I would say it's trips. Like I spend most of my disposable income in travels.

 

Silvia: That's weird⁴ because because you know I had a boyfriend. He loved to shop. He would shop more than I, I think.

 

Diego: Wow!

 

Silvia: Really good at shopping. We would go to a store, and I really take my time and he will just point, like just this, this, this, this. Try it on. And they will fit it and they were nice. Ok. Let's go. He was an experienced⁵ at shopping. What do you think about that?

 

Diego: Well, I think it's a very bad combination⁶ because if you're a big shopper and he's a big shopper, you're a bigger shopper together.

 

Silvia: I know. Actually, everyone used to bother us. We were studying in Austria for two months and every time we went out just to the store to get, I don't know, milk or whatever, we will end up coming back with bags of stuff⁷. We would just go out for walking around, and every time we ended up with some bag from shopping.

 

Diego: Yeah, and you know, shopping is like a really bad cycle because once you buy something you have to buy another thing, and then another thing, and another thing. Like if you buy a new computer, you need a new mouse, and then you need a new webcam, and the big speakers and so on I think with girls it's the same thing.

 

Silvia: But with clothes.

 

Diego: Yes, but with clothes.

 

Silvia: We need the bag and the shoes and the belt.

 

Diego: And one thing gives you another excuse to buy another thing.

 

Silvia: Yeah, that happens to me often actually.

 

Diego: OK, so maybe you should stop using your credit⁸ cards.

 

Silvia: Yeah, maybe.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the Lesson

strictly

 

I only buy strictly what I need.

 

Here, Diego talks about a serious rule he has about his personal behavior. Notice the following.

 

I’m on a strictly vegetarian⁹ diet.

In California cities, non-smoking laws are strictly enforced¹⁰.

disposable income

 

I spend my disposable income on travels.

 

Disposable income is the money we have to spend on things we like. Notice the samples.

 

Silvia spends most of her disposable income on clothes.

It’s a good idea to save some of your disposable income.

That's weird

 

 

That's weird because you know I had a boyfriend.

 

We use ‘weird’ to comment on something that’s strange or unusual. We can use the three words interchangeably. For example:

 

That's strange because you know I had a boyfriend.

That's unusual because you know I had a boyfriend.

take my time

 

I take my time when shopping.

 

When we take our time, we do something slowly. Here are two sample sentences.

 

I usually eat very fast, but the food was so delicious, I took my time.

I take my time driving to work. It’s both relaxing and safer.

bad cycle

 

 

Shopping can be a bad cycle. Once you start buying need to keep on buying.

 

Here, ‘a bad cycle’ means a bad habit that we can’t stop. Notice the following.

 

Trying to stay in fashion can be a bad cycle. You end up spending all your disposable income on clothes.

Eating a lot whenever you feel sad is a bad cycle. Gaining weight will only make you feel worse.

1 conservative   

adj.保守的，守旧的；n.保守的人，保守派

参考例句：

• He is a conservative member of the church.他是一个守旧教会教友。
• The young man is very conservative.这个年轻人很守旧。

2 shopper   

n.购物者，顾客

参考例句：

• Hong Kong is a shopper's paradise.香港是购物者的天堂。
• She is one shopper who takes responsibility in bagging her own goods.她是一名承担责任把食品装进袋子的顾客。

3 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

4 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

5 experienced   

adj.有经验的；经验丰富的，熟练的

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather.有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• Perhaps you and I had better change over;you are more experienced.也许我们的工作还是对换一下好，你比我更有经验。

6 combination   

n.组合，合并，联合；

参考例句：

• He carried on the business in combination with his friends.他与朋友们合伙做生意。
• The materials can be used singly or in combination.这些材料可以单独使用也可以混合用。

7 stuff   

n.原料，材料，东西；vt.填满；吃饱

参考例句：

• We could supply you with the stuff in the raw tomorrow.明天我们可以供应你原材料。
• He is not the stuff.他不是这个材料。

8 credit   

n.信用，荣誉，贷款，学分；v.归功于，赞颂，信任

参考例句：

• I credit him with a certain amount of sense.我认为他有一定的见识。
• He got the credit,and we did the dirty work.他得荣誉，我们做不讨好的工作。

9 vegetarian   

n.素食者；adj.素食的

参考例句：

• She got used gradually to the vegetarian diet.她逐渐习惯吃素食。
• I didn't realize you were a vegetarian.我不知道你是个素食者。

10 enforced   

n.强迫的v.实施( enforce的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；强迫；强制执行

参考例句：

• a period of enforced absence 不得不离开的一段时间
• This reform must be enforced. 此项改革势在必行。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》