【英语趣味课堂】购物疗法-Retail Therapy

 Diego: So, Silvia, I hear you have thirty handbags and thirty-five pairs of shoes.

 

Silvia: Yeah, I know. Actually, it's a little bit of a sad story if I tell you why I have a lot of bags and shoes.

 

Diego: It's OK, we have time.

 

Silvia: Actually, I love to shop. I don't know what girl doesn't love to shop, and I love shopping and so basically¹ how I ended up with all these shoes is because I broke up and I was sad and it was like therapy² for me to go shopping.

 

Diego: So it was retail³ therapy.

 

Silvia: Exactly. So yeah, I just went crazy shopping. For me I don't know, I just feel good shopping, and the other thing is I like to travel a lot, and when I'm traveling then I also buy a lot of stuff⁴. Like the handbags I have, some are traditional looking bags from Vietnam or Cambodia, Thailand.

 

Diego: Different countries.

 

Silvia: And it's so cheap. That's the thing. Sometimes I go somewhere and I see everything so cheap that I go crazy shopping.

 

Diego: Wow! But do you really need thirty handbags?

 

Silvia: I'm a girl. Of course I need thirty handbags.

 

Diego: Do you really need thirty five pairs of shoes?

 

Silvia: Mmm?

 

Diego: No. That's quite interesting. Have you ever worn everything?

 

Silvia: No.

 

Diego: You haven't. OK.

 

Silvia: No, not yet. And actually last week, I went through ... I was walking and I saw this store had a sale and I went in and as an excuse, it was by birthday last week, so I thought, well, I'm far away from home, and no one gives me any gifts so maybe I should give myself some gifts and I almost used my credit⁵ parents credit card, and I thought oh, I will just call them and tell them like hey, happy birthday, but in the end, I ended up paying for the stuff.

 

Diego: OK, that's good, so you're a responsible shopoholic.

 

Silvia: I'm trying to control it. Actually, before last week, I spend a few months not buying anything, but I couldn't resist the sale.

 

Diego: But you do know that the sale sign is just cheap marketing⁶, right?

 

Silvia: No, my God, it was a really good sale.

 

Diego: No, I think you're just ...

 

Silvia: No, it was a good sale.

 

Diego: ... a victim of good marketing.

 

Silvia: Maybe but still. I'm happy with what I bought so.

 

Diego: OK, so as long as you're happy, that's good.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the Lesson

broke up

 

I broke up and I was sad.

 

When we break up with someone, it means we end a relationship. Notice the samples.

 

I saw my boyfriend holding hands with Linda at the mall. I broke up with him the next day .

Inside Hollywood reported that Tom Cruise⁷ and Katie Holmes had broken up. Is it true?

retail therapy

 

 

So it was retail therapy.

 

'Retail therapy' is a funny idiom that suggests shopping can help us feel better when we are sad. Notice the following.

 

My girlfriend broke up with me last night. I guess it’s off to Computer World for some retail therapy.

Retail therapy works⁸ for me, but it’s expensive!

That's the thing

 

 

And it's so cheap. That's the thing.

 

The phrase ‘That’s the thing’ talks about the reason for something. Note the sample sentences.

 

That’s the thing about retail therapy; it helps me to forget about my problems.

What I don’t like about relationships is that I lose my independence. That’s the thing.

in the end

 

But in the end, I ended up paying for the stuff.

 

The phrase ‘In the end’ is another way to say ‘finally’. We often use it when we are telling a story about something that happened to us. Notice the following.

 

I save a little money every month, but in the end, I just go shopping and spend it all.

My boyfriend and I were so different. We tried really hard to stay together, but in the end, we just broke up.

couldn't resist

 

I couldn't resist the sale.

 

When we ‘can’t resist’, it means that we can’t stop ourselves from doing something. Here are two examples of the phrase.

 

The dress was way too expensive but she couldn’t resist. She had to buy it.

I like to eat healthy foods but I can’t resist chocolate!

1 basically   

adv.基本上，从根本上说

参考例句：

• His heart is basically sound.他的心脏基本上健康。
• Basically I agree with your plan.我基本上同意你的计划。

2 therapy   

n.治疗；疗法

参考例句：

• The doctor said she should be given a physical therapy.医生说她应该进行理疗。
• She will need to have the therapy repeated every few months.她将需要每隔几个月就进行一次治疗。

3 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• 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 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。

5 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。

6 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

7 cruise   

v.巡航，航游，缓慢巡行；n.海上航游

参考例句：

• They went on a cruise to Tenerife.他们乘船去特纳利夫岛。
• She wants to cruise the canals of France in a barge.她想乘驳船游览法国的运河。

8 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。