纪录片《中国春节》 第31期 团聚（9）

I'm used to agricultural auctions²

我以前也去过农货拍卖会

but this is quite unlike anything I have ever seen before.

但这是我完全没见过的

This is an absolutely fascinating process.

拍卖过程妙不可言

I do not think I have ever been to a auction¹ like this.

这样的拍卖超乎我所料

I am used to kind of buying sheep.

买羊之类则耳熟能详

Here, it's a bit like taking part in some sort of weird³ game show.

如今这颇似参加某种不可思议的游戏节目

Everyone's sitting in front of these little consoles.

每个人端座在这些小小的控制台前

There is a man talking but you have to wear headphones to listen to him

有人在说话，不过你得戴上耳机才能听得清他在说什么

and obviously, I do not understand a word he is saying.

当然，他说什么我全然听不懂

Unlike auctions that we're used to in Britain, this is a Dutch auction.

和英国的拍卖方式不同，这是荷兰式减价拍卖

This means that the auction begins at a higher up asking price

也就是说拍卖竞价由高位开始

which is lowered until it reaches a price that someone is willing to pay.

依次递减至某个价位，有竞买人愿意应价止

The orange dot represents the price.

橙点表示价格

When the doctor stops, someone has bought a batch⁴ of blooms.

橙点停止时，就意味着有人出手买了一批花

On average, a lot is sold every three seconds.

这里平均每三秒就能卖出一大批

But it is crucial to hold your nerves until the price is right.

但价位未到就得严阵以待

A real sense of concentration, quite a lot of smoking going on.

大家真是全神贯注，好多人都在抽烟

There is quite a lot of nervous energy in the air.

空气中充满了紧张不安的气氛

The cheapest flowers can go for as little as 1p,

最便宜的花可以只卖一便士

but these bidders⁵ will be buying in the hundreds and thousands.

这些竞买者却会成千上万地买入

1 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

2 auctions   

n.拍卖，拍卖方式( auction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They picked up most of the furniture at auctions in country towns. 他们大部分的家具都是在乡村镇上的拍卖处买的。 来自辞典例句
• Our dealers didn't want these cars, so we had to dump them at auctions. 我们的承销商都不要这些车子，因此我们只好贱价拍卖。 来自辞典例句

3 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。

4 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。

5 bidders   

n.出价者，投标人( bidder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Bidders should proceed only if they intend on using a PayPal account to complete payment. Bidders的唯一形式，应继续只当他们在使用贝宝帐户，以完成付款打算。 来自互联网
• The other bidders for the contract complained that it had not been a fair contest. 其他竞标人抱怨说该合同的竞标不公平。 来自《简明英汉词典》