双语有声阅读:American Stores 美国各种类型的商店

American Stores

In the United States you will find yourself being urged from every page of every newspaper and on practically¹ every television station to buy all kinds of goods that you are actually quite happy without.

Not only is there a wide range of prices for goods in America, there is also a wide range in the quality of goods offered for sale. Unlike some countries, Americans generally pay the price of a product without question, instead of trying to get a lower price by bargaining. However, there are many "sales" in the United States, during which time stores will lower their normal prices. This may all be very confusing to the visitor. Which is the best product to buy out of hundreds to choose from? How are you going to know how to "get your money's worth" when you shop? Perhaps the best advice is: Don't hurry. Visit various stories and determine the quality of goods. Examine them carefully. Read the advertisements so that you can compare prices. Explore and examine before you buy.

There is a great variety of shops in the United States, ranging from very large stores called "department stores," offering clothing, furniture, household goods as well as many other goods, to very small shops that specialize² in just one kind of product. There are "discount houses" offering goods at low prices, and "dime³ stores" specializing⁴ in a wide range of inexpensive items.

Most department stores in large cities carry average to better quality products at average to higher prices. However, they offer the shopper⁵ great convenience since they contain such a wide variety of products.

If convenience isn't important to you as price, you many want to shop in some of the discount houses. These stores have nearly as great a variety of goods as department stores, but offer lower prices. They can do so for several reasons. They don't offer the same services to buyers that department stores do; there may be fewer sales people; and the store probably doesn't deliver purchases.

There are many small shops in America, as there are everywhere, that offer a more limited quantity of products. Usually run by a small number of salespeople⁶, these shops offer products that range from inexpensive to very expensive, depending on the shop. You are likely to receive more attention from the sales-people in small shops than in department stores.

Another popular shop is the "dime store," sometimes referred to as the "five and ten." No longer selling many things for five or ten cents, these stores got their name in the last century when it was decided⁷ that a small profit on a great quantity of goods would be better than a large profit on fewer sales. Dime stores specialize in a wide variety of inexpensive items and today, prices range from a quarter or 50 cents up to several dollars. If you need a small item and don't want to spend very much, the dime store is likely to have just what you are looking for.

The United States is also known for its "supermarkets," where huge quantities of all kinds of food and household articles are sold. These stores offer good quality food at lower prices than smaller food stores.

The vast majority of Americans do all their food shopping in supermarkets. One of the most interesting sections to visit is the frozen⁸ food section. With discoveries in methods to preserve food, almost every kind of food can be frozen and yet keep its original flavor⁹. Since frozen foods require so little time to cook, they have naturally become very popular everywhere in the coutry.

 

美国各种类型的商店

在美国，你不知不觉地发现，月份报纸的每一页，特别是每个电视台的广告都在敦促你去购买各种各样的商品。其实，如果你不买这些商品的话，也许你会更快活。

在美国，不但所出售的商品的价格大不相同，连商品的质量也是完全不一样。不像在其他一些国家，美国人一般按产品的价格付款时都不争讲价钱，不是通过讨价还价来企图以较低的价格来买到产品。不过，在美国也有很多"促销"活动，在促销期间各类商店都会把他们的正常价格降下来。这使得访客们感到大惑不解，在数百个选择机会当中，哪一种产品才是最好的呢？每当你去商店购物时，你怎样才能知道你的钱花得物有所值呢？也许最好的忠告就是：别着急，多跑几层楼查看一下商品的质量，仔细检验一下商品，看看各种广告以便你可以比较一下价格。在你还没买之前先考察一番，检验一下商品质量。

在美国，有好多不同类型的商店：从供应衣着用品、家具、日杂用品以及被称为"百货公司"的大型商店，直到专营某种产品的一些很小的商店。还有以低价供货的"特价商品屋"和专营各种下大值钱的东西"十美分商店"。

在一些大城市，大多数百货公司经营的产品一般说来质量较好，但价格平均也比较高。尽管价格较高，因为百货公司里有很多很多的不同的产品，这就给逛商店的人提供了很大的方便。

如果对你来说，这些方便不如价格重要，那你可以去一些特价商品屋去采购。这些商店所拥有的商品几乎跟大百货公司一样地品种繁多，可是价格去比较低。特价商品屋之所以能这样做，有下列几种原因：他们不能像大百货公司提供给买主的那些服务项目；特价商品屋的销售人手比较小，所以这种商店可能不会送货上门。

在美国，正像世界各地一样，有很多小店铺，这些小店铺供应的商品品种就更有限了。通常只有少数几个人在经营这个店铺，这些铺子经营的产品有不贵的也有很贵的，这要看该铺子的情况了。在这些小铺子里比大百货公司里你可能会得到售货员的更加细心的照料。

另一种很受欢迎的商店就是"10美分店"，有时也称为"5分10分店。"这些商店的名字是上个世纪起的，那时簿利多销总比厚利少销要好，这是很清楚的。10美分店专门经营种类繁多的便宜货，今天的价格是25美分或50美分，直到几美元的东西都有。如果你想买一件小东西，但又不想多花钱，那么10美分店里很可能就会有正是你所要撒谎的那件东西。

美国以其"超级市场"而称著于世，超市里出售大量的花色品种繁多的食品和日用品。超市所供应的食品与较小的食品店比较起来质量好，价格低。

绝大多数的美国人都在超级市场里采购食品。冷冻食品部是人们最有兴趣去的部门之一。冷藏食品的各种方法问世以来，几乎各种食品都可以冷冻并且能保存原滋原味。因为冷冻食品所需要的烹制时间很短，所以在美国冷冻仪器自然就成了到处都受欢迎的食品了
 

1 practically   

adv.差不多；几乎；实际地，从实际角度

参考例句：

• He solved the problem very practically.他很实事求是地解决了这个问题。
• She's practically always late for school.她上学几乎总是迟到。

2 specialize   

v.专化，特化 ；(in)专攻；专门研究

参考例句：

• What did you specialize in?你的主修科目是什么？
• After his first degree he wishes to specialize.获得学士学位之后，他希望专攻某科。

3 dime   

n.（指美国、加拿大的钱币）一角

参考例句：

• A dime is a tenth of a dollar.一角银币是十分之一美元。
• The liberty torch is on the back of the dime.自由火炬在一角硬币的反面。

4 specializing   

v.专门从事，专攻( specialize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I'm specializing in differential and integral calculus. 我正专攻微分学和积分学。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Thus, specializing in pain made no more sense than specializing in fever. 因此，专门研究疼痛与专门研究发烧的意义差不多。 来自时文部分

5 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。

6 salespeople   

n.售货员，店员；售货员( salesperson的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The shop usually employs additional salespeople for the Christmas toy trade. 这家商店通常雇一些临时售货员来做圣诞节玩具生意。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Under our new system, salespeople sit down with each of our dealers. 根据新的制度，销售人员应逐个地同承销商洽商。 来自辞典例句

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 frozen   

adj.冻结的，冰冻的

参考例句：

• He was frozen to death on a snowing night.在一个风雪的晚上，他被冻死了。
• The weather is cold and the ground is frozen.天寒地冻。

9 flavor   

n.味，滋味，味道；风味；vt.调味，加味于

参考例句：

• I like the flavor of chocolate.我喜欢巧克力的味道。
• Each flavor was totally unique.每一种味道都是独一无二的。