英伦广角 2010-10-03 服装廉价不再

The end of the London Fashion Week is just a few days ago. The UK fashion industry is worth 21 billion pounds to the economy, but the way we buy clothes is about to change. A world awake from high other cotton fileds were metidiously harvested. Floods have destroyed many of these crops in China, India and Pakistan. It's meant cotton prices have risen to their highest in fifty years, and that will soon be reflected on our high streets. Retail¹ analysts² are  predicting the hardest will be budgeting, such as (premarket nulik or ...).That's because cotton accounts for a large slake³ of their overheads.(这段最难懂..英音)In fact, cotton prices are 50 percent higher than this time last year. In a month, raw cotton has jumped from 10 cents a pound to 83 cents a pound. The recent rise is mostly down to floods across Asia which have wiped out at least 1/3 of cotton crops in Pakistan alone.
The headache will definitely be bigger for the lower price pointed⁴ source on the high street without doubt, because they are the ones that see mass, you know, a massive product going out of their door everday where someone like Burberry or other designed brands. It's kind of individual piece, or bags or perfumes or accessories. There are some who feel that's a good thing. Ethical⁵ fashion designer Ashelo Decastro thinks either of the disposable fashion is near its end. Inevitably⁶, this bubble is going to have to burst. So the feeling is that once the consumer becomes aware of the fact that it actually has been unrealistic for quite a long time, we will be embracing a new culture, a new way of emotionally egaging with our clothing.
After ten years of sharp deflation in clothing prices, this spike⁷ maybe just a brief interruption. We tell them to do all they can to avoid putting customers, but of course UK retail is certainly not powerful enough to dictate⁸ the world price of cotton, and those raw material prices going up ,then these to produce an outwood pressure on the price of clothing here.
Overall, this is a bad time for retailers⁹. Higher freight costs, wage inflation in China and this cotton crisis have end up to a prediction of clothing inflation, hitting its highest level in the UK for 24 years.

1 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。

2 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

3 slake   

v.解渴，使平息

参考例句：

• We had to slake ourselves with rainwater in the desert.在沙漠中我们不得不用雨水解渴。
• A menu will not satisfy your hunger,a formula will not slake your thirst.菜单不可能填饱你的肚子，一套准则也不可能消除你的饥渴。

4 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

5 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

6 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

7 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

8 dictate   

v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令

参考例句：

• It took him a long time to dictate this letter.口述这封信花了他很长时间。
• What right have you to dictate to others?你有什么资格向别人发号施令？

9 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。