英语音频杂志：大巴

 　　IKEA

　　by John Kuti

　　Our journey started in a minibus to Lomonosov underground station. In the open area behind the station we could see about 30 people waiting for a bus to the IKEA shop. This bus is unusual for two reasons – it is free, and it is one of very the few buses in the city that has a timetable.

　　We got onto the bus and it drove¹ over the bridge across the River Neva and out of the city. One passenger had her dog with her. We saw the big yellow letters IKEA on a blue background from far away, they are on a sign which is higher than the trees. The same design is on the side of the building, a very big blue box with a car park all around it. We got out of the bus and walked along a special route² to the entrance with a roof over it. We went into the shop through a big door that turned like a wheel. About ten people can walk inside one section of the wheel. IKEA shops are very popular everywhere in the world, and they are made to serve very large numbers of people.

　　Most places in Russia have a cloakroom where you can leave your coat. On this day there were too many people, so only children could leave their coats. I had a rucksack and they said that I should leave this in the cloakroom and carry my coat. If you have a child aged³ 3 to 6 you can leave him or her in a play room…usually for 2 hours or just one hour on busy days. They give parents a piece of paper with the time of collection written on it so that they don’t forget. I don’t know what people with dogs do.

　　The first place we went was up the stairs to the café. Here everything is self-service. You take a tray⁴ and ask people to serve you food, for example traditional Swedish⁵ meat-balls. If you want coffee, tea or a fizzy drink you pay for a cup and afterwards you fill it from a machine. While you eat and drink you can study the catalogue⁶. They say that 160 million copies of the catalogue are printed all round the world – where I live, they delivered a copy to each flat. People who want to buy a lot of things can take a big yellow plastic bag to put them in. There are also different sorts of trolley⁷. One has a seat for a small child and a place to hang the big yellow bag.

　　The area next to the café is for special offers. Then, there are a lot of pictures in frames⁸ and mirrors. After that, you come to a place where there are different rooms which you can walk into and sit down in. When you know what you want to buy, you have to look at the code⁹ on the price tag¹⁰. This code tells you the place on the ground floor where you should go to collect the pack with the parts you want inside it. All Ikea furniture is in cardboard¹¹ boxes and you have to put the parts together when you get home.

　　One of the main problems of life in Russia is the small amount of living space that people have in their flats. It is very unusual for a family to have a room that nobody sleeps in. So the idea of a “living room” or a “sitting room”, as we call it in English, is a bit different. Most people have a room with a sofa-bed that they open out in the evening to sleep on. I think it’s quite a good idea for Russian flats to have the bed on tall legs with enough space for a sofa under it. You can buy one in IKEA for about ?200. On my visit to IKEA I didn’t buy anything because I live in a rented flat with lots of furniture in it. I just like looking.

1 drove   

vbl.驾驶，drive的过去式；n.畜群

参考例句：

• He drove at a speed of sixty miles per hour.他以每小时60英里的速度开车。
• They drove foreign goods out of the market.他们把外国货驱逐出市场。

2 route   

n.路径，途径，路线；vt.确定路线，按规定路线发送

参考例句：

• On the way home, we took an indirect route.回家的路上，我们绕了一个大圈。
• The plane did not fly the usual commercial route.飞机没有沿通常的商业航线飞。

3 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

4 tray   

n.盘，托盘，碟

参考例句：

• There were two glasses of champagne on the tray.托盘里有两杯香槟酒。
• A waitress came in,carrying tea on a tray.一名女侍者走进来，手端放着茶的托盘。

5 Swedish   

n.瑞典人，瑞典语；adj.瑞典的，瑞典人的，瑞典语的

参考例句：

• From his looks I'd say he was Swedish.从他的相貌上看，我敢说他是瑞典人。
• He is going after that pretty Swedish girl.他正在追求那位美丽的瑞典女郎。

6 catalogue   

n.目录，总目；vt.编入目录

参考例句：

• The librarian entered a new book in the catalogue.图书管理员把一本新书编入目录。
• The catalogue is under revision.目录册正在修订之中。

7 trolley   

n.手推车，台车；无轨电车；有轨电车

参考例句：

• The waiter had brought the sweet trolley.侍者已经推来了甜食推车。
• In a library,books are moved on a trolley.在图书馆，书籍是放在台车上搬动的。

8 frames   

n.框架( frame的名词复数 )；眼镜框；组织；边框

参考例句：

• roughly hewn timber frames 粗劈成的木架子
• The window frames had begun to warp. 窗框已经开始变形。

9 code   

n.代码，代号，密码；法典，法规，规划

参考例句：

• What's the code for Tianjin?天津的代号是多少？
• Remember to use postal code.勿忘使用邮政编码。

10 tag   

n.标签，附属物，名称，谚语；vt.附以签条，尾随，添饰，指责，连接；vi.紧随，尾随

参考例句：

• Please tag your baggage.请在你的行李上贴上标签了。
• The clerk attached a price tag to each article.店员给每一件商品系上标价签。

11 cardboard   

n.硬纸板，卡纸板

参考例句：

• She brought the shopping home in a cardboard box.她将买的东西放在纸箱里带回家。
• There is a sheet of stiff cardboard in the drawer.在那个抽屉里有块硬纸板。