高价跑鞋一定更好？不一定！

 　　Your choice of running shoe is a very personal decision. You've got to balance how well they protect your feet and legs with how they fit, how heavy they are and, yes, even how they look. I've run in almost nothing but Asics for many years, and I bet you have a personal favorite that you buy again and again.

　　选择跑鞋是个私人决定。你要平衡鞋子对脚的保护，和裤子是不是搭配，鞋子的重量甚至外观。我多年来只穿亚瑟士，我敢说你肯定也一次次的选择自己最钟爱的。

　　But if you want the closest thing to an objective look at quality and cost, a Danish Web site called runrepeat.com has crunched¹ the numbers from nearly 135,000 consumer reviews it gathered over a year, along with the suggested retail² price of most of the popular brands.

　　但如果你想要最客观的了解质量和价格，丹麦网站runrepeat.com从搜集了一年多的评论中汇总了13.5万多名消费者的数据，还给出了大多数大众品牌的建议零售价。

　　高价跑鞋一定更好？不一定！

　　The biggest surprise: The higher the price, the lower the rating in many cases. In fact, the 10 most expensive running shoes, with an average list price of $181 per pair, were rated 8.1 percent lower than the 10 cheapest models (average price $61).

　　最令人惊讶的是：价格越高，评价越低。实际上，平均标价181美元，价格排前十的鞋子，评价要比价格排最后十名的款型低8.1%（最后十位均价只有61美元）。

　　"If money is a matter to you, you will not get more in expensive running shoes," says the Web site's founder³, Jens Jakob Andersen. "Affordable⁴ mid-range running shoes are very nearly the same as expensive running shoes."

　　网站创始人延斯·雅各布·安徒生称：“如果你比较在意钱，买昂贵的跑鞋就没多大意义，中档跑鞋不比更贵的跑鞋差。”

　　That doesn't mean that you should buy $15 running shoes at a department store. Those will almost surely cause you injuries. But Andersen believes that running shoe makers⁵ have poured so much money into marketing⁶ in their battle for a slice of a multibillion-dollar market that we don't know what's real any longer. According to Running USA, 46.25 million pairs of running shoes were sold in 2013, at a cost of $3.09 billion.

　　这不意味着你该到百货超市里买一双15美元的便宜跑鞋。这样的鞋子几乎无疑会给你带来伤害。但是安徒生认为跑鞋制造商花成千上万的银子做营销，只为了在这个百万美元的市场分一杯羹，最后肯定会让我们眼花缭乱。美国跑步协会（Running USA）的数据显示，2013年美国跑鞋的销售数量达4625万双，销售额达30.9亿美元。

　　Most of the shoes reviewed did reasonably well. "Runners are pretty satisfied with the shoes they buy in general," Andersen says. But that also highlights the fairly large satisfaction gap between high- and low-priced shoes.

　　多数鞋子的评价相当不错。安徒生说：“跑步者总体来说对鞋子比较满意，但是评论结果也显示出高价鞋子和低价鞋子之间有很大的满意度差距。”

　　"When you spend more, you expect more," Andersen says in trying to explain why expensive shoes may have disappointed some purchasers. "... But you should not expect to be less satisfied spending more money."

　　“你花的越多，期望值越高，”安徒生这样解释许多消费者不满高价鞋的原因。“你不可能花的多还没有期望。”

　　Runrepeat bills itself as the Yelp⁷ of running shoes. Andersen says he takes no money from any company, funding the site himself. There are no ads.

　　Runrepeat网站自称跑鞋点评网站。安徒生说他没有收任何公司的资助，完全是自己支撑网站运营，也没有做广告

　　So which brands come out on top? Skechers, Saucony and Vibram FiveFingers took the three spots on the podium, while Reebok, Adidas and Hoka One One brought up the rear.

　　那么哪个品牌排名老大？斯凯奇（Skechers），索康尼（Saucony）和伐柏拉姆五指鞋（Vibram FiveFingers）跻身前三甲。锐步（Reebok），阿迪达斯（Adidas）和Hoka One One紧随其后。

　　"What Skechers are doing great is that they don't do the really high premium⁸ running shoes," Andersen says. "They are the running shoe brand for moms."

　　安徒生总结道：“斯凯奇之所以如此牛，是因为他们的跑鞋溢价不会过高。他们的跑鞋连普通的家庭主妇也买得起。”

　　Vocabulary

　　crunch: 对……进行数学运算；（反复）处理

　　bill: 通告，宣布

　　premium: 溢价

1 crunched   

v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的过去式和过去分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄

参考例句：

• Our feet crunched on the frozen snow. 我们的脚嘎吱嘎吱地踩在冻雪上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He closed his jaws on the bones and crunched. 他咬紧骨头，使劲地嚼。 来自英汉文学 - 热爱生命

2 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。

3 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

4 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

5 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 yelp   

vi.狗吠

参考例句：

• The dog gave a yelp of pain.狗疼得叫了一声。
• The puppy a yelp when John stepped on her tail.当约翰踩到小狗的尾巴，小狗发出尖叫。

8 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。