VOA标准英语2010年-Winter Olympic Souvenirs Sell Out Fast

One of Vancouver's biggest attractions is shopping at the Hudson's Bay company store. The only official Vancouver Olympic store.

In downtown Vancouver, one of the biggest attractions is not an Olympic venue¹ - it's a department store.  The Hudson's Bay company store is the only official Vancouver Olympic store, and fans are willing to spend hours in line to take home a piece of Olympic history.

The word 'souvenir' comes from a Latin word that mean's to bring to mind. Souvenirs are usually small items, or trinkets that remind people of an experience.  But souvenirs have become a major business as well, and at the 2010 Winter Games, souvenirs require almost as much strategy and patience as winning a medal.

Outside the Hudson's Bay company store in downtown Vancouver, a line of people stretches down the block. 

Hudson's Bay company store employee Brian McLelland rearranges a black t-shirt on a display figure

In a huge double-pane window stands a phalanx of mannequins wearing official Canada shirts and exercise pants, hoodies, scarves, hats and mittens². Store employee Brian McLelland snaps the arm off one faceless figure and rearranges its black t-shirt.

At the head of the line outside, an employee wearing a Vancouver 2010 fleece jacket greets visitors, making sure to thank them for their patience.

Just a few meters from the door is Riley Hunter, who says he has no idea what he wants to buy, and the line is moving fast. "Oh only like 10 minutes. Oh just official Canada stuff. Oh I have no idea, just spend a bunch of money, I guess," he said.

Hunter is closer to the truth than joking.  Some of the hottest items offered at the Hudson Bay Store include a $44 long sleeve t-shirt, a $50 men's hooded³ fleece and the top priced item - a $400 authentic⁴ Team Canada Vancouver 2010 hockey jersey⁵.

A little farther down the line on Seymour Street, Erica Harrison from Calgary, Alberta stands in line behind a baby carriage.  A bubbly, smiling woman in her early 20s, Harrison says that she is so excited that the Olympics are in Canada, she just wants to own a piece of it. "There's a snazzy jacket and I am going to get a pair of mitts⁶ for my brother," she said. "You betcha I'm excited! It's great."

Stephanie Tarasoff, wears a pair of commemorative red mittens worn by the Canadian National team in the Opening Ceremonies February 12

The mits she refers to are special commemorative red mittens worn by the Canadian National team in the Opening Ceremonies February 12.  The mittens have a white maple⁷ leaf in the palm, in a reverse color scheme from the Canadian national flag.

On Granville Street outside the Royal Canadian Mint pavilion is Stephanie Tarasoff, who wears a pair of the mittens.  Her mother Cathy also has the mittens, and Stephanie says she got them before the Games began in Victoria, British Columbia. "It's nice to have like, everybody wearing the same mittens because you've got this whole … unity⁸, Canada unity! At Christmas time it wasn't hard to get them, maybe now, but not when I got them," she stated.

A little farther down Granville Street is the Granville Sports Corner shop, a small, dimly lighted shop with every centimeter from floor to ceiling crammed⁹ with commemorative team gear - not just Canada, but also Switzerland, Germany, the Czech Republic, the United States and Finland.  Manager Mike Jackson says the Olympics are really good for business.

"Actually all the countries are going really well, we're running out," Jackson said.  "Finland, USA I've sold out three times.  Russia's really going.  Latvia's sold out.  Swiss I'm almost sold out. The Czech I am almost out. I am almost out of Sweden and most of that stuff we can't reorder."

Jackson says in the first few days of the Olympics his business has sold almost three times the merchandise as at Christmas.  Business has been so good, Jackson says he wishes the Olympics would come to Vancouver about every eight years.

And team gear is not the only souvenir available in Vancouver - there are also the official Olympic mascots¹⁰, including a Sasquatch or yeti called Quatchi and three other figures that combine aboriginal¹¹ mythological¹² figures. 

There are also hats, scarves, magnets, mouse pads for computers, blankets, bookmarks, coffee cups, pens, and replicas¹³ of the Inukshuk stone statue that adorns¹⁴ the official Olympic logo.

And fans will buy them to remember their Olympic experience. And with the gift, novelty and souvenir industry generating billions of dollars in revenue each year, marketing¹⁵ Olympic memories gives a whole new meaning to the phrase go for the gold.
 

1 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

2 mittens   

不分指手套

参考例句：

• Cotton mittens will prevent the baby from scratching his own face. 棉的连指手套使婴儿不会抓伤自己的脸。
• I'd fisted my hands inside their mittens to keep the fingers warm. 我在手套中握拳头来保暖手指。

3 hooded   

adj.戴头巾的；有罩盖的；颈部因肋骨运动而膨胀的

参考例句：

• A hooded figure waited in the doorway. 一个戴兜帽的人在门口等候。
• Black-eyed gipsy girls, hooded in showy handkerchiefs, sallied forth to tell fortunes. 黑眼睛的吉卜赛姑娘，用华丽的手巾包着头，突然地闯了进来替人算命。 来自辞典例句

4 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

5 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

6 mitts   

n.露指手套，棒球手套，拳击手套( mitt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I'd love to get my mitts on one of those. 我很想得到一个那样的东西。
• Those are my cigarettes; get your mitts off them. 那是我的香烟，别动它。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 maple   

n.槭树，枫树，槭木

参考例句：

• Maple sugar is made from the sap of maple trees.枫糖是由枫树的树液制成的。
• The maple leaves are tinge with autumn red.枫叶染上了秋天的红色。

8 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

9 crammed   

adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式)

参考例句：

• He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。
• All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。

10 mascots   

n.吉祥物( mascot的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the mascots was the platypus. 吉祥物一是鸭嘴兽。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Information on all things Olympic, including logos, mascots, venues,and bid candidates. 所有事情奥林匹克，包括的标识语，吉祥物，地点，和出价候选人的信息。 来自互联网

11 aboriginal   

adj.（指动植物）土生的，原产地的，土著的

参考例句：

• They managed to wipe out the entire aboriginal population.他们终于把那些土著人全部消灭了。
• The lndians are the aboriginal Americans.印第安人是美国的土著人。

12 mythological   

adj.神话的

参考例句：

• He is remembered for his historical and mythological works. 他以其带有历史感和神话色彩的作品而著称。
• But even so, the cumulative process had for most Americans a deep, almost mythological significance. 不过即使如此，移民渐增的过程，对于大部分美国人，还是意味深长的，几乎有不可思议的影响。

13 replicas   

n.复制品( replica的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His hobby is building replicas of cars. 他的爱好是制作汽车的复制品。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The replicas are made by using a thin film of fusible alloy on a stiffening platen. 复制是用附着在加强托板上的可熔合金薄膜实现的。 来自辞典例句

14 adorns   

装饰，佩带( adorn的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Have adornment, the building adorns the product of material. 有装饰，就有建筑装饰材料的制品。
• In this case, WALL-E adorns every pillar. 在这段时间，Wall-E占据了各个显要位置。

15 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。