英文短篇故事（纽约）397 Shopping with Avatars

（单词翻译）

 　　Brad walked into Walbrowns. He swiped his rewards card. He said, "Avatar, appear." His avatar appeared. Brad said, "Unscented deodorant², all brands." He followed the avatar down the escalator. The avatar hovered³ at the deodorant section. It shined a bright light on the shelf containing unscented deodorant. Brad selected a container. He opened the top. He sniffed⁴ the contents. He couldn't detect any scent¹. This'll do, he thought. He said, "Avatar, disappear." The avatar disappeared. Thank goodness for avatars, Brad thought. Most stores had avatars now. An avatar could find anything instantly. All a shopper had to do was follow his avatar to each item. Shopping was now a little more pleasure, a little less torture. Progress had finally arrived for befuddled⁵ shoppers. Brad took the escalator back upstairs. He groaned⁶ at what he saw. A dozen people were standing⁷ in line. There were six registers. There were two clerks.