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你知道“团购”用英语怎么说吗？ 你参加过网络团购吗？近年来，网上众多志同道合者联合起来，形成集团优势，从商家拿到最低折扣的网络团购正成为越来越多年轻人的消费方式。但在这里也要提醒大家，一定认清资质，小心陷阱。 团购——group -buying 看看这个词在句子中是怎么用的： 组织大家团购是一件劳心费力的差事，所以众多团购网站迅速涌现出来，成为买家和卖家之间的“代理”，并从交易中获得一定的佣金。 2.These group-buying sites represent an effective, no-strings blessing（adj.无条件的） in tough economic times. 在经济糟糕的时候，这些团购网站表现出了有效的、无附带条件的善意。 ============================================================================================ Today Topic:Motorcycles and Mountains 骑着摩托去旅行 Mark: Hey, Eric! You’ve got a motorcycle, haven’t you? Eric: Ahh, yes, I have two. Mark: What kind? Eric: I have a BMW big touring bike and I have a Suzuki off-road type. Mark: BMW is a German bike, isn’t it? Eric: Aah, that’s right, yes. Made in Germany. Mark: Why did you get a German motorcycle? Eric: Well, I have been doing a lot of camping and touring on my motorcycle so this big motorcycle is able to carry a lot of weight comfortably and even safely and also this motorcycle is wind-tunnel tested so it does really really nicely on the motorway. I commute to work on the motorway four days a week so it is really good for that. Mark: Right, and when you go touring, you go camping, is that right? Eric: Yeah we often like to camp. Once in a while we’ll stay in a cabin but yeah often we take the camping gear and I stay in tents. Mark: So you ride on winding mountain roads up through the Chinese mountains until you find a beautiful place and then you just pitch your tent and light a fire? Eric: Well, usually I have a plan as to where to go but yes I like… I prefer nice windy twisty mountain roads. Mark: A lot of people only know the part of China from Shanghai down to Xiamen; this kind of built-up urban coastal area, but they don’t realize that a huge area of this country is mountains and winding roads and deserted villages. I just love the Chinese mountains. Let go through some words and phrases: 我们一起来复习一下重要的词组短语 =================================================================== 【生活】团购心理学 Each day, Groupon offers for sale a deep-discount coupon from a business in your town. It might be a $25 coupon that buys you a $50 bike tune-up, or a $40 coupon for a $90 massage, or $25 for $100 worth of fitness classes. The coupons aren’t actually distributed until a critical mass of people (50, for example) have clicked “Buy.” After all, shopkeepers can’t afford discounts that steep unless there’s something in it for them. If not enough people express interest, the deal dies. No coupons are issued, and nobody’s out a cent. Groupon is, therefore, a huge win-win-win. You save eyebrow-raising amounts of money. Local businesses pick up a landslide of new customers overnight without doing a lick of marketing on their own (a Phoenix aquarium, for example, sold 10,000 tickets in 24 hours). And Groupon collects half the money from those coupons. No wonder it became profitable after only seven months. Frankly, I couldn’t understand the big deal about Groupon. Why is it such a superstar when so many competitors labor in obscurity? The answer: clever psychology. First of all, Groupon’s sales staff tries to cultivate deals that suit the audience in each city. If you’re in San Francisco, you get offers for Segway tours of vineyards, flying lessons and skateboarding gear. In New York City, you’re more likely to see huge discounts on music lessons, theater tickets and interesting restaurants. In most cities, you’re likely to spot lots of deals for spas and cosmetic surgery, which hints at the upscale female customers who constitute Groupon’s biggest buyers. At the bookstore, I picked out a couple of books totaling $23. I showed my phone to the cashier, who had been trained to enter the Groupon codes. I was the ninth person that day to cash in. I paid the $3 overage, and that was it. I loved it. I’d just gotten $10 worth of books free. More psychology, of course. It’s absurd that I should have felt so giddy. I mean, is saving $10 such a landmark event? The last time you bought a house, a car or even a night at a hotel, did you haggle for another $10 off? You probably could have gotten it. But you didn’t. Somehow, though, in the Groupon context, it feels like a steal. There’s something about the simple phrase, “$10 for $20 worth of stuff” that gets you. Furthermore, your coupon is good for anything in the store. It’s not the same as a Half-Off Sale, where the store chooses what goods to discount. That “tipping point” business — the minimum number of takers an offer has to have before it becomes valid — is part of the psychology, too. Sure, this element was created to protect the merchant’s interests. But let’s face it, the tipping-point requirement adds a certain thrill to the proceedings. You’re invested in the outcome. Even the scarcity of deals — one each day — plays on your feelings. It adds to that sense of exclusivity and of serendipity. So does the Groupon editors’ whimsical description of each deal. (“A beloved book is like an old friend: full of familiar stories, rich in endearing details and just as enjoyable when covered in highlighter,” began the Barnes & Noble coupon. “Make a new literary acquaintance with today’s Groupon.”) Finally, Groupon also seems to be extraordinarily free of red tape and clutter. The fine print is labeled “The Fine Print” in a big bold font, and there’s not much to it: usually just an expiration date and “Limit one per person.” The biggest gotcha is that expiration date. Oh, it’s plenty generous — usually six months to a year. But you know how people are with coupons; we forget them. We lose them. Once again, Groupon has built psychology into its business model. Every time someone forgets to use the coupon, that’s free money for Groupon and the merchant. Some Twitterites complained that Groupon’s overwhelming something-for-nothing appeal persuades them to buy things they’re not actually interested in. (Kind of hard to blame Groupon for that one.) These group-buying sites represent an effective, no-strings blessing in tough economic times. You really should try them. There’s very little risk, and an enormous upside: the triumphant feeling of having gotten something for nothing. And now, if you don’t mind, I have to wrap this up. I’m off to order $50 worth of Italian food that I bought for $25. |
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