有聲英文閱讀-美國各種類型的商店
American stores
美國各種類型的商店
In the United States you will find yourself being urged from every page of every newspaper and on practically every television station to buy all kinds of goods that you are actually quite happy without.
Not only is there a wide range of prices for goods in America, there is also a wide range in the quality of goods offered for sale. Unlike some countries, Americans generally pay the price of a product without question, instead of trying to get a lower price by bargaining. However, there are many "sales" in the United States, during which time stores will lower their normal prices. This may all be very confusing to the visitor. Which is the best product to buy out of hundreds to choose from? How are you going to know how to "get your money's worth" when you shop? Perhaps the best advice is: Don't hurry. Visit various stories and determine the quality of goods. Examine them carefully. Read the advertisements so that you can compare prices. Explore and examine before you buy.
There is a great variety of shops in the United States, ranging from very large stores called "department stores," offering clothing, furniture, household goods as well as many other goods, to very small shops that specialize in just one kind of product. There are "discount houses" offering goods at low prices, and "dime stores" specializing in a wide range of inexpensive items.
Most department stores in large cities carry average to better quality products at average to higher prices. However, they offer the shopper great convenience since they contain such a wide variety of products.
If convenience isn't important to you as price, you many want to shop in some of the discount houses. These stores have nearly as great a variety of goods as department stores, but offer lower prices. They can do so for several reasons. They don't offer the same services to buyers that department stores do; there may be fewer sales people; and the store probably doesn't deliver purchases.
There are many small shops in America, as there are everywhere, that offer a more limited quantity of products. Usually run by a small number of salespeople, these shops offer products that range from inexpensive to very expensive, depending on the shop. You are likely to receive more attention from the sales-people in small shops than in department stores.
Another popular shop is the "dime store," sometimes referred to as the "five and ten." No longer selling many things for five or ten cents, these stores got their name in the last century when it was decided that a small profit on a great quantity of goods would be better than a large profit on fewer sales. Dime stores specialize in a wide variety of inexpensive items and today, prices range from a quarter or 50 cents up to several dollars. If you need a small item and don't want to spend very much, the dime store is likely to have just what you are looking for.
The United States is also known for its "supermarkets," where huge quantities of all kinds of food and household articles are sold. These stores offer good quality food at lower prices than smaller food stores.
The vast majority of Americans do all their food shopping in supermarkets. One of the most interesting sections to visit is the frozen food section. With discoveries in methods to preserve food, almost every kind of food can be frozen and yet keep its original flavor. Since frozen foods require so little time to cook, they have naturally become very popular everywhere in the coutry.
在美國，你不知不覺地發(fā)現(xiàn)，月份報(bào)紙的每一頁，特別是每個(gè)電視臺(tái)的廣告都在敦促你去購買各種各樣的商品。其實(shí)，如果你不買這些商品的話，也許你會(huì)更快活。
在美國，不但所出售的商品的價(jià)格大不相同，連商品的質(zhì)量也是完全不一樣。不像在其他一些國家，美國人一般按產(chǎn)品的價(jià)格付款時(shí)都不爭(zhēng)講價(jià)錢，不是通過討價(jià)還價(jià)來企圖以較低的價(jià)格來買到產(chǎn)品。不過，在美國也有很多"促銷"活動(dòng)，在促銷期間各類商店都會(huì)把他們的正常價(jià)格降下來。這使得訪客們感到大惑不解，在數(shù)百個(gè)選擇機(jī)會(huì)當(dāng)中，哪一種產(chǎn)品才是最好的呢？每當(dāng)你去商店購物時(shí)，你怎樣才能知道你的錢花得物有所值呢？也許最好的忠告就是：別著急，多跑幾層樓查看一下商品的質(zhì)量，仔細(xì)檢驗(yàn)一下商品，看看各種廣告以便你可以比較一下價(jià)格。在你還沒買之前先考察一番，檢驗(yàn)一下商品質(zhì)量。
在美國，有好多不同類型的商店：從供應(yīng)衣著用品、家具、日雜用品以及被稱為"百貨公司"的大型商店，直到專營某種產(chǎn)品的一些很小的商店。還有以低價(jià)供貨的"特價(jià)商品屋"和專營各種下大值錢的東西"十美分商店"。
在一些大城市，大多數(shù)百貨公司經(jīng)營的產(chǎn)品一般說來質(zhì)量較好，但價(jià)格平均也比較高。盡管價(jià)格較高，因?yàn)榘儇浌纠镉泻芏嗪芏嗟牟煌漠a(chǎn)品，這就給逛商店的人提供了很大的方便。
如果對(duì)你來說，這些方便不如價(jià)格重要，那你可以去一些特價(jià)商品屋去采購。這些商店所擁有的商品幾乎跟大百貨公司一樣地品種繁多，可是價(jià)格去比較低。特價(jià)商品屋之所以能這樣做，有下列幾種原因：他們不能像大百貨公司提供給買主的那些服務(wù)項(xiàng)目；特價(jià)商品屋的銷售人手比較小，所以這種商店可能不會(huì)送貨上門。
在美國，正像世界各地一樣，有很多小店鋪，這些小店鋪供應(yīng)的商品品種就更有限了。通常只有少數(shù)幾個(gè)人在經(jīng)營這個(gè)店鋪，這些鋪?zhàn)咏?jīng)營的產(chǎn)品有不貴的也有很貴的，這要看該鋪?zhàn)拥那闆r了。在這些小鋪?zhàn)永锉却蟀儇浌纠锬憧赡軙?huì)得到售貨員的更加細(xì)心的照料。
另一種很受歡迎的商店就是"10美分店"，有時(shí)也稱為"5分10分店。"這些商店的名字是上個(gè)世紀(jì)起的，那時(shí)簿利多銷總比厚利少銷要好，這是很清楚的。10美分店專門經(jīng)營種類繁多的便宜貨，今天的價(jià)格是25美分或50美分，直到幾美元的東西都有。如果你想買一件小東西，但又不想多花錢，那么10美分店里很可能就會(huì)有正是你所要撒謊的那件東西。
美國以其"超級(jí)市場(chǎng)"而稱著于世，超市里出售大量的花色品種繁多的食品和日用品。超市所供應(yīng)的食品與較小的食品店比較起來質(zhì)量好，價(jià)格低。
絕大多數(shù)的美國人都在超級(jí)市場(chǎng)里采購食品。冷凍食品部是人們最有興趣去的部門之一。冷藏食品的各種方法問世以來，幾乎各種食品都可以冷凍并且能保存原滋原味。因?yàn)槔鋬鍪称匪枰呐胫茣r(shí)間很短，所以在美國冷凍儀器自然就成了到處都受歡迎的食品了。
