1. 认识这个词(基础篇)
词:big-
例句:Retail sales are sluggish, especially for big-ticket items.
2. 体会这个词 (进阶篇)
我们都很熟悉 big 作为形容词表示“大”,今天我们学习几个它作为前缀使用的例子。
比如我们常用“大嘴巴”形容一个人多嘴多舌,英文中就可以说 big-mouthed。比如你精心准备了一个惊喜,却被“大嘴巴”的朋友搞砸了,就可以说:
The surprise was spoiled by my big-mouthed friend.
说到像宜家、沃尔玛这样的大型购物商场,我们一下子能想到 supercenter,supermarket 等,其实还可以用 big-box store/retailer 表示。比如美国最大的连锁会员制超市 Costco 在激烈竞争下持续增长,我们就可以说:
Costco, America’s big-box store/retailer, has continued to grow despite intensifying competition from Amazon and Walmart.
还有一个常见的 big- 表达:big-ticket,表示“昂贵的”“要花费许多钱的”,最常用的用法是 big-ticket item,比如买个近万元的手机、几万块钱的包包、家具、买辆车,对于大部分人来说都属于 big-ticket item。《经济学人》中也多次出现过 big-ticket,比如:
Retail sales are sluggish, especially for big-ticket items.
Sales of big-ticket items like homes and cars inevitably rise and fall with the business cycle, but RVs are especially susceptible to such swings.
Despite the absence of big-ticket events like the Olympics and the US presidential election, spending on advertising will grow by 4.5% in 2013.
3. 从认识到会用(作业)
1)翻译下面的句子:
购买昂贵物品时,人们依然青睐实体店而不是网络购物。
When it comes to buying big-ticket items, people prefer retail entity store rather than online shopping.
(参考翻译:When it comes to buying big-ticket items, people still favor buying in brick-and-mortar stores as opposed to online. )