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<table cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" width="700" summary="" border="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" align="left" width="450"><p align="justify"><font color="#333333" size="3">Haven't you always wondered about mystery shoppers? They are paid to shop, while observing the <font color="#003366"><strong>staff</strong></font>, the <font color="#003366"><strong>merchandise</strong></font> and who knows what else? I have, so when my daughter Karen told me she now has a part-time <font color="#003366"><strong>gig</strong></font> as a mystery shopper I was interested. </font></p><p align="justify"><font color="#333333" size="3">On a typical, non-holiday, Saturday Karen was scheduled to go to maybe be the best chocolate shop in California. We were supposed to look around, "<font color="#003366"><strong>sneakily</strong></font>" watch the staff interact with other customers, buy something ourselves (for which she will get <font color="#003366"><strong>reimbursed</strong></font>), and then, receive our free piece of chocolate. Karen was supposed to reject the piece they offered, to see if they would give her another piece. Ohhhh, <font color="#003366"><strong>intrigue</strong></font>!</font></p><p align="justify"><font color="#333333" size="3">Karen asked me if I wanted to accompany her, and even help her. Well, yes! -- of course I'd like to do that. So she showed me her <font color="#003366"><strong>instruction sheets</strong></font> (4 pages long!) on what she was supposed to observe: <font color="#003366"><strong>mundane</strong></font> things that we all sort of <font color="#003366"><strong>routinely</strong></font> ignore when we go into a store. How is the staff dressed, do they have <font color="#003366"><strong>name tags</strong></font>, do they greet you when you walk in, do they try to acquaint you with their merchandise...a long list of things to observe.</font></p><p align="justify"><font color="#333333" size="3">We are the perfect mystery shoppers. Nobody would ever guess that we were actually "working". There is nothing about us that would draw attention to us. We are quiet, always polite, smile at everybody, never <font color="#003366"><strong>cut in line</strong></font>, and so forth. That became obvious the moment we walked in the door. The two clerks didn't even turn around to say hello when we walked through the door, even though a little bell rang when we entered. (1 point off, right there!).</font></p><p align="justify"><font color="#333333" size="3">We looked around, admired the boxes of chocolates, sniffed the wonderful chocolate shop <font color="#003366"><strong>aroma</strong></font>, and decided what to buy. Karen will only be reimbursed for $5 worth of merchandise so we had to consider things very carefully. The two clerks were efficiently filling candy boxes of delicious chocolates while their customers pointed to various piles of chocolates <font color="#003366"><strong>gleaming</strong></font> behind the counter. </font></p><p align="justify"><font color="#333333" size="3">Next was our turn. We had our purchases in hand and went directly to the <font color="#003366"><strong>register</strong></font>. The clerk didn't make eye contact with us, nor did she smile (another point off, <font color="#003366"><strong>darn</strong></font>!). She <font color="#003366"><strong>shoved</strong></font> two milk chocolate butter cremes at us. We left them on the counter. Karen asked if she could have something else, telling the clerk "I don't really care for butter cremes." The clerk looked at her, finally, and said <font color="#003366"><strong>matter-of-factly</strong></font>: "You don't like butter cremes." Then she <font color="#003366"><strong>rang up</strong></font> our purchases while both pieces of chocolate just sat there. I finally picked mine up. The clerk didn't ask Karen what kind she would like, but she did offer her a different chocolate, which Karen accepted with a "thank you" and a smile. (<font color="#003366"><strong>Whew</strong></font>!)</font></p><p align="justify"><font color="#333333" size="3">The clerk never asked us if there was anything else we would like, or if we were interested in buying something for St. Paddy's day, which was their current <font color="#003366"><strong>sales pitch</strong></font>. Finally, somewhat <font color="#003366"><strong>belatedly</strong></font>, she said, "Thank you, and come again." (Yeah!) She barely made it, she would have lost another point if she didn't say that.</font></p><p align="justify"><font color="#333333" size="3">When I think of candy stores, I think of <font color="#003366"><strong>wide-eyed</strong></font> children, who want everything they see and are <font color="#003366"><strong>overwhelmed</strong></font> by the shear wonder of such a place. <font color="#003366"><strong>Granted</strong></font>, for the store clerks, it's probably just a job and a paycheck, but what would it take to actually pretend that it's all great fun to spend your days surrounded by chocolate, of all things. I had never given it a thought before today's mystery shopping adventure.</font></p><p align="justify"><font color="#333333" size="3">When we left the store, we dashed off to Starbucks for coffee in order to review our investigation and so that Karen could fill in her report while the information was still fresh in her mind. I helped, of course, looking over her shoulder to remind her of this and that. We both had to agree that, although we were treated in a businesslike and efficient manner, the staff was hardly friendly, and the trip to the candy store wasn't a memorable event. Except for the rejected chocolate, we didn't even make a <font color="#003366"><strong>blip</strong></font> on their <font color="#003366"><strong>radar screens</strong></font>. I couldn't help but wonder why they couldn't have been a little more friendly. After all, a trip to the candy store should be FUN!</font></p><p align="justify"><font color="#333333" size="3">When we were finished, Karen looked at me somewhat wistfully: "You know, mom, I just hated to reject that candy because I really do love butter cremes!" There is <font color="#003366"><strong>a price to pay</strong></font>, it's all in a day's work for a mystery shopper.</font></p></td><td> </td><td valign="top" align="left" width="220"><br/><font color="#003366" size="2">staff: 员工<br/>merchandise: 商品；货物<br/>gig: （俚语）工作<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>sneakily: 偷偷地<br/><br/>reimburse: 偿还（已花掉的钱）<br/><br/><br/>intrigue: 阴谋；诡计<br/><br/><br/><br/>instruction sheets: 指南；指示<br/>mundane: 平凡的<br/>routinely: 常规地；照例地<br/><br/>name tag: 写着姓名的标签<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>cut in line: 插队<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>aroma: 芳香；香气<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>gleam: 微微发光<br/><br/><br/>register = cash register 收银机<br/><br/>darn: 感叹词，表示不满<br/>shove: 用力推<br/><br/><br/>matter-of-factly: 语气平淡地<br/><font color="#003366">ring up: 把款项记入收银机<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>whew: 吹哨声，用来表达强烈感情<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>sales pitch: 推销词；广告词<br/>belatedly: 迟了<br/><br/><br/><br/>wide-eyed: 目瞪口呆的；吃惊的<br/>overwhelm: 控制；淹没<br/>granted: 假定<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>blip: 光点<br/>radar screen: 雷达屏幕<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>a price to pay: 代价</font></font></td></tr><tr><td><font color="#ffffff" size="2">www.learnmore.com.cn</font></td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td valign="top" align="left" bgcolor="#ffffcc"><br/><font color="#333333" size="2"><strong>值得记忆的词汇</strong>：<br/><br/><strong>staff</strong>: 员工，指全体职员；<br/>例如“全体教职员”是 the teaching staff<br/><br/><strong>name tag</strong>: 写着名字（人名、商品名）等的标签<br/> tag是“标签”的意思，例如服装、酒等上面挂着的价格标签就是price tag<br/><br/><strong>cut in line</strong>: 插队<br/><br/><strong>a price to pay</strong>: 代价<br/>例如：Freedom is not free; there's a price to pay. 自由是要付出代价的。<br/><br/><br/> 朗文英语学习网 <strong>Lisa</strong> <a href="mailto:kikilin@pub5.fz.fj.cn"><font color="#ff6600"><email me><br/></font></a></font></td><td> </td><td> </td></tr></tbody></table> |
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发表于 2007-4-1 13:34:00
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