Cheap Fashions
British people are more fashion aware these days, but don’t want to spend a fortune on their clothes. Jo Reffin and Sun Chen find out how consumers manage to look good on a budget.
当今的英国人对时尚有了更多的意识，不过他们却并不想在这方面大量的花钱。Jo Reffin和孙晨在本期节目中深入了解当今的英国消费者是如何省钱划算又能紧跟时尚。
BBC Learning English – 15 Minute Programmes 15 分钟节目
About this script
Please note that this is not a word for word transcript of the programme asbroadcast. In the recording and editing process, changes may have been madewhich may not be reflected here.
关于台词的备注：
请注意这不是广播节目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能没有体现录制、编辑过程中对节目做出的改变。
BBC英语听力新闻
Cheap Fashion 便宜的时装
Sun Chen: Hi Jo – that’s a nice shirt you're wearing today? Where didyou get it?
Jo: Actually it was a real bargain…Sun Chen: 怎么，是打了折买的？– how much?
Jo: Well I actually bought it at the supermarket for just afew pounds. And you’re going to hear a lot more aboutcheap clothes in today’s BBC Learning English programme.
Sun Chen: 好啊，我们今天就来看看，在英国，怎么样少花钱，也一样能时尚。
我是孙晨。
Jo: And I'm Jo. The cheap fashion business in the
Sun Chen: 是啊，现在可真是商业极其发达，要想买便宜的衣服，还不光是在主流的品牌专卖店里，就连超市现在也开始卖衣服。
Jo: So it's not unusual to come back from buying your weeklyfood with a nice new pair of jeans or shoes that probablywon't have cost a lot of money.
Sun Chen: 不过要说起来，便宜的衣服也不是什么新鲜事儿，只不过以前没有现在这么流行罢了。Jane McNally 就是一位这样的廉价服装品牌特许经营的主管， 他们的品牌就是Peacocks.
Jo: Why are cheap fashions suddenly so popular?
Insert
I think today's fashion shopper is a lot more fashion aware than they've everbeen before. And I think this confidence has built up amongst the consumers sothey don’t have to rely on a particular label or brand – and so they're quite happyto shop around. They want to achieve the looks they don't want to spend afortune in getting there because they've got a lot of other priorities to spend theircash on nowadays so I think it's become perfectly acceptable now to shop in avalue retailer.
Jo: Jane said today's fashion shopper is a lot more fashionaware.
Sun Chen: To be aware 就是意识到。现在追求服装时尚的人，可是比以前任何年代都要更关注自己是不是更时尚。而且在这些消费群体当中，信心是他们的重要支柱。英语当中建立起来，就是……Jo: To build up – to build up confidence. And consumers.
Sun Chen: 就是消费者。现在的消费者在逛街的时候，也是越来越自信了。他们也再不是依靠什么品牌，来锁定自己要买的东西了。依靠就是……Jo: To rely on.
Sun Chen: 现在大多数的消费者都喜欢逛更多的商店。
Jo: To shop around. Consumers these days want to look goodand fashionable – or as Jane says they want to achieve thelooks but they don't want to spend a fortune doing that. Tospend a fortune.
Sun Chen: 花钱， A fortune 说的就是钱。 这种词儿，你逛街的时候，我想肯定用得着。
Jo: I spent a fortune today. So British people want to look goodbut don't want to spend a lot of money doing so becausethey have a lot of other priorities for spending their cash onnowadays.
Sun Chen: 人们现在最关心的priorities 也有所不同。在花钱方面。 Cash 这个词，经常说的到的就是现金的意思。
Jo: And because of this it has become perfectly acceptable toshop in a value retailer.
Sun Chen: To be acceptable 可以接受to be perfectly acceptable 完全可以接受 a value retailer 就是卖比较廉价的时装店。 Have a listen toJane again.
Insert
I think today's fashion shopper is a lot more fashion aware than they've everbeen before. And I think this confidence has built up amongst the consumers sothey don’t have to rely on a particular label or brand – and so they're quite happyto shop around. They want to achieve the looks they don't want to spend afortune in getting there because they've got a lot of other priorities to spend theircash on nowadays so I think it's become perfectly acceptable now to shop in avalue retailer.
Jo: We also spoke to Melanie Ricky who works for the UKfashion magazine Grazia. She thinks that perhaps cheapfashions don't have the same good quality that expensivebrands do.
Sun Chen: 要她说起来呢，再买衣服的时候，你自己必须要很有眼光。
Jo: Discerning. D-I-S-C-E-R-N-I-N-G. You have to be discerning– if you only want to wear something for two weeks then it'sfine to not spend a lot of money, say ?10.
Sun Chen: 就是差不多150 块钱。不过她倒是说，就是因为便宜，所以这些衣服可能不劲穿。但是你要就是为了穿那么两个星期，这些便宜的衣服，又有什么不好呢？
Insert
I think you have to be quite discerning if you're going to buy something thatyou'll only wear for two weeks that costs you ?10, fine, but if you're going to buya handbag or shoes or coat you know you need to spend a bit more money on itbecause you need the quality – you need it to last. Cheap clothes don't last.
Jo: Jane McNally actually disagrees with Melanie though.
Sun Chen: Jane对这个看法，看来挺不同意。
Jo: Jane says that cheap fashions have become so popularrecently because they have improved in recent years. A fewyears ago cheap clothes may not have lasted a long timebut that's not really the case now.
Sun Chen: 这么说，这些便宜的衣服，以前是穿不了多久，但是最近几年，这种局面已经在很大程度上得到了改变。Here's Jayne.
Insert
I think also that the best value retailers have really upped the ante massively interms of their fashion content over the last few years. We've actually spent a lotof time and effort on getting our fit and quality standards absolutely correct. Ithink maybe going back a couple of years there was some work to be done butnowadays I think our fit and quality standards are really there.
Jo: Let's just take a look at some of Jayne’s language. She saysthe best value retailers have upped the ante massively interms of their fashion content over the last few years. To upthe ante.
Sun Chen: 提高竞争水准。现在这些廉价时装店，已经在很大程度上，提高了自身的竞争实力。
Jo: Massively – they've upped the ante a lot in terms of fashioncontent. In terms of.
Sun Chen: 就是说就什么而言， 那就是说就时装的款式而言。Jane 说他们公司用了很多时间，来提高他们款式和制作水准。衣服合身，就是……Jo: Fit…and quality standards.
Sun Chen: 质量水准。你要是回到过去几年呢……Jo: If you go back a couple of years there was some workto be done.
Sun Chen: 还有很多地方，需要改进。现在她说他们已经到了这个水平。Jane 用了这么一个短语。
Jo: Now we are there – now we have achieved a goodstandard, good quality.
Let's just re-cap some of today's fashion language so farin this programme – we talked about building upconfidence.
Sun Chen: 建立自信。
Jo: And very important for shopping – consumers.
Sun Chen: 消费者。
Jo: You might spend a fortune when you're shopping.
Sun Chen: 花一大笔钱。
Jo: And you need cash to shop.
Sun Chen: 说的是现金。
Jo: And you can buy cheap fashions at value retailers.
Sun Chen: 说的是廉价的专卖店。
Jo: We talked about being discerning.
Sun Chen: 得有好眼光。
Jo: And those value retailers have really upped the ante inrecent years.
Sun Chen: 提升竞争力。
我们刚才听到的是，时装界的业内人士，跟我们在廉价时装，和品牌时装上的对比。我们下面该听听英国的消费者们，都是怎么看的了。
Jo: Do British people prefer to buy cheaper clothes as the recentsuccess of cheap fashions would suggest – or are there a lotof fans of designer labels?
Sun Chen: 时装化的大品牌。
Jo: Listen out for an interesting expression that meansordinary or normal.
Insert
- I used to buy an awful lot of designer clothes but then I discovered percentagemark up on them and that put me right off them.
- I don't really put a focus on the brand. I guess I just have to like to piece ofclothing- I never ever ever buy designer labels because I refuse to advertise somebody'slabel!
- It depends on occasion, where I'm going. If I'm going to wedding, I would gofor a designer at that time.
- I do buy designer labels if I buy a suit for example for work but just casually Ijust buy run of the mill jeans and tops.
Jo: So did you catch the expression meaning ordinary,normal? It was run-of-the-mill.
Sun Chen: Run-of-the-mill 就是一般般。
Jo: Anyway, one woman said she used to buy designer labels.
Sun Chen: 这位女士说她以前老是买些各大名牌，那为什么她现在不买了呢？
Jo: Well she discovered the percentage mark-up on them?
Sun Chen: Percentage 百分比mark-up 就是标价。她后来发现，原来有些大名牌的衣服，实际上制造得非常廉价，但是卖的确是非常贵。
Jo: So the mark-up is very big – so she stopped buying them!
One woman said she would never buy designer labelsbecause she refuses…Sun Chen: 拒绝。她可不想给这些牌子做活广告。做广告，就是to advertise.
Jo: She refuses to advertise someone else's label. Anotherperson said they don't like to focus on brands.
Sun Chen: 就是关注什么事儿。他说现在牌子已经不是他最关心的了，他现在关心的是衣服本身。
Jo: But there are some people who are happy to buy designerclothes. One woman said it depends on the occasion.
Sun Chen: 要看什么场合。他说要是去参加一个婚礼，那么穿一件很名牌的上衣，穿一双大名牌的鞋，是一定的了。
Jo: Another occasion to buy a designer label would be for asuit for work.
Sun Chen: 一套西服。
Jo: But that man gave us the interesting expression – runof-the-mill. He said he would wear a designer suit for work– but casually.
Sun Chen: 休闲。休闲服就是Casual clothes.
Jo: Casually he would just wear run-of-the-mill jeans andtops.
Sun Chen: 这位男士倒是更愿意穿普通的牛仔和一般的上衣。上衣就是Tops.
英国通常把上身穿的衬衫，体恤这些衣服，都叫做a top.
Jo: Let's listen to those people again.
Insert
- I used to buy an awful lot of designer clothes but then I discovered percentagemark up on them and that put me right off them.
- I don't really put a focus on the brand. I guess I just have to like to piece ofclothing- I never ever ever buy designer labels because I refuse to advertise somebody'slabel!
- It depends on occasion, where I'm going. If I'm going to wedding, I would gofor a designer at that time.
- I do buy designer labels if I buy a suit for example for work but just casually Ijust buy run of the mill jeans and tops.
Jo: Let's take another look at some more of today's languageonce more. We talked about designer labels.
Sun Chen: 知名的时装品牌。
Jo: We learnt the expression run-of-the-mill.
Sun Chen: 一般般。
Jo: A percentage.
Sun Chen: 百分比。那英语当中的标价就是……Jo: Mark-up.
Sun Chen: 拒绝。
Jo: To refuse.
Sun Chen: 做广告。
Jo: To advertise.
Sun Chen: 关注。
Jo: To focus on something.
Sun Chen: 那一套西服，英语就是……Jo: Suit. A suit.
Sun Chen: 休闲服就是……Jo: Casual clothes.
Sun Chen: 最后就是，英国通常都把上衣叫做什么呢？
Jo: Yes, that was – a top.
And that just about brings us to the end of our fashionableBBC Learning English programme. Are you someonewho likes designer labels, Sun Chen? Or do you prefer cheapfashions?
Sun Chen: I like to have more cheap clothes but sometimes onoccasions you have to wear something which is very special.
What about you Jo?
Jo: Well as you heard at the start of the programme I loveto find a bargain.
Sun Chen: 啊， Jo是特别喜欢买衣服时讨价还 价。 So you like to shoparound for cheap fashions?
Jo: That's right. I think the quality is fine and it means you canhave a better variety of clothes because you can buy more.
Sun Chen: 这个说得不错， Jo 现在可以放你去逛街了，因为我们的节目马上也要结束了。
Jo: OK it's time to go shopping. We'll see you next time.
Sun Chen: Bye!
