短句問答28：商業經濟Gift certificates, or rather their high-tech new replacements gift cards . are Americas most popular present. They spare gift-givers the strain of choosing anything specific. and recipients the horror of having to keep the result. Retailers like them too, because they are quite profitable. But like most goods in the recession, they have become harder to shift, prompting some radical redesigns.
Gift cards are profitable because retailers receive money for them up from, and around 10% of them are never redeemed , according to Lew Paine of the GFK Group, a market-research firm. When people do use them. they often spend more than the amount given. on products with high margins.
But sales of gift cuds were down by around 6% last year in America, to about $25 billion, partly because discounts in stores were so steep that customers naw more value in buying merchandise directly. Bankruptcies among retailers also scared people away from gift cards, for tear that scores would not be around to honour them. Some financial-services companies that offer gift cards which can be used in various stores, including Visa and American Express, came under fire for charging monthly maintenance fees on unspent balances.
Analysts expect another tough holiday season for gift cards this year. Sales will be down by about 5%, projects Archstone Consulting, which studies the business. Retailers arc trying to counter this decline by making gift cards more attractive. One approach is fo add nifty packaging. Target, for example，is selling gift cards that double as wind-up toys or play recorded greetings. Other retailers have launched schemes that let people e-mail one another electronic gift certificates, which the recipients can then print out for use.
Some retailers have even given gift cards away in an effort to drum up business. Neiman Marcus. for example, sent $50 gift cards to prolific customers to entice them back for further sprees. Target will give a $l0 gift card to people who spend $l00 before noon on the Friday after Thanksgiving, which is considered the start of the holiday shopping season. Such handouts can be cheaper than sha~p store-wide discounts. which proved devastating to profits last year. Expiry dates add a sense of urgency, which retailers are eager to foster.
But many customers also have a crafty streak. Bargain-hunters are flocking to eBay and other websites to buy discounted, second-hand gift cards for their own use. eBay is thought to sell around 100,000 gift cards every month. PlasticJungle.com and other sites where people sell unwanted gift cards at discounts, as high as 40% are one pan of the gift-card business which has boomed of late.
參考譯文
禮券，或者其高科技替代品禮卡是美國最受歡迎的禮物。禮券讓送禮者不必費心挑選特別的禮物，同時也免去了收禮者不得不勉強收下禮物的忐忑。零售商同樣喜歡禮券，因為禮券的利潤豐厚。但是像大多數處於蕭條期的商品一樣，禮券變得更加難以轉換，這促使人們對它進行一些徹底的重新設計。
據一家市場研究公司GFK的盧 佩恩所說，禮卡的利潤之所以豐厚，是因為零售商可以預先收到棧，並且這些錢的大約10%是不返還的。當人們使用禮卡時，他們的消費通常超出禮卡內的金額，而這些用禮卡購買的商品，其利潤都很高。
但是去年美國的禮卡銷售額下降了6%左右，減少到大約250億美元，其中部分原因是商店折扣太大，顧客覺得直接購買商品更划算。零售商的破產也讓人們產生了恐懼，他們擔心商店不能兌現承諾，因此開始遠離禮卡。一些提供禮卡以供在各類商店消費的金融服務公司，包括維薩和美國運通，由於收取每月餘額管理費，也受到了衝擊。
分析家預測今年禮卡將會迎來又一個銷售淡季。而根據商業研究公司阿奇斯通諮詢公司估計，禮卡銷售額將下降5%。零售商正試著將禮卡製做得更具吸引力以應對此下降趨勢。其中一種方法是增加俏皮的包裝。例如，塔吉特正在銷售一種禮卡，它既可以當做上發條的玩具，也可以播放錄製的問候。另一些零售商採用了一些方案：讓人們相互電郵發送電子禮券，接收者可以將其列印出來使用。
一些零售商為了招攬生意，甚至贈送禮卡。例如，內曼 馬庫斯給購買商品多的客戶贈送價值50美元的禮卡，以吸引他們再次光顧。塔吉特會給那些在感恩節之後周五中午之前消費滿lOO元的顧客贈送價值10美元的禮卡。這類散發的禮卡可以比大幅度的全店折扣更便宜，並且在去年被證明是對利潤的毀滅性打擊。禮卡終止日給人一種緊迫感，這也是零售商所想要培養的。
但是很多客戶也很精明。討價還價者群集到eBay和其他網站購買打折的二手禮卡，以供自己使用。而據說eBay每月銷售約100，000張禮卡。PlasticJungle.com和其他一些站點組成了晚興起的禮卡商業的一部分，在這些網站人們以高達40%的折扣銷售不需要的禮卡。
測試題
1. One of the reasons for the popularity of gift cuds lies in that gift-givers dont have to worry about______________________.
2. Whats che drawback of gift cards when the economy is in recession?
3. Some companies that offer gift cards were severely affected last year because_________.
4. How do retailers respond to the decline of sales of gift cards?
5. Retailers gave om handouts to promote consumption. but their efforts turned out__________.
答案詳解
1.
第1段第1-2句。
解析：原文spare gift-givers the strain中spare意為 使免遭 ，對應題干gift-givers dont have to worry about，本題答案應在介同of之後找，即choosing anything specific，填choosing gifts也對。
2.
第1段最後一句。
解析：第1段先講禮卡給送禮、收禮之人及零售商帶來的一些好處，緊接著以But 進行轉折，指出禮卡在經濟大蕭條時期遇到的問題 難以轉換，即They are harder to shift，為本題答案。
3.
第3段最後一句。
解析：severely affected是對原文came under fire的同義改寫，原句for後面的內容即是需要填入空格處的原因，照抄原文即可。
4.
第4段第3句。
解析：respond to the decline 相當於原文中的counter this decline，原文by後面引出的是零售商採取的方法，即題干所問，故為答案。
5.
第5段倒數第二句。
解析：該段提到零售商為了招攬生意，甚至給消贊者贈送禮卡。該段倒數第二句指出零售商這一做法產生的後果，即對利潤造成了相當程度的影響。題干中turned out和原文proved表達相同的意思 被證明是 ，proved後的內容照搬即可。
Gift cards are profitable because retailers receive money for them up from, and around 10% of them are never redeemed , according to Lew Paine of the GFK Group, a market-research firm. When people do use them. they often spend more than the amount given. on products with high margins.
But sales of gift cuds were down by around 6% last year in America, to about $25 billion, partly because discounts in stores were so steep that customers naw more value in buying merchandise directly. Bankruptcies among retailers also scared people away from gift cards, for tear that scores would not be around to honour them. Some financial-services companies that offer gift cards which can be used in various stores, including Visa and American Express, came under fire for charging monthly maintenance fees on unspent balances.
Analysts expect another tough holiday season for gift cards this year. Sales will be down by about 5%, projects Archstone Consulting, which studies the business. Retailers arc trying to counter this decline by making gift cards more attractive. One approach is fo add nifty packaging. Target, for example，is selling gift cards that double as wind-up toys or play recorded greetings. Other retailers have launched schemes that let people e-mail one another electronic gift certificates, which the recipients can then print out for use.
Some retailers have even given gift cards away in an effort to drum up business. Neiman Marcus. for example, sent $50 gift cards to prolific customers to entice them back for further sprees. Target will give a $l0 gift card to people who spend $l00 before noon on the Friday after Thanksgiving, which is considered the start of the holiday shopping season. Such handouts can be cheaper than sha~p store-wide discounts. which proved devastating to profits last year. Expiry dates add a sense of urgency, which retailers are eager to foster.
But many customers also have a crafty streak. Bargain-hunters are flocking to eBay and other websites to buy discounted, second-hand gift cards for their own use. eBay is thought to sell around 100,000 gift cards every month. PlasticJungle.com and other sites where people sell unwanted gift cards at discounts, as high as 40% are one pan of the gift-card business which has boomed of late.
參考譯文
禮券，或者其高科技替代品禮卡是美國最受歡迎的禮物。禮券讓送禮者不必費心挑選特別的禮物，同時也免去了收禮者不得不勉強收下禮物的忐忑。零售商同樣喜歡禮券，因為禮券的利潤豐厚。但是像大多數處於蕭條期的商品一樣，禮券變得更加難以轉換，這促使人們對它進行一些徹底的重新設計。
據一家市場研究公司GFK的盧 佩恩所說，禮卡的利潤之所以豐厚，是因為零售商可以預先收到棧，並且這些錢的大約10%是不返還的。當人們使用禮卡時，他們的消費通常超出禮卡內的金額，而這些用禮卡購買的商品，其利潤都很高。
但是去年美國的禮卡銷售額下降了6%左右，減少到大約250億美元，其中部分原因是商店折扣太大，顧客覺得直接購買商品更划算。零售商的破產也讓人們產生了恐懼，他們擔心商店不能兌現承諾，因此開始遠離禮卡。一些提供禮卡以供在各類商店消費的金融服務公司，包括維薩和美國運通，由於收取每月餘額管理費，也受到了衝擊。
分析家預測今年禮卡將會迎來又一個銷售淡季。而根據商業研究公司阿奇斯通諮詢公司估計，禮卡銷售額將下降5%。零售商正試著將禮卡製做得更具吸引力以應對此下降趨勢。其中一種方法是增加俏皮的包裝。例如，塔吉特正在銷售一種禮卡，它既可以當做上發條的玩具，也可以播放錄製的問候。另一些零售商採用了一些方案：讓人們相互電郵發送電子禮券，接收者可以將其列印出來使用。
一些零售商為了招攬生意，甚至贈送禮卡。例如，內曼 馬庫斯給購買商品多的客戶贈送價值50美元的禮卡，以吸引他們再次光顧。塔吉特會給那些在感恩節之後周五中午之前消費滿lOO元的顧客贈送價值10美元的禮卡。這類散發的禮卡可以比大幅度的全店折扣更便宜，並且在去年被證明是對利潤的毀滅性打擊。禮卡終止日給人一種緊迫感，這也是零售商所想要培養的。
但是很多客戶也很精明。討價還價者群集到eBay和其他網站購買打折的二手禮卡，以供自己使用。而據說eBay每月銷售約100，000張禮卡。PlasticJungle.com和其他一些站點組成了晚興起的禮卡商業的一部分，在這些網站人們以高達40%的折扣銷售不需要的禮卡。
測試題
1. One of the reasons for the popularity of gift cuds lies in that gift-givers dont have to worry about______________________.
2. Whats che drawback of gift cards when the economy is in recession?
3. Some companies that offer gift cards were severely affected last year because_________.
4. How do retailers respond to the decline of sales of gift cards?
5. Retailers gave om handouts to promote consumption. but their efforts turned out__________.
答案詳解
1.
第1段第1-2句。
解析：原文spare gift-givers the strain中spare意為 使免遭 ，對應題干gift-givers dont have to worry about，本題答案應在介同of之後找，即choosing anything specific，填choosing gifts也對。
2.
第1段最後一句。
解析：第1段先講禮卡給送禮、收禮之人及零售商帶來的一些好處，緊接著以But 進行轉折，指出禮卡在經濟大蕭條時期遇到的問題 難以轉換，即They are harder to shift，為本題答案。
3.
第3段最後一句。
解析：severely affected是對原文came under fire的同義改寫，原句for後面的內容即是需要填入空格處的原因，照抄原文即可。
4.
第4段第3句。
解析：respond to the decline 相當於原文中的counter this decline，原文by後面引出的是零售商採取的方法，即題干所問，故為答案。
5.
第5段倒數第二句。
解析：該段提到零售商為了招攬生意，甚至給消贊者贈送禮卡。該段倒數第二句指出零售商這一做法產生的後果，即對利潤造成了相當程度的影響。題干中turned out和原文proved表達相同的意思 被證明是 ，proved後的內容照搬即可。
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