Sam bumped into Jason after school, and they started to talk about their plans for the coming weekend.

(山姆放学后巧遇杰森，他们开始聊起周末的计划。)

Sam:

Jason, have you finished the essay for the English literature?

(杰森，你完成英国文学的报告了吗？)

Jason:

Yeah. I finished it yesterday.

(有喔！我昨天就写完了。)

Sam:

So soon! I plan to do it over the weekend.

(这么快！我打算周末才要做。)

Jason:

Over the weekend? You’re not going to Black Friday sales?

(周末？你不打算去黑色星期五的特卖会抢购吗？)

Sam:

Black Friday sales? Yeah. That does remind me that I keep seeing posters and TV commercials on Black Friday sales recently.

(黑色星期五的特卖会？嗯，这倒让我想到最近我一直看到海报和电视广告宣传黑色星期五的特卖会。)

Jason:

Of course you do. Black Friday is big! Since it is the day after Thanksgiving, many states in America have the day off to make it a four-day weekend. So retailers wouldn’t miss the opportunity to hold doorbuster sales to booster their revenues.

(这是当然的啊！黑色星期五是很重要的日子！因为它是接著感恩节的隔一天，美国很多州都会放假，所以包含周末有四天连假。因此零售商都不会错过这个机会，举办开门大抢购，增加营收。)

Sam:

Really? I don’t know that. I do know Friday the 13th, but Black Friday? It just sounds negative to me, you know, just like Black Death, black cats and things like that.

(真的吗？我不知道耶！我知道13号星期五，但是黑色星期五？听起来就很像黑死病、黑猫等等的，感觉很负面。)

Jason:

Well, I can’t blame you for thinking that way. But actually the term “Black Friday” is derived from the fact that retail stores almost always make big bucks on that day, going from “in the red” to “in the black.”

(嗯，你会这么想是正常的，但其实黑色星期五这名词是源自于零售店在这一天几乎都会赚大钱，营收由亏损变成盈余。)

Sam:

I see. But what makes it different from other sales? Aren’t there other similar sales all year round?

(原来如此，但这样它跟其他特卖会有何不同？一年里不是也有其它类似的特卖会吗？)

Jason:

Well, with Christmas just weeks away, people want to pamper themselves after their hard work for the past year. So generally, Black Friday has been considered the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. Plus, some stores offer the best bargains of the year on Black Friday only.

(嗯，因为圣诞节就剩几个星期，人们辛苦了一年，想好好的犒赏自己，所以一般来说，黑色星期五一直被认为是耶诞购物季的开始。而且有些商店只会在黑色星期五这天提供最优惠的特价商品。)

Sam:

Okay! That does sound very tempting.

(好的，那的确听起来很诱人。)

Jason:

It does! That’s why some people camp out over the Thanksgiving holiday in order to secure a place in front of the line and thus have a better chance at getting the items they want.

(是啊！那就是为何有些人会在感恩节那天，便开始在外扎营，抢得队伍前面的位置，这样才有可能买到他们想买的东西。)

Sam:

Wow! That really sounds extreme, especially with the weather being this cold.

(哇！那真的听起来很极端，尤其在这么冷的天气。)

Jason:

That’s because you may save hundreds of dollars on those big-ticket items!

(那是因为买昂贵商品的话，有可能省下数百元美金啊！)

Sam:

Jason, you do sound like an experienced bargain hunter!

(杰森，看来找特价商品，你真的听起来很有经验耶！)

Jason:

As a matter of fact, I’m going to camp out at Walmart tomorrow. I have my eye on a SONY flat screen TV.

(其实，我明天打算要在沃尔玛外面扎营，我想要买一台新力的液晶电视萤幕。)

retailer

n. [C] 零售商、零售店

doorbuster sales

ph. 开门大抢购

make big bucks

ph. 赚大钱

in the red

ph. 有亏损

in the black

ph. 有盈余

pamper

v. 宠爱

shopping season

ph. 购物季

bargain

n. [C] 特价商品、便宜货

camp out

ph. 在外扎营

big-ticket

adj. 昂贵的(放在名词前修饰)

bargain hunter

ph. 搜寻特价商品的人

have one’s eye on

ph. 想要得到、密切注意