Introduction

More and more people are spending the night shopping on their laptops and smartphones. But is this always a good idea? Neil and Rob discuss their shopping habits and offer you vocabulary for free!

This week's question

According to the UK's Office for National Statistics, at the end of 2018, what percentage of all retail sales took place online? Was it…

a)???9.8%

b)?????19.8%, or

c)???29.8%?

Listen to the programme to find out the answer.

Transcript

Note: This is not a word for word transcript

Neil

Hello. This is 6 Minute English and I'm Neil. And joining me today is Rob.?

Rob

Hello.?

Neil

Rob, how do feel about shopping??

Rob

Urgh! Mooching around a shopping mall from one shop to another, spending money -?it's my idea of hell!?

Neil

How about shopping online??

Rob

Ah yes, much better – sitting in front of the TV and browsing online is much easier.?

Neil

Well that can be a problem – it's sometimes too easy, especially when we are tired – and we sometimes make purchases we regret. That's what we'll be talking about in this programme – an activity known as 'vampire shopping'.?But before we continue, it's my job to set you a quiz question, so here goes. According to the UK's Office for National Statistics, at the end of 2018, what percentage of all retail sales took place online? Was it…

a)?9.8%,

b) 19.8%, or

c) 29.8%??

Rob

Buying things online is big business now, so I'll say c) 29.8%.

Neil

Well, you’ll have to wait a bit to find out. But let's talk more now about vampire shopping – this term refers to shopping late at night - traditionally a time when vampires appear.??

Rob

Most of us are asleep at this time but sleep-deprived parents, shift-workers and gamers might not be. If you're an?insomniac?– someone who can't sleep easily – it's tempting to open up your laptop and start shopping.??

Neil

Online shops are open 24 hours a day so it's easy to get sucked in and do some shopping!?

Rob

When you?get sucked into something?it means you can't stop yourself getting involved with something that you didn't want to do. So what you're saying Neil is at night, when we're very tired, we don't always think straight and can make some bad decisions.?

Neil

That's right. And this shopping temptation can be particularly problematic for those with mental health issues. It's something Helen Undy has been talking about on the BBC Radio 4 programme, You and Yours. She is the Chief Executive of the Money and Mental Health Institute. Let's hear what she had to say…?

Helen Undy, Chief Executive, Money and Mental Health Institute

Our ability to control our impulse to spend and to resist things like advertising is reduced when we're?sleep deprived. Well mental health problems can have a similar effect so the mental health problems themselves make it harder to?resist the urge?to spend and they also cause sleep deprivation, so?you're alone possibly surfing the internet, and both the lack of sleep and the mental health problems make it harder to resist the things that you can see.?

Neil

Helen said that for all us, when we're?sleep deprived?– that means not having enough sleep – we find it harder to?resist the urge?to shop. We're more sucked in to shopping by the advertising we see.?

Rob

And?resist the urge?means stop yourself acting on a strong feeling to do something. But this is more serious for people with mental health issues. They are particularly sleep deprived and along with everything that's going on in their minds, they find it harder to resist – to stop themselves buying things.?

Neil

I suppose buying things at night, if you're alone, gives you some comfort - even a?feel-good factor?– doing something that gives someone a happy and positive feeling. I certainly feel good when I've bought something. But Rob, have you ever bought something you?regret??

Rob

Yes. Bits of tech, even flight tickets to somewhere I didn't really want to go to – because they were cheap!?

Neil

Regret?is a sad feeling you get when you've made a mistake and wished you hadn't made the mistake in the first place. We all have regrets Rob, particularly when buying things – but there's usually the option to return something and get a refund.?

Rob

That's true but it's not always easy. Let's hear what Helen Undy had to say about that.?

Helen Undy, Chief Executive, Money and Mental Health Institute

We found in our research that 75% of people, so regardless of whether you've got a mental health problem or not - three-quarters of people didn't send back the last thing they bought online that they?regretted.?We found that 4 in 10 people with mental health problems didn't send things back because they were so ashamed of the things that they were buying that they just wanted to pretend it never happened.?

Neil

So, she says that three-quarters of people didn't send back the last thing they bought that they?regretted. Maybe they were too embarrassed??

Rob

Possibly. But it's not always easy to return an item and for those with mental health issues it can be a struggle,?a great effort. Helen Undy says that sometimes they were ashamed of their purchase.?

Neil

Well I think we have all bought things we are ashamed of. But while online shopping continues to expand the temptation will always be there.?

Rob

Well your question earlier was about the rise in online shopping, so what's the answer, Neil??

Neil

I asked according to the UK's Office for National Statistics, at the end of 2018, what percentage of all retail sales took place online? Was it…

a)?9.8%,

b) 19.8%, or

c) 29.8%??

Rob

I said c) 29.8%. I've got to be right!?

Neil

Well, you're not. The rise was a bit smaller at b) 19.8%. But that's still large compared with ten years previously, when the figure was just 5.8% of all retail sales.?

Rob

No doubt the figure will continue to rise. And before I nip off to do a bit of vampire shopping, let's recap some of the vocabulary we've mentioned today. Starting with?insomniac.?

Neil

An?insomniac?is someone who can't sleep easily. They suffer from?insomnia.?

Rob

Next we talked about?to?get sucked into something.?This informal phrase means not being able to stop yourself getting involved with something that you don't want to do.?

NeilIf you are?sleep deprived, you do not having enough sleep.?

Rob

And if you?resist the urge, you stop yourself acting on a strong feeling to do something. For example, resisting the urge to buy something online.?

Neil

But if you don't resist the urge to buy something, it might have a?feel-good factor.?A?feel-good factor?is something that makes you feel happy and positive.

Rob

But after buying something you may have?regret.?That's a sad feeling you get when you've made a mistake and wished you hadn't made the mistake in the first place.?

Neil

Well hopefully you haven't regretted spending 6 minutes listening to us!?Please join us next time and in the meantime, why not check us out on your favourite social media platforms and on our app.?

Rob

Goodbye!?

Neil?

Goodbye!

Vocabulary

insomniac

someone who can't sleep easily?

to?get sucked into something

not being able to stop yourself getting involved with something that you don't want to do?

sleep deprived

not having enough sleep?

resist the urge

to stop yourself acting on a strong feeling to do something?

feel-good factor

doing something that gives someone a happy and positive feeling?

regret

sad feeling you get when you've made a mistake and wished you hadn't made the mistake in the first place

雙語版Transcript

Neil:?Hello. This is 6 Minute English and I'm Neil. And joining me today is Rob.

大家好。這里是六分鐘英語，我是尼爾。今天和我一起主持節(jié)目的是羅伯。

Rob:?Hello.

大家好

Neil:?Rob, how do feel about shopping?

羅伯，你對購物有何感受？

Rob:?Urgh! Mooching around a shopping mall from one shop to another, spending money - it's my idea of hell!

呃！從一個(gè)商場逛到另一個(gè)商場花錢——這就是我心中的地獄！

Neil:?How about shopping online?

那在網(wǎng)上購物呢？

Rob:?Ah yes, much better - sitting in front of the TV and browsing online is much easier.

啊，好多了——坐在電視機(jī)前和在網(wǎng)上購物要輕松得多。

Neil:?Well that can be a problem - it's sometimes too easy, especially when we are tired - and we sometimes make purchases we regret. That's what we'll be talking about in this programme - an activity known as 'vampire shopping'. But before we continue, it's my job to set you a quiz question, so here goes. According to the UK's Office for National Statistics, at the end of 2018, what percentage of all retail sales took place online? Was it...a) 9.8%, b) 19.8%, or c) 29.8%?

嗯，這可能也是個(gè)問題，有時(shí)候，尤其是當(dāng)我們累了的時(shí)候，購物太容易了，我們有時(shí)就會買讓我們后悔的東西。這就是我們在本期節(jié)目中要討論的話題——一項(xiàng)被稱為“吸血鬼式購物”的活動。但在我們繼續(xù)節(jié)目之前，我的任務(wù)是給你們出一道測試題。根據(jù)英國國家統(tǒng)計(jì)局的數(shù)據(jù)，截止到2018年底，網(wǎng)上零售額占總零售額的比例是多少？是占……a)9.8%, b) 19.8%,或 c) 29.8% ?

Rob:?Buying things online is big business now, so I'll say c) 29.8%.

如今，網(wǎng)上購物是一宗大生意，所以我選c) 29.8%。

Neil:?Well, you'll have to wait a bit to find out. But let's talk more now about?vampire shopping?- this term refers to shopping late at night - traditionally a time when vampires appear.

嗯，那你得等一會兒才能知道答案了。但現(xiàn)在，讓我們來談?wù)劇拔硎劫徫铩薄@個(gè)詞是指在深夜很晚還在購物——深夜傳統(tǒng)上是吸血鬼出現(xiàn)的時(shí)候。

Rob:?Most of us are asleep at this time but sleep-deprived parents, shift-workers and gamers might not be. If you're an insomniac - someone who can't sleep easily - it's tempting to open up your laptop and start shopping.

除了睡不著的父母、上夜班的人和游戲玩家可能還沒睡之外，我們大多數(shù)人在這個(gè)時(shí)間點(diǎn)都已經(jīng)睡著了。如果你是一個(gè)失眠癥患者——一個(gè)很難入睡的人——打開你的筆記本電腦開始購物還是很有誘惑力的。

Neil:?Online shops are open 24 hours a day so it's easy to get sucked in and do some shopping!

網(wǎng)上商店一天24小時(shí)營業(yè)，所以你會很容易被誘惑進(jìn)網(wǎng)店里，并且買一些東西。

Rob:?When you get sucked into something it means you can't stop yourself getting involved with something that you didn't want to do. So what you're saying Neil is at night, when we're very tired, we don't always think straight and can make some bad decisions.

當(dāng)你被卷入（get sucked into something）某事，意思是你無法阻止自己卷入你不想做的事情。所以尼爾的意思是，在晚上，當(dāng)我們很累的時(shí)候，我們無法一直清晰的思考，就會做出一些不明智的決定。

Neil:?That's right. And this shopping temptation can be particularly problematic for those with mental health issues. It's something Helen Undy has been talking about on the BBC Radio 4 programme, You and Yours. She is the Chief Executive of the Money and Mental Health Institute. Let's hear what she had to say...

沒錯(cuò)。對于那些有心理健康問題問題的人來說，這種購物誘惑尤其是個(gè)大問題。這是海倫·昂迪在BBC廣播4臺節(jié)目《你和你的家人》中所談?wù)摰脑掝}。她是“金錢與心理健康研究所”的首席執(zhí)行官。讓我們聽聽她是怎么說的……

Helen Undy, Chief Executive, Money and Mental Health Institute

海倫·昂迪，金錢與心理健康研究所首席執(zhí)行官

Our ability to control our impulse to spend and to resist things like advertising is reduced when we're sleep deprived. Well mental health problems can have a similar effect so the mental health problems themselves make it harder to resist the urge to spend and they also cause sleep deprivation, so you're alone possibly surfing the internet, and both the lack of sleep and the mental health problems make it harder to resist the things that you can see.

當(dāng)我們睡眠不足時(shí)，我們控制消費(fèi)沖動和抵制廣告等行為的能力就會減弱。心理健康問題也有類似的影響，所以心理健康問題本身就會導(dǎo)致（大家）很難抗拒沖動消費(fèi)，心理健康問題還會造成睡眠不足，所以你可能一個(gè)人上著網(wǎng)，缺覺和精神健康問題會讓你更加難以拒絕你能看到的東西。

Neil:?Helen said that for all us, when we're sleep deprived - that means not having enough sleep - we find it harder to resist the urge to shop. We're more sucked in to shopping by the advertising we see.

海倫說，對我們所有人來說，當(dāng)你睡眠被剝奪——這個(gè)短語的意思是睡眠不足，我們會發(fā)現(xiàn)更難抑制購物的沖動。我們會更容易被所看到的廣告吸引去購物。

Rob:?And?resist the urge?means stop yourself acting on a strong feeling to do something. But this is more serious for people with mental health issues. They are particularly sleep deprived and along with everything that's going on in their minds, they find it harder to resist - to stop themselves buying things.

抵制這種沖動（resist the urge）的意思是停止自己強(qiáng)烈要做某事的感覺。但這對有心理健康問題的人來說更為嚴(yán)重。他們尤其缺乏睡眠，而且隨著他們大腦里浮現(xiàn)的每樣?xùn)|西，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)很難抗拒——阻止自己購物。

Neil:?I suppose buying things at night, if you're alone, gives you some comfort - even a?feel-good factor?- doing something that gives someone a happy and positive feeling. I certainly feel good when I've bought something. But Rob, have you ever bought something you regret?

我想，如果你是一個(gè)人，晚上購物會給你帶來一些安慰，甚至帶給你一些感覺良好的因素（feel-good factor）——即做一些給某人帶來快樂和積極趕緊的事情。當(dāng)我們買東西的時(shí)候，我肯定感覺很好，但是羅伯，你有沒有買過令你后悔的東西呢？

Rob:?Yes. Bits of tech, even flight tickets to somewhere I didn't really want to go to - because they were cheap!

買過。一些科技產(chǎn)品，甚至是去我不想去的地方的機(jī)票——因?yàn)樗鼈儽阋司唾I了！

Neil:?Regret?is a sad feeling you get when you've made a mistake and wished you hadn't made the mistake in the first place. We all have regrets Rob, particularly when buying things - but there's usually the option to return something and get a refund.

后悔（Regret）是當(dāng)你犯了錯(cuò)誤并希望你自己原先沒犯這個(gè)錯(cuò)誤時(shí)所產(chǎn)生的一種不好的感覺。羅伯，我們都有后悔的時(shí)候，尤其時(shí)買東西的時(shí)候，但通?？梢赃x擇退貨或者退款。

Rob:?That's true but it's not always easy. Let's hear what Helen Undy had to say about that.

沒錯(cuò)，但并不總是那么容易，讓我們聽聽海倫·昂迪是怎么說的。

Helen Undy, Chief Executive, Money and Mental Health Institute

海倫·昂迪，金錢與心理健康研究所首席執(zhí)行官

We found in our research that 75% of people, so regardless of whether you've got a mental health problem or not - three-quarters of people didn't send back the last thing they bought online that they regretted. We found that 4 in 10 people with mental health problems didn't send things back because they were so ashamed of the things that they were buying that they just wanted to pretend it never happened.

我們在研究中發(fā)現(xiàn)，75%的人，不管你是否有心理健康問題，四分之三的人沒有把他們在網(wǎng)上買的上一件令他們后悔的東西退回去。我們發(fā)現(xiàn)，每10個(gè)有心理健康問題的人中，就有4個(gè)沒有把東西退回去，因?yàn)樗麄儗ψ约嘿I的東西感到非常羞愧，他們只想假裝從沒有買過這件物品。

Neil:?So, she says that three-quarters of people didn't send back the last thing they bought that they regretted. Maybe they were too embarrassed?

所以，她說四分之三的人沒有將他們買的上一件讓自己后悔的東西退回去。也許是他們覺得太尷尬了？

Rob:?Possibly. But it's not always easy to return an item and for those with mental health issues it can be a struggle, a great effort. Helen Undy says that sometimes they were ashamed of their purchase.

可能吧。但退貨并非總是易事，對于那些有心理健康問題的人來說，退貨可能是一場斗爭，要付出巨大的努力。海倫·昂迪說，有時(shí)他們?yōu)樽约旱馁徺I感到羞愧。

Neil:?Well I think we have all bought things we are ashamed of. But while online shopping continues to expand the temptation will always be there.

嗯，我想我們都買過讓自己感到尷尬的東西。但是，隨著網(wǎng)上購物的規(guī)模不斷擴(kuò)大，網(wǎng)上購物誘惑將永遠(yuǎn)存在。

Rob:?Well your question earlier was about the rise in online shopping, so what's the answer, Neil?

你之前的問題是關(guān)于網(wǎng)上購物規(guī)模的增長，那么答案是什么呢？尼爾？

Neil:?I asked according to the UK's Office for National Statistics, at the end of 2018, what percentage of all retail sales took place online? Was it... a) 9.8%, b) 19.8%, or c) 29.8%?

我的問題是，根據(jù)英國國家統(tǒng)計(jì)局的數(shù)據(jù)，2018年底，網(wǎng)上零售額占所有零售額的百分比是多少？它是……a)9.8%, b) 19.8%,或 c) 29.8% ?

Rob:?I said c) 29.8%. I've got to be right!

我選的是c) 29.8%。我肯定是對的!

Neil:?Well, you're not. The rise was a bit smaller at b) 19.8%. But that's still large compared with ten years previously, when the figure was just 5.8% of all retail sales.

呃，你答錯(cuò)了。漲幅稍小，為19.8%。但與10年前相比，這個(gè)漲幅就很大了，當(dāng)時(shí)的網(wǎng)上零售額僅占全部零售額的5.8%。

Rob:?No doubt the figure will continue to rise. And before I nip off to do a bit of vampire shopping, let's recap some of the vocabulary we've mentioned today. Starting with insomniac.

毫無疑問，這個(gè)數(shù)字還會繼續(xù)上升。在我閃人去進(jìn)行一波“吸血鬼式購物”之前，讓我們來回顧一下今天提到的一些詞匯吧。首先是insomniac（失眠癥患者）。

Neil:?An insomniac is someone who can't sleep easily. They suffer from insomnia.

失眠癥患者是指不容易入睡的人。他們飽受失眠之苦。

Rob:?Next we talked about to get sucked into something. This informal phrase means not being able to stop yourself getting involved with something that you don't want to do.

接下來我們我們要談到的是get sucked into somethin（被卷入某事）。這個(gè)非正式短語的意思是，無法阻止自己卷入你不想做的事情。

Neil:?If you are sleep deprived, you do not having enough sleep.

如果你失眠（sleep deprived），你就沒有足夠的睡眠。

Rob: And if you resist the urge, you stop yourself acting on a strong feeling to do something. For example, resisting the urge to buy something online.

如果你抑制住了這種沖動（resist the urge），你就會抑制住自己想要做某事的強(qiáng)烈感覺。比如，抑制住網(wǎng)上購物的沖動。

Neil:?But if you don't resist the urge to buy something, it might have a feel-good factor. A feel-good factor is something that makes you feel happy and positive.

但如果你沒有抑制住買東西的沖動，購物可能會讓你感覺良好（have a feel-good factor）?！癆 feel-good factor”這個(gè)短語的意思是讓你感到快樂和積極的東西。

Rob:?But after buying something you may have regret. That's a sad feeling you get when you've made a mistake and wished you hadn't made the mistake in the first place.

但買了東西之后呢，你可能會后悔（have regret）。當(dāng)你犯了一個(gè)錯(cuò)誤并希望當(dāng)初沒有煩這個(gè)錯(cuò)誤時(shí)，你就會有何種讓你難過的感覺。

Neil:?Well hopefully you haven't regretted spending 6 minutes listening to us! Please join us next time and in the meantime, why not check us out on your favourite social media platforms and on our app.

希望你沒有后悔花了6分鐘聽我們的節(jié)目！請下次再加入我們，同時(shí)，何不在你最喜歡的社交媒體平臺和我們的應(yīng)用程序上查看我們的節(jié)目呢！

Rob:?Goodbye!

再見！

Neil:?Goodbye!

再見！