Unit 6 Bargains

1. Unit 6 Bargains P1 Listening and Speaking Activities P2 Reading Comprehension and Language Activities P3 Extended Activities

2. Bargains Dictation Grammar work Vocabulary work Translation Over P2 Reading Comprehension and Language Activities • Pre-reading Task • Notes • Comprehension work • Language work (A, B)

3. P2 Reading Comprehension and Language Activities Pre-reading Task Discuss the following questions. • Do you like to bargain when doing shopping? When and why? • Is bargaining a weakness or strong point in human nature? Why? • Is bargaining harmful or beneficial to our society?

4. Bargains Let us take the orthodox definition of the word bargain. It is something offered at a low and advantageous price. It is an opportunity to buy something at a lower price than it is really worth. A more recent definition is: a bargain is a dirty trick to extort money from the pockets of silly and innocent people.

5. Bargains I have never attended a large company’s board meeting in my life, but feel certain that the discussion often takes the following lines. The cost of producing a new — for example — toothpaste would make 80p the decent price for it, so we will market it at ￡120. It is not a bad toothpaste (not specially good either, but not bad), and as people like to try new things it will sell well to start with; but the attraction of novelty soon fades, so sales will fall. When that starts to happen we will reduce the price to ￡1.15. And we will turn it into a bargain by printing 5p OFF all over it, whereupon people will rush tobuy it even thoughit still costs about forty-three percent more than its fair price.

6. Bargains Sometimes it is not 5p OFF but 1p OFF. What breathtaking impertinence to advertise 1p OFF your soap or washing powder or dog food or whatever. Even the poorest old-age pension ought to regard this as an insult, but he doesn’t. A bargain must not be missed. To be offered a “gift” of one penny is like being invited to dinner and offered one single pea (tastily cooked), and nothing else. Even if it represented a real reduction it would be an insult. Still, people say, one has to have washing powder (or whatever) and one might as well buy it a penny cheaper. When I was a boy in Hungary a man was accused of a shilling, andpleadedguilty. The judge was outraged: “To kill a man for a shilling! …What can you say in your defence?” The murderer replied: “A shilling here … a shilling there”. And that’s what today’s shopper says, too: “A penny here … a penny there”.

7. Bargains The real danger starts when utterly unnecessary things become “bargains”. There is a huge number of people who just cannot resist bargains and sales. Provided they think they are getting a bargain they will buy clothes they will never wear, furniture they have no space for. Old ladies will buy roller-skates and non-smokers will buy pipe-cleaners. And I once heard of a man who bought an electric circular saw as a bargain and cut off two of his fingers the next day. But he had no regrets: the saw had been truly cheap.

8. Bargains Quite a few people actually believe that make money on such bargains. A lady I know, otherwise a charming and seemingly sane girl, sometimes tells me stories such as this: “I’ve had a lucky day today. I bought a dress for ￡120, reduced from ￡400. ” She feels as though she has made ￡280. She also feels, I am sure, that if she had more time for shopping, she could make a living out of it.

9. Bargains Some people buy in bulk because it is cheap. I once knew a couple who could not resist buying sugar in bulk. They thought it a tremendous bargain, not to be missed, so they bought enough sugar for their lifetime and the lifetime of their children and grandchildren. When the sugar arrived they didn’t know where to store it — until they realized that their loo was a very spacious one. So that was where they piled up their sugar. Not only did their guests feel rather strange whenever they were offered sugar to put into their coffee, but the loo became extremely sticky.

10. Bargains To offer bargains is a commercial trick to make the poor poorer. When greedy fools fall for this trick, it serves them right. All the same, if bargains were prohibited by law, our standard of living would immediately rise by 7.39 per cent.

11. offer reduce • put forward sth to sby to be considered and accepted 提供 e.g. They offered me the computer for 1000 yuan. 这台电脑他们卖我1000块。 • (1) to make sth smaller or less in size, amount 减少，降低 e.g. All the dresses were reduced to 80 yuan. 这些裙子的价格都降到了80元。 (2) reduce sb to doing, to force sb to a particular kind of behavior or way of life 迫使某人做某事，是某人不得不做某事 e.g. Tom was reduced to begging now. 汤姆已沦落为乞丐。

12. rush to do even though • to do sth eagerly and without delay 抢着做某事，赶紧做某事 e.g. The boys rushed to play football when class was over. • used to emphasis that although sth happens or is true, sth also happens or is true 虽然，尽管 e.g. Even though they love each other, they decided not to marry each other. 尽管他们相爱，但他们决定不结婚。

13. plead seemingly • a legal term for a person to answer a charge at court, admitting whether he is guilty (在法庭上)(不)承认(有罪); (对 . . . )申辩 e.g. He never pleads guilty. 他从不承认有罪。 • (1) appearing to be sth when this is not actually true 看上去，表面上，外观上 e.g. The road was dusty and seemingly endless. 路上尘土飞扬，似乎没有尽头。 (2) according to the facts as you know them 从已知事实来看，看样子 e.g. There is seemingly nothing we can do to stop the plans going head. 看样子我们无法阻止这些计划的实施。

14. Comprehension work A Summarise the story • What is the main idea of the passage? • Write your answer below. B Summarise the paragraphs C Study the story (I) Discuss the following questions. • What is the difference between the orthodox definition and the recent understanding of the term bargain? • How would a business market its new product? And when would it cut down the price?

15. Comprehension work C Study the story (II) Discuss the following questions. • What makes a customer think that “a bargain must not be missed”? • What does it mean when shoppers say “A penny here, … a penny there”? • What is the real danger of bargain? • What common misconception do consumers have when they blindly spend money on bargains? • What point does the writer want to make with the example of a couple who buy sugar in bulk? • What does the last paragraph mean? And how would you look at this issue?

16. Language work (A, p81) • We should try a new approach. Orthodox thinking will lead to no solution to the new problem. • Although there was much publicity about the movie, I personally found little novelty in the story line. • The local police arrested those gangsters who extorted protection money from shop owners. • The boy shouted, “Go home, Sheep !”whereupon the dog quickly went home for help.

17. Language work (A, p81) • His anger seemed to fade after my explanation. • The woman pled not guilty. She denied that she had stolen the expensive fur-coat. • The sign of “Fire” tells you that smoking is prohibited in the gasoline station. • My great-uncle was a little clumsy, otherwise he was a perfect minister. • To be more competitive in the market, our production costs must be reduced to the minimum.

18. Language work (B, p81) • Though the couple could only make a marginal profit, they could make a living out of the small business. • In some supermarkets, goods can be made very cheap if they are bought in bulk. • Since you have to pass the exam, you might as well do some revision. • With many safety devices missing, my bike would have flunked an inspection, but I could ride it very fast all the same. • Some women fall for the businessmen’s trick that cosmetics can make them look younger and prettier.

19. Language work (B, p81) • The boy was punished by the man because he often kicked down his mailbox. I think it served him right. • Provided that water is found on Mars, human can establish settlements there. • The traveler was accused of drug-trafficking by the Customs officers. • Automobiles are subjected to an annual inspection for the sake of traffic safety. • Many teenagers regard exams as a nightmare.

20. Dictation Script of the Dictation A son of a successful businessman decided to join his father’s business. His father told him that in order to be successful he had to learn the first lesson in business. The father told the son to stand on the roof. The boy climbed on to the top of the house and stood there. The father then ordered his son to jump from the roof which was ten feet to the ground. Naturally, the son was afraid and hesitated. The father urged his son by saying, “So you want to learn about business, son?”“Yes, Dad,” his son replied. “Well, trust me and jump,” the father shouted. So the boy jumped and broke his leg. The father rushed to him and said, “Wow, Son, you’ve learned the first lesson in business — Never trust anybody.”

21. Grammar work (answers) A More about modal verbs (I) • We should/ought to have read the instruction carefully. • We shouldn’t/ oughtn’t to have bought so much sugar. • John shouldn’t/oughtn’t to have left the restaurant without paying his bill. • You should/ought to have bought that washing powder.

22. Grammar work (answers) A More about modal verbs (II) • I shouldn’t/oughtn’t to have got so angry with you about the dress. • I haven’t seen that film. I didn’t see it when it was on. I would like to have seen it. • I didn’t revise the lesson. I decided not to take the test. But I could have passed id easily. • Jennifer was sick last night. You couldn’t have seen her walking to the library.

23. Grammar work (answers) B More about unreal conditional sentences (I) • If it hadn’t rained most of the morning, their walk would have been pleasant. • If they hadn’t forgotten to bring a map, they wouldn’t have lost their way. • They wouldn’t have been late if they had gone the right way. • They would have been able to eat at the café if it hadn’t been closed.

24. Grammar work (answers) B More about unreal conditional sentences (II) • If they had had some food with them, they wouldn’t have felt hungry. • If Alison hadn’t fallen and hurt her leg, they wouldn’t have had to go very slowly. • They wouldn’t have missed their bus home if they hadn’t got to Raveley too late. • If Adam hadn’t been at home, he wouldn’t have been able to come and fetch them in his car.

25. Vocabulary work (answers, p87) • 01~05 b a c a c • 06~10 c a b a c • 11~14 a b c a

26. Translation • 毕业后，他先是做工程师，然后当了厂长。（to start with） After graduation, he became an engineer to start with, then the director of a plant. • 我想我还是接受他的邀请为好，因为你不能老是拒绝别人。 (may as well) I think I may as well accept his invitation, for you can’t keep saying no to people. • 为了安全起见，车上每个人都必须系上安全带。 （for the sake of） Everyone in the car must wear a seat belt for the sake of safety. • 把温度降到摄氏零度，水就会变成冰。（reduce to） Reduce the temperature to zero degree centigrade and water will freeze/turn into ice.

27. Translation • 他被指控犯盗窃罪。事实上，他是无辜的。 （be accused of） He was accused of theft. But actually he was innocent. • 除了女主角的表演有点过火外, 这是一部优秀的影片。 （otherwise） The heroine’s performance is a little exaggerated, but otherwise it is an excellent movie. • 有时大人也会上小孩的当。（fall for） Sometimes even adults will fall for children’s tricks. • 如果她和你分手, 那是你活该，谁让你老对她撒谎？ （serve somebody right） You lied to her again and again. So if she leaves you, it serves you right.