E: Hey, Robert, that's a nice shirt you are wearing. Where did you get it?
R: thanks, I like it too. I bought it at the nearby department store.
E: that's nice. Do you know you can get one at the wholesale market near the zoo for a much lower price?
R: yeah, I know that. But at those places. the prices they ask you are ridiculously high, and if you don't bargain hard, you will get ripped-off.
E: true, learning how to haggle the price is one of the things people have to pick up when they come to China for the first time.
R: yeah, but personally, I hate bargaining. If I bargain,I might come to a lower price, but I will never konw the true price of what I am buying; and I always have the feeling that I am overcharged at those places.
E: yeah, I have the same feeling. Also there is another thing that bothers me the quality. Things in a department store are usually quality-guaranteed. But at a wholesale market, you never know whether what you are buying are of good quality or not.
R: that's why I like department stores more. Shopping at a wholesale market like the locals is one of the few things I am unable to grow accustomd to.
E: I understand. While it's always good to follow the local customs, I guess there are exceptions.
嗨,羅伯特.你身上這件襯衫不錯(cuò),在哪里買的?
謝謝,我也挺喜歡這件襯衫的,就在附近的商場(chǎng)里買的.
挺好的.不過你知道要在動(dòng)物園旁邊的批發(fā)市場(chǎng)里買,還會(huì)便宜很多嗎?
是的,我知道.但是在那些地方,通常他們的要加都很高,要是你不還價(jià)的話,你就會(huì)被狠宰一頓.
的確是,第一次來(lái)中國(guó),人們最開始要學(xué)會(huì)的東西中有一樣就是還價(jià).
是啊,我也有同樣的感覺.不過還有另一件事情讓我覺得很煩,就是質(zhì)量問題.在商場(chǎng)里買的東西,通常質(zhì)量都會(huì)有保證,可是在批發(fā)市場(chǎng),你就不知道你買的東西到底是質(zhì)量好還是不好.
這就是為什么我更喜歡在商場(chǎng)里沒東西,我就總是做不到像當(dāng)?shù)厝艘粯釉谂l(fā)市場(chǎng)里購(gòu)物,真的不習(xí)慣.
我明白.盡管按照當(dāng)?shù)氐牧?xí)俗來(lái)做很好,可是我也覺得應(yīng)該有例外的情況.
rip somebody off usually passive, informal
to cheat somebody, by making them pay too much, by selling them something of poor quality, etc. 敲詐;訛詐
Tourists complain of being ripped off by local cab drivers.
游客們抱怨被當(dāng)?shù)氐某鲎廛囁緳C(jī)敲了竹杠.
haggle:to argue with somebody in order to reach an agreement, especially about the price of something 爭(zhēng)論;(尤指)講價(jià)
I left him in the market haggling over the price of a shirt.
我扔下他自己在市場(chǎng)上就一件襯衫討價(jià)還價(jià).
overcharge:to make somebody pay too much for something 多收(某人的)錢 verb ~ (sb) (for sth)
Make sure they don't overcharge you for the drinks.
注意別讓他們多收飲料費(fèi). VN
We were overcharged by £5.
我們讓人家多收了 5 英鎊.
wholesale:connected with goods that are bought and sold in large quantities, especially so they can be sold again to make a profit 批發(fā);躉售 only before noun
wholesale goods/prices
批發(fā)貨物/價(jià)格