Passage 1

　　The weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day are by far the biggest shopping period of the year in the US. This year, even though there are many grounds for economic worry, Americans are buying like crazy. Some economists think they are crazy; others are thankful that they are keeping the US economy from slipping into second recession. The slogen of the day is "Shop till you drop!" Environmentalists looking on this orgy of consumption can only be appalled.

　　【參考譯文】

　　從感恩節(jié)到圣誕節(jié)之間的幾周，是美國(guó)人一年中購(gòu)物的最高潮。今年，盡管有很多依據(jù)令經(jīng)濟(jì)堪憂(yōu)，可現(xiàn)在美國(guó)人買(mǎi)東西就像瘋了似的。有些經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家認(rèn)為他們真是瘋了，但也有人對(duì)此心存感謝，認(rèn)為美國(guó)人瘋狂購(gòu)物可以使美國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)不再滑入到第二次蕭條中。購(gòu)物期間的口號(hào)是“買(mǎi)、買(mǎi)、買(mǎi)，一直買(mǎi)到累趴下!”而環(huán)保主義者看到這樣無(wú)度的消費(fèi)也只能是感到驚駭了。