VOA慢速英语:Electronics Among Most Popular Gifts This Year

Electronics were among the most requested gifts this holiday season. The Consumer Electronics Association has studied holiday gift buying in the United States for the past eighteen years. Jim Barry is a spokesman for the CEA. We spoke with him last week, just before many Americans exchanged Christmas gifts. He said buyers this year planned to spend a little more than they did last year.
电子产品是这个假期中需求最旺礼物之一。消费者电子协会研究了过去18年美国的假期礼物的消费。Jim Barry是消费者电子协会的发言人。上周，在许多美国人交换圣诞礼物之前，我们采访了他。他说，今年购物者计划比去年多花一些。

JIM BARRY: “And, what they said they were going to buy, the top five were - tablet computers, laptops, TVs, e-readers and video games. And that, as it turns out, here as we get close to Christmas, is what people are actually buying."
JIM BARRY：“而且，他们说自己将要购买的前五名分别是平板电脑，笔记本电脑，电视，电子阅读器和视频游戏。事实证明，随着圣诞节的临近，这些就是人们实际购买的东西。”
 
Tablet computers were the most popular electronic gift this year. Laptop computers finished second. Apple released its iPad 2 tablet computer in March. The company is expected to release the iPad 3 next year. Jim Barry says the iPad continues to lead the way in the tablet market.
平板电脑是今年最流行的电子类礼品，笔记本电脑名列第二。今年三月份，苹果发布了iPad2平板电脑。预计该公司将于明年发布iPad3。Jim Barry称，iPad继续引领着平板电脑市场。

JIM BARRY: “iPads are the leader in tablet computers, and tablet computers are the top of the list of what folks said they were going to buy this year. And, probably north of eighty percent of the tablets being sold up until now have been Apple iPads.”
JIM BARRY：“iPads是平板电脑的领导者，而平板电脑又位于人们打算将要购买的礼物名单榜首。而且，到目前为止，可能超过80%已售出的平板电脑是苹果公司的iPad。”

But, Mister Barry says that is starting to change. He says there are now more choices and less costly tablets available. They include the new Kindle Fire from Amazon-dot-com. E-readers were number three on the CEA’s holiday gift wish list this year. Mr. Barry says that came as a surprise to more than a few people.
但是，Barry先生说，这种情况正开始改变。他说现在的平板电脑选择更多，价格也更低。他们包括来自Amazon.com新的Kindle Fire。电子阅读器位居美国消费者电子协会节日礼物愿望清单的第三名。Barry先生说，这让不少人大吃一惊。

JIM BARRY: “Some folks thought that the popularity and success of the tablet computer would mean sales of e-book readers would go down. Well that hasn’t happened. Sales of e-book readers have more than doubled this year. We’re buying lots more. The leaders there continue to be the Kindle from Amazon and the Nook from Barnes and Noble, along with the e-reader from Sony.”
JIM BARRY：“有些人认为平板电脑的普及和成功意味着电子图书阅读器的销售会下降。但这并没有发生。今年电子阅读器销量已经翻番，我们购买了更多。电子阅读器市场的引领者仍是Amazon公司的Kindle和Barnes and Noble公司的Nook，以及Sony公司的e-reader。”
 
Amazon released its Kindle Fire just in time for Christmas. The new Kindle is a touchscreen tablet computer. Unlike the earlier e-reader, this one is in color and it lets users explore the World Wide Web.
Amazon公司在圣诞节适时的推出了Kindle Fire。这一新的Kindle是一个触摸屏平板电脑。不同于早期的电子阅读器，它是彩色的，而且它让用户可以访问互联网。

The Kindle Fire sells for one hundred ninety nine dollars. This is several hundred dollars less than the iPad. However, it is about the same price people paid last year for the Kindle 3G Wireless. So the big question on a lot of people’s minds this year was whether or not to wait for the price to come down.
Kindle Fire销售价格为199美元，这比iPad便宜了几百美元。但是，它的价格与去年人们购买Kindle 3G无线版的价格基本持平。因此，今年许多人心中最大的问题是，是否要等待其价格回落？

JIM BARRY: “This is the challenge of the early adopter. You know one of the great things about consumer electronics is that the prices get lower as the stuff gets better. And that’s not true of automobiles, or furniture or houses, and so forth. So as the prices get lower, if you bought earlier you may feel a little bit of that ‘well I wish I had waited.’”
JIM BARRY：“这是早期用户面临的挑战。你知道的，消费类电子产品最大的特点之一就是，随着产品越来越好，价格越来越低。而对于汽车、家具或房子等的产品则可能不符合。因此，当价格降低了，如果你早就买了，你可能会觉得有点'要是我还在等待该有多好啊。'”

Mr. Barry says falling prices are a major plus for electronics sales.
Barry先生说，价格不断下降是电子产品销售的一个主要优点。

JIM BARRY: “That’s one of the reasons why consumer electronics devices - TVs and everything else really - do relatively well, even in this type of difficult economy.”
JIM BARRY：“这就是为什么像电视和其他相关消费型电子设备销售表现比较好的原因之一，即使是在这种经济困难时期。”

He gives another reason why electronics were popular as Christmas gifts.
他给出了另一个为什么电子产品作为圣诞礼物如此流行的原因。

JIM BARRY: “They’re really cool so you’re pretty much guaranteed that if you give one of these things to someone as a gift, they’re going to be happy they got it.”
JIM BARRY：“它们真的很酷。所以你更能确保如果你将这些东西中其中一件作为礼物，人们收到礼物时会很高兴。”