VOA常速英语:Paris Last-Minute Christmas Shopping

It is Christmas Eve in Paris and Parisians are at the market shopping for last-minute goods to prepare traditional Christmas dinners.
这是巴黎的圣诞前夜，巴黎人在市场购买最后一波商品，来准备传统的圣诞晚餐。

It’s very classic, langoustine, prawns, foie gras, smoked salmon.And then I’m serving veal filet with potatoes and cheese and ice cream.
这很经典，比如龙舌兰、虾、鹅肝酱、烟熏三文鱼，然后我还会做小牛肉、土豆、奶酪和冰淇淋。

But even as people lined up to buy lobsters for 52 euros per half kilo, shopkeepers say they see a slump in sales.
虽然人们排着队购买半公斤就要52欧元的龙虾，但是店主们表示他们的销售额其实在下滑。

What is normally a busy shopping season in the City of Lights has recently taken a downturn amid sometimes violent demonstrations about the economy.
此时的巴黎往常都是处于繁忙的购物季，但最近，受有关经济的暴力示威活动影响，经济出现了低迷。

The yellow vest protesters affected our business certainly on the financial level, and also the minds of customers.
毫无疑问，“黄色背心”抗议者影响了我们的经济业务，也影响了客户们的思想。

Basically the customers come later or they don’t come at all.
顾客会来的晚一些，有的甚至就不来了。

The Parisians came out and mass Christmas Eve despite concerns of protests or violence.
尽管人们担心抗议或暴力活动，巴黎人民还是出来参加了圣诞前夜的弥撒。

I usually do my shopping earlier, but with the recent events in Paris, I was preoccupied with other things.
我通常会很早就去购物，但最近巴黎发生的事情使我全神贯注于其他事情。

And now it’s true, it’s a bit of last minute, because that’s Christmas Eve. But everything went well and I was able to get everything I wanted, so it’s perfect. At the flagship location of Parisian department store Prong Temp, sales dropped by around 10 percent in December alone.
但是现在事实如此，到了最后的时刻了，终于到圣诞前夜了。一切都很顺利，我也买到了自己想要的东西，一切都很完美。在巴黎百货公司旗舰店Prong Temp内，单是12月份的销售额就下降了10%左右。

But despite lower than normal turnout from shoppers,the streets of Paris were abuzz Monday as the spirit of Christmas dinner overcame at least some of the seasonal slump.
尽管购物人数低于正常水平，但圣诞晚餐的精神在一定程度上打败了季节性消费低迷，周一巴黎的街道上仍然熙熙攘攘。

Arash Arabasadi VOA News.
美国之音记者Arash Arabasadi报道。