美国文化口语秀(文本+MP3) 第389期:美国人会卖肾买iPhone7吗?

今天我们说iPhone 7。你会学到超实用的英语谈论手机。我们还要聊聊为什么中国人换手机比美国人频繁？在美国买iPhone、签手机套餐有什么不同？美国没有水货机？

关键词：

苹果果然不一样。苹果发布会，全球瞩目。发布会的英语是：
product launch
to unveil a new product
不过苹果特立独行，会用另一个词：
Apple Special Events
每次发布会，Tim Cook都会这样说:
It's the best iPhone we've ever created：这是我们有史以来创造的最好的iPhone
iPhone 7的新功能
Features and functions: 功能
Key features and functions on the iPhone 7 & 7 Plus: iPhone 7和7加的重要新功能

1.Color：颜色
Apple came out with two new colors, two different types of black: 苹果这次出了两种新颜色，两种不同的黑：
Jet black (glossy): 黑色 (亮黑、漆黑)
Black (matte): 黑色（哑光）
加上以前的三个颜色：
rose gold: 玫瑰金
gold: 金
sliver：银
一共是5个颜色，传说中的海军蓝(navy blue)并没有出现。
Black is such a sophisticated color: 黑色是个很高级、有质感的颜色
It's very sleek: 简单、有品位又有型
I might go for the silver: 我大概还是会选银色
On Apple's official website, they use the word "finish" instead of color: 苹果官网用的是“finish"这个词，而不是"color"
They mean the same: 其实意思都一样

2.Airpods：无线耳机
Airpods are wireless headphones：Airpods就是无线耳机
They are powered by Bluetooth：是用蓝牙驱动的
Doesn't it eat up your battery? 这样不是很耗电？
On the one hand, I am a fan of wireless headphones: 从一方面来说，我还挺喜欢无线耳机的
Because all the headphones I've ever had with wires I always broke them：因为有线耳机总被我弄坏
For me , the problem is the wire gets all messy and tangled: 我的问题是，有线耳机的电线总会很乱、都绕成一团
Once you put the wire in a bag, the wire has a life of its own: 一旦你把有线耳机放进包里，它就不受你控制了
It's all in knots / knotted up: 线都打结了
It's messy / tangle：乱作一团、绕在一起
I encounter this problem on a daily basis: 我每天都碰到这个问题

用Airpods就没这个问题啦！可是这耳机要单买，还很贵：
Airpods are not included in the phone. It's sold separately: 不是连手机一起的，要单买
That's how they get you. That's how they up-sell you：就是让你多付点钱
You can plug your old wire headphones into the headphone jack：不过旧的也可以用，接个转换头
But it's like an extra piece of equipment: 还得多弄个配件

3.Dual-lens: 双镜头
Dual 是“双”的意思，经常用在科技领域，例如双核：dual core。这个词给人感觉很geeky(技术)。
而且这个词发音也有点儿难呢。日常生活中，更口语的说法是double:
double camera
double lens
两个镜头、分工不同：
telephoto lens: 长焦镜头
wide angle: 广角镜头
It allows you to zoom 10 times：双摄像头可以让你十倍变焦
It gives you really high resolution pictures：可以拍高清照片
HD picutres = high definitionpictures

美国人不卖肾，卖胳膊和腿
Do you know the meme of selling one of your kidneys to buy an iPhone: 你知道卖肾买iPhone这个梗吗？
我们调侃说“卖肾”买iPhone, 英语里也有个异曲同工的说法：
To cost an arm and a leg:
相当于一条胳膊、一条腿的价值，指特别贵的东西
例如：
The iPhone 7 Plus costs an arm and a leg.
We don't say selling your kidney: 我们没有卖肾的说法
But we do make jokes on selling organs for expensive things：但我们也会开玩笑说要卖器官才能买很贵的东西

美国手机文化和中国有什么不一样？
1.换手机的频率
I feel like Chinese seem to buy or upgrade phones a little bit more often：我感觉中国人换手机的频率好像更高一点
A lot of people like to have the latest phones to be fashionable: 有人觉得用新手机，很时髦
It's like a status symbol: 更像是一种地位象征
Also, Americans can't change phone often because they're locked in contracts: 还有，美国人不能老换手机，因为他们大多数人都被合约机绑住了

2.合约机 VS 非合约机
1). Contract Phone
在美国， contract phone （合约机）更常见。大多数人都会选择合约机。下图是这词iPhone 7 Plus的合约机价格，对比非合约机价格：
You get your phone with a contract：合约机
They are locked in these 1-2 year long contracts：美国人常常被1-2年的合同绑住
The longer the contract the cheaper the phone, or you get it for free: 合同越长，手机越便宜，或者免费
But it's super inflexible: 但是超级不灵活
Even if you are on a contract, you might be able to get an upgrade: 有些合约你也可以升级，换手机
Locked phone: 锁机
If you have a contract phone with a carrier, it might be a locked phone: 和运营商签的合约机可能是锁住的
For example, Verizon, doesn't give you a SIM card: 比如, Verizon(美国一个运营商), 根本不给你sim卡
Their phones are locked: 他们都是锁机
If you travel and want to get a local SIM card, it won't work: 如果你出国，想当地买SIM卡，就不行
说到Verizon, Spencer真是一肚子苦水......

美国4大运营商 （mobile carrier）
AT&T
Verizon
Sprint
T-Mobile
Mobile carrier: 移动运营商
They offer different plans: 都提供不同的套餐
Cell phone plan: 手机套餐
Minutes plan: 通话分钟套餐
Text plan: 短信套餐
Data plan: 流量套餐

美国无限上网套餐很普遍
The carriers are pushing everyone towards unlimited data plans：运营商都鼓励大家签无限流量套餐
Americans pay quite a lot for their cell phone bills, over $100 or even $200 a month: 所以美国人的手机账单很贵，常常都要100多美金，甚至200美金一个月
Pay in full, unlocked phone: 付全价，解锁机
You need to pay full price for the phone: 全额付款, 买下手机
You need to pay full retail price for the phone：全额零售价

行货价
MSRP: manufacture suggested retail price 生产商建议零售价
You see this word MSRP a lot in the US, buying a car, buying electronics: 在美国，常看到MSRP这个词，特别是买车、买电器、电子产品
Many stores will list the MSRP and list their own price that's cheaper: 很多店会标出MSRP, 然后再写一个自己店里的优惠价

水货机
Spencer说美国买不到什么水货机，有这几个说法：
smuggled phone
back channel phone
smuggled goods
Smuggle: 走私
Back channel: 非官方渠道

短期去美国旅游，可以买Go Phone
It's called a Go Phone, a short term plan: 是个短期合约, 叫Go Phone
You can get it in Walmart and lots of other places: 沃尔玛啦，其它很多地方都买得到
It's about $50, 60 a month: 大概50；60刀一个月
Everything is unlimited,unlimited minutes, unlimited data: 流量、电话都是无限的
漫游：roaming
Data roaming: 数据漫游
China Mobile has data roaming where it's capped at RMB30 a day, you can use unlimited data in the US: 中国移动现在有流量漫游，30人民币一天封顶，可以无限量用数据
越狱手机: jail-broken phone
We just call it jail break: 越狱，就是jail break
Or a jail-broken phone: 或者可以说jail-broken的手机
Respect official channels: 我还是尊重正规体系

苹果生态体系
One of the biggest reasons I stick with apple products and the iPhone is the podcasts:我一直用苹果产品、iPhone一大主要原因，就是听播客
There is a handful of podcasts that I listen to religiously every day and they are such a big part of my life: 有几个播客，我是每天不拉地听，是生活里特别重要的一部分
If I don't use Apple, it'll be quite inconvenient to listen to these American podcasts on iTunes: 不用苹果，要听这种美国播客会挺不方便的
I'm locked into Apple ecosystem: 我已经被苹果生态系统锁住了