People make healthier choices when buying online

广西陆川中学 黄波谕

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海词积累

1.scannern.扫描器；扫描仪

2.sophisticatedadj.复杂巧妙的3.revenuen.收益

4.initiativen.倡议；新方案

As more and more grocery shoppers turn to the Internet—some 4%of all groceries sold in the United States in 2016 were bought online,and the share is projected to reach 20%within a decade—retailers face increasing pressure to better understand their habits.A new study comparing digital and in-store buying sheds valuable light.

The researcher examined the purchasing histories of 34,000 households over two and a half years,usingscannerdata from a large supermarket chain that began rolling out an online option in 2015.When ordering online,the researcher found,households were less price-sensitive and less inclined to save money by searching for substitute items;they spent$49 more a month,on average,than when buying in stores.The increase was not evenly distributed:People spent more on categories that generally contain nutritious items,namely dairy items （an average rise of 3.8%）,fruit （5.9%）,meat （5.7%）,and vegetables （7.4%）,cutting back on drinks (a decrease of 5.2%),oils（4.1%）,and snacks and sweets （13.6%）.

“These results are consistent with behavioral theories that people make better decisions when they focus on the future,”the researcher said.The lag between ordering online and receiving the groceries could encourage healthier choices.And because the level of distraction（noise,the presence of children,and so on） and the influence of product placement are lower than in physical stores （no checkout lanes or end-of aisle displays）,consumers may have an easier time exercising self-control.“For retailers,a moresophisticatedonline pricing strategy,which includes the fact that the value of convenience appears to be different across the two purchasing environments,would likely lead to increased onlinerevenues,” the researcher wrote.“While for policy makers,initiativesthat promote healthier choices could improve the quality of food purchases.”

—FromHarvard Business Review

阅读自测

1.Which word can best replace the underlined word “projected” in paragraph 1?

A.Planned. B.Expected. C.Adapted. D.Concluded.

2.What are the statistics in paragraph 2 about?

A.Food variety.

B.Table manners.

C.Consuming habits.

D.Restaurant service.

3.What does paragraph 3 mainly talk about?

A.The results of the new study.

B.The pricing strategy by retailers.

C.The content of behavioral theories.

D.The reasons for making online choices.

文本探究

探究视角1：语篇分析

近年来，随着互联网的迅速发展，越来越多的人选择网上购物。网上购物的习惯给零售商们带来了新的压力。一项新的研究为了解人们的网购习惯带来希望。通过研究34,000个家庭的购物历史发现，尽管这些家庭希望通过网购省钱，但他们实际上平均每个月却花费得更多了，并且这些钱更多地被花在有营养物质的商品上。人们在网购时会做出更健康的选择的原因主要有：网上订购和收到食品杂货之间的时间延迟、购物时注意力的分散程度、网上产品布局的影响，以及零售商们更加精明的在线定价策略。

本文是一篇说明文，对网上购物使得人们做出更加健康的选择这一现象进行了解说。

本文的篇章结构如下：

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探究视角2：语言学习

I.话题表达

retailern.零售商；零售店

grocery shoppers杂货店购物者

be projected to reach 20%预计将达到20%

face increasing pressure to better understand their habits面对越来越大的压力来更好地了解他们的习惯

purchasing histories采购历史

be less price-sensitive对价格的敏感度降低

be inclined to save money by searching for substitute items倾向于通过寻找替代品来省钱

spend more on categories that generally contain nutritious items花更多的钱在通常含有营养物质的商品上

make better decisions做更好的决定

the lag between ordering online and receiving the groceries网上订购和收到食品杂货之间的时间延迟

encourage healthier choices鼓励更健康的选择

the level of distraction分心的程度

the influence of product placement产品放置的影响

physical stores实体商店

a more sophisticated online pricing strategy更精明的在线定价策略

the value of convenience方便的价值

purchasing environments购物环境

online revenues在线收益

improve the quality of提高……的质量

Ⅱ.高频短语

turn to转向

be projected to do预计……

shed light（on sth）使某事容易理解

roll out正式推出（新产品）

be inclined to do倾向于……

save money省钱

on average平均

be consistent with与……一致

focus on专注于

lead to导致；通向

Ⅲ.写作推荐

时间状语从句的紧缩现象

When ordering online,the researcher found,households were less price-sensitive and less inclined to save money by searching for substitute items.研究者发现,在网上订购时,家庭对价格的敏感度较低,也不太倾向于通过寻找替代物品来省钱。

【点石成金】本句中的the researcher found为主句，其余部分为宾语从句；为强调家庭在网上订购的心理，宾语从句中的时间状语When ordering online被提前到句首。When ordering online相当于When households were ordering online，因宾语从句中的时间状语从句的主语和宾语从句中主句的主语均为households，故将时间状语从句的主语和be同时省略。

探究视角3：文化拓展

As more and more shoppers turn to the Internet when purchasing，do you think if they really make healthier decisions?Why or why not?