全食超市

　　2015复习正是强化复习阶段，在考研英语中占了40分，所以考研英语阅读是英语科目中重要的一项。名师老师曾建议过考研生需要坚持每天泛读10-15分钟的英文原刊。强烈推荐了杂志《经济学人》.杂志中的文章也是考研英语的主要材料来源.希望考研考生认真阅读，快速提高考研英语阅读水平。 　　Whole Foods Market 　　全食超市 　　Victim of success 　　成功的受害者 　　A peddler of pricey organic and natural foods findsit has competition 　　贩售昂贵的天然有机食品的商贩发现了竞争对手 　　but it ll cost you 　　但是售价太高了 　　THE colourful chalkboards and baskets of fruit that greet customers at the entrances of WholeFoods Market s shops paint a rosy picture. Yet shares in the American seller of organic andnatural food have fallen by more than 40% since hitting a peak last October, in a period whenstockmarkets have been strong. 　　在全食超市的入口处，色彩斑斓的的黑板画和篮筐里五颜六色的水果迎接着顾客，描绘出一幅乐观的景象。然而美国的天然有机食品售卖者的利润自去年10月触及峰值后，已经下降超过40%，这一时期股票市场一直很强劲。 　　It is not that the retailer is in immediate crisis: its latest quarterly figures, on July 30th,showed sales and profits both up a bit. And it is not that people are going off the idea ofpaying more for food produced without chemical fertilisers, pesticides or additives: theInternational Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements reckons that the industry sworldwide revenues were a record of 63 billion in 2012; and Techsci Research, amarket-research firm, predicts that the American market for such foodsthe world slargestmay grow by 14% by 2018. 　　这并不是说零售商的危机迫在眉睫：7月30日，最新一季度的数据显示其销售收入和利润都有所回升。这并不是说人们不想花更多的钱来购买在生产过程中不施用化肥、杀虫剂和添加剂的食品，国际有机农业运动联合会估计，世界范围内此行业2012年年收入为630亿;据一家名为Techsci Research的市场调查公司预测，到2018年，此类食品的世界第一大市场美国市场的增长也许会达到14%。 　　The problem is that at Whole Foods, shoppers have been paying way over the cost of regularproduce, and its success in getting them to do so has now attracted a lot of competitors,from rival organics chains like Sprouts and Trader Joe s to mass-market retailers likeWalmart and Costco. As a result, the price premium for organic produce is crashing down.On a recent shopping trip, a pound of organic apples cost 2.99 at Whole Foods but just 1.99at Sprouts and even less at Costco. 　　问题是，在全食超市，消费者购买农产品的花费比其常规生产成本高很多，且如今全食超市的成功已经吸引来更多的竞争对手，从有机生产链竞争对手如Sprouts和Trader Joe s到大众市场零售商如沃尔玛、好事多。因此，有机农产品的溢价空间骤缩。近来在各大市场走一圈，一磅有机苹果在全食超市要2.99美元，而在Sprouts仅需1.99美元，在好事多超市价钱甚至更低。 　　The firm has been trimming costs to keep its margins up, but the slump in its share pricereflects investors expectation that this cannot continue, that profits will suffer and thatWhole Foods dominance of the market is coming to an end. 　　全食公司正削减成本以维持利润空间，但其股价的暴跌反映了投资者的预期：这不能继续，利润就会受到影响，以至于全食公司的市场主导地位将会被终结。 　　That the company has had to recall a number of productsin late July it and other grocersrecalled plums and peaches suspected of contamination with Listeria bacteriahas made itharder to maintain an air of superiority over its competitors. Organic foods claim tosuperiority is questionable anyway. Both Britain s Food Standards Agency and the Annalsof Internal Medicine, a journal, concluded after reviewing the extensive studies on the issuethat there is no substantial difference in the nutritiousness of organics and non-organics. Insome respects organics may be bad for the environment, because growing them uses landless efficiently than non-organics. 　　全食公司不得不召回大量农产品在7月下旬，全食公司以及其他零售商召回了怀疑受到李斯特菌污染的梅子和桃子，这使其更难维持其竞争优势。无论如何，有机食品所宣称的优势存在问题。英国食品标准局与《内科医学年鉴》杂志，在对此问题的广泛研究进行审查后得出结论：有机食品和非有机食品在营养成分上没有实质的区别。在某些方面，有机食品也许会对环境不利，因为种植有机蔬菜比种植非有机蔬菜的土地使用效率低。 　　As for natural foods, there is no official definition of this, inAmericaat least; so the label,which Whole Foods also applies to many products, is close to meaningless. Alan McHughen, abotanist at theUniversityofCalifornia,Riverside, argues that the whole industry is 99%marketing and public perception, reeling people in through a fabricated concept of a timewhen food, and life in general, was simple and wholesome. 　　对于天然食品，没有官方定义，至少在美国没有;因此全食公司在其许多产品上贴上此类标签，近乎毫无意义。加州大学河畔分校的植物学家Alan McHughen认为，整个行业就是99%的市场营销和公众看法，这些把人们卷入一个被捏造的观念中：这个时代，食物和日常生活就是简单与健康。 　　If true, the trick has worked nicely for Whole Foods. But its success has attracted so manyimitators that it is losing its uniqueness. Even recent speculation about a takeover bid hasfailed to lift its shares. It may insist its food is sustainable. But it seems its prices are not. 　　如果真是如此，这招对全食公司很有帮助。但它的成功吸引来如此多的效仿者以至于它正失去其独特性。甚至最近，一个关于收购全食公司的炒作也未能提振其股价。它也许坚持认为其食品是可持续发展的。但似乎其食品的售价并非如此。 　　词语解释 　　1.pay for 赔偿;为而付钱 　　We will not pay for your crisis. 　　我们不会为你们的危机付款。 　　All this may be the price we pay for progress. 　　这一切都可能是我们为进步付出的代价。 　　2.come to v. 想起;共计 　　Please stop in when you come to Liverpool. 　　来利物浦时，请顺便来家里坐一坐。 　　Come to see me,do! 　　过来看我，一定要来! 　　3.at least 至少 　　At least it should be. 　　至少应该是极少的。 　　At least, not yet. 　　至少，现在没有。