Mystery boxes 买 “盲盒” 的利与弊
“盲盒” 里通常装有不同的产品，但消费者无法在购买前得知具体的产品样式。“盲盒” 中的商品类型多样。比如：玩具手办、潮流服饰、零食百货。如果你想低价购入多个商品，那么买 “盲盒” 则既能省钱，又能收获惊喜。但从卖家的角度来看，它是否只是出售多余存货的一种销售模式？这种销售模式有何利弊？本文介绍 “盲盒” 的流行。
词汇：shopping 购物
Most of us know what it's like to get presents from friends. Whether it's for a birthday or other celebration, it's hard to beat the excitement of opening a carefully
wrapped
box to find something that's both unexpected and
suits
you perfectly. Now, imagine if you could get the same feeling when you go shopping for yourself. That's the feeling that mystery boxes hope to replicate. 我们大多数人都知道收到朋友的礼物是什么感觉。无论是生日还是其他庆祝活动，打开一个精心包装的盒子，发现意想不到又非常适合你的东西，这种兴奋是很难比的。现在，想象一下，如果你在为自己购物时也能有同样的感觉。这就是神秘盒子希望复制的感觉。 Mystery boxes are not a new idea – they were a feature of
department stores
in Japan in the early 20th Century. They contain a range of different
products
, which are sold at a lower
price
than their
combined value
. The key thing is that
customers
don't know what's in the box before they buy. All kinds of mystery boxes are available:
fashion
boxes, food boxes,
beauty
boxes, even
loot boxes
, which are virtual items for video games. 神秘盒子并不是一个新想法——它们是20世纪初日本百货公司的一个特色。它们包含一系列不同的产品，这些产品的售价低于它们的总价值。关键是顾客在购买之前不知道盒子里装的是什么。各种各样的神秘盒子可供选择:时尚盒子、食物盒子、美容盒子，甚至战利品盒子，这些都是电子游戏中的虚拟物品。 The pleasant surprise is not the only attraction of mystery boxes. They also allow people to try things that they otherwise wouldn't. Seasonal vegetable
subscription boxes
might lead people to learn to cook new meals. They can also potentially offer great
savings
– as the
recommended retail price
of the contents is often far higher than the
purchase price
. For
retailers
and
suppliers
the benefits are clear – it allows them to sell
unwanted stock
for a profit. British fashion mystery box entrepreneur Mario Maher highlights how mystery boxes can help reduce the amount of waste in the fashion industry. People might discover
product ranges
that would otherwise be thrown away. 惊喜并不是神秘盒子唯一吸引人的地方。它们还允许人们尝试他们不愿尝试的东西。季节性蔬菜订阅盒可能会引导人们学习烹饪新菜。它们还可以潜在地节省大量费用——因为这些商品的推荐零售价往往远高于购买价。对于零售商和供应商来说，好处是显而易见的——它允许他们出售不需要的库存以获取利润。英国时尚神秘盒子企业家马里奥·马赫(Mario Maher)强调了神秘盒子如何有助于减少时尚行业的浪费。人们可能会发现原本会被丢弃的产品系列。 There is an obvious downside to mystery boxes – when you buy them, you don't know what you'll get! It may be that the
goods
inside are not to your taste, but there is also the potential for fraudsters to exploit the unpredictability of mystery boxes to send
items
that have a much lower value than the price of the box. 神秘盒子有一个明显的缺点——当你买的时候，你不知道你会得到什么!这可能是因为里面的商品不合你的口味，但也有可能是骗子利用神秘盒子的不可预测性来发送价值远低于盒子价格的物品。 So, are mystery boxes a fun way of reducing
waste
and making shopping more exciting, or more an opportunity for disappointment, or worse – deception? 那么，神秘盒子是一种减少浪费、让购物变得更刺激的有趣方式，还是一种让人失望的机会，甚至更糟——欺骗? 词汇表 wrapped 有包装的，包裹好的 suit 适合 department store 百货商店 product 产品 price 价格 combined value 总价值 customer 顾客 fashion 时装，时尚 beauty 美容 loot box （电子游戏中的）虚拟战利品盒 subscription box 订阅盒 savings 省下的钱 recommended retail price 建议零售价 purchase price 购买价格 retailer 零售商 supplier 供应商，供货商 unwanted stock 多余的库存 product range 产品系列 goods 商品，货物 item 商品，物品 waste 浪费
测验与练习
1. 阅读课文并回答问题。
1. True or false?
Mystery boxes are a modern trend.
2. Which country's department stores does the article mention? 3. What are loot boxes? 4. What could food boxes convince people to do? 5. How could fraudsters exploit mystery boxes?
2. 选择意思恰当的单词或词组来完成下列句子。
1. Mystery boxes can be very good _______. waste value savings fashion 2. Mystery boxes allow manufacturers to get rid of unwanted ________. waste stock profits value 3. The price of boxes in the shops is the ________ price. supplier fashion retail item 4. Retailers fill boxes with products from different ________. goods suppliers prices customers 5. ________ boxes contain a selection of the latest clothes. beauty loot fashion food
答案
1.阅读课文并回答问题。
1. True or false?
Mystery boxes are a modern trend.
False. According to the article, mystery boxes were available in Japanese department stories in the early 20th Century.
2. Which country's department stores does the article mention?
The article mentions Japanese department stores.
3. What are loot boxes?
Loot boxes are virtual items in video games.
4. What could food boxes convince people to do?
The article says that food boxes could lead people to cook new things.
5. How could fraudsters exploit mystery boxes?
According to the article, fraudsters may fill mystery boxes with low-value items.
2. 选择意思恰当的单词或词组来完成下列句子。
1. Mystery boxes can be very good
value
. 2. Mystery boxes allow manufacturers to get rid of unwanted
stock
. 3. The price of boxes in the shops is the
retail
price. 4. Retailers fill boxes with products from different
suppliers
. 5.
Fashion
boxes contain a selection of the latest clothes. 文章来源BBC侵权删。
