这是便宜货！
It’s a steal!
Hello, this is The English We Speak, with me Feifei…
大家好，这里是地道英语，我是菲菲。
Hello,Alice!
我是尼尔，大家好！
Hi Dan.
尼尔，你的手机好漂亮啊！哇！太炫了！金色的哎！
Today we're talking about the rise of electronic books, or ebooks.
这部手机确实很赞！电池续航时间也很长，内存还很大呢——
Digital devices, such as the Amazon Kindle, the Apple iPad and the Sony Reader,allow readers to buy ebooks online, and to download thousands of books onto one device.
有大量空间来装应用软件、图片、视频文件…相机也很赞！
There are a few words there that are really useful when talking about ebooks:Digital here means anything connected with computers or electronics.
那你一定花了不少钱吧！
To download means to copy information onto a computer or digital device.
并没有，这是偷来的！
And online means connected to the internet.
尼尔！！！！噢，你不应该这么做！你人这么好，为什么会做这样的事情呢？
Earlier this year, the online bookshop Amazon.com said it's now selling more electronic books in the US than printed ones.
你本可以贷款买的，可…
And that leads us onto this week's question for you, Alice In May this year, how many ebooks were available on the British Amazon site: Was it:
你什么意思啊？
a) 65,000
警察来了！来抓你了！
b) 650,000
不不不，这只是音响效果。我跟你开玩笑呢——我是不会被抓起来的！
c) 6.5 million
在英语里，当你说某些东西是“偷来的”，其实你的意思是这东西价格便宜——
I’ll go for the middle one; 650,000.
便宜到跟你没付钱似的。
OK then, we’ll see if you're right at the end of the programme.
噢，你太淘气了！
Now, as I said, ebooks are becoming more popular.
对不起菲菲，这只是一个玩笑。让我们来听几个例句，看看这个表达方法是怎么用的吧。
I got this designer shirt in the sales. At ￡100 cheaper than the original price it’s a steal!
我在促销的时候买到了这件时髦的衬衫，比原价便宜了100镑呢。这是便宜货！
Last year ebooks sales overtook sales of hardback books, and in January this year they overtook sales of paperback books.
这是最新型号，先生。你在大街上肯定找不到这款新电脑卖得更便宜的店了。这是便宜货！
Hardbacks are books with stiff covers; they’re usually more expensive and last longer.
看到了吗？
Paperbacks, on the other hand, are books with flexible paper covers and usually cost a bit less.
嗯。“这是偷来的”意思就是说这是便宜货。
So if ebooks are selling more than both hardback and paperback books, Dan, how is this affecting the books industry?
所以就像我说的，我的手机可便宜了。
Well, the books industry - what we call publishing - is in trouble generally.
我的手机！！！我的手机呢？我刚就把它放这儿的呀，怎么找不到了？！
The American bookstore Borders was declared bankrupt earlier this year and the British book seller Waterstones has reported serious losses.
是啊——在哪儿呢？…刚刚就在这儿的…
Borders was declared bankrupt - it said that it couldn't pay its debts.
嗯！现在我真的要报警了。
So it's a tough time for the publishing world.
你不需要报警啦。你的手机在这儿呢！趁你不注意我把它偷偷藏起来了。
But not everyone is suffering; with the rise of ebooks, there's also been an increase in self-publishing.
好啊菲菲——你这是在报复我刚开始给你开的关于手机的玩笑。
Could you explain this for us please, Alice?
而我们的听众——一定不要偷东西哦。“这是偷来的”只是一种表达方式。
Sure – to publish something means to print something and make it public, usually a book, a magazine or a newspaper.
再见！
Wow.
ebooks
to download
to publish
stable