On Friday, the price of gold on the world market fell below four thousand dollars an ounce. By the weekend, one market in Shenzhen had become one of the busiest places in the city. At Shuibei, where hundreds of small jewellery shops stand side by side, photographs on social media showed people standing shoulder to shoulder at the counters. One visitor wrote that there were more buyers here than in a vegetable market. Another joked about whether the market was handing out free eggs.
The numbers behind the crowd are simple. In late September, a gram of gold in a brand shop cost around one thousand three hundred yuan. By Saturday it was about one thousand two hundred. For a family buying a wedding bracelet, a fall of a hundred yuan a gram can mean more than a thousand yuan saved. Prices in shops do not follow the world market second by second, but shop owners cut them within a day or two.
What makes this scene worth thinking about is that these buyers are not investors reading price charts. Most are ordinary people who link gold with two very practical things. The first is a wedding or a birthday, where a piece of gold is still the expected gift. The second is savings. For generations, Chinese families have kept part of their money in gold because they trust it more than they trust paper, and because it can be sold quickly when money is needed.
This habit explains both the queue and its limits. People rush in when the price drops because they were going to buy anyway, and a lower price is a good reason to come today rather than next month. But few of them are trying to make a profit from a short rise and fall. In that sense, the long line outside a shop says less about the gold market than about how carefully many families still plan their money, and that attitude may be the real story here.
Words to know:
- jewellery (珠宝；首饰)
- ounce (盎司)
- bracelet (手镯)
- savings (存款；积蓄)
- crowd (人群)
- charts (图表)
- attitude (态度)
长难句拆解 · 介词 + where 定语从句 · At Shuibei, where…
句子的主干是 photographs showed people，on social media 是修饰 photographs 的介词短语。开头的 At Shuibei 是地点状语，后面的 where 从句是关系副词引导的定语从句，说明 Shuibei 是个什么样的地方。 where 在定语从句中作地点状语，相当于 at Shuibei，所以从句里不再重复这个地名。这种「地点 + where」的结构在新闻报道里出现频率很高，作用是先交代背景，再把镜头推到人和动作上。 show sb doing sth 表示「展示某人正在做某事」，所以 showed people standing shoulder to shoulder 是「人们正肩并肩站着」。shoulder to shoulder 是固定说法，字面是「肩挨着肩」，意思是挤得很紧。 直译：在水贝——数百家小小珠宝店并排而立的地方——社交媒体上的照片显示，人们在柜台前肩并肩地站着。
长难句拆解 · 名词化的 fall + 最高级比较 · a fall of… can mean more than…
For a family 是状语，介词 for 表示「对……来说」；buying a wedding bracelet 是现在分词短语，作后置定语修饰 a family，等于 a family that is buying a wedding bracelet。 主句的主语是 a fall，动词 fall 变成名词后带 of 短语说明「降了多少」，这种「动词名词化」在英文新闻里非常常见，可以让句子更紧凑，也让主语变短。 can mean more than a thousand yuan saved 中，saved 是过去分词作后置定语，修饰 a thousand yuan，等于 money that is saved；more than 表示「不止」。 直译：对一个正在买婚礼手镯的家庭来说，每克降一百元，可能意味着省下的钱不止一千元。
同义替换 · 雅思阅读利器
下面每组左边是原文表达，右边是可以在写作和阅读中互换的说法，点一下即可自测。
- fell below four thousand dollars an ounce → dropped under 4,000 dollars per ounce → ounce 是黄金计价单位「盎司」
- people standing shoulder to shoulder → crowds packed tightly together → 肩并肩＝非常拥挤
- a fall of a hundred yuan a gram → a hundred yuan cheaper for each gram → 名词化的 fall 可改写为形容词比较级
- link gold with two very practical things → connect gold with two very down-to-earth ideas → link A with B 表示联系在一起
- they were going to buy anyway → they had already planned to buy → anyway 表示「本来就已经」
- Most are ordinary people → the majority are just average buyers → most of + 名词 可换成 the majority of
- how carefully many families still plan their money → how carefully households still manage their budgets → plan money 意为精打细算
阅读自测 · 3 题
- True / False / Not Given: The price of gold in brand shops fell by exactly one hundred yuan a gram in one day.
- Short answer: Why do many Chinese families keep part of their money in gold?
- Short answer: What does the writer think the long queue mainly shows?
参考答案与解析
- Not Given。原文只说九月下旬约每克一千三百元、周六约每克一千二百元，给出的是两个大概的数字，也提到店主会在一两天内调整价格，但从没说「一天之内正好降了一百元」，这个精确说法在原文里找不到，属于常见的偷换精确度。
- Because they trust gold more than paper money, and it can be sold quickly when money is needed. 依据是 they trust it more than they trust paper, and because it can be sold quickly when money is needed。
- It shows how carefully many families plan their money, rather than what is happening in the gold market. 依据是末段 says less about the gold market than about how carefully many families still plan their money。注意干扰项会写成「说明大家都在炒黄金」，那是把「实用购买」偷换成「投资获利」。
中文译文
上周五，国际市场的黄金价格跌破每盎司四千美元。到了周末，深圳的一个市场成了全城最热闹的地方之一。在水贝，数百家小小的珠宝店一家挨着一家，社交媒体上的照片显示，人们肩并肩挤在柜台前。一位到访者写道，这里买金子的人比菜市场还多。还有人开玩笑，问这个市场是不是在发免费鸡蛋。
人群背后的数字很简单。九月下旬，品牌店里的黄金每克约一千三百元。到了周六，大约是每克一千二百元。对一个要买婚礼手镯的家庭来说，每克降一百元，就可能意味着省下一千多元。店里的价格不会随着国际市场一秒一秒地变动，但店主会在一两天内把价格降下来。
这一幕之所以值得想一想，是因为这些买家并不是盯着价格图表的投资者。大多数是普通人，他们把黄金和两件非常实际的事联系在一起。第一件是婚礼或生日，一件金饰仍然是那个该送的礼物。第二件是存款。几代中国家庭都把一部分钱放在黄金上，因为他们更信它，而不是更信纸币，也因为急用钱时它能很快卖掉。
这个习惯既解释了队伍，也解释了它的限度。价格一跌人们就冲进来，因为他们本来就要买，价格更低就是今天来而不是下个月来的好理由。但很少有人想靠一两天的涨跌赚一笔。从这个意义上说，店门口那条长队说明的与其说是黄金市场，不如说是很多家庭至今仍然把用钱计划得很细，而这种态度也许才是这件事真正的重点。