节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-08-16
难易度:High
关键字:restock, inventory, domain, prescription
(Music).
Hi, friends.
Thanks for joining us here today at Studio Classroom Worldwide.
My name is Steve.
Vending machines, we use them because they're in a convenient location, and we
use them because they have what we want.
For the past decade or so, vending machines have been going through a period of
a reinvention, we could say.
New innovations like fingerprint and retinal scanners are making purchases even
quicker and more convenient.
Now let's learn about another innovation that is taking the vending machine to
even greater heights and greater profits - the Internet - on the right side of
page 35.
(Music).
Quick, Convenient Vending Machines.
Going online.
While vending machines are automated, they still require regular visits from
staff who remove money, perform basic maintenance and restock them.
Unfortunately, determining how often staff should visit machines and what
products they should place in them is difficult.
Newer generations of vending machines are avoiding the guesswork by going
online.
Networked machines provide real-time information on sales and inventory,
allowing companies to know when to send staff to service or restock machines.
Hello, friends.
Thank you so much for joining us here in the studio.
My name is Kaylah.
And my name is Ryan.
Friends, we are in day two of our TECHNOLOGY article where we are talking about
vending machines.
That's right.
We learned that vending machines are very convenient and are continuing to
become more convenient as they evolve the technology.
Now we have a situation: we have imagined we're in a hotel and we're looking for
a midnight snack.
Yes. And you find a vending machine, but you don't have the right change or the
right money that you can use to buy something there.
Well, that's OK.
Many vending machines today are changing so that you can use things like credit
cards or even your fingerprints or retinal scans.
That's right.
So we've seen that they are changing the way that you can use and pay for a
vending machine.
But there's even more.
Vending machines are becoming more convenient for businesses as well.
And one of those ways is by going online.
That's right.
When you go online, you are connecting to the Internet.
Now while vending machines are automated, they still require regular visits from
staff who remove money.
That's right. You have to take the money out of a vending machine.
It doesn't magically show up somewhere else.
So somebody has to go and take the money out as well as perform basic
maintenance and restock them.
Now maintenance is how you take care of something to make sure that it still
works.
That's right, exactly.
So these machines, they are automated.
And that means they can do things on their own just by working by themselves.
But they also need people to help fix them and add items to them.
That's right, to restock them.
You have to be there to restock something.
To "restock" means to replace goods that have been sold.
So if you ever go to a vending machine, and there is a slot for your favorite
candy bar but there's none of them left.
That means nobody has been there to restock it, or to put more of that product
back in its place.
Right. And of course, as you give the vending machines your money, they have to
give that money to someone else.
So someone has to come collect the money from the machine.
Now unfortunately, determining how often staff should visit machines and what
products they should put inside them is difficult.
That's right.
It's hard to determine just what people want.
Maybe there's an entire day where people only want salty snacks, but you don't
know that.
You don't know that you need to take only potato chips; or maybe it's a place
where they all want chewing gum.
So you never know what people want.
So it's difficult to know what you should be taking to put in there, so this
going online thing is going to help.
Yeah, definitely, because it's difficult to determine that.
And to determine means to decide or understand.
Now newer generations of vending machines are avoiding the guesswork by going
online, like Kaylah said.
Now "guesswork" refers to when you have to guess about something.
So you have to guess what you need to put in the machine would be the guesswork.
Right. You don't know an answer, so you choose one randomly.
Now you can avoid having to guess with vending machines by letting them go
online.
That's right.
And as Ryad said earlier, that's working on the Internet.
They network, so these networked machines provide real-time information on the
sales.
So they don't have to guess what is being sold and they can know what inventory
there is.
Exactly.
So that's real-time information, it's happening right... right away without
having to wait.
And you can see the inventory.
"Inventory" is the products in a store or in a vending machine that you are
selling.
Usually you have a list of the items that you are selling.
So having that inventory online allows the companies to know when to send staff
to service to fix or to restock the machines.
Now that they no longer are guessing, it's really convenient.
OK. So the machines are communicating with all those people who service the
machines and add more inventory to them.
And that allows them to know when to go to which machines; very convenient.
That's right.
We'll talk more about vending machines after today's skit.
The vending machines of tomorrow will be very different than today.
I don't have the right change.
Future vending machines will incorporate more ways for people to pay.
Will that be cash or charge?
Fingerprint or retinal scan?
And regular visits for removing money, performing basic maintenance and
restocking the machines are no longer needed.
Look! This vending machine is going online.
It's true.
Newer generations avoid guesswork by going online.
Look! This machine has everything.
In what was once the domain of soft drinks and candy bars, customers can now
purchase just about anything.
Would you like a soccer ball, a cellphone, gold bars?
How about a library book or prescription medicine?
Will the vending machines in the future replace store clerks?
Can you put that in a bag, please?
Sorry.
We do not offer that service.
No.
But as machines continue to evolve, the variety and convenience they provide
will play an important part of our lives.
Thank you for buying from the vending machine.
Good night.
I love you.
I love you too.
Welcome to the... What?
What?