Recently, I read about a promotion from a home builder in San Diego where consumers (消费者) could buy a 4,000 square foot house for $1.6 million and get a smaller home by the developer valued at $400 thousand for free. This sounds like a fantastic deal, but I am always wary of any promotion labeled (给……加标签) with“buy one get one free”, and here is why.
Oftentimes, “buy one get one free” ends up being “buy two at the regular price”. For example, I often see “buy one get one free” ads for orange juice at the supermarket, but the first box always costs over $5.00. At the same time, the juices not in the promotion are selling for $2.50 to $2.99 a box.
Another problem with “buy one get one free” is that oftentimes you do not need the second item. I only consume one gallon of milk every two weeks. If I were talked into buying a second gallon in a “buy one get one free” promotion, then the second gallon would go bad before I have time to consume it. That creates waste instead of savings.
In the case of the San Diego developer, so far they have received one offer on their expensive houses, but the buyer does not want the cheaper house for free. Instead, he wants the value of the smaller home taken away from his purchase price. I think this guy is quite wise because he saw right through the marketing of “buy one get one free”.
Finally, it is up to you to see how much you need and how much you are willing to spend. Knowing the regular price of things also helps you in deciding whether a “buy one get one free” promotion is truly a great deal.
【小题1】What does the underlined part “wary of” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．annoyed at | B．careful about | C．familiar with | D．puzzled about |
| A．To show that there are many promotions of food. |
| B．To suggest that people think twice before they shop. |
| C．To prove that the second item isn’t always as good as the first one. |
| D．To show that people often buy more than they need in the promotion. |
| A．Buy the smaller house only. |
| B．Get the smaller house for free. |
| C．Buy the larger house for $1.2 million. |
| D．Buy both the larger and smaller houses for $2 million. |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
