1、TalkingaboutnewwordsinEnglish(5) [2004-5-31]Dialog 5 - Shopaholics Recently I've heard about people who cannot control their shopping. They've been referred to as "shopaholics", just as people who cannot resist alcohol are known as "alcoholics". Q: Can you tell us more?A: Last year Stanf
2、ord University published a study on the subject. It seems that shopaholics cannot resist the urge to spend money on things they don't actually need. They will do anything to get the money to go shopping. One woman cheated her employer, Starbucks, out of 3.7 million dollars in order to pay
3、 for her shopping addiction. When the police went to her home they found hundreds of boxes of products such as Avon cosmetics, and Barbie Dolls, all unopened. The house was filled from floor to ceiling with piles of clothes, TV sets. The stairs and hallways had all sorts of other goods. W
4、hen they looked in her driveway they found cars, motorcycles, pianos, etc. She had spent the 3.7 million. Q: Do other shopaholics behave this way?A: It depends. The Starbucks woman had been in the IT department of the company and had written false invoices to a consulting company. She got
5、 away with it for almost a year. Another woman who worked for Andersen Consulting was actually an accountant. She put most of her shopping bills on company expenses. This came to about 250,000 dollars but was not enough. Finally she was caught in New York's most famous department store wh
6、ere she was stealing goods. The people in the store were shocked because previously she had been a very good customer who had once spent $9,000 on a handbag and $7,000 for a leather belt. Q: What do the doctors say about this problem?A: It seems that shopaholics suffer from depression and
7、 cannot feel good about themselves unless they are shopping. The more they spend the better they feel. Afterwards, of course, they feel guilty and depressed again and the only way to solve the problem is by going out and doing more shopping. The problem then becomes
