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Clothes Going Digital

Here is Northeast, winter means coats and sweaters. And that means plenty of pockets for our growing stock of digital gadgets1. Summer, by contrast, is virtually a pock-free zone. No pockets in T-shirts. No pockets in gym shorts. Those few pockets that are available quickly become crammed2 with gadgets. Mobile phone, pagers, personal digital assistant, MP3 player or CD player, digital camera: It's enough to rip3 your pants as you walk down the hallway or through the parking lot. Attempts have been made to help redistribute this load, but with meager4 success.

One approach involves clipping the devices to a belt. Cell phones and pagers often go this way. A belt offers handy access when the phone rings or the pager goes off. But gadgets gathered to belt can become uncomfortable when you sit. A variation on the beltcarrier approach is the"fanny pack". This often involves zippers or clasps that can make it difficult to reach for a ringing telephone. An even bulkier option is the common backpack. Vulnerable5 to theft, it's able to hold quite a pile of electronic gear. Fashion alert: Backpack users look like they're still in college.

Designers have been puzzling over this problem for a while and at last one company has come up with a possible solution. Called the" Scott eVest", it's a lightweight vest with more than a dozen pockets. Wearers have plenty of room for mobile phones, PDAs, CD players and much more. Better yet, a build-in wiring system — called a PAN, for " personal area network"— allows wearers to use their gadgets in addition to carrying them about.

Connect the mobile phone to the PAN, for example, and you can answer a phone call by putting in your earpiece and pressing a button through the vest's fabric. Similarly, the wiring system keeps the headphones for your CD player in place and ready for instant use. Beyond gadgets, the vest has pockets for keys, a pen and even a" cup holder"pocket for beverages.

练习题：

Ⅰ. Answer the following questions with no more than three words:

1. What is our growing stock?

2. What might your digital gadgets do when you walk through the parking lot?

3. What dose PAN stand for?

Ⅱ. Choose answers to the questions:

1. What are the possible methods to hold the digital gadgets?

A. Clipping the devices to a belt. B. Putting them into fanny pack.

C. Putting them into common backpack. D. Wearing a Scott eVest.

2. What are the two functions for Scott eVest?

A. To allow wearer to use digital gadgets. B. To provide electricity.

C. To carry the digital gadgets. D. To fix the digital gadget.

参考答案

Ⅰ. 1. Digital gadgets. 2 . Rip my pants. 3. Personal area network.

Ⅱ. 1. A. B. C. D 2 . A. C.

参考译文

服装也数码

这是在美国东北部, 冬天要穿毛衣和大衣。那就意味着有很多口袋装我们日益增多的数码玩意儿。夏天则相反, 简直就是“ 无袋”地带。T恤上没有口袋。运动短裤也没有口袋。仅有的口袋很快被数码玩意塞满了。手机、呼机、掌上电脑、MP3 播放器或便携式CD机、数码相机: 这些东西都有可能在你穿过走廊或停车场时撑破你的裤子。有人试图减少这种麻烦, 但是收效甚微。

有一种办法就是把这些东西别在皮带上。如手机和呼机。这样的话, 手机或呼机一响很方便就可以够得着。可是皮带上别了这些东西, 坐下的时候就很不方便。另一种方法是放在臀部后的小包里。小包通常要安拉链和扣子, 接电话就很不方便。更笨的办法是用双肩包。能装东西, 但不保险。时尚提醒你: 背双肩包看上去总像是在校大学生。

一时间设计师着实为这伤了不少脑筋, 总算有公司拿出了可行之策。这款叫“ 苏格特 ”的轻马甲, 有十几个口袋。穿上它就有足够空间可收纳手机、呼机、便携式CD 机以及更多的东西。更妙的是马甲内置一个“ 个人局域网”——— PAN , 使着装者不但可以携带, 而且可以使用这些玩意儿。

例如, 只要把手机和PAN连接起来, 戴上耳机, 隔着衣服一摁按钮, 就可以接听电话了。同样, 连接上PAN , 个人便携式CD 机可随时供你享用。

除了放数字产品, 这款马甲还设计了口袋放钥匙和一支钢笔, 甚至还有一个“ 杯托”可放饮料。

阅读解释

1. gadget n. 小机械, 小器具, 如: a complicated new gadget for opening tins ( 复杂的新开罐器) 。

2. cram v. 将某物尽力塞入。一般用cram with sth., 如: cram one’s mouth with food ( 嘴里塞满食物) 。

3. rip v. 撕裂或拉破, 如: rip a piece of cloth into two ( 把一块布撕成两块) 。

4. meager adj. 少量的, 不足的, 如: Our appeal for help met meager response. ( 我们求助的呼吁反应冷淡。)

5. vulnerable adj. 易受害的, 暴露于危险面前的, 如: The election defeat put the party leader in a vulnerable position. ( 该党落选后其领导人的地位岌岌可危。) 这里是“ 容易被偷”的意思。