本文音频及原文摘自杂志The Economist《经济学人》2016年第8期，Business版块。

Breakfast cereals

Consumers are going off some cereals, but not the right ones

Feb 20th 2016 | NEW YORK

IN RECENT years breakfast cereals[1] seem to have lost their snap, crackle and pop[2]. Many contain things that anxious consumers shun, from cadisdainrbohydrates[糖类;碳水化合物] and gluten[面筋;麸质;谷蛋白] to artificial flavours[3] and genetically modified[4] (GM) grain[粮食;谷物]. Add to this a rising disdain[蔑视,鄙视] for big brands and adoration of small, “authentic[真正的,真实的;可信的]” ones, and large cereal-makers have been suffering soggy sales. The market for “ready-to-eat[可即食的]” cereals shrank[收缩;减少] by 9% in America between 2012 and 2015, according to Euromonitor, a data firm. In Britain, the second-biggest cereal market, sales fell by 6%.

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[1]谷物类早餐

[2]Snap, Crackle, and Pop are the cartoon mascots of Kellogg's crisped-rice breakfast cereal Rice Krispies, known in Australia as Rice Bubbles.

[3]人造香料

[4]转基因的

▷shun [ʃʌn]

to  something避开，避免She has shunned  since she  from the .告别舞台生涯后，她便退出了人们的视线。

to  someone and not  to them because you cannot  , , .躲避，回避After the  he was shunned by  and  . 审判后，朋友和家人都躲着他。

▷soggy ['sɒgɪ]

   (of things which can  ,  )  and 

湿透的；（尤指食物）湿软的soggy  湿透的地面I  it when  goes soggy. 我讨厌泡软了的麦片。slow and apathetic无精打采的；迟钝的；沉闷的

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Now, the manufacturers are trumpeting a turnaround[突然好转]. On February 16th General Mills[1] told investors that its American cereal sales were stabilising[稳定;安定]. Kellogg is equallychipper[兴高采烈的;欢快的], reporting on February 17th that it expects its American cereal sales to grow this year. But it will take hard work to revive breakfast’s flakiest business.

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[1]通用磨坊

▷trumpet ['trʌmpɪt]

to  or  something  to a lot of 吹嘘；鼓吹The  has been  trumpeting   as one of the in the .该博物馆一直在大肆吹嘘自己是世界上最好的博物馆之一。Their much-trumpeted    only 5% of the  that they.他们极力吹嘘的降价只涉及到所卖商品的5%。

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Cereal firms have tried many ways to cope with waning[渐亏的;逐渐减弱或变小的] appetites. They have diversified. Post Holdings, which sells Honey Bunches of Oats and Grape-Nuts, now also sells eggs and protein shakes. Some firms have acquired trendier brands, with mixed results. After Kellogg bought Kashi in 2000, many of its oat[燕麦;麦片粥,燕麦粥]-munching[用力咀嚼;大声咀嚼;津津有味地吃] customers fled. Kellogg is now trying to win them back, returning Kashi’s headquarters[总部;指挥部] to California. A new Kashi cereal features popped sorghum, crispy[酥脆的;易碎的] yellow peas[黄豌豆] and smashed red beans. Pet hamsters will love it.

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▷trendy ['trendɪ]

  and  by the most   or 时髦的；受新潮思想影响的trendy  时髦服装

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Makers are also spending to revive their main brands. Kellogg has put more fruit in its Special K Red Berries cereal. General Mills has stripped GM ingredients and gluten[面筋;麸质;谷蛋白] from Cheerios. It plans to remove all artificial flavours and colours[1] from its cereals by 2018. Some analysts question whether the changes are worth the extra costs. But Robert Moskow of Credit Suisse[2], a bank, reckons that cereal-makers can compensate by cutting overheads[企业的日常管理费用;杂项开支;一般费用] and streamlining supply chains[3].

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[1]人工色素及香料

[2]瑞士信贷

[3]精简供应链

▷strip [strɪp]

to ,  or  the  or   from something除去，剥除，撕掉（外皮或表层）Because of the , the  are   stripped of.由于受到污染，树木的表皮几乎完全脱落。

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Retailers do not want cereal to enter terminal decline—it is too profitable for them. Jim Holbrook, who led Post’s cereal business and is now boss of Daymon Worldwide, a retail consultant[1], says grocers[杂货商] might boost sales by placing milk or bananas in the cereal aisle.

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[1]零售顾问

▷aisle [aɪl]

a    between the  of  in a 

（商店货架间的）通道You'll  the  and the  in the fourth aisle along from the.洗发香波和肥皂在从入口处数第四个通道的货架上。

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For now, cereal-makers can take comfort[1] that at least some brands are still thriving[繁荣的;蒸蒸日上的;l旺盛的]. Sales of Kellogg’s Froot Loops and General Mills’ Cinnamon Toast Crunch have risen in recent years, points out Alexia Howard of Sanford C. Bernstein, a research firm, even as more virtuous[善良的;有道德的;贞洁的;正直的;有效力的] brands such as Fiber One, All-Bran and (until recently) Special K were waning[渐亏的;逐渐减弱或变小的]. Health-conscious[重视健康的] shoppers may or may not be lured back to their cereal habit by smashed red beans. But cereal’s most reliable customers are those who don’t mind heaps of[2] sugar, or “red #40” food colouring, in their breakfast bowls.

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[1]感到安慰;从…得到安慰

[2]大量;；许多

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以上言论不代表本人立场。

摘自《经济学人》杂志，仅外语学习之用。

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