2015-08-07 A Fair-Weather Friend? (1)

• Why was Ava so upset?
• Why didn't Ava buy the jacket?

Friendship isn’t always a breeze.
Ava’s face looked like thunder, and she was fuming. She had thrown caution to the wind, and now she regretted it. She hoped she could weather the storm that was brewing between her and Sara. Sara was her best friend – sometimes. They had a stormy relationship. Some days, everything was fine. On others, she felt like Sara was just a fair-weather friend. Today was one of those days.

Yesterday Ava had told Sara about a jacket she’d seen at Forever 18. She wanted it desperately. A sales clerk had told Ava in confidence that the jacket would go on sale today. She was on cloud nine and had told Sara. Ava planned to go to the store the next day and buy it. Sara had assured her she’d not let anyone get wind of Ava’s plan. There was only one jacket left in Ava’s size. Well, Ava had gone to the store, and the jacket was gone! She was crushed. Her entire day was now under a cloud.

Editor's Summary
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Teaching Topic: Different Stores教學主題: 不同形式的Store
Over the past decade we have been witnesses to a shopping revolution. More and more of us are using the internet to buy stuff, everything imaginable including English lessons.

Why, mostly because the internet is super convenient. Back in 2012, for the first time ever global e-commerce sales topped one trillion US dollars.

Unfortunately, the success of e-commerce is making a difficult for traditional stores to stay in business.

Umm... you might hear of traditional stores, being referred to as brick and mortar stores which are stores and actual physical buildings as opposed to somewhere in cyberspace.

Another kind of store is the big box store, also known as a superstore, most often these businesses are chain stores, that is, a network of many stores with the same name under the same ownership selling the same stuff. Big box stores specialize in  selling things in high volume at discount prices.

Making them an enemy of mom-and-pop stores, which are small, independent businesses operated by members of the same family. Mom-and pop stores are great for the lively hood of local communities, but sadly they too are struggling to stay a float in this age of e-commerce.

Language Lab
fair-weather friend 
someone who only wants to be your friend when you are successful;
[=they are friends when you are successful but not when you fail]
- As soon as Henry ran out of money, all his fair-weather friends left him.

fume v.
/ˈfjuːm/
to produce or give off (smoke, fumes, etc.);
to show or feel anger
- My sister and I had a quarrel last week. When I saw her last night, she was still fuming.
quarrel n.
/ˈkworəl/
an angry argument or disagreement
fume at/over/about
- People are fuming over the unjust verdict of the trial.

in confidence
if you tell someone something in confidence, you tell them something on the understanding that they will not tell anyone else
- Alicia told the reporter the information in confidence.
- I'm telling you these things in confidence. Make sure no one knows about our conversation.

assure v.
to tell someone that something will definitely happen or is definitely true so that they are less worried [= reassure]
- The mechanic assured me that my car would be ready by noon.
- I can assure you that you'll be satisfied with our product.
assurance n.
the state of being sure or certain about something
- Kevin gave his wife assurance that he'd take care of her no matter what.

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