Here is Northeast, winter means coats and sweaters. And that means plenty of pockets for ourgrowing stock of digital gadgets1. Summer, by contrast, is virtually a pock-free zone. Nopockets in T-shirts. No pockets in gym shorts. Those few pockets that are available quicklybecome crammed2 with gadgets. Mobile phone, pagers, personal digital assistant, MP3 playeror CD player, digital camera: It's enough to rip3 your pants as you walk down the hallway orthrough the parking lot. Attempts have been made to help redistribute this load, but withmeager4 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 gatheredto belt can become uncomfortable when you sit. A variation on the beltcarrier approach isthe"fanny pack". This often involves zippers or clasps that can make it difficult to reach for aringing telephone. An even bulkier option is the common backpack. Vulnerable5 to theft, it'sable to hold quite a pile of electronic gear. Fashion alert: Backpack users look like they're still incollege.

　　Designers have been puzzling over this problem for a while and at last one company has comeup with a possible solution. Called the" Scott eVest", it's a lightweight vest with more than adozen pockets. Wearers have plenty of room for mobile phones, PDAs, CD players and muchmore. Better yet, a build-in wiring system — called a PAN, for " personal area network"— allowswearers 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 puttingin your earpiece and pressing a button through the vest's fabric. Similarly, the wiring systemkeeps 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.

　　練習(xí)題：

　　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.

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

　　Ⅱ. 1. A. B. C. D 2 . A. C.

　　服裝也數(shù)碼

　　這是在美國東北部, 冬天要穿毛衣和大衣。那就意味著有很多口袋裝我們?nèi)找嬖龆嗟臄?shù)碼玩意兒。夏天則相反, 簡直就是“ 無袋”地帶。T恤上沒有口袋。運動短褲也沒有口袋。僅有的口袋很快被數(shù)碼玩意塞滿了。手機、呼機、掌上電腦、MP3 播放器或便攜式CD機、數(shù)碼相機: 這些東西都有可能在你穿過走廊或停車場時撐破你的褲子。有人試圖減少這種麻煩, 但是收效甚微。

　　有一種辦法就是把這些東西別在皮帶上。如手機和呼機。這樣的話, 手機或呼機一響很方便就可以夠得著。可是皮帶上別了這些東西, 坐下的時候就很不方便。另一種方法是放在臀部后的小包里。小包通常要安拉鏈和扣子, 接電話就很不方便。更笨的辦法是用雙肩包。能裝東西, 但不保險。時尚提醒你: 背雙肩包看上去總像是在校大學(xué)生。

　　一時間設(shè)計師著實為這傷了不少腦筋, 總算有公司拿出了可行之策。這款叫“ 蘇格特 ”的輕馬甲, 有十幾個口袋。穿上它就有足夠空間可收納手機、呼機、便攜式CD 機以及更多的東西。更妙的是馬甲內(nèi)置一個“ 個人局域網(wǎng)”——— PAN , 使著裝者不但可以攜帶, 而且可以使用這些玩意兒。

　　例如, 只要把手機和PAN連接起來, 戴上耳機, 隔著衣服一摁按鈕, 就可以接聽電話了。同樣, 連接上PAN , 個人便攜式CD 機可隨時供你享用。

　　除了放數(shù)字產(chǎn)品, 這款馬甲還設(shè)計了口袋放鑰匙和一支鋼筆, 甚至還有一個“ 杯托”可放飲料。

　　1. gadget n. 小機械, 小器具, 如: a complicated new gadget for opening tins ( 復(fù)雜的新開罐器) 。

　　2. cram v. 將某物盡力塞入。一般用cram with sth., 如: cram one’s mouth with food ( 嘴里塞滿食物) 。

　　3. rip v. 撕裂或拉破, 如: rip a piece of cloth into two ( 把一塊布撕成兩塊) 。

　　4. meager adj. 少量的, 不足的, 如: Our appeal for help met meager response. ( 我們求助的呼吁反應(yīng)冷淡。)

　　5. vulnerable adj. 易受害的, 暴露于危險面前的, 如: The election defeat put the party leader in avulnerable position. ( 該黨落選后其領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人的地位岌岌可危。) 這里是“ 容易被偷”的意思。