High 1 · Reading series
Lesson 51 · The Label on My Sneakers
Audio track 51
Listen first
Listen once before opening the English passage.
Open the English passage and hover for word help
The label inside my sneakers showed the country where they had been assembled. I thought that was the whole story of where they came from. Then our geography teacher asked us to list the parts we could see: fabric, rubber, laces, and glue.
We could not tell from the label where every material had been produced. We looked at the company's public description of its supply chain, but it gave general information rather than the history of my exact pair. I made a diagram with questions instead of filling every box with a confident answer.
At home, I cleaned the sneakers and repaired a loose lace. Knowing that production involved many places did not tell me one perfect way to shop. It did make me more interested in how long I could use what I already owned.
The label answered one question: where final assembly happened. It opened several others about materials, workers, transport, and the life of a product after purchase.
Sentence practice
Play any sentence in Dicvo’s Jenny English voice. Before playing all, choose how many times each sentence plays. A practice pause about as long as the sentence follows each play, including before the next sentence. The complete reading remains above.
Choose a sentence to begin.
-
The label inside my sneakers showed the country where they had been assembled.
-
I thought that was the whole story of where they came from.
-
Then our geography teacher asked us to list the parts we could see: fabric, rubber, laces, and glue.
-
We could not tell from the label where every material had been produced.
-
We looked at the company's public description of its supply chain, but it gave general information rather than the history of my exact pair.
-
I made a diagram with questions instead of filling every box with a confident answer.
-
At home, I cleaned the sneakers and repaired a loose lace.
-
Knowing that production involved many places did not tell me one perfect way to shop.
-
It did make me more interested in how long I could use what I already owned.
-
The label answered one question: where final assembly happened.
-
It opened several others about materials, workers, transport, and the life of a product after purchase.
Check your understanding
After reading, state the main idea in one sentence and find a line that supports it.
Chinese translation
运动鞋内侧的标签写着组装所在的国家。我原以为这就是鞋的全部产地信息。地理老师却让我们列出看得见的组成部分：布料、橡胶、鞋带和胶。
单凭标签，我们无法知道每一种材料产自哪里。我们查看了这家公司公开的供应链说明，可那里介绍的是一般情况，并不是我这双鞋的完整经历。我画了一张图，把不清楚的地方写成问题，没有自信满满地填满每一个方框。
回家后，我清洗了鞋子，修好一根松开的鞋带。知道生产过程涉及许多地方，并没有立刻告诉我哪一种购物方式完美无缺，却让我更想把已经拥有的东西用得久一些。
标签回答了一个问题：最后的组装在哪里完成。它也引出了有关材料、工人、运输，以及产品购入后使用过程的更多问题。
Key words and expressions
Key terms have Chinese explanations. Hover over dotted words in the English passage for word help and pronunciation when available.
- label
- 标签；鞋内标注了组装地。
- assemble
- 组装；最后把部件制成鞋。
- material
- 材料；包括布料、橡胶等。
- produce
- 生产；各种材料可能来自不同地方。
- supply chain
- 供应链；公司公开的整体说明。
- general
- 一般的；说明没有追溯具体这双鞋。
- exact
- 确切的；某双鞋的完整经历未知。
- confident
- 有把握的；不应随意填满信息图。
- involve
- 涉及；生产经过许多地点。
- transport
- 运输；成品与材料流转的一环。
Background notes (Chinese)
‘组装地’只是产品生产链的一环，不等于所有材料的来源。学生区分了公开供应链的一般描述与某双鞋的具体经历，并保留无法证实的问题。