The story behind the shopping cart
Characters
Sylvan Goldman – owner of a grocery shop
Fred Young – Sylvan’s friend, a mechanic(机械师)
One night in 1936, in an American city. Inside Fred’s workshop, Sylvan sits next to Fred, who is making adjustments(调试) to their new i   – a shopping cart.
Sylvan: My customers don’t like our shopping cart.
Fred:   Really? So they p  shopping with those heavy baskets?
Sylvan: (nods) I’ve got a huge crowd of customers every day, b  none of them wants to use the cart.
Fred:   I don’t understand. We invented the cart so that people don’t need to carry a basket around the shop.
Sylvan: (laughs) And so that they will buy more groceries!
Fred:   So why don’t they like the shopping cart?
Sylvan: Young men think that pushing a cart around makes them look w  and slow, and young women think it’s unfashionable.
Fred:   Of course it isn’t fashionable right now. It’s only just been invented! But I’m sure older people will appreciate it.
Sylvan: Um…
Fred:   What? They don’t like the cart e  ?
Sylvan: Well, they think pushing it makes them look helpless!
Fred:   Oh no. We need to do something, Fred. We can’t just g   up on this invention!
Sylvan: We won’t. (He gets up and walks around the room. Suddenly, he stops.) Aha! I’ve got an idea.

Fred:   What is it?
Sylvan: I’ll hire(雇佣) some good-looking guys and girls to push the carts around and pretend they’re shopping.
Fred:   Oh! So the real shoppers will see these attractive people using the carts and think, “Hey, if it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for me!”
Sylvan: E .
Fred:   Hey! Maybe you could get one of the girls to greet your customers and encourage them to use the cart.
Sylvan: Great idea!