黃忠雪

話題導入

隨著時代發(fā)展，越來越多的人選擇網(wǎng)絡購衣。但隨之而來的苦惱就是買來的衣服型號常常不合適。如今，日本時尚衣飾購物網(wǎng)站Zozotown運營方Start Today就著力打造出了一款智能服飾，通過拍照和收集數(shù)據(jù)，推薦合適的型號供買家參考。下面讓我們一起來欣賞這款神奇的智能服飾吧。

文本改編自The Economist。全文445詞，難度中上，建議用時8分鐘。

1.深入閱讀，概括文章段落大意，分析文本結構;

2.提取信息，整合表達;

3.分析和對比高考閱讀真題，理解此類說明文的行文特征。

1.garment n. 服裝;衣服

2.rotate v. 旋轉(zhuǎn)

3.version n. 型式

4.crucial adj. 關鍵性的

5.retail n. 零售

6.squeeze v. （使）擠入

7.fiducial markers 制圖學框標

8.to ones specifications 符合某人的規(guī)格

One problem upsets the business of selling clothes online—predicting how a garment will fit without trying it on. Giants such as ASOS， a British internet platform， try to overcome this by allowing people to buy several sizes to try on at home and return items free of charge—at huge cost to them. Enter the body?measurement suit from Start Today， a Japanese firm that runs the Zozotown platform on which clothing companies from around the world sell their products， as well as its own private brand， Zozo.

In the past three months Start Today has distributed to over one million Japanese customers， free of charge， its Zozosuit， a skin?tight， full?body suit covered in around 350 fiducial markers， small objects that can be used as a point of reference for measurements. Shoppers slip on the suit and slowly rotate as their smartphone takes photos.

The firm uses the images to create a 3?D scan of their body， which it can use to offer a range of customized services. Among these are made?to?measure business suits for men from its Zozo brand， which are selling strongly. At the most basic level， when customers choose an item from one of the 6，400 brands listed on Zozotown， the platform uses the Zozosuit data to recommend the right size.

A first， more high?tech version of the suit proved too expensive. But its latest version costs the company only JPY￥1，000 a piece. Besides， the fashion industry has not yet adapted to meet the needs of a generation accustomed to buying everything online， to their specifications and at their convenience. But the firm offers exactly that.

How the suit gets on is crucial for Start Todays future. The Zozotown platform is the giant of online fashion retail in Japan. It created and controls the market for online clothing sales. But analysts think it may be reaching peaks. Its share price decreased sharply in July after growth slowed slightly. Customized services could attract more customers， especially men， who make up only around 30% of active users， reckons （預計） Osamu Yamada， an independent retail analyst.

Observers are more cautious about whether the suit can help Start Today on its other path to growth： expanding abroad. Since July customers in 72 countries have been able to request a body?measurement suit to help them buy clothes from the Zozo label. An attempt a few years ago to take the Zozotown platform into China and South Korea before it came up with the body?measurement suit failed. For now at least， the suit is a unique service. But the company will still have to work harder than it does at home to persuade people to squeeze into it.