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Mixed Bag Of Indicators For Shopping And The U.S. Economy; Female First For College Football; Animal Highway; Electoral Coin Flip.

CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hello everyone. I`m Carl Azuz. And you`ve landed on CNN 10 on this last day of November 2020. We are kicking off the first

of three weeks we have left on air this year. And it starts with an overview of what we know about the holiday season so far with Thanksgiving

behind us and Hanukkah and Christmas on the way.
 

Hanukkah [ˈhɑnəkə] n.（犹太教的）光明节

Sunday was expected to be the busiest travel day in America since the coronavirus pandemic sank in early this year. We don`t have final numbers
 

sink in 渗入

for it yet, but we can report that roughly 1 million and 71 thousand people passed through U.S. airport checkpoints on the Wednesday before

Thanksgiving. That was the most since March.

It was less than half the number of airline travelers on the same day last year but travel officials expected that more Americans would be driving

this time around. So overall, fewer people were expected to travel during the pandemic but not by a lot as compared with last year. And that reflects

a significant part of the population that said the pandemic would not affect their Thanksgiving plans though it did for many other Americans.

Observers say the pandemic is part of the reason why an estimated 50 million Americans won`t have enough to eat this year. "Feeding America", a

hunger relief group, says that estimate of 50 million is 6 million short of where it was during the "Great Recession" who`s affected sank in in 2008. The

U.S. Department of Agriculture says it set aside $850 million dollars to help food banks with their running costs and food purchases. It says it has an

additional $873 million available to buy farm products for food banks.

The money came from the $2.2 trillion COVID Relief Bill that President Donald Trump signed in March. As far as economic indicators go, an analyst

with the National Retail Federation says overall stocks are up, home values are growing and wages are rising. So his organization expects that shopping

sales will be higher this year than they were in 2019.

Experts say that some Americans are willing to spend a little more on Christmas gifts to psychologically make up for some of the challenges

they`ve faced throughout the year. But others don`t have as much money to spend this time around, so predictions like this are a mixed bag and the
 

a mixed bag 大杂烩，混合体

way people shop have clearly been affected in 2020.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At the Hilldale Shopping Center in Madison, Wisconsin only a few shoppers were seen heading into Macys early on Black Friday. As

for Santa, kids had to see him virtually. At this cavernous mall in West Nyack, New York, some shoppers turned up because it was such a ghost town.
 

cavernous [ˋkævɚnəs] adj. 大而深的

turn up 露面; 来到

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel good. I feel safe. I feel comfortable. I like it. There`s nobody out here. It`s perfect. Perfect for a shopper like me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After a Thanksgiving like no other, retail experts say America headed into a Black Friday and a holiday shopping season like no

other.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`ve seen retailers take extraordinary steps to protect their teams, their associates, their partners and of course their

customers and the communities in which they live in and work. And we`re going to continue to see that and consumers are altering their behavior as

well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stores are reinventing the shopping experience to guard against coronavirus spikes. Chains like Best Buy and Home Depot offered
 

reinvent [͵riɪnˋvɛnt] v. 重复发明；独立创造

depot [ˋdipo] n.【美】火车站；公车站；仓库，储藏处

online sales early. Wal-Mart, one of Americas largest retailer, is spreading Black Friday sales over three weekends. The general manager of a

California mall discussed new measures to protect those who come in person.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have free masks for anyone that just forgot one in the car. We installed hospital grade filters on the property. We will have occupancy

occupancy [ˋɑkjəpənsɪ] n. 占有; 入住率

limits pursuant to the health department guidelines. We have free hand sanitizer.
 

pursuant [pɚˋsuənt] adj. & adv. 根据；依照; according to

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But experts say we can count on reduced physical traffic at malls and shopping centers this year as consumers are scared away from
 

count on 依靠, 依赖

possible contact at brick-and-mortar stores.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is going to be a surge online. And that means you will have to be particularly careful and also not wait until the last

minute.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s because experts say this year there have been problems in the supply chains of some retailers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve had a whole stoppage in the inventory system and it`s just not that much product out there. So you have this duality of you
 

stoppage [ˋstɑpɪdʒ] n. 停止，中止；阻塞；堵塞；阻碍

duality [djuˋælətɪ] n. 双重性

can`t have a lot of people. You don`t have a lot of product and unfortunately for the shoppers what it means you`re not going to have a lot

of discounts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As for the overall economic ramifications, the signals are mixed. The president of the National Retail Federation says he expects
 

ramification [͵ræməfəˋkeʃən] n. 延伸性影响

to see strong consumer spending this holiday season. But a Gallop Poll last month found that 28 percent of Americans plan on spending less on holiday

gifts this year.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are still millions of people who are out of work or don`t have the same kind of hours a day had in the past. And also

remember, this time of year lots of people get second jobs at retailer stores. That`s not happening because not as many people are in the stores.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. Which of these U.S. universities has the oldest football team? Rutgers, Yale, Notre Dame, or Vanderbilt. Rutgers has the

oldest football program dating back to 1869. Vanderbilt is from 1890 and the youngest on this list.

Sarah Fuller is a Senior at Vanderbilt University. She`s a goal keeper for the women`s soccer team. She`s also a kicker on Vanderbilt`s football team

and that`s why she just made news on Saturday. In the second half of Vanderbilt`s game against Missouri, Fuller delivered a 30-yard kick-off.

It was down to Missouri`s 35-yard line but that kick made her the third woman ever to play in this level of NCAA Division I football and she`s the

first to play in the Power 5 conference. That`s the five biggest athletic conferences in America. Vanderbilt said it offered the chance to Fuller

because some of its specialist kickers are in quarantine due to coronavirus.

The team lost the game 41 to 0 but Vandy`s head coach says he`d love to have Fuller continue if she`s available and she says she`d love that

especially if she could score a field goal or an extra point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: A bridge is also been built in the town of White Bluff, Tennessee between two competing council candidates. The problem they face could have

been solved by the municipal government or a run-off election, but they opted for an approach that dates back to simpler time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Something`s happened in White Bluff you just don`t see very often.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, the odds have to be a million.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re going to make history, I guess.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This may never happen again for another 100 years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are they talking about? Well, Eric Mason and Bryan Hill just ran for White Bluff council. White Bluff voted but when the

tallies were done, Eric had 893 votes and Bryan had 893 votes. Yes, really.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was amazed. I tell you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 893 to 893, it was just -- it was unbelievable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So what do you do with an exact tie vote? Well Eric and Bryan talked about the options and agreed. Coin toss.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody has an advantage. It`s 50-50. There it is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now the guys could have started back (ph). Campaigning again for a special election but they felt that would just cost White Bluff

money. It would make people get out during COVID. So they figured, end it. Eric and Bryan wait at the civic center for 6 o`clock, the coin toss.
 

figure [ˋfɪgjɚ] v. 做算术，计算

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have respect for him. He has it for me. We didn`t want it to be like everything else is in politics a battle. We`d just rather

bring the community together.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The time is here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m pretty comfortable whichever way this goes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Heads.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bryan, over to the right wins. A handshake ends an election. You just don`t see very often.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: For 10 out of 10, whatever you do don`t look down, or look down. That`s why most people come here. This is the world`s tallest outdoor

elevator according to Guinness World Records. It towers 1,070 feet above a national forest in southeastern China and it carried up to 18,000

tourists a day before the coronavirus pandemic.

Some believe the forest inspired the movie "Avatar". You could say the elevator inspired the movie "Gravity" or maybe "Days of Heaven", "Made in

Heaven", "Just Like Heaven", "Miracles from Heaven", "Kingdom of Heaven", "Heaven Can Wait", "Heaven Is for Real", "All That Heaven Allows", "All

Dogs Go to Heaven". "Heaven knows, Mr. Allison" that some of those movies like that elevator can really give you a lift.

Hey, you know what gives us a lift? Announcing the schools that subscribe and leave a comment at YouTube.com/CNN10. And today that school that gets

the shout out is Wadena-Deer Creek High School. It is located in Wadena, Minnesota. You guys are awesome. I`m Carl Azuz for CNN.

END