《中英對照讀新聞》Guardian's birds and bees yield circulation boost 衛報的鳥與蜂報導提升了發行量

◎張沛元

When the Guardian newspaper went looking for an edge in Britain's fiercely competitive market, where newspapers routinely offer CDs and DVDs to lure new readers, it found an unexpected boost from Mother Nature.

當衛報在競爭激烈、報紙慣常附贈CD與DVD以吸引新讀者的英國報業市場上尋找優勢時，大自然助了該報一臂之力。

A series of fold-out nature posters — "Birds of the Shore and Sea" and "Octopus, Squid and Cuttlefish" among others —drove up sales by more than 30,000 copies a day during two separate one-week runs, inspiring a bit of excitement among some readers in the process.

在兩個非連續的一整周刊登期間，「海岸鳥類」、「章魚、烏賊與墨魚」與其他主題等一系列摺頁大自然海報，使得每天的銷售量增加3萬多份，期間還激起一些讀者的興奮之情。

"Wanted：Guardian poster with squid drawings Friday 30 June," read one posting on the free classified Web site Gumtree.com. "Will pay up to a fiver. I was stupid enough to leave it on the train by mistake!"

「急尋：6月30日周五有烏賊圖的衛報海報」，Gumtree.com免費分類廣告網站上的一則廣告如此寫道：「最多願付到5英鎊。我笨到居然把報紙忘在火車上。」

Newspapers in Britain and around the world are struggling to stem circulation declines, and many have turned to bundling freebies to improve "sampling" -- industry speak for readers trying out a new paper.

英國與世界各地的報紙正為遏阻發行量下跌而奮戰，許多報紙轉而推出隨報附送免費贈品，藉以改善「抽樣」──讀者嘗試新報紙的業界術語。

新聞辭典

yield：動詞，產生（效果，收益）；讓於；被迫放棄；使屈服。例句：Please yield your seat to elderly passengers and passengers with disabilities that are standing on a crowded train.（請讓座給在擁擠車廂內站立的老年與殘障乘客。）

fiver：名詞，5美元鈔票或5英鎊鈔票。

stem：動詞，堵住，遏阻；逆流而行。名詞：莖、幹、葉柄。： She has a brain stem stroke.（她腦幹中風。）