News 4. Toy Makers Helping Toys "R" Us.

<STYLE>P{margin-top:2px;margin-bottom:2px;}</STYLE> [NEW WORDS]   ♧ anything but : 결코 ~이 아니다   ♧ be on the line : = be at risk   ♧ prognosticator : n. 예언자, 점쟁이   -v. prognosticate : vt. 예지하다, 예언하다   ♧ on sale : 할인 중인   ♧ supremacy : n. 최고, 주권, 지배권, 패권   ♧ shrink : v. 천 등이 오그라들다, 양이 줄다   ♧ turn A around : 방향을 선회시키다, 호전시키다   ♧ put A out of business : A를 망하게 하다, 파산하게 하다   ♧ keep pace with : ~에 발맞추다, 보조를 맞추다, 뒤지지 않다   ♧ burnish : v. 닦다, 갈다, 윤내다   ♧ authority : n. 권위자, 권력   ♧ exclusive : a. 배타적인, 독점적인, 유일한   ♧ discounter : n. 할인점, 싸게 파는 사람        So, with another holiday season upon us, we are going to take a closer look tonight at a battle for survival in the toy industry. American consumers will buy 23 billion dollars' worth of toys this year. But the toy business has been anything but fun. The future of the last national toy chain Toys "R" Us may be on the line.   If the prognosticators are right, a singing Elmo will be one of the stars of the holiday shopping season. Toys "R" Us, the nation's number two toy seller, has him on sale for $19.95, ten dollars below list price. Wal-Mart, the number one toy seller, is offering him for 19.72.   In the battle for toy supremacy, Toys R Us is the only national toy chain still standing, and it needs a strong holiday season if it wants to stay standing. Sales have been shrinking for three straight years, and if the retailer doesn't turn that around, it could go the way of so many other toy chains.   "In the sixties and seventies, Toys "R" Us was growing and putting the regional chains out of business. Now, they haven't kept pace with how the market has changed."   Among those now coming to the rescue: toy makers. To burnish the retailer's image as the toy authority, they've given Toys "R" Us exclusive deals on 21 toys, and they've kicked in millions to market them. They know they would be the big losers if discounters are the only ones selling toys.   "You can't sell the volume and you can't sell the variety to those type of stores that you could sell to a toy specialist like Toys R Us."   That could mean fewer choices for customers as well. This new TV commercial sends the message : "You won't find that perfect toy for your child in Wal-Mart's limited selection. But variety and selection are only half the battle. In the age of Wal-Mart, you must also compete on price. And Toys "R" Us shoppers say the company is now doing that.   For the moment, the battle to win toy shoppers is producing the best of choices at the lowest of prices.