On the wall beyond the checkout lines, the faces of 16 Wal-Mart employees, their photos arranged in an inverted pyramid, smile down at paying customers.

结账线旁边的墙上是沃尔玛十六位雇员的相片。他们被镶嵌在倒置的金字塔里，微笑着面对结账地顾客。

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Critics claim that Wal-Mart has simply seen the writing on the wall and sees the initiative as a way of improving its public image.

批评者指出，沃尔玛只是做表面功夫并且将这一项倡议作为提升公众形象的手段。

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Brian Sozzi, an analyst at Wall Street Strategies, notes that "one key thing in [the Massmart] deal for Wal-Mart is to gain market share through increased volume which comes from lower prices."

来自华尔街的行业战略分析师布莱恩·索兹（Brian Sozzi）提到“对沃尔玛来讲，这次购并的一大关键目的是要通过压低价格来增加销售额，进而扩大（在非洲的）市场份额。”

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And then the Wall Street Journal reported that Wal-Mart took a semi-automatic gun (the Bushmaster M4A3) off its website.

FORBES: Move up http://i.forbesimg.com t Move down

Although the Wal-Mart's fourth-quarter earnings were exactly in line with Wall Street's expectations, its first-quarter and full-year guidance range were on the wrong side of analyst's predictions.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Ahead of the results, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that U.S. consumers increasingly question whether Wal-Mart does, indeed, have the lowest prices.

FORBES: Wal-Mart Watchers Obsess Over U.S. Growth, But How About Intl' Margins?