Hello! Need some help from native speakers of English. I cannot understand the following sentence:

One recent catalog featured a customer sporting an insulated Patagonia guide jacket as she rescued a calf born during a Colorado snow storm.

Is sporting here a verb? I don't understand the meaning of the sentence. Can somebody elaborate it?
Thank you

I have problems with the following sentence too:

Its corporate culture has its roots in the 1960s Californian counterculture of climbers and surfers with the ethic of radical environmentalism.

What exactly means counterculture? Is environmentalism the same as environment?

The word "sporting" is a participle, modifying "customer." A good synomym for "sporting" in this sentence would be "wearing."

Counterculture describes behavior that isn't part of the majority culture. In this sentence it means that these people were physically very active, enjoyed dangerous sports and were protective of the environment. Environmentalism is the belief that the environment must be preserved.

In the first sentence, "sporting" means wearing. She was wearing the jacket...

counterculture: http://www.answers.com/topic/counterculture

environmentalism: "work toward protecting the natural environment from destruction or pollution"
http://www.answers.com/environmentalism

Oh that helped a lot!! :))

One more question: What is going commission? Any synonyms?
"while the going commission for making a similar trade on the world wide web could be as low as 9 dollars"

Ah -- The "going commission" means the standard commission rate.

Hello! Yes, in the sentence you provided, "sporting" is used as a verb. In this context, it means that the customer is wearing or displaying the insulated Patagonia guide jacket while performing an action.

To understand the sentence, let's break it down:

"One recent catalog" refers to a publication that features various products or items for sale.

"featured" means that the catalog showcased or highlighted something in particular.

"a customer" refers to a person who buys goods or services from a store or company.

"sporting" is used here to describe the customer's action of wearing or displaying the insulated Patagonia guide jacket. It implies that the customer is proudly showing off or wearing the jacket while engaging in another activity.

"an insulated Patagonia guide jacket" is a specific type of jacket made by the brand Patagonia. The term "insulated" means it is designed to provide warmth, commonly through the use of materials like down or synthetic fibers.

"as she rescued a calf born during a Colorado snow storm" emphasizes the specific activity the customer was undertaking. It suggests that the customer was involved in saving or helping a newborn calf that was born during a snowstorm in Colorado.

Overall, the sentence is describing a situation where a customer is featured in a catalog, wearing a Patagonia guide jacket, while rescuing a calf during a snowstorm in Colorado.