美語情景對話 第1074期:Single's Day 單身節

Rory: Have you heard about Singles Day in China?

羅瑞：你聽說過中國的光棍節嗎？

Abidemi: No, I'm not really sure. Can you explain what that is about?

阿比德米：沒有，我不知道那是什麼。你能解釋一下嗎？

Rory: So this is a new holiday that has been created for single people.

羅瑞：這是一個爲單身人羣創造的新節日。

Abidemi: Wow!

阿比德米：哇哦！

Rory: And so on this day people don't buy presents for somebody else. They buy presents for themselves. They are celebrating being single, and it's been a huge success. Like the Internet sales have gone through the roof. So I guess companies just look for a time of year where there is maybe no holiday at the moment and try to create a new holiday.

羅瑞：在這一天人們不會送其他人禮物，而是給自己買禮物。他們慶祝單身，這個節日取得了巨大的成功。這一天的網絡銷量暴漲。我想這是商家瞄準了一年中沒有任何節日的時間，然後創造了一個新節日。

Abidemi: That's an interesting idea. It sounds like something you would do normally anyway, right. We always shop for ourselves, so but, wow!

阿比德米：這是一個不錯的想法。聽起來像是人們平常就會做的事。我們經常給自己買東西，哇哦！

Rory: I heard actually that Mother's Day — this might be an urban myth — but it was created by the Hallmark Card Company in America because there was a gap in the year that people weren't buying cards and so they created this Mother's Day. Everyone's got a mother.

羅瑞：這可能是一個都市傳說，我聽說母親節是美國霍爾馬克卡片公司創設的，因爲一年中有段時間人們不會買卡片，所以他們創設了母親節。畢竟所有人都有母親。

Abidemi: That's true.

阿比德米：沒錯。

Rory: And if they create this Mother's Day, everyone's going to feel obliged to buy a card from them for their mother.

羅瑞：他們創設母親節以後，所有人都會覺得自己有義務去給母親買張賀卡。

Abidemi: That's true.

阿比德米：是的。

Rory: And now it's ... I don't know if it's true.

羅瑞：所以……我不知道這是不是事實。

Abidemi: But I say it's true because I think it's a huge hit in a lot of countries actually, and it's spreading more and more to different countries every year, so these companies are definitely on to something. They know what they're doing.

阿比德米：我認爲是這樣，因爲母親節在許多國家非常受歡迎，每年都有越來越多的國家慶祝母親節，這些公司一定是有想法的。他們知道他們在做什麼。

Rory: Right. So what should we do? I can't boycott Christmas cause I love Christmas too much, but maybe we could boycott some of these other days.

羅瑞：沒錯。那我們應該怎麼辦？我不能抵制聖誕節，因爲我非常喜歡聖誕節，不過也許我們可以抵制其他節日。

Abidemi: Maybe, or just celebrate it in a way that's less commercialized. I guess we don't always have to buy big things. What about quality time? Spending time with family, with friends and just appreciating them in different ways than we would just think of just shopping or gifts or presents.

阿比德米：也許吧，或許我們可以用不太商業化的方式進行慶祝。我認爲我們不用總是買那些大件物品。享受美好時光怎麼樣？和家人、朋友一起度過美好的時光，用不同的方式感謝他們，而不是我們只會想到的購物或是送禮物。

Rory: Yeah.

羅瑞：對。

Abidemi: Material things.

阿比德米：那些物質上的東西。

Rory: That's a nice idea.

羅瑞：這是個不錯的主意。

Abidemi: Yeah. I think so. We'll save us some money, definitely, right?

阿比德米：嗯，我是這樣認爲的。這樣我們還可以省錢，對吧？

譯文屬僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載

重點講解：
1. go through the roof （價格、通貨膨脹率等）猛增，飛漲；
例句：Prices for Korean art have gone through the roof.
韓國藝術品的價格飛漲。
2. look for 尋找，尋求；
例句：I'm looking for a permanent appointment.
我正在尋找固定的工作。
3. what about (用於問句句首，表示提出建議或請求)…怎麼樣；
例句：What about a nice walk in the park?
到公園去散散步怎麼樣?
4. think of 想到；想起；想出；
例句：Mary was the first person to think of the idea.
瑪麗是第一個想到這個主意的人。