關(guān)于購物英語日記
In the United States， the lonely have Reddit and cats. In China， they have Singles' Day， which falls on Nov. 11 -- 11.11， the four ones symbolizing "bare branches，" Chinese slang for bachelors. Thought to have originated about 20 years ago as a joke on college campuses， Singles' Day was once an occasion for confessing one's feelings to that special someone. But since 20xx， online retailers have transformed the holiday， also known as "Double 11，" into an epic online shopping extravaganza akin to America's Cyber Monday.
在美國，孤單的人有紅迪網(wǎng)和貓。在中國，孤單的人有光棍節(jié)。光棍節(jié)在每年11月11日，即11.11象征著“光棍”，漢語中給單身人士的諢名。光棍節(jié)大約20年前興起自中國大學(xué)校園，學(xué)生們借這個日子打趣，在這一天向自己心儀的對象表白。但是20xx年之后，又稱“雙11”的光棍節(jié)，被網(wǎng)絡(luò)零售商轉(zhuǎn)變成了和美國的“網(wǎng)購禮拜一”相似的網(wǎng)購狂歡慶典。
China has 271 million online consumers， meaning that almost half of China's 591 million Internet users buy products online. E-commerce sites Taobao and Tmall， which saw a combined $1 trillion in sales in 20xx， will both be running promotional campaigns during China's Singles' Day. Among the offers： 50 percent discounts on products like boyfriend body pillows and hoodies that read "I am single because I am fat." declared that the site would sell "20，000 products discounted by as much as 90 percent." That includes a wedding ring， which singles can presumably buy， just in case.
中國有2億7100萬網(wǎng)絡(luò)消費者，這意味著中國的5億9100萬網(wǎng)民中有近半數(shù)在網(wǎng)上購物。如淘寶和天貓的網(wǎng)購網(wǎng)站，在20xx年銷售量加在一起有1萬億美元。這兩家網(wǎng)站都會在中國的光棍節(jié)這天發(fā)起促銷活動，他們的促銷策略是相關(guān)商品的五折優(yōu)惠、比如“男朋友抱枕”、上書“我肉多所以我單身”的套頭衫等。亞馬遜網(wǎng)稱將該站上將有“2萬件商品1折優(yōu)惠”，這其中包括結(jié)婚戒指——也許單身人士會買一只來以備日后可用。
Jack Ma， founder of Internet giant Alibaba， told Chinese Premier Li Keqiang late last month that Alibaba's sales on Singles' Day 20xx were "nearly $3.3 billion" -- more than double the roughly $1.5 billion purchased on Cyber Monday in 20xx. For Singles' Day 20xx， Ma expects sales to exceed $4.9 billion.
網(wǎng)絡(luò)巨頭阿里巴巴的創(chuàng)始人馬云在10月底會見總理的時候曾對總理坦言，20xx年光棍節(jié)期間，阿里巴巴的銷售量有“近33億美元”——比20xx年美國的“網(wǎng)購禮拜一”創(chuàng)下的約15億美元銷售量翻了一番。對20xx年的光棍節(jié)，馬云預(yù)測銷售量將突破49億。
The rise of singletons as a consumer group is not without its own costs. Chinese business magazine Caijing reported that big delivery companies were forced to scramble to find over 100 extra airplanes to handle the 323 million parcels they needed to deliver over the Singles' Day shopping period.
消費者群體中單身族的崛起并不是沒有代價的。據(jù)《中國財經(jīng)雜志》報道，在光棍節(jié)期間，為了處理3億2300萬份包裹，許多大型物流公司需要籌措超過100臺貨運飛機(jī)四處奔走。
The holiday strains the logistics system： Products frequently sell out or arrive late. Even when everything moves smoothly， consumers complain about commercial gimmicks. According to the Beijing Evening News， a popular local paper， some online retailers quietly raise prices before slashing them.
光棍節(jié)期間物流系統(tǒng)往往問題百出：商品常常已經(jīng)斷貨或者送貨延期。就算物流系統(tǒng)一切正常，網(wǎng)購公司的銷售貓膩也常常引起消費者不滿。根據(jù)北京一家知名報刊《北京晚報》報道，許多在線零售商都會先抬高商品價格，然后再鼓吹降價銷售。
But Chinese have not forgotten about the true meaning of this holiday： hating singlehood. Singles' Day is an occasion on which Chinese confess their feelings and try to find significant others. On Nov. 7， with four days to go before the holiday， the top trending topic on Weibo， China's Twitter， was "Help Your Roommate Find Someone." Over 200，000 people participated in the discussion， posting pictures of their roommates (and sometimes themselves) in hopes of avoiding another lonely Singles' Day.
但是中國人也沒有忘記這個節(jié)日的真正含義：厭倦單身。光棍節(jié)正是中國人承認(rèn)自己對單身狀態(tài)的厭倦，試著尋覓到另一半的日子。在11月7日光棍節(jié)前4天，微博(中國版的推特)上最熱門的話題就是“為你的室友找到另一半”。超過20萬人參與了討論，上傳自己室友的照片(有時就是自己的照片)，希望能在光棍節(jié)前結(jié)束單身。
Chinese are no strangers to loneliness： There are tens of millions of men in China who may never find love due to the country's massive gender imbalance， a result of the One Child Policy and a longstanding preference for male children. Chinese women don't have it easy either： Those who remain unmarried at the ripe old age of 27 risk being labeled "leftover women".
孤單對于中國人來說并不陌生：由于中國長期實行計劃生育政策，以及長久以來重男輕女的子女偏好，中國的性別比例嚴(yán)重失衡，有數(shù)以百萬的中國男子也許一輩子都不會找到伴侶。中國女性的情況也不容樂觀：那些在27歲的“熟女”年齡之后還未婚的女性會被貼上“剩女”的標(biāo)簽。
Although poverty and singledom are often linked outcomes in China， at least one web user was sure of which was worse. "Spending Singles' Day alone isn't that scary，" he wrote. "What's scary is when you're so poor you can't even enjoy Taobao's ‘Double 11.'" Retail therapy indeed.
雖然在中國“貧窮”和“單身”往往是相互聯(lián)系的，但網(wǎng)民們知道前者比后者更糟糕。如一位中國網(wǎng)民所說的，“一個人過光棍節(jié)并不可怕，可怕的是你沒錢去參加淘寶的‘雙11’慶典�！�