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The Economist刊文“
China’s alarming sex imbalance
”, 关注中国的性别比例失衡问题。
原文开头以江西农村男性的婚恋难题切入
, 如此写道:
“Of course I want to get married,” says Fu, a lorry driver in Yiyang, a far-flung county in Jiangxi province. Once a migrant worker, the 36-year-old returned to the village to live with his ageing parents. They are anxious for him to tie the knot. “But there are few women,” he sighs.
The eligible girls around him are all
spoken for
; others have left to work in cities.
“我当然想结婚。” 傅某感叹道, 他是一名货车司机, 居住在江西省偏远的弋阳县。曾外出务工, 现年36岁, 已回到农村与年迈的父母同住。父母盼着他早日成家, 但他叹息说道: “村里已经没有适龄的姑娘了。”
村里适婚的姑娘都已名花有主
, 其他的都去了城里打工。
— The Economist February 20, 2025
🔘 小词批注:
↕️ 上下滑动浏览
◻️ lorry n. 卡车, 货车
◻️ far-flung adj. 遥远的
◻️ migrant adj. 迁移的
◻️ migrant worker 外来务工者, 流动工人, 农民工
◻️ tie the knot 结婚 (= get married)
◻️ eligible adj. (作为结婚对象) 理想的, 合适的
同学们留意摘录此处“
the eligible girls around him are all
spoken for
”,
“
spoken for
”是一个固定说法, 可以表示“人已处于恋爱或婚姻关系中”
, 即:
If someone is
spoken for
, they are not available for a romantic relationship because they are already having one with someone else.
将“
someone is
spoken
for
”
参考“名花有主”理解
, 也可
参考汉语中的“
说
媒”记忆
。
另外,
“
someone is taken
”也是同样的意思, 即“to say that someone is already married or has a boy/girlfriend”
, 比如女性在面对搭讪时表示“
Sorry. I’m taken.
”的意思就是“不好意思, 我已经有男朋友了”。
再比如“
single or taken
”就是“单身与否”的意思, 参考英国知名Metro《地铁报》的婚恋文章摘录:
You’ve stalked their social media, you’ve checked their ring finger, but the mystery remains:
is your crush single, or taken?
It’s not always easy to work out the relationship status of a potential partner.
You don’t want to seem too forward and ask – running the risk of making things awkward – but equally, you want to know if you should shoot your shot.
Well, an Australian radio show has gifted us with a pretty clever hack.
Speaking on the Kyle and Jackie O show, producer Jaimee Hassos explained the easy tip: ‘Ask them where their last holiday was and see if they mention their partner.’
Genius. If they’ve got a significant other, chances are, they’ve been on a getaway with them.
你已经偷偷翻遍了TA的社交账户, 也盯着TA的无名指反复确认, 但仍然不能确定
TA究竟是单身还是已经有主了
。
直接问吧, 怕尴尬; 不问吧, 又想知道自己还有没有机会。
节目制作人分享了一个简单的方法: “问TA上次去哪儿度假, 看看会不会提到男/女朋友。”
妙极了! 如果对方已经有了另一半, 大概率会一起旅行。
— Try this hack to find out if someone is single or not (when you don’t want to ask)
🔘 小词批注:
↕️ 上下滑动浏览
◻️ stalk v. 暗中跟踪
◻️ ring finger 无名指 (结婚戒指多戴于该指)
◻️ mystery n. 神秘的事物, 难以理解的事物, 谜
◻️ crush n. 爱慕 (的人)
◻️ work out 理解, 弄清楚
◻️ potential adj. 可能的, 潜在的
◻️ partner n. 情人, 配偶, 伴侣
◻️ run the risk of doing something 冒…的风险
◻️ shoot (one's) shot 字面为“投出手中的球/射门”, 实际表示“让对方 (比如想要表白的人) 知道你的心意”, 可以用于追求心仪对象的语境
◻️ hack n. 好的方案, 好的建议
◻️ significant other 至关重要的另一半 (指配偶或伴侣)
◻️ getaway n. 短暂旅行或度假
《英文报刊中的地道表达》
第160期已更新
, 分为两个板块:
-
板块一
: 经常坐飞机旅行的同学, 应该经历过飞机起落过程中“耳朵疼”的情况, 也听过“打呵欠”、“咽口水”的缓解小妙招, The Washington Post《华盛顿邮报》2015年2月旅行板块刊文“Does ear-cupping really help with air pressure pain on a flight?”, 提到了一个国外流行的小窍门, 那就是“把一只装有以热水浸泡过的纸巾的纸杯, 敷在耳朵上”, 文章从专业医生的角度探讨到底管不管用;
同学们由此积累一个类似中文“不靠谱老偏方”的地道英文成语
。
-
板块二
: 为同学们挑选了一条Fox News《Fox新闻》关注“美国联邦调查局局长卸任”的最新摘录,
积累一个常见词的、容易误解的地道用法
