如何找到你的“另一半”

 　如何找到你的“另一半”

40,000 people gathered on May 26th and 27th for Shanghai's Matchmaking Expo.However， Yu Bin¹ doesn't expect to find a wife among them. Mr Yu, a 26-year-old policeman, describes himself as conservative and is looking for a woman with "traditional virtues²". His attendance at the expo, the city's largest yet, is a long shot; he would prefer a marriage set up by colleagues or by his parents. It worked for them 30 years ago, he says.

　　5月26日至27日有四万人参加了上海婚恋博览会，但余斌(音)并不期望在其中找到另一半。余先生今年26岁，是一名警察，自认为是一名保守的男人，正在寻找一位拥有"传统美德"的女性。他参加这次婚恋博览会(尽管这是上海市最大的一次了)，成功找到另一半的机会相当渺茫；他更希望通过同事或父母介绍对象。他说，30年前，父母们的婚姻就是这样建立起来的。

　　On the other side of the vast expo park, Fancy Huang is arguing with her mother. At 25, Ms Huang (who chose her English name herself) is two years shy of the dreaded³ age at which she will be branded a shengnu, or "leftover⁴ woman". Her cousins are all married, so her parents are applying pressure. Ms Huang's mother is stewing⁵. "Sometimes my daughter says she would rather buy a flat by herself and live alone," she says. "It's so bizarre."

　　在宽阔世博园的另一边，范希·黄正在与她的母亲争论。黄女士(她的英文名是自己取的)今年25岁，再过两年，她将会被人称为剩女。她的表兄妹们都已经结婚了，因此她的父母正在催她结婚。黄女士的母亲焦虑不安。她说："有时我的女儿说她宁愿自己买一套房子一个人生活。这太奇怪了。"

　　Mr Yu and Ms Huang are just two of the thousands of young people trying to navigate⁶ China's modern marriage market. At the expo there is no shortage of assistance. On one stage, a glamorous⁷ woman in a fuchsia minidress is hosting a public matchmaking session. A bachelor comes onstage and sings a song to 12 female contestants⁸ who hold up paddles with either a smiley or a sad face. Elsewhere, mass speed-dating events are under way. Dating agencies vie for singles to sign up. Their websites are wildly popular in China. One such site, Jiayuan, is listed on America's NASDAQ stockmarket.

　　余先生和黄女士只是数千名年轻人中的两位，他们正在试图摸清中国的现代婚恋市场。在博览会上并不缺少帮助。在一个舞台上，一位身穿紫红色短裙的美女正在主持一场大众相亲会。单身男子上台向十二名女嘉宾唱一首歌，然后女嘉宾要么举起笑脸的牌子，要么举起伤心表情的牌子。其他地方正在开展大众速配活动。婚恋公司相互竞争让单身们成为自己网站的注册用户。它们的网站在中国广受欢迎。一家这样的网站——世纪佳缘网已经在美国的纳斯达克股票市场上市。

　　In the past 30 years the Chinese search for a spouse⁹ has, like so much else, been transformed. Confucian thought emphasised a match's significance for society rather than for the individuals involved. Though formal arranged marriages were banned in 1950, parents and colleagues continued well into the new century to help couples pair up (some still do).

　　在过去30里，与许多其他事情一样，中国人寻找另一半的方式已经改变了。儒家思想强调婚姻之于社会的意义而不是之于个人的意义。尽管在1950年已经禁止公开的包办婚姻，但父母和同事帮忙相亲一直持续到了新世纪(现在仍然是如此)。

　　The recent decline of such practices, especially in cities, in favour of choosing your own mate, has coincided with huge demographic shifts. China's skewed birth ratio (118 boys to every 100 girls) means that there will be a surplus of about 24m bachelors by 2020. And women's increasing socio-economic freedom makes them pickier when choosing a husband.

　　最近这种情况减少了，更倾向于自己找对象，在城市尤其是如此，这正好赶上了巨大的人口变迁。中国扭曲的出生率(男女出生比率为118比100)意味着，到2020年，近2400万名男子将成为光混。而随着女性在社会经济方面的自由度越来越大，她们在挑选丈夫时将更加挑剔。

　　Mr Yu, the traditionalist, remains¹⁰ hopeful. "We just haven't been in the right place at the right time," he says of his putative¹¹ partner. Other bachelors are less patient. Last month, the "Multi-Millionaire Seeking Spouses¹² in Ten Cities Show" launched in the southern city of Guangzhou. Eleven Chinese millionaires are paying a luxury matchmaking agency 5m yuan ($790,000) for assistance. One of them, a billionaire, has particular requirements: suitable candidates should be aged¹³ 20-26, weigh less than 50kg (110lb) and have no sexual experience. So far more than 5,000 young women have applied¹⁴.

　　传统的余先生仍然满怀希望。他在谈到自己今后的另一半时说："我们只是缘分未到而已。"其他单身们就没这么沉得住气了。上月，南部城市广州发起了"亿万富豪十城求偶秀"。11位中国的百万富豪支付500万元(合79万美元)，向一家豪华的婚恋公司求助。其中一位亿万富翁开出了特殊的条件：年龄20-26岁、体重不超过50公斤(合110磅)、纯洁之身才可入围。到目前为止已有5000多名年轻女性报名申请。

1 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

2 virtues   

美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处

参考例句：

• Doctors often extol the virtues of eating less fat. 医生常常宣扬少吃脂肪的好处。
• She delivered a homily on the virtues of family life. 她进行了一场家庭生活美德方面的说教。

3 dreaded   

adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The dreaded moment had finally arrived. 可怕的时刻终于来到了。
• He dreaded having to spend Christmas in hospital. 他害怕非得在医院过圣诞节不可。 来自《用法词典》

4 leftover   

n.剩货，残留物，剩饭；adj.残余的

参考例句：

• These narrow roads are a leftover from the days of horse-drawn carriages.这些小道是从马车时代沿用下来的。
• Wonder if that bakery lets us take leftover home.不知道那家糕饼店会不会让我们把卖剩的带回家。

5 stewing   

炖

参考例句：

• The meat was stewing in the pan. 肉正炖在锅里。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The cashier was stewing herself over the sum of 1, 000 which was missing. 钱短了一千美元，出纳员着急得要命。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

7 glamorous   

adj.富有魅力的；美丽动人的；令人向往的

参考例句：

• The south coast is less glamorous but full of clean and attractive hotels.南海岸魅力稍逊，但却有很多干净漂亮的宾馆。
• It is hard work and not a glamorous job as portrayed by the media.这是份苦差，并非像媒体描绘的那般令人向往。

8 contestants   

n.竞争者，参赛者( contestant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The competition attracted over 500 contestants representing 8 different countries. 这次比赛吸引了代表8个不同国家的500多名参赛者。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency. 两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 spouse   

n.配偶(指夫或妻)

参考例句：

• Her spouse will come to see her on Sunday.她的丈夫星期天要来看她。
• What is the best way to keep your spouse happy in the marriage?在婚姻中保持配偶幸福的最好方法是什么？

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

11 putative   

adj.假定的

参考例句：

• There have been many attempts to track down the putative Loch Ness monster.人们为追踪假定存在的尼斯湖水怪做了许多努力。
• He is the putative father of this child.他是这孩子的推定的父亲。

12 spouses   

n.配偶，夫或妻( spouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jobs are available for spouses on campus and in the community. 校园里和社区里有配偶可做的工作。 来自辞典例句
• An astonishing number of spouses-most particularly in the upper-income brackets-have no close notion of their husbands'paychecks. 相当大一部分妇女——特别在高收入阶层——并不很了解他们丈夫的薪金。 来自辞典例句

13 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

14 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。