自拍之疯：用生命自拍可取吗？

 　　The rise of selfie photography in some of the world's most beautiful, and dangerous, places is sparking a range of interventions¹ aimed at combating risk-taking that has resulted in a string of gruesome deaths worldwide.

　　在世界上一些最美、最危险的地方自拍已经形成一股热潮，在这种冒险行为在世界范围内引发一系列可怕的人命事故后，促使了一系列相关干预措施出台，以防此类悲剧重演。

　　The act of taking a picture of oneself with a mobile phone, placing the subject centre-stage, has exploded in popularity in recent years, with everyone from Britain's Queen Elizabeth II to U.S. President Barack Obama joining in.

　　近年来，将拍照主体置于画面中心、用手机自拍的行为人气暴涨，不只是普通人，就连英国女王伊丽莎白二世和美国总统贝拉克?奥巴马也未能免俗。

　　But the selfie has also inspired a spate² of risk taking and offensive public behaviour, pushing the boundaries of safety and decorum, whether by dangling³ from a skyscraper⁴ or posing with live explosives.

　　不过，自拍也引发了不少危险和为公众不齿的行为。不管是悬挂在摩天大楼上自拍还是跟真正的炸药摆拍合影，都在挑战安全与礼仪的底线。

　　自拍之疯：用生命自拍可取吗？

　　Several governments and regulatory bodies have now begun treating the selfie as a serious threat to public safety, leading them to launch public education campaigns reminiscent of those against smoking and binge drinking.

　　一些政府和监管机构现已将自拍认定为公众安全的一个严重威胁，这促使他们开展公众教育活动，这不禁让人想起了反对吸烟和酗酒的教育活动。

　　Dozens of grisly selfie-related deaths and injuries in early 2015 led Russia's Interior Ministry⁵ to launch a campaign warning avid⁶ mobile phone snappers about the danger of, among other things, posing for a selfie with a lion.

　　2015年初发生了几十起骇人的自拍伤亡事件，这促使俄罗斯内政部专门开展了一项活动，旨在提醒手机拍照迷们和狮子自拍等行为是多么危险。

　　In June, two men in the Ural Mountains died after posing pulling the pin from a hand grenade; in May a woman survived shooting herself in the head in her Moscow office; a month later a 21-year-old university graduate plunged⁷ 40 feet (12 metres) to her death while posing hanging from a Moscow bridge.

　　6月，两名男子在乌拉尔山脉（Ural Mountains）摆拍拉开手榴弹保险销，引爆手榴弹后丧生；5月，一名女子在其位于莫斯科的办公室内不慎开枪击中自己头部，但死里逃生；一个月后，一位21岁的大学毕业生悬挂在莫斯科一座40英尺（12米高）的大桥拍照时坠桥身亡。

　　"A cool selfie could cost you your life," reads a poster from the campaign, which includes safety videos and information booklets.

　　俄罗斯这项活动的海报上写道：“一张拉风的自拍的代价或许是你的生命，”。活动内容还包括安全视频和信息宣传册。

　　Despite Russia's diplomatic isolation⁸ over its support for separatist rebels in Ukraine, on the issue of dangerous selfies the Kremlin finds itself in accord with the European Union and the United States.

　　尽管俄罗斯因对乌克兰的反叛分裂分子采取支持而在外交上处于孤立状态，在关于危险的自拍这一问题上，俄罗斯政府与欧盟和美国的立场并无不同。

　　In Texas on Wednesday, a 19-year-old father of two died after shooting himself in the neck during a selfie. In Yellowstone National Park exasperated⁹ officials issued warnings after five separate selfie takers were gored¹⁰ this summer while standing¹¹ too near bison.

　　9月2日，德克萨斯州一位有两位孩子的19岁父亲在自拍时意外用枪击中自己的脖子后丧生。今年夏天，黄石国家公园有5位自拍者先后因太靠近野牛被顶伤，恼怒的公园工作人员为此发布了安全警示。

　　The European Union in June proposed a law to criminalise social media posts containing pictures of landmarks¹² such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris or Rome's Trevi Fountain. And in India this week officials said they were implementing¹³ a "no selfie zone" at the Hindu Kumbh Mela festival over fears they may cause stampedes.

　　欧盟6月建议立法禁止在社交网站上传包含各类地标建筑的照片，如巴黎的埃菲尔铁塔（Eiffel Tower）和罗马的特莱维喷泉（Trevi Fountain）。本周印度有官员称，他们正在印度教大壶节（Kumbh Mela）期间建立“无自拍区”，以免发生踩踏事件。

　　ALL ABOUT ME

　　一切以‘我’为中心

　　Yet despite the risks, selfies are more popular than ever, according to data from Google Trends. Searches for the term were up eight times in 2014 over the previous year, leading the Internet search giant to dub¹⁴ it "The Year of the Selfie".

　　然而尽管有这些风险，谷歌趋势的数据显示，自拍变得比以往更为流行。在2014年，关于自拍的搜索量比前一年增加了八倍，导致互联网搜索巨擎谷歌将2014年称为“自拍之年”。

　　Selfies tend to attract a type of person already more likely to push the boundaries of normal behaviour, says Jesse Fox, an assistant professor of communications at Ohio State University.

　　俄亥俄州立大学研究人际交流的助理教授杰西?福克斯（Jesse Fox）表示，对于那些本就更可能突破正常行为的界限的人来说，自拍往往更有吸引力。

　　Her research says people exhibiting the so-called Dark Triad of personality traits - narcissism¹⁵, Machiavellianism and psychopathy - are likely to pursue selfie glory regardless of who gets hurt in the process.

　　她的研究称，拥有自恋，不择手段且神经兮兮的所谓“黑暗三性格”（Dark Triad）特点的人，他们更可能只追求拍出精彩的自拍，不在乎过程中谁受到伤害。黑暗三性格指自恋癖、为达目的不择手段的马基雅维里主义（Machiavellianism）和心理病态。

　　"It's all about me. It's putting me in the frame. I'm getting attention and when I post that to social media, I'm getting the confirmation¹⁶ that I need from other people that I'm awesome," Fox told Reuters.

　　福克斯向路透社表示：“一切都是以我为中心，将我自己放进相框，我正被人们关注着，我将照片上传到社交媒体后，我会从别人那里得到我想要的肯定，我很棒的肯定”。

　　"You don't care about the tourist attraction you're destroying; you don't care about annoying people in your social media feed ... you're not even thinking about the consequences of your actions, so who cares if you're dangling off the side of the Eiffel Tower?"

　　“你并不关心你正在破坏的旅游胜地；你也不在乎自己是否让社交媒体订阅里的人们厌恶…你甚至也不考虑行为的后果，那么，谁又会在意你是不是就要从埃菲尔铁塔边上掉下去了呢？”

　　That has not stopped some countries trying to capitalise on the trend's popularity.

　　这也并未停止某些国家利用这一潮流获利的脚步。

　　Tourism Australia this week launched a campaign promising¹⁷ an opportunity to take the "World's Largest Selfie", aimed at selfie-mad Japan.

　　澳大利亚旅游局本周发起了一项活动，承诺有拍下“全世界最大的自拍”的机会，其目标是吸引疯狂爱自拍的日本人。

　　They have installed several so-called GigaSelfie platforms in some of the country's most breathtaking environs from which, with an associated app, visitors can capture an ultra hi-resolution shot taken by a far away camera.

　　他们已在澳大利亚国内一些最优美的景点安装了几个所谓的“GiGa自拍”平台，通过关联的手机应用，游客们便可用远处的相机抓拍超高分辨率的照片。

　　Vocabulary

　　gruesome：可怕的

　　binge drinking：酗酒

　　grisly：恐怖的

　　(hand) grenade：手榴弹

　　exasperated：恼怒的

　　gore：(动物用角或獠牙)抵伤，刺伤

　　bison：野牛

1 interventions   

n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
• The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网

2 spate   

n.泛滥，洪水，突然的一阵

参考例句：

• Police are investigating a spate of burglaries in the area.警察正在调查这一地区发生的大量盗窃案。
• Refugees crossed the border in full spate.难民大量地越过了边境。

3 dangling   

悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• The tooth hung dangling by the bedpost, now. 结果，那颗牙就晃来晃去吊在床柱上了。
• The children sat on the high wall,their legs dangling. 孩子们坐在一堵高墙上，摇晃着他们的双腿。

4 skyscraper   

n.摩天大楼

参考例句：

• The skyscraper towers into the clouds.那幢摩天大楼高耸入云。
• The skyscraper was wrapped in fog.摩天楼为雾所笼罩。

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

6 avid   

adj.热心的；贪婪的；渴望的；劲头十足的

参考例句：

• He is rich,but he is still avid of more money.他很富有,但他还想贪图更多的钱。
• She was avid for praise from her coach.那女孩渴望得到教练的称赞。

7 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

8 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

9 exasperated   

adj.恼怒的

参考例句：

• We were exasperated at his ill behaviour. 我们对他的恶劣行为感到非常恼怒。
• Constant interruption of his work exasperated him. 对他工作不断的干扰使他恼怒。

10 gored   

v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破( gore的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was gored by a bull. 他被公牛顶伤。
• The bull gored the farmer to death. 公牛用角把农夫抵死了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

12 landmarks   

n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址）

参考例句：

• The book stands out as one of the notable landmarks in the progress of modern science. 这部著作是现代科学发展史上著名的里程碑之一。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The baby was one of the big landmarks in our relationship. 孩子的出世是我们俩关系中的一个重要转折点。 来自辞典例句

13 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句

14 dub   

vt.（以某种称号）授予，给...起绰号，复制

参考例句：

• I intend to use simultaneous recording to dub this film.我打算采用同期录音的方法为这部影片配音。
• It was dubbed into Spanish for Mexican audiences.它被译制成西班牙语以方便墨西哥观众观看。

15 narcissism   

n.自我陶醉，自恋

参考例句：

• Those who suffer from narcissism become self-absorbed.自恋的人会变得自私。
• The collective narcissism of the Kerouac circle is ultimately boring.凯鲁亚克和他周围人物的集体自我陶醉欲最终使人厌烦不已。

16 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

17 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。