“恨谁给谁买”：火爆圣诞礼物 逼疯孩子家长

 　　Each year as Christmas rolls around, there always seems to be one toy that appears on every child's list to Santa.

　　每年圣诞节来临的时候，总有那么一款每个孩子都想要的圣诞礼物。

　　But this year, that toy is quickly becoming the cause of despair amongst parents - many sick of spending hours removing the small spiky¹ balls from their child's long hair.

　　但今年的这款“热门”玩具可谓是家长们的噩梦，这种缠在孩子长发上的扎人小球让很多家长都崩溃了。

　　Social media has been flooded with images of tangled² tresses and warnings from parents about the popular Bunchems pack, which is made up of over 400 sticky, squishy marble-sized building balls - each adorned³ with tiny hooks.

　　社交媒体上铺天盖地的都是各种缠瞎了的头发照片和家长们建议不要购买这款玩具的热心忠告。这款火爆的拼装玩具名叫“Bunchems”，内含400多个又黏又软的小球，每个只有弹珠那么大，上面带着小小的“倒刺”。

　　The description alone was a red flag for many, but those who didn't foresee the potential of the colourful balls to become wedged in hair found out the hard way.

　　虽然只看玩具描述就能让很多家长望而却步，但有些人完全没料到这些彩色小球缠头发的功力，因此吃了不少苦头。

　　恨谁给谁买

　　'A toy spawned⁴ from the darkest depths of hell,' one disgruntled customer wrote.

　　一位顾客愤愤地写道：“这个玩具是从地狱最黑暗的底层蹦出来的！”

　　'Horrible, horrible, horrible toy for kids. I just spent the last TWO AND A HALF hours (absolutely, 100 percent not an exaggeration) attempting to remove 14 of these b*****d balls out of my daughter's hair.'

　　“真是个特别特别特别可怕的儿童玩具。我刚花了两个半小时（绝对毫无夸张）从我闺女的头发上解下来14个该死的小球。”

　　'Buy this toy for someone if you hate them or their child. They are the most incredible choking hazards on the planet. They bring pain and misery⁵, tears, fighting, broken and ripped hair, and questions of one's sanity⁶ in handling life in general.'

　　“恨谁就给谁家孩子买这个玩具吧！它们是这个世界上最不可思议、最令人窒息的祸害。它带来的只有痛苦、悲哀、眼泪、纠结以及断掉的、撕扯下来的头发，再也无法理智地面对生活了。”

　　'Great if you want to pay $200 to have them professionally removed from the hair,' another wrote.

　　还有人写道：“你最好花上200美元找专业人士帮你把这些球解下来。”

　　'I am a hairstylist and spent a total of 4 hours removing these from a little girls hair today! She had 45 of them matted into her hair! 4 hours of pain and $200 later ..... Not really worth it.'

　　“我是个发型师，今天我花了整整四个小时从一个小姑娘头上解这些球！她头发上居然缠了45个球！她遭了整整四个小时的罪还得给我200美元……只能说真的不值！”

　　But considering Target Australia has already sold out of the Bunchems Mega Pack, the reviews appear to be making little impact on parents shopping for Christmas and many stand by the controversial toy.

　　虽然这款玩具引发这么多争议，但在澳大利亚的“塔吉特”百货商场，就连超大包的“Bunchems”都卖光了。看来上面这些评价对圣诞采购的父母以及这款玩具的支持者来说几乎没任何影响。

　　'These are awesome⁷. Reading these reviews are ridiculous. These are such a good toy,' a frustrated⁸ Dad wrote.

　　一位没买到玩具的沮丧父亲写道：“这玩具多好啊！大家的评价都太可笑了。这款玩具真的不错。”

　　'Hair tangles⁹? The warnings are both on the instructions and box. How do these possibly get SO ENTANGLED¹⁰ in hair, when they are "brushed against"? No, your kids are obviously doing something they shouldn't be doing.'

　　“缠头发上了？玩具说明书和包装盒上都有注意事项啊，怎么可能碰一下头发就缠得这么死？肯定是你家孩子瞎玩弄的。”

　　'Let's say you have a Honda, and got into an accident. Would you call the dealership¹¹ or manufacturer? No. Blame yourself, or the at-fault person...this infuriates me. This is such a creative toy. Builds motor skills, and enhances creativity.'

　　“这么说吧，比如你开着辆本田撞车了，你会给经销商或者制造商打电话投诉吗？肯定不会啊！只能怪自己或责任方……这些瞎评论的人真是气死我了。这款玩具多有创意啊，培养动手能力，还提高了孩子的创造力。”

　　Vocabulary

　　spawn：产卵；大量生产

　　disgruntled：不满的；不高兴的

　　sanity：明智，理智

　　tangle：缠结；乱作一团

1 spiky   

adj.长而尖的，大钉似的

参考例句：

• Your hairbrush is too spiky for me.你的发刷，我觉得太尖了。
• The spiky handwriting on the airmail envelope from London was obviously hers.发自伦敦的航空信封上的尖长字迹分明是她的。

2 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。

3 adorned   

[计]被修饰的

参考例句：

• The walls were adorned with paintings. 墙上装饰了绘画。
• And his coat was adorned with a flamboyant bunch of flowers. 他的外套上面装饰着一束艳丽刺目的鲜花。

4 spawned   

（鱼、蛙等）大量产（卵）( spawn的过去式和过去分词 )； 大量生产

参考例句：

• The band's album spawned a string of hit singles. 这支乐队的专辑繁衍出一连串走红的单曲唱片。
• The computer industry has spawned a lot of new companies. 由于电脑工业的发展，许多新公司纷纷成立。

5 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

6 sanity   

n.心智健全，神智正常，判断正确

参考例句：

• I doubt the sanity of such a plan.我怀疑这个计划是否明智。
• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。

7 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

8 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 tangles   

（使）缠结， （使）乱作一团( tangle的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Long hair tangles easily. 长头发容易打结。
• Tangles like this still interrupted their intercourse. 像这类纠缠不清的误会仍然妨碍着他们的交情。

10 entangled   

adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The bird had become entangled in the wire netting. 那只小鸟被铁丝网缠住了。
• Some military observers fear the US could get entangled in another war. 一些军事观察家担心美国会卷入另一场战争。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 dealership   

n.商品特许经销处

参考例句：

• The car dealership has a large inventory of used cars. 这家汽车经销商拥有数量庞大的二手车。
• A key to this effort is the experience in the dealership. 达到这个成果的关键是销售的体验。