新世纪英语或英文翻译 257 单元.docVIP

Unit 2 The New Singles Carla Power 第二单元 新 单 身 族 卡拉?鲍威尔 Increasing numbers of Northern Europeans are choosing to live alone 越来越多的北欧人选择单身生活 1. You know the type. Eleanor Rigby, who picks up the rice in the church where the wedding has been. Austin Powers, proud owner of a Lava lamp, lush chest hair and an equal-opportunity libido. Bridget Jones, of the wobbly ego and much-watched answering machine. The Single, long a stock figure in stories, songs and personal ads, was traditionally someone at the margins of society: a figure of fun, pity or awe. 1.你知道他们是这样的人：在举行过婚礼的教堂里捡大米的埃莉诺?雷格比；胸毛浓密、性欲旺盛、以拥有熔岩灯而感自豪的奥斯丁?鲍威尔斯；个人意识模糊不清、总是期待录音电话响起的布里奇特?琼斯。这些单身人士过去一直是故事、歌曲和个人广告中的常见人物，传统上这些人处在社会的边缘：滑稽有趣、让人怜悯或令人敬畏。 2.Those days are gone. In the place of withered spinsters and bachelors are people like Elizabeth de Kergorlay, a 29-year-old Parisian banker who views her independence and her own apartment as the spoils of professional success. Scooting around Paris in her Golf GTI, one hand on the wheel and the other clutching her cell phone, de Kergorlay pauses between calls to rave about life alone. “I’m not antisocial,” she says. “I love people. But living alone gives me the time and space for self-reflection. I’ve got the choice and the privacy to grow as a human being.” 2.那些日子已经一去不复返了。现在的单身族不再像过去那些面容枯槁的老处女和鳏夫，而是像伊丽莎白?克尔戈莱这样的人。伊丽莎白?克尔戈莱是个 29 岁的巴黎银行家，她把拥有独立生活和自己的公寓看成是事业成功的结果。她开着漂亮的德国 Golf GTI 牌小汽车快速地在巴黎兜着风，一手扶着方向盘，另一手抓着手机，在打电话的间歇中热情洋溢地谈论着单身生活。她说：“我不厌恶社交，我喜欢与人交往。但是独自生活使我有时间和空间自我反省。我作为一个人有权选择并不受干扰地成长。” 3.As the sages would say, we are all ultimately alone. But an increasing number of Europeans are choosing to be so at an ever earlier age. This isn’t the stuff of gloomy philosophical meditations, but a fact of Europe’s new economic landscape, embraced by demographers, real-estate developers and ad executives alike. The shift away from family life to solo lifestyles, observes French sociologist Jean-Claude Kaufmann, is part of the “irresistible momentum of individualism” over the last century