双语看天下：黑五的惊天骗局

题记 我们是幸运的一代人，因为我们曾经一次次参与到百亿、千亿级别的“史诗级”大项目中。在20年前，这都是不可想象的事。 是的，我说的不是西气东输、南水北调、三峡大坝和青藏铁路。嗯，我说的是“1111”、“0618”、“1212”、“黑色星期五”等等网上购物狂欢。 很多小伙伴和我吐槽，每年的11月、12月都是异常煎熬的两个月份。1111刚刚过去，又迎来了黑色星期五，11月份的土还没吃完，进入到12月，又是一轮1212。 浏览下现在的天猫和京东官网，很多商品的价格已经美好了很多呢。 在这两个月中，我们匆忙且快乐地狂加购物车。在00:00到来的那一刻，彷佛整个世界都不要钱一样，我们买着、算着，然后拆着、退着…… 我们真的需要那么多东西吗？或许不是。 我们只是愿意参与到一场亿万人狂欢的盛典中来，我们只是希望在买不起房的打工生活里找到那么一点点关于消费的乐趣。我们只是希望买到那件东西，彷佛可以拉近我和另一个阶层之间的距离。 无论对于男性或者女性，只要是生活在这个时代，购物就会让人产生快乐。无论这份快乐可以持续多久，我们不在乎。也在忙碌的打工中，忘了在乎。 “双十一”、“黑五”的价格真的就便宜吗？可能并没有便宜多少，反而我们因为这些狂欢节多囤了很多不需要的东西。 下面我们来看一下关于“黑五”的外媒报道，选自以标题奇长无比著称的英国《每日邮报》。 老规矩，有用的词汇，用亮黄色标注；有用的句子，字体加粗并用下划线。 The Great Black Friday 'Swindle': Study by consumer group Which? reveals a stunning 95 per cent of bargains are actually cheaper to buy before or after the sales 黑色星期五的“大骗局”：由消费集团Which?进行的研究调查显示，令人吃惊的是，95%的促销商品实际上在打折狂欢前后卖的更便宜 Consumer experts have warned that Friday does not offer the bargains it claims. 消费者专家警告称，“黑色星期五”的打折促销名不副实。 Almost all of the ‘deals’ promoted around the event last year were actually on offer for the same price or cheaper in the six months either before or after. 几乎所有在去年活动期间推出的“促销活动”，实际上价格和活动6个月前或6个月后相同，甚至还贵。 Remarkably, just one in 20 was actually the cheapest price on that date. 值得注意的是，实际上只有二十分之一的商品价格在“黑五”那天是最便宜的。 Consumer group Which? has told shoppers to be wary of what they describe as the ‘Great Black Friday Swindle’ after analysing dozens of offers from Amazon, John Lewis and Currys PCWorld. 消费者组织Which? 在分析了亚马逊、约翰—路易斯和霍里奇提供的数十种优惠后，告诉消费者要警惕他们所说的“黑五大骗局”。 Imported from the US, Black Friday always falls on the last Friday of November. This is because the sales are scheduled to follow the American holiday of Thanksgiving which takes place the day before. “黑色星期五”源于美国，总是在11月的最后一个星期五，安排在美国节日感恩节的后一天。 In Britain, the event has been a disaster for many retailers – particularly those with a high street presence – because they feel they have to slash prices or risk missing out on the first flush of festive spending. 在英国，这一活动对许多零售商来说是一场灾难——尤其是那些在商业街开店的零售商。因为他们觉得必须被迫降价，否则就可能错过节日消费的第一波热潮。 Before Black Friday crossed the Atlantic, shops held off advertising discounts until the lastminute before Christmas. 在“黑五”横越大西洋来到英国之前，商店把打折广告推迟到圣诞节前的最后一分钟。 However, the November sales event now leads to a huge spending splurge over the weekend – only to be followed by empty stores and streets through December. 然而，11月的促销活动现在导致了周末的巨额支出。结果整个12月都是空荡荡的商店和街道，市场消费疲软。 Now research by Which? suggests the Black Friday sales themselves are not all they seem. 如今Which？的研究表明“黑五”的促销名不副实。 For example, Which? tracked the prices of 83 products on sale on Black Friday in 2018 for a year, from six months before the day until six months after. Researchers found just four deals – 5 percent – were cheaper on Black Friday than at other times. 例如，Which？对2018年“黑五”销售的83种商品的价格进行了为期一年的追踪，时间跨度从“黑五”之前的6个月到“黑五”之后的6个月。研究人员发现，只有四笔交易（5%）在“黑色星期五”当天比平时便宜。 Six in ten of the products on offer, which included speakers, soundbars and kitchen appliances, were cheaper or the same price on at least one day in the six months before the event. 60%的产品，其中包括扬声器、条形音箱和厨房电器，在过去的6个月至少有一天会和“黑五”的价格相同或者比“黑五”的价格便宜。 And Which? has found that three in four products were cheaper or the same price in the six months afterwards, when compared with the deals offered in two weeks around Black Friday. Which？发现，和“黑五”两周促销期内的商品价格相比，四分之三的商品在接下来的六个月里会更便宜或价格相同。 The consumer group did not find evidence that any of the retailers were breaking the law. However, it is concerned that shoppers are at risk of being confused. Which？没有发现任何零售商违法的证据。然而，它担心购物者可能会感到困惑。 Natalie Hitchins at Which? said: ‘We have repeatedly shown that “deals” touted by retailers on Black Friday are not as good as they seem. Time-limited sales can be a good opportunity to bag a bargain, but don’t fall for the pressure tactics around Black Friday. Our investigation indicates that this popular shopping event is all hype and there are few genuine discounts.’ Which？的娜塔莉说:“我们一再证明，零售商在‘黑五’兜售的‘特价商品’并不像看上去那么诱人。限时销售可能是一个获得便宜货的好机会，但不要相信‘黑五’前后的压力战术。我们的调查显示，这个受欢迎的购物活动都是炒作，几乎没有真正的折扣。” 路易斯同时挑选了两个外国网友的精彩留言呐 Another piece of junk from the USA. Haven't thanked them enough for Halloween yet. 另一件来自美国的垃圾。万圣节还没感谢够他们呢！ "save50%!!!!" - how about SAVE 100% by not bothering to buy something you probably wouldn't have bought if there wasn't a 'sale' on? “立省50%! ! ! !”——如果没有大减价，你可能不会买某些东西。如果你不去买，你就可以省下100%的钱。 第二个哥们的评论可以说是相当精辟了。 炫酷词汇 swindle 骗局 remarkably 显著地，引人注目地 be wary of 提防；当心 miss out on 错过 the first flush of festive spending 节日消费的第一波热潮 hold off 推迟，拖延 splurge 巨额支出，挥霍 soundbar 条形音箱 tout 兜售，招徕 time-limited 限时的 hype 炒作，大肆宣传 走心句子 “We have repeatedly shown that “deals” touted by retailers on Black Friday are not as good as they seem.” “我们一再证明，零售商在‘黑五’兜售的‘特价商品’并不像看上去那么诱人。” Before Black Friday crossed the Atlantic, shops held off advertising discounts until the last minute before Christmas. 在“黑五”横越大西洋来到英国之前，商店把打折广告推迟到圣诞节前的最后一分钟。 其实不管双十一、黑五到底有没有折扣，我们只是带着无与伦比的喜悦与慌张跟随这个热潮。 不过说到大多数年轻人消费观，其实简单来说就是给自己营造精致的品质生活的同时保持在自己能接受的最大限度。 即使是那些喜欢把钱花在吃喝玩乐上面的年轻人，工作之余花钱让自己放松和享受一下，获得心理奖赏，让自己今后有更多的挣钱动力，这又有何不可呢？ 时代已经变了，逼着如今的年轻人强行吃糠咽菜未必可行，上一代眼里的奢靡享乐，可能只是这一代的日常生活。 我们也知道为了追求所谓的品质而无视自己的水平是不可取的。 最后，路易斯想和大家分享的是：消费观的存在是建立在理性消费的基础上的。有怎样的消费观不是最重要的，但是一定要理性消费呐。