外刊双语：硅谷万圣节有什么独特之处？

原文标题：
Trick or treat
Skeletons out of the closet
The wonders of Halloween competition in Silicon Valley
不给糖就捣蛋
衣橱外的骷髅
硅谷万圣节竞赛奇观

Tech titans rival one another in Halloween decor
科技巨头在万圣节装饰中相互竞争

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RIVALRY BETWEEN Apple and Google has often been fierce. Sometimes it has played out in the courts. But once a year their competition has also been visible on the streets—in the form of Halloween decorations.
苹果和谷歌之间的竞争很激烈。有时还会在法庭上唇枪舌剑。但他们的竞争也体现在一年一度万圣节街头的装饰上。

[Paragraph 2]
Steve Jobs started it. In the 1990s, when Apple’s co-founder had young children, come October the front garden of his rambling English cottage in a leafy Palo Alto neighbourhood sprouted gruesome decor—not just skeletons and pumpkins but sound effects and special lighting—leading to a cauldron overflowing with dry ice at the front door.
事情始于史蒂夫·乔布斯。20世纪90年代这位苹果公司的联合创始人有了小孩，他在帕洛阿托一个绿树成荫的社区里有一栋规划杂乱的英式别墅。到了10月份，他的房前庭院里出现了可怕的装饰（有骷髅和南瓜，还有音效和特殊的灯光），前门有一个干冰四溢的大汽锅。

Jobs himself could be spotted handing out (now defunct) Odwalla health bars, an annual disappointment for trick-or-treaters who heard rumours of free iPods.
有传言称乔布斯会免费分发iPod，但是当人们看到乔布斯亲自分发（现已故）奥德瓦拉健康棒时，这些“不给糖就捣蛋”的人就非常失望。

The family later upgraded to goody-bags that included Toblerone.
后来乔布斯一家提高了糖果档次，分发含有三角巧克力的糖果袋。

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When Larry Page, co-founder of Google (now Alphabet), moved into a home on a cul-de-sac round the corner some years later, he was not to be out-spooked.
几年后，谷歌（现为Alphabet）的联合创始人拉里·佩奇搬进了硅谷，家住转角处的胡同里，他并没有惊慌失措。

His displays had themes: a carnival one year, a Little Red Riding Hood forest the next.
他屋前装饰有不同的主题：一年是嘉年华会，第二年是小红帽森林。

Jobs died in 2011, but his widow continued to match Mr Page’s shows.
乔布斯于2011年去世，但他的遗孀继续与佩奇比拼万圣节装饰。

Neighbours recall hundreds of carved jack-o-lanterns illuminating the apple orchard outside the Jobs home, and actors dressed as monsters playing hockey in the driveway.
邻居们用数百盏雕刻的南瓜灯照亮了乔布斯屋外的苹果园，演员们扮成怪物在车道上打曲棍球。

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Others joined in. Not far away Yahoo’s former boss, Marissa Mayer, took to handing out king-size candy bars and stuffed animals.
其他人也加入了比拼。就在不远处，雅虎前老板玛丽莎·梅耶分发特大号的糖果棒和填充动物玩具。

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The tech titans’ glitz and goodies drew growing crowds and hour-long queues.
科技大佬们的光环和美食吸引了大量人群，以致于要排数小时的长队。

Locals have mixed feelings that a hometown tradition has become a regional attraction.
家乡传统已变成区域吸引力，本地人对此有着复杂的情感。

“People here love community events so much that they risk suffocating them to death,” says Pat Burt, Palo Alto’s mayor, while cycling through the neighbourhood.
帕洛阿托市市长帕特·伯特骑车穿过社区时说：“这里的市民如此喜欢社区活动，以致于他们宁愿冒着窒息而死的风险去参加。”

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Some neighbours in the vicinity of the Jobs and Page homes lock their doors during the holiday, tired of bulk-buying candy for what they reckon can be thousands of roaming trick-or-treaters.
乔布斯和佩奇家附近的一些邻居会在万圣节期间锁上房门，他们厌倦了大量购买糖果，因为他们认为这些糖果会吸引成千上万名恶作剧者。

Others a few blocks away have enhanced their own decor, in an effort to lure in those who park in front of their driveways but head straight to the Jobs house. “I tell the kids they can take two candies!” says one resident.
几个街区外的其他人则升级了自己的节日装饰，以吸引那些在他们的车道停车但直接前往乔布斯家的人。“我告诉孩子们，他们可以拿两颗糖果！”一位居民说。

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Neither the Page nor the Jobs house was yet decorated when your correspondent visited the neighbourhood this week.
本报记者这周走访时，发现佩奇和乔布斯的房子都还没有装饰。

But Ms Mayer’s home—with pumpkins forming an archway over her front door, witches’ hats hanging from the trees, and twinkly lights—hinted at what was to come.
但梅耶女士的屋前装饰预示着万圣节即将到来。她的前门有一个用南瓜做成的拱门，树上挂着女巫的帽子，灯光闪烁着。

As usual, the city has issued permits allowing Halloween activities to spill into the streets.
和往常一样，该市已经发放了允许万圣节活动延展到街头的许可证。

The pandemic prompted some trick-or-treaters to stay at home last year and tech moguls to scale down their displays.
去年，新冠使一些“不给糖就捣蛋”的人居家活动，科技大佬们纷纷缩小了节日活动的规模。

It seems unlikely, however, that their Halloween excess will remain merely a haunting memory.
然而，他们的万圣节狂欢似乎不太可能只是恐怖记忆了。

（恭喜读完，本篇英语词汇量461左右）
原文出自：2022年10月29日《TE》United States版块。

精读笔记来源于：自由英语之路
本文翻译整理: Irene本文编辑校对: Irene
仅供个人英语学习交流使用。

【补充资料】（来自于网络）
帕洛阿托（Palo Alto），是在美国加州旧金山湾区的一座城市。西邻斯坦福大学，是硅谷的中心，有着众多高科技公司，包括戴尔的VMware，特斯拉汽车公司，IDEO公司，Palantir技术，并已成为一个孵化器提供几个其他的高科技公司，如苹果公司，谷歌，脸书，罗技， Intuit公司，太阳微系统， Pinterest，和PayPal。帕洛阿托是美国房价最昂贵的城市之一。它的居民享受美国最优质的教育。

Toblerone是世界知名的巧克力品牌，由卡夫食品（Kraft Foods）公司生产，由于其特有的三角造型，因此中文名字被译为“三角巧克力”。

玛丽莎·梅耶尔Marissa Mayer毕业于斯坦福大学，1999年加入谷歌，是谷歌的第一位产品经理和首位女工程师，也是《商业周刊》“创新产业25位领军人物”之一。2012年7月17日，玛丽莎出任雅虎CEO，2017年离开雅虎。

【重点句子】（3 个）
Jobs died in 2011, but his widow continued to match Mr Page’s shows.
乔布斯于2011年去世，但他的遗孀继续与佩奇比拼万圣节装饰。

The tech titans’ glitz and goodies drew growing crowds and hour-long queues.
科技大佬们的光环和美食吸引了大量人群，以致于要排数小时的长队。

It seems unlikely, however, that their Halloween excess will remain merely a haunting memory.
然而，他们的万圣节狂欢似乎不太可能只是恐怖记忆了。