外刊逐句精读｜《卫报》：婚姻持久的秘诀｜CATTI一级译员外刊精读｜MTI...

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思考题

1. 哪些因素和婚姻持久相关？

2. 积累到哪些婚姻相关词汇？

Do fairytale weddings really mean an unhappy ending?

童话般的的婚礼是否真的意味着一个不幸福的结局？

• fairytale adj. 童话般的、幸福美满的

New research has shown that couples (who have really expensive weddings) are less likely to stay together (than those) who do it on the cheap. But that’s not the whole story

新的研究表明，与那些以便宜的方式举行婚礼的夫妇相比，举行昂贵婚礼的夫妇更不太可能持久。 但这不是故事的全部

• on the cheap 低廉地

a guide to decorating your house on the cheap

房屋低价装潢指南

There are some general rules (around surprising surveys), such as: when a result isn’t what you’d expect, it’s often because the question was posed (in a peculiar way), or the conclusion has taken an unreasonable leap.

关于那些令人惊讶的调查有一些通用的规则，例如：当结果与你的预期不同时，通常是因为问题提问的方式很奇怪，或者结论出现了不合理的飞跃。

• pose a question 提问、质询

=ask a question

• peculiar adj. 奇怪的
• leap n. 跳跃、激增、剧变

take a leap 迈了一大步，文中指“得出的结论过于跳跃，不合逻辑”

Then there are some specific rules, such as: if you want to know the truth (about what makes a marriage last), don’t necessarily go first to a thinktank that is avowedly pro-marriage – maybe try a more neutral source.

然后是一些具体的规则，例如：如果你想知道关于婚姻持久的真相，不一定要先去找一个公开支持婚姻的智囊团——也许可以尝试一个更中立的来源。

• thinktank n. 智库、智囊团
• avowedly adj. 公开承认地

avowed adj.公开承认的

avow v. 声明、公开宣称

• pro- （用于构成形容词）拥护、支持

pro - independence adj. 支持独立的

pro - democracy adj .拥护民主的

• anti- 反对

anti-tank weapons 反坦克武器

• neutral n. 中立的

These rules collided, or should have done, at the weekend, when the Marriage Foundation announced that couples who had really expensive weddings were less likely to stay together than those who did it on the cheap.

这些规则发生了交汇，或者本就应该发生交汇。当周末婚姻基金会宣布，与那些以便宜的方式举行婚礼的夫妇相比，举行昂贵婚礼的夫妇不太可能会长久。

• collide vt. 相碰撞、相冲突

A car and a van collided on the motorway.

一辆汽车和一辆小型货车在高速公路上相撞了。

Istanbul, where East and West collide.

伊斯坦布尔，东西方文化交会之地。

One (in 10 marriages) that cost over £20,000 had ended (within three years). So, some people, at least, have escaped the sunk cost fallacy.

花费超过 20,000 英镑的婚姻中有十分之一在三年内结束。 因此，至少有些人已经逃离了沉没成本误区。

• sunk cost n. 沉没成本（指已经发生不可收回的支出，如时间、金钱、精力等）
• fallacy n. 谬论

sunk cost fallacy 沉没成本误区

段落大意

Marriage Foundation的研究发现婚礼越豪华，越不长久。作者对此持保留态度。

Marriage and divorce experts were quick to comment: it was surely down to the fairytale expectation that £20,000 creates.

婚姻和离婚专家很快就发表了评论：这肯定是因为 20,000 英镑创造的童话般的期望。

• be down to sb./sth. 由...引起的

(After that much white tulle and the delightful country house), the brutal reality of life (in athleisure, and a not-country house), was too much to take.

经历过穿着白色婚纱在令人愉快的乡间别墅里举行婚礼后，运动休闲服和非乡间别墅的残酷现实生活实在是让人难以接受。

• tulle n. 薄纱
• delightful adj. 使人快乐的、令人愉快的
• country house n. 乡间宅邸、别墅
• brutal adj. 残暴的、无情的
• athleisure n. 运动休闲，即athletic（运动） + leisure（休闲）

And it brings a certain narratorial satisfaction: anyone who blows a fortune (on a single day) must surely be shallow, and incapable of doing dreary or lasting work.

它还带来了某种叙事上的满足感：任何一个在一天内一掷千金的人一定是肤浅的，做不了枯燥或长期的工作。

• narrator n. 叙述者、解说人

narrate v. 讲述记忆

• blow v. 花大钱

blow sth. on sth. 在某事上花多少钱

• fortune n. 大笔的钱、巨款
• shallow adj. 肤浅的
• dreary adj. 枯燥的

段落大意

专家认为办豪华婚礼的人婚姻不长久的原因：无法接受婚礼和现实的落差，且挥金如土的人适应不了枯燥的生活。

But the Marriage Foundation is missing something major, here, which is weird because it comes from their own research: second marriages are more likely to last (than the first ones), (with 31% ending in divorce) (against 45%). 

但是婚姻基金会在这里遗漏了一些重要的东西，这很奇怪，因为它来自他们自己的研究：二婚比一婚更有可能持久，31% 二婚的人以离婚告终，而一婚的人有45%会离婚。

• weird adj. 奇怪的
• against prep. 和...对比

If there’s one thing (all second marriages have (in common), it’s not the age and definitely not the wisdom of the participants, but rather, that they’re definitely, positively still skint (from the dissolution (of the first marriage).

如果所有二婚都有一个共同点，那不是年龄，也绝对不是参与者的智慧，而是他们解除第一次婚姻后依然身无分文。

• positively adv. 肯定地、绝对地
• skint adj. （非正式）身无分文的
• from prep. 因为（表原因）

She felt sick from tiredness. 

她累得浑身不对劲。

• dissolution n. 解除、解散

the dissolution of the monasteries

修道院的解散

So they can’t have a massive, meringue-style wedding, and their no-frills, pay-bar nuptials have skewed the data.

因此，他们无法举办一场盛大的蛋白酥皮式婚礼，而且他们无过多装饰的、宾客还要自付酒水的婚礼影响了数据的准确性。

• meringue n. 蛋白酥、蛋糖甜饼，蛋糕裙
• no-frills adj. 无装饰的、最基本的

frills n. 衬衫的荷叶边，引申为“不实用的装饰”

• pay bar n. 自行付费的水吧
• nuptial adj. （正式）婚礼的

nuptials n. 婚礼

• skew vt. 影响（数据的）准确性

原意是「改变方向、使...偏离方向」，具体到数字领域就是「曲解、影响...准确性的意思」

This is how to make a marriage last – not with small economies, but by taking the precaution of a previous, failed marriage.

这是使婚姻持久的方法——不是通过省一些小钱，而是通过先有一段失败的婚姻来采取预防措施。

• economy n. 省钱的办法、节约措施

We need to make substantial economies.

我们需要厉行节约。

• precaution n. 预防措施

take the precaution of doing sth. 采取...的预防措施

I took the precaution of insuring my camera.

我把我的照相机投了保以防万一。

段落大意

专家在分析原因时遗漏了另一个重要的参考因素：二婚离婚率更低。二婚再办豪华婚礼的人不多，这会影响结果的准确性。

文章结构

思考题参考答案

1. 哪些因素和婚姻持久相关？

• Couples who have expensive weddings are less likely to stay together than those who do it on the cheap.

• After that much white tulle and the delightful country house, the brutal reality of life in athleisure, and a not-country house, was too much to take.

• Second marriages are more likely to last than the first ones.

• This is how to make a marriage last – not with small economies, but by taking the precaution of a previous, failed marriage.

2. 积累到哪些婚姻相关词汇？

婚礼：

•(fairytale) wedding, nuptials

•white tulle, wedding dress

•country house

廉价、简单相关：

•on the cheap

•pay bar

•no-frills

•small economies

持久：

•stay together

•last

失败：

•failed marriage

•end in divorce