书城工具书老外最想和你聊的101个英语话题——流行文化篇
13659700000074

第74章 Marriage and Family 家庭两性(6)

Nonetheless, isn’t naked marriage a bit too much? I think it’s safer to live separately instead。

但是,不管怎么说,裸婚还是有点过分的。我觉得各自住各自的更加安全。

Those men who want naked marriage are irresponsible, because you never think about contributing to a good life with your other half!

那些想裸婚的男人是非常不负责任的。因为你从来就没有想过对你的另一半做出贡献。

It’s not that women are more realistic, but because our society is still male-centered, which means that the bulk of the family’s responsibility still falls on men。

并非女性更注重现实利益,而是我们的社会毕竟是男权社会,男性在主导社会的同时也承担更多的社会家庭责任。

This also proves that our ladies still realize this fact and behave accordingly, and that the gentlemen do not have the courage to take on this responsibility。

这说明,社会的女性还是具有深刻的自身角色的意识,而整个社会本来应该勇于承担的男性倒是有所退缩。

In every society, wealth is linked to time。 Young people have the desire but not the power to consume。

任何一个社会里,财产这件事都是与时间联系在一起的,年轻人都是有消费欲望而消费能力欠佳。

Modern society’s solution to the dilemma is through financial innovation, transferring elder people’s excess consuming capacity to young people on credit。

现代社会解决的方式就是金融产品的创新,使得中年之后过剩的消费能力预支到青年时期。

Let’s Talk!

开始交流吧!

Ann: You look tired。

安妮:你看起来很累呢。

Lily: Yes, very。

莉莉:是的,非常累。

Ann: What’s wrong with you?

安妮:你是怎么了?

Lily: My brother got married yesterday。

莉莉:我哥哥昨天结婚了。

Ann: Congratulations。

安妮:恭喜啊。

Lily: Thanks you。 But I found that getting married is a trouble!

莉莉:谢谢,但是我发现结婚真是个麻烦。

Ann: Oh? Why?

安妮:哦?为什么?

Lily: It costs too much money, and it needs a lot of energy。

莉莉:这花了很多钱,而且还需要大量的精力。

Ann: That’s right; it is quite expensive to get married nowadays。 And there is a term called “marriage slave” to refer to a person who fall into trouble in life after spending a lot of money on his wedding ceremony and banquets。

安妮:那倒是,现在结婚花费十分昂贵,都有个称谓:“婚奴”,指那些在花钱举办完结婚仪式和婚宴后生活陷入了困境的人。

Lily: I agree, but I don’t want to spend too much time and much on this。

莉莉:我同意,但是我不想要花很多时间和金钱在这上面。

Ann: Then, you can choose “flat marriage”。 You don’t have to have a banquet or a car or house。 Just spend nine yuan to register。

安妮:那你可以选择“裸婚”,不要举办酒席,不用车和房子,只要花九块钱去注册。

Lily: I like the idea。 It is simple and free。 I don’t think the form is so important, what matters is love。 Don’t you think so?

莉莉:我喜欢这个主意。又简单,又自由。我不觉得形式有那么重要,重要的是爱,你不这样认为吗?

Ann: I agree with you。

安妮:我赞成你的看法。

Mixed Marriages

跨国婚恋

中国人的婚姻观念上也刮起了很强的开放风潮。上世纪90年代末期,中国大学校园里找外国人结婚的例子还很稀奇,进入21世纪,这种情况开始急剧变化,和外国人谈恋爱已不是什么大不了的事情,嫁给外国人甚至变成了一种风气。据估算,现在中国的跨国婚姻占到了全体婚姻的5%,也就是说每年大约有40多万外国人和中国的男女结缘。

Realize Mixed Marriages

认识跨国婚恋

1跨国婚恋的障碍

A transnational marriage is a marriage between two people from different countries。 A variety of special issues arise in marriages between people from different countries, including those related to citizenship and culture, which add complexity and challenges to these kinds of relationships。

In an age of increasing globalization, where an increasing number of people have ties to networks of people and places across the globe, rather than to a current geographic location, people are increasingly marrying across national boundaries。 Transnational marriage is a by-product of the movement and migration of people。

Transnational marriage may occur when someone from one country visits or lives in another country for school, work, political asylum, refuge, or due to their family relocating。 In general terms, reasons for transnational marriage are:

Becoming attracted to a citizen of one’s host country and marrying them。 This is usually a cross-cultural marriage, although there are times in which that citizen may be from the same culture。 Marrying a citizen of the host country may help in becoming a citizen of that land and staying there permanently。 Sometimes the host culture is the one with which the person identifies, and thus desires to marry someone of that culture rather than someone from their “home” culture。

Obstacles to transnational marriages:

Citizenship of two or more nations—one or both spouses must change citizenship or become a dual citizen。 Changing one’s citizenship can be a long process, and for some it is an ordeal of negotiating the laws and language of a new country。

Culture—Learning how to live with a new spouse where cultural assumptions and norms may vary greatly。

2有关跨国婚恋相关的表达方式

mixed marriage异族通婚

cross-country marriage 跨国婚姻

marriage of convenience/a marriage for expediency rather than love利益婚姻late marriage晚婚

world connected by the Internet世界是网络一线牵marriage fraud骗婚

marriage scam诈婚

blindly admire and adore all things foreign崇洋媚外the grass always look greener on the other side of the fence别人篱笆里边的草总比自家篱笆的草看上去要绿differences in language, culture, and everyday living habits语言文化,生活习惯上的差异marriage for convenience

为了移民便利或是其他利益而结的婚

mail order foreign brides

邮寄外国新娘,指的是男子在支付一定费用之后就可通过国际婚介公司所提供网页上“挑选并购入”远在海洋对面的国外新娘dating outside your culture

与文化背景不同的人谈恋爱,即指跨国婚恋

meet a foreigner结识外籍人士

set our mindset right把心态要摆正

to bear and cope with the differences多包容to forgive and be considerate多体谅

和异族通婚的传统至今在中国还完好地保留着,甚至国家公务员,除了特殊情况都允许和外国人结婚。在这一点上,可以说中国比韩国或美国要进步许多,今后跨国婚姻很可能成为中国的一种普遍现象。中国的跨国婚姻也存在一些阴影。比起爱情来,许多人怀着对外国人的盲目憧憬而结婚,导致了不幸的婚姻生活。结婚看起来充满幻想,但婚后生活却与幻想有很大的距离。如果认为和外国人结婚会比和中国人结婚大有不同,就会碰壁。互相理解和爱情仍是跨国婚姻最重要的条件。

Key words & Sentences

关键词句全知道

Falling in love with an exotic handsome prince is easy, but maintaining the cross-border marriage and enjoying a happy family life turn out to be much more difficult and challenging。

热恋上一位异国的白马王子并不难,但要长期维持跨国婚姻并享受和谐的家庭幸福却绝非易事!

Frequent migration across borders, driven by the country’s rapid economic growth, is a major reason behind the growing number of mixed marriages。

跨国婚姻增多的主要原因是我国经济高速发展所带来的频繁移民。

In the age of globalization, the international matchmaking industry — still known in many circles as the mail-order bride trade — is thriving like never before。

在全球化时代,国际婚介机构,也就是很多人所谓的“邮购新娘”业务,正迎来从未有过的繁荣发展。

The transnational marriage is not a new word which appears after the reform and opening policy, actually it originated in the ancient time。

跨国婚姻不是改革开放后才兴起的新鲜词,其实古已有之。

The marriage of Songzanganbu and Princess Wencheng created a much-told tale and greatly consolidated the regiment of Tang dynasty。