书城教材教辅智慧教育活动用书-网络生活
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第24章 A Sale by Auction on the Internet

A 24-year-old Australian young man who sold his life, including baggage from a painful break-up, on eBay he is still not quite sure why he did it.

Nicael Holt sold his name, phone number and all his possessions, including clothes, CDs, a surfboard, a laptop①, a wonky pushbike②, childhood photos, friends, and a “nice lamp” given to him by an ex-girlfriend, on the internet auction③ site.

The successful applicant bid 7,500 dollars (5,790 US) to become Holt. But the winner is only known as ridderstrade.

The identity of the eBay auction winner is known only as ridderstrade.

Holt, a philosophy student from the southern coastal city of Wollongong who has set up a website to explain his actions and ask for donations to charity, said he was unable to explain why he sold his life.

In his sales pitch④, Holt said the winner would be entitled to a four-week training course in how to be him─including lessons on how to surf, climb, skateboard⑤,fire twirl and do handstands─as well as two months of on-call⑥ support afterward.

He also promised to introduce the winner to all his friends and potential lovers, including eight people he had been flirting with.

“Lifestyle is very social. It includes a lot of going out,” he noted on his eBay advert.

“Friends will treat you exactly as they have treated me. This includes friends who take me surfing, running, climbing and cook for me. All of these features will be transferred over to the winning applicant.”

His legal identity, passport, qualifications and future inheritance⑦ were not for sale.

① laptopn. [电脑]膝上型轻便电脑

② pushbiken. 脚踏车

③ auctionn. 拍卖[C][U]

④ sales pitch销售广告

⑤ skateboardn. 滑板

⑥ on-call随叫随到的

⑦ inheritance n. 继承权[U]

网上“自我拍卖”

一位24岁的澳大利亚年轻小伙在eBay拍卖网站上拍卖自己的生活,其中包括一段难以了结的情缘,但他至今无法解释自己为什么要这样做。

这个名叫尼卡尔·霍尔特的小伙将自己的名字、电话号码和所有财产都放在eBay上拍卖,其中包括衣服、CD唱片、一个冲浪板、一台笔记本电脑、一架摇摇晃晃的脚踏车、童年的照片、朋友和他前女友送给他的一个“不错的台灯”等。

一位竞拍者以7,500澳元(5,790美元)的价格将”霍尔特”成功拍下。 但只知道这位买主的网上注册名是ridderstrade。

霍尔特是澳大利亚南部沿海城市伍伦贡市的一名哲学专业的学生,他专门建了一个网站来解释自己的这一行为,并在上面呼吁大家为慈善机构捐款。但霍尔特说他自己也无法解释为什么要拍卖自己的生活。

霍尔特在拍卖广告中说,他将向买家提供四周的“如何成为霍尔特”的培训课程,其中包括冲浪、爬山、踩滑板、玩火球、手倒立等技能课程,此外,还另加两个月的“随叫随到后续服务”。

霍尔特还承诺,他会将他所有的朋友和他的八个”潜在恋人”介绍给买家。

他在eBay上的广告中说生活方式是很具社会性的,其中包括很多社会交往的成分。

他说:”我的朋友们会像对待我那样的来对待你,他们会带你冲浪、跑步,还会给你做饭。所有这些‘特征’都将移交给买家。”

但霍尔特没有将他的法律身份、护照、学历证书及未来的继承权一并拍卖。