【纽约时报精读】为什么越来越多的日本女性选择不结婚？（上）_Moments

原标题：【纽约时报精读】为什么越来越多的日本女性选择不结婚？（上）

原文译文

1. TOKYO — The bride wore a birthday cake of a dress, with a scalloped-edge bodiceand a large hoop skirt. A veilsproutedfrom her black bob. Moments before the wedding began, she stood on a staircase, waiting to descendto the ceremony.

“Wow,” she thought. “I’m really doing this.”

东京——新娘穿着一件生日蛋糕般的婚纱，扇贝形边缘的上身，下面是大箍衬裙。她的黑色波波头上盖着面纱。婚礼开始前，她静静地站在楼梯上，等着下楼步入会场。

“哇，”她想，“我真的要做这件事了。”

2. This was no conventionalwedding to join two people in matrimony. Instead, a group of nearly 30 friends gathered in a banquet room in one of Tokyo’s most fashionabledistricts last year to witness Sanae Hanaoka, 31, as she performed a public declaration of her love — for her single self. “I wanted to figure out how to live on my own,” Hanaoka told the group, standing alone on a stage as she thanked them for attending her solo wedding. “I want to rely on my own strength.”

这不是一场庆祝两人共结连理的传统婚礼。相反，去年在位于东京一处时尚地区的这个宴会厅里，近30位朋友聚在一起，见证了31岁的花冈早苗（Sanae Hanaoka，音）的独身宣言——公开表达对她自己的爱。 “我想弄清楚怎么靠自己生活，”花岗（Hanaoka）独自一人站在台上，在感谢朋友们来参加她的单身婚礼时对他们说，“我想靠我自己的力量。”

3. Not so long ago, Japanese women who remained unmarried after age 25 were referred to as “Christmas cake,” a slur comparing them to old holiday pastries that cannot be sold after December 25.Today, such outright insultshave faded as a growing number of Japanese women are postponing orforgoingmarriage, rejecting the traditional path that leads to what many now regard as a life of domestic drudgery.

就在不久前，年满25岁仍未结婚的日本女性会被称为“圣诞蛋糕”，被贬低成那些在12月25日后就无法再被售出的过时节日甜点。今天，随着越来越多的日本女性开始推迟或放弃结婚，拒绝走上一条如今被许多人视为一种家庭苦役的道路，这种公然的侮辱已经逐渐消失。

4. The percentage of women who work in Japan is higher than ever, yet cultural norms have not caught up: Japanese wives and mothers are still typically expected to bear the brunt ofthe housework, child care and help for their aging relatives, a factor that stymiesmany of their careers.

日本工作女性的比例比过去任何时候都要高，然而文化规范却没有跟上：日本的妻子和母亲通常仍然仍被认为要承担家务、照顾小孩和帮助年迈长辈的重任，这是阻碍她们许多职业发展的一个因素。

5. Fed up withthe double standard, Japanese women are increasingly opting out of marriage altogether, focusing on their work and newfound freedoms, but also alarming politicians preoccupied withtrying to reverse Japan’s declining population.

不满于这样的双重标准，越来越多的日本女性干脆选择不结婚，转而专注于自己的工作和新获得的自由，但这也让那些一心想要扭转日本人口下降趋势的政治人士感到担忧。

6. As recently as the mid-1990s, only 1 in 20 women in Japan had never been married by the time they turned 50, according to government census figures. But by 2015, the most recent year for which statistics are available, that had changed drastically,with 1 in 7 women remaining unmarried by that age. And for women ages 35 to 39, the percentage was even higher: Nearly a had never been married, compared with only about 10% two decades earlier.

日本政府的人口普查数据显示，就在1990年代中期，日本在50岁之前未结过婚的女性还只有二十分之一。但到了2015年，也就是最近一次有统计数据的年份，情况已经发生巨变，有七分之一的女性在那个年龄段仍然未婚。而对35岁至39岁的女性，这一比例甚至更高：将近四分之一从未结婚，相比之下，二十年前这一数字只有10%左右。

7. The change is so striking that a growing number of businesses now cater to singles, and to single women in particular. There are single karaoke salons featuring women-only zones, restaurants designed for solo diners, and apartment complexes that target women looking to buy or rent homes on their own. Travel companies book tours for single women, and photo studios offer sessions in which women can donwedding dresses and pose for solo bridalportraits.

这种变化如此突出，以至于越来越多的商家如今开始迎合单身人士、特别是单身女性的需求。有设女士专区的单身卡拉OK厅、专为单身食客设计的餐馆，还有专门针对女性自己购买或租住情形的公寓楼群。旅游公司会给单身女性订购行程，摄影工作室会为女性提供披戴婚纱、拍摄单身婚纱照的机会。

8. “I thought, ‘If I get married, I will just have to do more housework,’” said Kayoko Masuda, 49, a single cartoonistwho stopped by to croon in private at a One Kara solo karaoke salon in Tokyo. A separate section is cordoned offfor women, behind sliding doors marked “Ladies Only.” “I loved my job, and I wanted to be free to do it,” Masuda said of her unmarried status.

“我想，‘要是结婚了，我就不得不干更多家务活，’”益田嘉代子（Kayoko Masuda，音）说，这位现年49岁的漫画师来到东京一家单身卡拉OK厅“一卡拉”（One Kara），独自在里面低声吟唱。在写着“仅限女士”字样的推拉门后面，有专为女性隔出的一片单独区域。“我那时很爱我的工作，也希望能自由地去做这份工作，”益田谈起她至今未婚时说。

精读解析

篇章结构

P1—P4：由花冈早苗的单身婚礼引入越来越多的日本女人选择独身，不愿意结婚。

P5—P6：越来越多日本女人选择不结婚的具体情况，即各年龄段的女性的未婚率正在上升。

P7：越来越多的日本商家开始迎合单身人士特别是单身女性的需求。

P8：益田嘉代子拒绝结婚的理由：保持自身的自由。

重点单词

scalloped-edge扇形的

The curving hills scalloped the edge of the light-blue sky Mount Egmont soared ten thousand feet, sloping into the clouds.

逶迤的山脉将淡蓝色的天穹弯成一个扇面，爱格蒙山高耸入云。

bodice/'bɒdɪs/ n. 妇女连衣裙的上身；妇女紧身马甲；妇女紧身胸衣

Her fingers were thick and awkward as she struggled to lace up her bodice and knot a drab brown cloak about her neck.

她的手指仍然僵硬而不灵活，好容易才穿上胸衣，在颈间系好那件褐色的粗布斗篷。

sprout/sprəʊt/ v. 使发芽；使萌芽n. 芽；萌芽；苗芽

The seeds sprout into small, hair-like seedings.

种子发育成小小的、毛茸茸的幼苗。

descend/dɪ'send/ v. 下降；下来；遗传；屈尊；下去

descend from

由…传下来的；起源于

descend on

袭击

descend to屈尊〔降低人格〕去从事某种活动〔做某事〕

descend upon

vt. 突然到达），袭击（突然降临

The sun slowly descended over the western hills.

太阳慢慢地下降在西方的山丘那边。

A lazy somnolence descended on the crowd.

一阵懒洋洋的睡意向人群袭来。

conventional/kən'venʃ(ə)n(ə)l/ adj. 依照惯例的, 约定俗成的, 依照传统的；常规的

The chairman made a few conventional remarks.

主席说了几句客套话。

matrimony/'mætrɪmənɪ/ n. 结婚,婚姻生活

To make a public declaration of their love and commitment, a man and woman jumped over a broom into matrimony, to the beat of drums.

为了向世人宣布他们的爱情和婚约，一对黑人男女和着鼓声的节奏，一起跳过一把扫帚。

fashionable/'fæʃ(ə)nəb(ə)l/ adj. 流行的, 符合时尚的, 时髦的

Though old, the woman likes to wear fashionable dresses.

这名妇人虽有年纪，却喜欢穿着时髦的洋装。

outright /aʊt'raɪt/ adj. 完全的; 彻底的

They were sagacious enough to avoid any outright confrontation.

他们很精明，会避免任何公开对抗。

insult/ɪn'sʌlt/ vt. 侮辱, 冒犯n. 侮辱, 辱骂, 侮辱性的言论

He was most insulting to my wife.

他对我的妻子非常粗野无礼。

forgo/fɔː'gəʊ/ vt. & vi. 没有也行,放弃

we forgo any comparison between the two men.

我们克制自己不在两人之间做任何比较。

domestic/də'mestɪk/ adj. 本国的, 国内的；家庭的, 家用的

They are domestic workers and farm workers.

她们是家庭佣工和农场工人。

drudgery/'drʌdʒərɪ/ n. 苦工;贱役;单调沉闷的工作

The king does not have time for this drudgery.

国王可没时间干这种苦差事。

bear the brunt of首当其冲

注：brunt /brʌnt/ n. 冲击；主要冲力

Officials said the northern state of Uttar Pradesh has borne the brunt of Sunday's violent weather.

工作人员表示，北方邦是周日恶劣天气首当其冲的一个州。

She had to bear the brunt of the criticisms.

她不得不承受批评的压力。

stymy/'staimi/ v. 从中作乱,完全妨碍

Companies have been stymied by the length of time it takes to reach an agreement

由于耗时过长，各公司一直未能达成协议。

fed up with受够了；极厌恶；对……厌倦

Italians are fed up with the mess their country is in.

意大利人受够了他们国家的长期以来的混乱。

preoccupied with全神贯注于；沉浸在

For some time after Bonnie's death she had been too angry with him, too preoccupied with her own grief to do more than speak politely in front of the servants.

邦妮死后，那段时候她对于他过于恼怒，过于沉浸以在自己的悲痛中，以致她只有在仆人跟前才跟他客平地说说话。

drastically/'dræstikəli/ adv. 大大地;彻底地；激烈地

It effectively spread the disease all over the continent and drastically reduced the rabbit population.

蚊子把这种疾病扩散到整个澳洲大陆，效果甚佳，结果兔子的数目在为减少。

available/ə'veɪləb(ə)l/ adj. 可用的或可得到的；

available to sb for sth

某物对某人来说可用

be available for

对…有用；有效

be available to

可被...利用或得到的

Free ticket is available only to students.

只有学生才能领到免费票。

don/dɒn/ vt. 穿上；戴上

bridal/'braɪd(ə)l/ adj. 新婚的, 婚礼的

She is wearing all her bridal decorations.

她穿戴着所有的新娘装饰品。

cater to迎合；为…服务

Therefore, students are more likely to receive an education catering to their individual aptitudes.

因此, 学生更容易受到适合他们个人能力的教育。

cartoonist/kɑr'tʊnɪst/ n. 漫画家

The politician became the object of scorn by the nation's cartoonists.

这个政客成为国内漫画家讽刺的对象。

cordon off用警戒线隔离[阻挡]

He hot-wired another car two minutes before we cordoned off the building.

在我们封锁大楼前2分钟他开了另一辆车逃了。

重点句子

Not so long ago, Japanese women who remained unmarried after age 25 were referred to as “Christmas cake,” a slur comparing them to old holiday pastries that cannot be sold after December 25.

这个句子，主干是：Not so long ago, Japanese women who remained unmarried after age 25 were referred to as “Christmas cake.” 主干部分有一个who引导的定语从句，修饰的是Japanese women。最后的a slur comparing them to old holiday pastries that cannot be sold after December 25.是一个补语，补充说明“Christmas cake”这个短语到底指的是什么，在这部分，that引导的是一个定语从句，修饰old holiday pastries.

Fed up with the double standard, Japanese women are increasingly opting out of marriage altogether, focusing on their work and newfound freedoms, but also alarming politicians preoccupied with trying to reverse Japan’s declining population.

这段话一整个就是一句，句首的 Fed up with the double standard部分，是动词的过去分词形式置于句首，引导一个原因状语从句，后面的opting out of…，focusing on…，和alarming politicians…三个部分的主语都是Japanese women，分别说明她们在干什么，but also alarming 部分，说明的是Japanese women的一系列动作引起的后果。

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