英語(yǔ)短文：
　　IT'S my first Chinese class of the year with my Mandarin teacher, Meimei. We are discussing New Year's resolutions. Meimei's is to find a husband.

　　這是我今年與我的中文老師美美的第一節(jié)中文課。我們正在討論新年計(jì)劃。美美計(jì)劃找到一個(gè)丈夫。

　　"2013 is the year I will meet my husband!" she declares. "And in 2014 I will get married!"

　　“2013年是我將遇到我丈夫的一年！”她說(shuō)。“2014年我將結(jié)婚！”

　　My resolutions are to take more pictures and order food delivery less often, but I admire her ambition. "You're right!" I tell her. "Perhaps I need to think bigger."

　　我計(jì)劃拍攝更多的照片，少定一些快餐，但是我很佩服她的雄心。“你是對(duì)的！”我告訴她。“也許我需要考慮得長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)一些。”

　　Being the same age and single, Meimei and I have great empathy with one another, although our circumstances are not exactly the same. Like most unmarried Chinese women nearing 30, she comes under intense pressure from her parents to find a husband. My mother, by contrast, takes the subtler approach of simply wondering out loud whether she will ever become a grandmother.

　　同樣年齡和單身，美美和我對(duì)彼此有強(qiáng)烈的共鳴，盡管我們的情況下并不完全相同。像大多數(shù)未婚的接近30歲的中國(guó)女性一樣，她開(kāi)始承受來(lái)自父母要求找一個(gè)丈夫的巨大壓力。我的母親，相比之下，以簡(jiǎn)單地想知道她是否會(huì)成為一個(gè)祖母的想法采取著更微妙的方式。

　　Today Meimei is full of romantic optimism, because the day before our class was January 4, 2013. In Mandarin this sounds a bit like Yi Sheng Yi Shi (201314), which means "Love You All My Life," she explains. Apparently 10,000 Chinese couples chose the day to get married.

　　今天美美全是浪漫的樂(lè)觀情緒，因?yàn)槲覀冋n的前一天是2013年1月4日。普通話聽(tīng)起來(lái)有點(diǎn)像“一生一世” (201314)，這意味著“一生都愛(ài)你，”她解釋說(shuō)。很顯然一萬(wàn)對(duì)中國(guó)夫婦選擇了這一天結(jié)婚。

　　"Maybe January 4, 2014, will be your turn!" I say.

　　“也許2014年1月4日將輪到你！”我說(shuō)。

　　She shudders and I realize I have committed a terrible faux pas. "That sounds like 'I want to die'," she says in a horrified whisper. "That wouldn't be a romantic choice for a wedding date."

　　她渾身顫抖，我意識(shí)到我犯了一個(gè)可怕的社交錯(cuò)誤。“那聽(tīng)起來(lái)像‘我想死’，”她用一種驚恐的聲音小聲說(shuō)。“這不會(huì)是婚禮日期的浪漫選擇。”

　　China's obsession with auspicious-sounding numbers never fails to tickle me, given that so many words in Mandarin actually do sound the same. In addition, there are a whole host of superstitious homophones that it seems only Chinese can hear. My birthday, May 20, is also a good day, according to Meimei, because it supposedly sounds like the Chinese for 'I love you.' Except that it really doesn't.

　　中國(guó)人對(duì)聽(tīng)起來(lái)吉祥的數(shù)字的執(zhí)迷總是使我發(fā)笑，考慮到漢語(yǔ)中那么多字實(shí)際聽(tīng)起來(lái)一樣。此外，還有一整套同音異義詞，似乎只有中國(guó)人才能聽(tīng)到。我的生日，5月20日，也是一個(gè)好日子，根據(jù)美美的說(shuō)法，因?yàn)樗苈?tīng)起來(lái)像中國(guó)的“我愛(ài)你。”除了它真的沒(méi)有。

　　Being female, 30 and unmarried in China is not considered lucky. Meimei uses the English counting system because it makes her 29, instead of the Chinese system, where babies are born aged 1 and she is already past it.

　　作為30歲的未婚女性在中國(guó)被認(rèn)為是不幸運(yùn)的。美美使用英語(yǔ)計(jì)數(shù)系統(tǒng)因?yàn)檫@使她才29歲，而不是中國(guó)的系統(tǒng)，在嬰兒出生時(shí)1歲，那樣算她早已經(jīng)過(guò)了29歲。

　　For months her concerned parents have been sending her on blind dates, which inevitably fail to live up to expectations. She delights in regaling me with tales of these boring men, including the latest, a public servant whose sole topic of conversation consists of asking her what she has eaten that day.

　　幾個(gè)月來(lái)她操心的父母一直讓她相親，這不可避免地?zé)o法實(shí)現(xiàn)預(yù)期。她喜歡和我講這些無(wú)聊男人的故事，包括最新的那位，唯一的話題就是問(wèn)那一天她吃了什么的公務(wù)員。

　　"One day he wanted to go out for rice porridge. In the evening!" she says.

　　“有一天他想出去吃稀飯。在晚上！”她說(shuō)。

　　With the 30 deadline fast approaching, Meimei has decided to take fate into her own hands and pay large sums to a professional matchmaker, who has promised to introduce her to hundreds of suitable men.

　　30歲期限即將到來(lái)，美美已經(jīng)決定要掌握自己的命運(yùn)，支付大筆金錢給職業(yè)媒人，那個(gè)已答應(yīng)給她介紹數(shù)百個(gè)合適男人的人。

　　Dating in China involves a minefield of complex requirements. According to Meimei, men are supposed to be Gao Fu Shuai - tall, rich and handsome - while women should be Bai Fu Mei - white, rich and beautiful. Men have the added responsibility of securing a car, a house and a promotion by the time they reach their fourth decade if they are to have any hope of finding a wife.

　　在中國(guó)約會(huì)涉及到復(fù)雜需求的雷區(qū)。根據(jù)梅梅，男人應(yīng)該成為高富帥——個(gè)高、富有、英俊，而女性則應(yīng)該成為白富美——膚白、富有和美麗。男人還有額外的責(zé)任來(lái)保證一輛車、一棟房子以及當(dāng)他們到40歲時(shí)的一場(chǎng)晉升如果他們想有任何找到妻子的希望。

　　"Everyone says Shanghai women are so superficial," she sniffs. "But I don't mind at all if my future husband doesn't have a car. Or a house. As long as, you know, he was going to buy one at some point."

　　“每個(gè)人都說(shuō)上海女性是如此膚淺，”她鄙視地說(shuō)。“但我一點(diǎn)都不介意如果我未來(lái)的丈夫沒(méi)有車。或一棟房子。只要，你知道，他將在某個(gè)時(shí)間段能買上。”

　　The matchmaker asked Meimei for a list of her criteria and she said that he should be kind and earn a minimum of 5,000 yuan (US$804) a month. The matchmaker took one look at clever, beautiful Meimei, and told her she was setting the bar too low.

　　媒人問(wèn)美美她的一系列標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，她說(shuō)他應(yīng)該友好，月收入至少5000元(804美元)。媒人看了一眼聰明漂亮的美美，告訴她她設(shè)置的門檻很低。

　　"You need to double the salary requirement to at least 10,000 a month," she advised.

　　“你需要兩倍的工資要求，至少一萬(wàn)一個(gè)月，”她建議道。

　　Meimei is a bit put out by this.

　　美美對(duì)此有點(diǎn)惱怒。

　　"Any nice man with a house and a car has definitely gone by now," she says gloomily. "If my expectations were really so low, doesn't she think I would have found one already?"

　　“任何有房有車的好男人現(xiàn)在絕對(duì)走了，”她沮喪地說(shuō)。“如果我的期望真如此低，難道她不認(rèn)為我早就應(yīng)該找到了嗎？”

更多 英文美文、英語(yǔ)美文、英文短文、英語(yǔ)短文，請(qǐng)繼續(xù)關(guān)注 英語(yǔ)作文大全

英文博客網(wǎng) - 中國(guó)最大的英語(yǔ)寫作網(wǎng)站與英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)者交流社區(qū)! - 英語(yǔ)日記 英語(yǔ)周記 英文交流社區(qū)