中國網站品牌欄目（頻道）
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Brilliant idea? Many women are buying fake engagement rings in a bid to avoid the Thanksgiving Third Degree from family over their unmarried status(Alamy/dailymail.co.uk) |
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There are roughly 55 million single women in the US, many of them with-it, smokin' and smart, with their finger on the pulse of life. But when that certain finger is ringless, even the most self-assured single dreads the shame and rebuke of disappointed family during a visit home. The holidays are known to cause stress to scores of single women in the throes of 'The Panic Years', who dub the annual visit-cum-interrogation the 'Thanksgiving Third Degree'. Now some women have admitted to buying fake, cheap 'engagement rings' just to prevent parents - and other overly-critical family members - from delivering ridicule and judgement over their single status. It may sound like a slippery slope towards avoidance issues and other psychological problems – but if it muzzles them long enough without you getting grilled about why your boyfriend of three years hasn't proposed yet, it could be well worth the $30 investment. Sometimes it's downright soul-crushing when you come home for the holidays empty-handed - literally - watching your family members' faces crumble in disappointment that you're back another year without any engagement bling. Heather, a 31-year old lawyer from New York, was well on her way to being both unhitched and unhinged, thanks to her mother's persistent pestering about marriage. She feared that the constant nagging could destroy not just her own sanity, but threaten her long-time relationship with her boyfriend, Tony, who was regularly interrogated about his intentions from his would-be mother-in-law. Well aware that showing up without a ring for the holidays would taint the mood of the entire weekend, she became very resourceful. 'I got a fake ring for 30 bucks just to shut her up,' she said. 'It actually worked and it turned into a really great visit!' Just three months later, Heather had a real ring to show off. Tony proposed on their own timetable - on Valentine's Day - and her mother was never the wiser. (Read by Emily Cheng. Emily Cheng is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
美國大約有5500萬單身女性，很多女性時髦、性感、聰明，掌控自己的人生。 但當無名指上沒有戒指時，甚至最自信的單身女性也懼怕回家時的羞愧感，擔心受到失望的家人的指責。 節(jié)假日會給眾多單身女性帶來壓力，《心慌的歲月》正體現出了單身女性這一心頭之痛，她們將每年一次的“回家兼受審”稱為“感恩節(jié)逼婚”。 如今，一些女性承認會購買假的廉價“訂婚戒指”，只是為了防止父母和其他過于苛責的親友嘲笑和評價自己的單身狀態(tài)。 也許這聽起來似乎是在逃避問題，或可能引發(fā)其他心理問題，但如果這能長久地堵住他們的嘴，同時你又不會被盤問“你交往了3年的男友怎么還不求婚”，30美元的投資可夠劃算了。 有時，假期“空手”回家簡直讓人難過之極，你今年又一個人回來了，沒有亮閃閃的訂婚戒指，家人失望之情溢于言表。 希瑟今年31歲，是紐約的一名律師，由于她的母親不斷糾纏她的婚姻問題，單身的她都要精神錯亂了。 她擔心這種不斷的嘮叨不僅會使她精神不正常，還會威脅她與男友托尼的戀愛關系。她的母親經常詢問托尼是否想結婚。 知道假日不戴訂婚戒指會破壞整個周末的心情，希瑟變得很有主意。 她說：“我花30美元買了個假戒指，這下她沒的說了。戒指真管用，這次回家很愉快！” 就在3個月后，希瑟有了真正的訂婚戒指。托尼按照他們自己的時間表，在情人節(jié)這天向她求婚了，而希瑟的媽媽仍然一無所知。 相關閱讀 （中國日報網英語點津 Julie 編輯：陳丹妮） |
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Vocabulary: have/get one's finger on the pulse: 知道、了解正在發(fā)生的一切，消息靈通，掌握脈搏 with-it: 時髦的 smokin: 性感，火辣 throe: 劇痛，陣痛 Third Degree: 嚴刑逼供，拷問 slippery slope: 災難性的急劇下滑，滑坡效應 grill: 拷問，盤問（犯人等） unhitched: 未婚的 unhinged: 精神錯亂的 never the wiser: 依舊不懂，仍然一無所知 |
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