韩国宠物推车火了

去年开始，韩国宠物推车的销量就超过了婴儿推车。选择不生孩子、把钱花在宠物身上、推着婴儿车溜宠物……，韩国正面临全球最低生育率的问题。

🤔️小作业：

1. What can be inferred about societal attitudes toward children and pets in South Korea?

A. Children are more welcomed than pets in public venues.

B. Pets are increasingly being treated as substitutes for children.

C. There is a balanced emphasis on both child-rearing and pet ownership.

D. The government is encouraging pet ownership to stimulate the economy.

- ◆ -

注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为华尔街日报官方译文，仅供参考

含注释全文：

Nation With Lowest Birthrate Is Rocked by Soaring Sales of Dog Strollers

From: The Wall Street Journal

After pushing astrollerto a park near her home in a Seoul suburb, Kang Seung-minploppeddown on a bench. Then an elderly woman approached, looking for a friendly chat with Kang about motherhood.

家住首尔市郊的姜升敏（Kang Seung-min, 音译）推着婴儿车来到她家附近的公园，在长椅上坐了下来。这时有一位上年纪的女士走过来搭讪，想跟她聊聊育儿话题。

stroller

stroller /ˈstrəʊ.lər/ 表示“折迭式童车，幼儿推车”，英文解释为“a small folding chair on wheels that a baby or small child sits in and is pushed around in”

plop

plop /plɒp/ 表示“重重地坐下；随便地放下”，英文解释为“to sit down or land heavily or without taking care, or to put something down without taking care”举个🌰：He came and plopped down next to me. 他走过来，在我旁边重重坐下。

“I'm not even married yet,” Kang, 24, responded.

“我还没结婚呢，”24岁的姜升敏回答说。

Thestartledwomanstaredinto the stroller and took in the little passenger: a brown poodle named Coco. She left,imploringKang to start a family. “I don't want to get married,” Kang says. “I'd rather spend money on my dog.”

这位女士十分惊讶，她往婴儿车里看去，看到了里面的小乘客：一只名叫可可的棕色贵宾犬。她离开的时候劝姜升敏成个家。“我不想结婚，”姜升敏说。“我宁愿为我的狗花钱。”

startled

startled /ˈstɑː.təld/ 表示“吃惊的，受惊吓的”，英文解释为“surprised and slightly frightened”举个🌰：He was startled when dozens of strangers showed up at his office. 当几十个陌生人出现在他的办公室时，他吓了一跳。

stare

stare /steər/ 表示“（尤指惊讶、害怕或思考时）盯着看，凝视，注视”，英文解释为“to look for a long time with the eyes wide open, especially when surprised, frightened, or thinking”举个🌰：Don't stare at people like that, it's rude. 不要那样盯着人看，很不礼貌。

implore

implore /ɪmˈplɔːr/ 1）表示“恳求（某人）（不）做…，哀求（某人）（不）做…”，英文解释为“to ask someone to do or not do something in a very sincere, emotional, and determined way”举个🌰：She implored her parents not to send her away to school. 她哀求父母不要送她上学。

2）表示“恳求得到（某物），祈求得到（某物）”，英文解释为“to ask for something in a sincere and emotional way”举个🌰：She clasped her hands, and glancing upward, seemed to implore divine assistance. 她双手紧握，眼睛看着上方，似乎在祈求上天的帮助。

A globaldiscoursehas emerged, including in the U.S., about childlessness and the reluctance tobear offspring. But thehand-wringingmight be at its fiercest in South Korea, home to the wealthy world's lowest birthrate, as well as anotherdistinctionthat hasfur flying: theskyrocketingsales of dog strollers, which last yearoutpacedthose of baby strollers for the first time, according to Gmarket, one of South Korea's largest online retailers. The trend held true for the first six months of this year, too.

无子女和不愿生育等问题在包括美国在内的世界各国引起热议。但这个棘手问题在韩国尤为严峻，韩国的出生率在富裕国家中垫底，更有一种令人不安的特殊现象，这就是宠物推车销量的飙升。韩国最大的在线零售商之一Gmarket的数据显示，去年，宠物推车销量首次超过了婴儿推车的销量。这种趋势在今年前六个月继续保持。

discourse

discourse /ˈdɪs.kɔːs/ 1）表示“论文；演讲”，英文解释为“a long and serious treatment or discussion of a subject in speech or writing”，如：a discourse on issues of gender equality 关于性别平等的论文。

2）表示“语篇；话语；对话；交流”，英文解释为“the use of language in speech and writing in order to produce meaning; language that is studied, usually in order to see how the different parts of a text are connected”

bear

1）表示“忍受；容忍；经受；承担”，英文解释为“to accept, tolerate, or endure something, especially something unpleasant”举个🌰：The strain must have been enormous but she bore it well. 当时压力一定很大，但她挺过来了。

2）熟词僻义，表示“生（孩子）；结（果实）；开（花）”，英文解释为“to give birth to young, or (of a tree or plant) to give or produce fruit or flowers”举个🌰：She had borne three children by the time she was 30. 她到30岁时已经生了3个孩子。

offspring

offspring /ˈɒf.sprɪŋ/ 1）表示“（人的）后代，子女，子嗣”，英文解释为“a person's children”举个🌰：His sister came over on Saturday with all her offspring. 他的姐姐星期六带着她的一大群子女过来串门。

2）表示“（动物的）幼崽，崽兽”，英文解释为“the young of an animal”举个🌰：In the case of the guinea pig, the number of offspring varies between two and five. 以豚鼠为例，它一胎产2到5个幼仔。

hand-wringing

表示“绝望，歇斯底里状态；束手无策”，英文解释为“the excessive display of concern or distress.”

distinction

distinction /dɪˈstɪŋk.ʃən/ 1）表示“区别，差别，不同”，英文解释为“a difference between two similar things”举个🌰：There's a clear distinction between the dialects spoken in the two regions. 这两个地区的方言有着明显的不同。

2）表示“（尤指给学生的）优等评分，荣誉，奖赏；（学生作业的）优，优等”，英文解释为“a special mark/grade or award that is given to sb, especially a student, for excellent work”

3）表示“优秀，卓越”，英文解释为“the quality of being excellent”如：a writer/scientist/wine of distinction 一流的作家/科学家/葡萄酒。

4）表示“特质，特性”，英文解释为“the quality of being special or different”举个🌰：She has the distinction of being one of the few people to have an honorary degree conferred on her by the university this year. 今年只有几个人被授予了大学荣誉学位，她有幸成为其中之一。

fur flying

固定表达“the fur is flying” 或 “fur flies”是一个英语习语，表示激烈的争论或冲突正在发生。这个短语源自动物打斗时毛发飞散的情景，用来形容场面激烈。

have/ has fur flying在此指引发激烈讨论或争议，同时巧妙地与狗（毛发）相关，形成双关。

📍make the fur fly / set the fur flying 表示“引起激烈争吵”，英文解释为“to cause a bad argument”举个🌰：He set the fur flying by demanding to see proof. 由于他要求看证据，这引起了激烈的争吵。

skyrocket

作动词，表示“剧增；猛涨”，英文解释为“If prices or amounts skyrocket, they suddenly increase by a very large amount.”如：the skyrocketing costs of health care 暴涨的医疗费用。

outpace

outpace /ˌaʊtˈpeɪs/ 表示“（速度上）超过，比…更快”，英文解释为“to move or develop faster than someone or something else”举个🌰：Bolt managed to outpace every other runner. 博尔特设法超过了其他所有的赛跑选手。

They are soubiquitousthat a national broadcaster in January aired asegmenttitled: “'Am I the Only One Annoyed By This?' A Heated Debate Over Dog Strollers.”

无处不在的宠物推车引发了媒体的关注，一家全国性广播公司1月份播出了一段题为“'只有我一个人讨厌宠物推车吗？'——宠物推车激辩”的节目。

ubiquitous

ubiquitous /juːˈbɪk.wɪ.təs/表示“无所不在的”，英文解释为“If you describe something or someone as ubiquitous, you mean that they seem to be everywhere.”举个🌰：Coffee shops are ubiquitous these days. 如今好像到处都是咖啡馆。

意思相近的形容词：

📍pervasive表示“到处存在的，到处弥漫着的，遍布的”，英文解释为“Something, especially something bad, that is pervasive is present or felt throughout a place or thing.”如：the pervasive influence of mobile phones in daily life 手机在日常生活中无处不在的影响。

📍omnipresent /ˌɒm.nɪˈprez.ənt/ 表示“无所不在的，遍及各处的”，英文解释为“present or having an effect everywhere at the same time”举个🌰：The singer became an omnipresent icon of style and beauty. 这位歌手成了一个时尚与美丽的符号，无所不在。

segment

segment /ˈseɡ.mənt/ 1）作名词，可以表示“（群体或事物的）部分，片，段；（柑橘、柠檬的）瓣；（圆的一部分）弓形”，举个🌰：She cleaned a small segment of the painting. 她擦干净了这幅画的一小部分。

2）表示“分割；划分”，英文解释为“to divide sth into different parts”举个🌰：Market researchers often segment the population on the basis of age and social class. 市场研究人员常常按年龄和社会阶层划分人口。

3）表示“（电视、广播或互联网节目的）节，段”，英文解释为“a short piece of film that forms part of a television or radio programme, or that is broadcast on the internet”举个🌰：CNN last week broadcast a segment on homicides in the city. CNN上周播出了有关这座城市凶杀状况节目的一段。

In many advanced economies, including the U.S., adults treat their pets likepamperedchildren, with fancy birthday parties,decked-outdoggymansions, private-plane travel and rides in dog strollers.

在包括美国在内的许多发达经济体，成年人对待宠物就像对待孩子一样宠爱有加，会为它们准备华丽的生日派对、精心装饰的狗狗豪宅、私人飞机旅行，还有代步的宠物推车。

pampered

pampered /ˈpæm.pəd/ 表示“受到细心照顾的，得到精心护理的；被纵容的，被娇惯的”，英文解释为“given special treatment that makes you feel as comfortable as possible or gives you whatever you want”举个🌰：He was a pampered rich kid who was driven to school in a limousine. 他是个娇生惯养的富家子弟，有豪华轿车送去上学。

decked-out

decked-out作形容词，由动词短语 “deck out”的过去分词形式构成，用来修饰名词“doggy mansions”。它的意思是“精心装饰的”、“打扮华丽的”。

mansion

mansion /ˈmæn.ʃən/ 表示“大厦；大楼；豪宅”，英文解释为“a very large, expensive house”举个🌰：The street is lined with enormous mansions where the rich and famous live. 街道两旁是富人及名人的大豪宅。

But pet parents have South Korean officialshowling.

但这些“狗爸狗妈”却让韩国官员颇为抓狂。

howling

howl /haʊl/ 作动词，1）表示“（狼、狗）长嚎，嗥叫”，英文解释为“If a dog or wolf howls, it makes a long, sad sound.”举个🌰：In the silence of the night, a lone wolf howled. 在寂静的夜里，一只孤独的狼在嚎叫。

2）表示“（通常因痛苦、悲伤或其他强烈情感而）号叫，哀号”，英文解释为“to make a loud sound, usually to express pain, sadness, or another strong emotion”举个🌰：We were howling with laughter. 我们放声大笑。

howling /ˈhaʊ.lɪŋ/ 作形容词，1）表示“（风）呼呼的，怒吼的”，英文解释为“(of the wind) blowing hard and making a lot of noise”举个🌰：Once we played crazy golf in a howling gale. 有一次我们在狂风中打疯狂高尔夫。

2）表示“（狗或狼）狂吠的，嚎叫的”，英文解释为“(of a dog or wolf) making a loud, sad sound”举个🌰：Their howling dogs keep us awake at night. 他们的狗整夜狂吠，我们一点也没有睡着。

3）表示“（人）喧闹的，狂呼乱喊的”，英文解释为“(of people) making a lot of noise”举个🌰：Their premises were stormed by a howling drunken mob. 他们的经营场所冲进来一大群狂呼乱喊的醉汉。

The country isconfrontinga nationalfertilityrate of 0.72—or a mere third of the level needed to maintain the population. At a youth roundtable last year, Kim Moon-soo, the country's now labor minister,scoldedthefresh-facedattendees: “What I worry about is young people not loving each other,” Kim said. “Instead, they love their dogs and carry them around, they don't get married, and they don't have children.”

韩国全国的生育率为0.72——仅相当于维持人口稳定所需水平的三分之一。韩国现任劳动部长金文洙（Kim Moon-soo）在去年举行的一次青年圆桌会议上责备参会的年轻人：“我担心年轻人不是彼此相爱，”金文洙说，“而是爱自己的狗，把狗带在身边；他们不结婚，也不生孩子。”

confront

confront /kənˈfrʌnt/ 1）表示“面临（问题、任务、困难等）”，英文解释为“If you are confronted with a problem, task, or difficulty, you have to deal with it.”举个🌰：She was confronted with severe money problems. 她面临严重的资金问题。

2）表示“正视（困难局面或问题）”，英文解释为“If you confront a difficult situation or issue, you accept the fact that it exists and try to deal with it.”举个🌰：We are learning how to confront death. 我们在学习如何正视死亡。

fertility

fertility /fəˈtɪl.ə.ti/ 表示“富饶；丰产；生殖力；能生育性；可繁殖性”，英文解释为“the state of being fertile”如：a fertility symbol 生殖力的象征，declining fertility rates 下降的生育率，the fertility of the soil/land 土壤的肥沃；土地的丰饶，a god of fertility 丰收之神，fertility treatment (= medical help given to a person to help them have a baby) 不孕症治疗。

scold

scold /skəʊld/ 表示“责骂，责备”，英文解释为“to speak to someone angrily because you disapprove of their behaviour”举个🌰：His mother scolded him for breaking her favourite vase. 母亲因为他打碎了她最心爱的花瓶而责骂他。

fresh-faced

fresh-faced /ˈfreʃ.feɪst/ 表示“看起来年轻的”，英文解释为“looking young”如：fresh-faced 18 and 19–year-old soldiers 十八九岁稚气未脱的士兵们。

In a recent local poll, one in two South Korean women aged 20 to 49 said they had no intention of having children, seeing it as inessential and citing financialconstraints. While pet-friendlyvenues proliferateacross the country, restaurants and cafes declare “No-kid zones,” pointing to disruptive behavior.

最近的一次地方民意调查显示，在20至49岁的韩国女性中，每两人中就有一人表示不打算生孩子，她们认为没有必要生孩子，并提及经济条件限制等理由。虽然韩国各地的设施普遍对宠物友好，但许多餐馆和咖啡馆却设有“儿童禁入区”，理由是儿童会打扰他人。

constraint

constraint /kənˈstreɪnt/ 表示“限制；束缚；约束”，英文解释为“something that controls what you do by keeping you within particular limits”举个🌰：The constraints of politeness wouldn't allow her to say what she really thought about his cooking. 出于礼貌，她不会说出自己对他的厨艺的真实看法。

venue

venue /ˈven.juː/ 表示“（公共事件的）发生场所，举行地点；会场”，英文解释为“the place where a public event or meeting happens”举个🌰：The hotel is an ideal venue for conferences and business meetings. 这家酒店是举行会议和商务会谈的理想场所。

区分：

📍avenue /ˈæv.ə.njuː/ 表示“方法；途径；渠道”，英文解释为“a method or way of doing something”举个🌰：We should pursue every avenue in the search for an answer to this problem. 我们应该尝试一切途径寻求该问题的答案。

proliferate

proliferate /prəˈlɪf.ər.eɪt/ 表示“激增”，英文解释为“to increase a lot and suddenly in number”举个🌰：Small businesses have proliferated in the last ten years. 在过去的10年里，小型企业大量涌现。

Dog-stroller sales havequadrupledsince 2019, according to Yoon Hyun-shin, head of Pet Friends, South Korea's largest online pet-commerce platform. Airbuggy ishailedas the “Mercedes-Benz” of them. Their fall-winter “Grey Tweed” special-edition model costs about $1,100,sportsScottish fabric and off-road tires.

韩国最大的宠物用品电商平台Pet Friends的主管尹贤信（Yoon Hyun-shin，音译）表示，自2019年以来，宠物推车销量增长了三倍。Airbuggy被誉为宠物推车中的“奔驰”（Mercedes-Benz）。Airbuggy的秋冬“灰色粗花呢”特别版车型售价约1,100美元，采用苏格兰面料和越野轮胎。

quadruple

quadruple /ˈkwɒdrʊpəl, -ˈdruːpəl/ 1）作动词，表示“（使）变为四倍”，英文解释为“to become four times bigger; to make sth four times bigger”举个🌰：Sales have quadrupled in the last five years. 过去五年中，销售额已增长至以前的四倍。

2）表示“大（或多）四倍”，英文解释为“four times as big”如：a quadruple measure 四倍大小；

3）表示“包括四部分（或四个人、四个地方等）的”，英文解释为“involving four parts, people, places, etc.”如：a quadruple fracture of his thumb 他的拇指四处骨折。

hail

hail /heɪl/ 作动词 1）表示“招呼，呼喊”，英文解释为“to call someone in order to attract their attention”举个🌰：Shall we hail a taxi? 我们要叫出租车吗？

2）hail sb/sth as sth 表示“把…称赞为，把…誉为”，英文解释为“to describe sb/sth as being very good or special, especially in newspapers, etc.”举个🌰：The conference was hailed as a great success. 会议被称颂为一次巨大的成功。

hail作不可数名词，表示“雹，冰雹”，英文解释为“small, hard balls of ice that fall from the sky like rain”，hailstones 通常复数，表示“冰雹，雹子”，英文解释为“a small, hard ball of ice that falls from the sky like rain”

📍ride-hailing 表示“约车，叫车”，英文解释为“used for or involved in the activity of asking for a car and driver to come immediately and take you somewhere”举个🌰：Do you use a ride-hailing app? 你用约车APP吗？

sport

熟词僻义，sport作动词，表示“穿戴；装点”，英文解释为“to wear or be decorated with something”举个🌰：She was sporting a T-shirt with the company's logo on it. 她穿了一件带有公司徽标的T恤衫，很是得意。

📍另外也有“炫耀某物，卖弄某物”的含义（to be wearing something or have something on your body and show it to people in a proud way）。

📍在80岁也能很时尚！这对洗衣店老夫妻火了文中出现：one image sees the pair sporting Adidas tops and bucket hats. 其中一张照片中，两人穿着阿迪达斯上衣，戴着渔夫帽。

The company began as a baby-stroller maker, but Airbuggy's Korea divisionpivotedsolely to dog strollers in recent years. “You can put your dog or baby in our strollers,” said Park Soon-jae, head of Airbuggy Korea. “But the market here demands pet strollers.”

Airbuggy最初是做婴儿推车的，但Airbuggy的韩国分公司近年来改换了赛道，仅生产宠物推车。“你把狗或婴儿放在我们的推车里都行，”Airbuggy韩国分公司主管朴顺才（Park Soon-jae，音译）说。“但这里的市场需要宠物推车。”

pivot

pivot /ˈpɪvət/ 可以作名词，也可作动词，表示“（使）在枢轴上旋转（或转动）；转动；扭曲”，英文解释为“to turn or balance on a central point (= a pivot ) ; to make sth do this”举个🌰：Windows that pivot from a central point are easy to clean. 沿中轴转动的窗子容易擦洗。

🎬电影《奎迪》（Creed）中的台词提到：I can't pivot fast enough. 我转得还不够快。

Strollersferryinggenerally small, healthy dogs are part of the dailylandscape, across South Korean department stores, restaurants, sidewalks and recreation areas.

在韩国的百货商店、餐馆、人行道和娱乐场所，一辆辆宠物推车已经成为一道日常风景线，这些推车一般载着健康的小型犬。

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