5條美國傳統雙語美文
美國兄弟會舉世聞名的放蕩不羈向來讓北邊的加拿大望塵莫及。平時聚會high點就算了，連入會測試都high出了水準，也難怪，這人要是測試high不了，以後聚會怎麼玩!接下來，小編給大家準備了5條美國傳統雙語美文,歡迎大家參考與借鑑。
OVER THE TOP FRAT INITIATIONS / 出格的兄弟會入會測試
US fraternities have a reputation of being much wilder than those found north of the border in Canada. Not only are the parties crazier, but the initiation tests to be able to attend the parties are crazier themselves as well. For example, a friend of mine in a fraternity at UBC once described an initiation tests as simply having to go a certain number of days with a teddy bear on hand, and to not be caught without one by another frat member. No big deal right? Although we’re speaking quite generally, wild and even dangerous American fraternity initiation stories are a dime a dozen, which often sound over the top by Canadian standards.
美國兄弟會舉世聞名的放蕩不羈向來讓北邊的加拿大望塵莫及。平時聚會high點就算了，連入會測試都high出了水準，也難怪，這人要是測試high不了，以後聚會怎麼玩!我有一位在英屬哥倫比亞的朋友，他們的入會測試只是拿着一隻泰迪熊晃盪幾天，只要這幾天別讓其他兄弟會成員抓到你兩手空空的瞬間就可以了。不算啥對吧?但要說到美國的入會測試，不管說得多籠統，狂野甚至危險的入會故事比比皆是，這些在加拿大人看來都是太過出格的事情。
TAILGATING PARTIES / 車尾聚餐會
While on the subject of partying, one odd form of it comes with tailgate parties. I actually had to look up exactly what this entails, which turns out to be a wild parking lot party held right before a big sporting event. Apparently getting hyped up during the game isn’t enough, and American sports fans like to arrive hours in advance to camp out by their car, often painted up in their team’s colours, drinking beers, grilling food and blasting music on their stereos. Compared to the typical Canadian demeanour – which tends to be a little more on the quiet and polite side – this tradition just sounds a tad bit obnoxious.
說起聚會這件事，我們就得談一談車尾聚餐會這種別樣的存在。說實在的，我都得查查字典才知道啥叫“車尾聚餐會”：大型體育賽事前的停車場大派對。只在觀賽過程中酣暢還不夠，美國體育粉可要賽前幾小時先開車來一場露營，每個人都塗成自己支持的球隊顏色，喝着啤酒，弄點燒烤，音響在一旁震耳欲聾，真是熱鬧。相比加拿大的典型舉止——文靜禮貌——美國的這項傳統在鄰國有點不受待見。
BLOWN-UP News REPORTS / 虛張聲勢的新聞報道
A few years ago I was in Mexico for a vacation with friends, and the hostel that we were staying in only had a few English-speaking American channels. One of those channels was the infamous Fox News, and for 10 days, my friends and I would return to our hostels, turn on Fox News and catch up on the latest happenings of the George Zimmerman trial. The case was a very high profile story all across America for a few weeks, and although it ended up being both bizarre and exciting to see every little new development being closely scrutinized by Fox News, I couldn’t help feel that the whole thing was being blown up way more than it needed to be. Only in America.
話說幾年前，我和朋友在墨西哥度假，住在一家只有幾個零星美國英語頻道的小旅店，那些頻道里就包含臭名昭著的福克斯新聞臺，十天來，我們這羣人回到旅店就打開福克斯新聞，追蹤齊默曼一案(譯者按：齊默曼以正當防衛爲名槍殺黑人青年馬丁)。這一案件持續數週成爲全美新聞頭條，雖然審判結果匪夷所思，福克斯也緊密跟進案件進展中的每個細節，但我依然覺得整個報道有些虛張聲勢。可這就是一大美國特色啊!
THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS / 持有武器的權利
One of the rights of American citizens written up in the second amendment to the American Constitution is the right to bear arms; in other words, the right for citizens to own a firearm for the sake of self-defence. This also means that any American citizen can go to a gun store and purchase a gun just like that – granted that you’re not a prohibited purchaser with a criminal record. Given the other traditions mentioned exhibiting how crazy Americans can be, this age old tradition has this Canadian slightly afraid.
美國公民持有武器的權利寫在美國憲法第二修正案裏;換句話說，美國公民有權爲正當防衛持有武器。任何美國公民只要拿着無犯罪記錄證明就可以到槍支店買槍。考慮到美國佬的在上文裏桀驁不馴的表現，這一源遠流長的傳統也讓加國人民脊背發涼。
USING THE IMPERIAL SYSTEM INSTEAD OF THE METRIC SYSTEM / 不用公制用英制
I mean c’mon, it’s 2015! The entire world (mostly) is already in on it. Perhaps it’s their country’s ego at work, but it seems strange simply for the fact that it would probably be easier for them to switch systems. It would certainly save them a lot of hassle making all these conversions when traveling abroad.
我勒個去啊，2015年了，全世界差不多都用公制了吧!也許英制是美國自我價值的標誌吧，但換成公制能給自己省多少麻煩啊!媽媽再也不用擔心我出國不會換算公制單位了。
