本文选自《华盛顿邮报》11月12日文章。中国的双十一已经成为举世瞩目的购物狂欢节，11月11日零点刚过2分钟，阿里的销售额就达到100亿元人民币，凌晨1点04分，这一数字达到1000亿人民币，24小时内，更是创下了2684亿元人民币的销售额，较去年增长26%，这一数字是世界任何一个国家都望尘莫及、无法想象的。为了迎接双十一狂欢节，阿里特地请来了美国流行歌手泰勒·斯威夫特进行表演，并在全国播出；阿里的杭州总部摆满了大鼓，每当销售额达到一个里程碑时，鼓声就会响起，于是11月11日，阿里总部鼓声昼夜未息。双十一购物狂欢，你贡献了多少？
选文精讲
In China, online shoppers shatter records on 11/11
BEIJING — China’s “Double 11” day makes the United States’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday look tame. In the first 68 seconds of Nov. 11, Chinese consumers had spent $1 billion snapping upbargains online. Within the first hour, they’d spent $14.3 billion — about half the total recorded last year during the Thanksgiving shopping season in the United States.
北京——中国的“双十一”让美国的黑色星期五和网络星期一黯然失色。在11月11日到来的68秒内，中国消费者就花了10亿美元在网上抢购便宜货。在首个1小时内，他们就花了143亿美元——大约是去年美国感恩节购物季总记录的一半。
Even though the Chinese economy is flagging — or perhaps because the Chinese economy is flagging — consumers are eager for bargains on the most frenzied shopping day of the year.
- frenzied: 疯狂的、狂乱的；frenzy: 使发狂
尽管中国经济正在衰退——或者可能正是因为中国经济正在衰退——消费者渴望在今年最疯狂的购物日买到便宜货。
“There were so many discounts available that it makes me feel that I have to buy something, or I would be missing out big-time,” said Zhang Hui, 31, who works at a public-relations firm in Beijing. She snapped up a pair of boots and an overcoat on Taobao for a total of $142.
31岁的张慧在北京一家公关公司工作，他说:“折扣太多了，这让我觉得我必须买些东西，否则就会觉得错过了重要时刻。”她在淘宝上抢购了一双靴子和一件大衣，总共花了142美元。
Nov. 11 has long been celebrated in Asia as “singles’ day” — because the 11/11 date looks like four singles — and has been commandeered in Japan and South Korea by Pocky and Peppero, respectively, the makers of chocolate sticks that look like ones. It is marketed as a kind of anti-Valentine’s Day, where singles can spend on themselves.
11月11日在亚洲一直被当作“光棍节”来庆祝——因为11/11看起来像四个光棍——日本的Pocky和韩国Peppero——巧克力棒（看起来像光棍）制造商，也利用了这一点。它作为一种反情人节的市场推广，单身人士可以在这一天为自己花钱。
China began marking the day in the 1990s, when university students celebrated being single on the day, known here as “Double 11.”
中国从20世纪90年代开始庆祝光棍节，当时大学生们庆祝光棍节，这一天在中国被称为“双十一”。
But in 2009, e-commerce giant Alibaba started marketing it as the best day of the year to go crazy on its shopping websites, Taobao and Tmall. Many people now stock up on household goods in particular, buying a year’s worth of shampoo or toilet paper on Nov. 11, when online retailers offer discounts and coupons.
但在2009年，电子商务巨头阿里巴巴开始在其购物网站淘宝和天猫上宣传，这一天是一年中最值得疯狂的一天。现在，很多人开始在11月11日——这个网上零售商提供折扣和优惠券的日子，囤积家居用品，购买相当于一年用量的洗发水或卫生纸。
