低头党的福音 中国首条手机人行道

 　　A popular tourist destination in Chongqing, a major city in southwest China, has devoted¹ a portion of its pavement for mobile phone users too entranced by the activity on their screens to avoid other pedestrians².

　　在重庆市的一个景区里，有一条专供手机爱好者的人行道，在这上面步行，可以供低头族们头也不抬地一直盯着手机屏幕而不用担心与其他行人相撞。

　　Another section of the pavement bans phone users.

　　这条被一分为二的人行道的另半边则禁止行人使用手机。

　　In July, National Geographic³ commissioned a similar stretch of pavement in Washington DC, in a brief experiment testing human behaviour.

　　今年7月，美国国家地理栏目曾因一项验证人类行为的实验，在美国华盛顿的一条人行道上做过相同的划分。

　　Chongqing's new sidewalk attracted ridicule⁴ on Weibo, China's version of Twitter.

　　重庆的这条新人行道在中国的微博上引发了大家的各种吐槽。

　　"Am I supposed to jump to the other side of the path when I get an incoming phone call?" one user questioned.

　　“如果我手机响了，我要接电话是不是得跳到另半边才能接呢？”一位网友吐槽说。

　　"Maybe they can even build one traffic lane especially for drunk drivers in the future," sniffed⁵ another.

　　“也许以后还可以专门为喝酒的司机建一条专用道。”另一位网友吐槽道。

　　Indeed, the ploy⁶ seems to have created a new problem: street congestion⁷, as hordes⁸ of people stop in their tracks to snap photos of the special sidewalk.

　　的确，这种做法可能会导致另一个新问题—道路拥挤。为什么呢？因为会有一大群行人停在路上对着这条特殊的人行道拍照哪。

1 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

2 pedestrians   

n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Several pedestrians had come to grief on the icy pavement. 几个行人在结冰的人行道上滑倒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Pedestrians keep to the sidewalk [footpath]! 行人走便道。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

4 ridicule   

v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄

参考例句：

• You mustn't ridicule unfortunate people.你不该嘲笑不幸的人。
• Silly mistakes and queer clothes often arouse ridicule.荒谬的错误和古怪的服装常会引起人们的讪笑。

5 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 ploy   

n.花招，手段

参考例句：

• I think this is just a government ploy to deceive the public.我认为这只是政府欺骗公众的手段。
• Christmas should be a time of excitement and wonder,not a cynical marketing ploy.圣诞节应该是兴奋和美妙的时刻，而不该是一种肆无忌惮的营销策略。

7 congestion   

n.阻塞，消化不良

参考例句：

• The congestion in the city gets even worse during the summer.夏天城市交通阻塞尤为严重。
• Parking near the school causes severe traffic congestion.在学校附近泊车会引起严重的交通堵塞。

8 hordes   

n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 )；部落

参考例句：

• There are always hordes of tourists here in the summer. 夏天这里总有成群结队的游客。
• Hordes of journalists jostled for position outside the conference hall. 大群记者在会堂外争抢位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》