情人节阅读素材：单身不可怕

 　　情人节到了，连人民日报都会说“未来30年将有约3000万男人娶不到媳妇”！！！今天就来普及一下单身的好处！送给各位单身宝宝们！

　　单身不可怕

　　Anyone who lives alone and manifests no longing¹ to be in a relationship is in our times almost automatically viewed as pitiable.Moreover, they think that it is simply not possible to be at once alone and normal.This set us up for collective catastrophe,because it means that a huge number of people who have no wish to live with anyone else.Even worse,they are under press and pressure, then they are shamed into conjugal² life（婚姻生活）.No doubt that they are with disastrous³ results for all involved. Only once singlehood has completely equal prestige with its alternative can we ensure that people will be free in their choices.And hence,they can join couples for the right reasons because they love another person ,rather than because they are terrified of remaining single.

　　在这个时代，不想恋爱的独居人士总被人默默视为可怜而有问题的人，人们认为单身绝对不可能是正常人。这使得一大拨人难以幸免，因为有很多人打心底不想和别人在一起。然而，很大一部分的单身人士却迫于压力，满怀愧疚地发展恋爱关系甚至进入婚姻殿堂。最终双方都落得伤痕累累。只有人们像重视婚姻一样重视单身生活时才能保证人们拥有自由的选择权，以合理的原因投入一段感情，也就是“爱”而不是人们害怕单身。

　　保持单身的好处

　　Romantic love is a dangerous illusion.

　　浪漫爱情只是泡沫

　　We should recognize that romantic love,the idea of being deeply enamored with one special partner over a whole lifetime is a very new, ambitious and really pretty odd concept.From close-up ,over periods of time ,almost everyone is condemned⁴ to be pretty dispiriting and difficult.A good romantic marriage is evidently theoretically possible.It may also be extremely unlikely in practice.,which should make any failure feel a good deal less shameful⁵.

　　我们应该认识到：浪漫爱情也就是深爱着自己的那个人会矢志不渝，只是一个过分自信又奇怪的新生概念。时间一长，经过仔细的观察，就会发现每个人都难以相处，令人失望。显然，浪漫婚姻在理论上可行，但却难以在实际生活中实现。因此，恋情失败也就情有可原了。

　　No one thinks their partner is terrific after a while.

　　相处久了之后，会渐渐发现另一半并不完美

　　Those among us who chose to stay single shouldn’t be thought unromantic.Indeed ,we may be among the very most romantic of all, because it is in the end the fervent⁶ romantics who should be especially careful of ending up in boring relationships.

　　选择单身的人并非缺乏浪漫细胞，事实上,我们也可能非常浪漫。因为到最后，只有最浪漫的人才需提防自己和对方变得无趣。

　　We aren’t sane⁷ enough to be in relationships.

　　面对感情，我们还不够理智

　　Though it is a sign of some maturity⁸ to know how to love and live alongside someone, it is actually a sign of even greater to recognize that this is something that one isn’t in the end gotta be psychologically really capable of，as a good portion of us simply aren’t.In that cases, we retire ourselves voluntarily ,in order to save others from the terrible consequences ,or it is called bad ending.

　　学会去爱固然是成熟的体现，但是意识到一段感情远超自己的心理承受能力更能体现成熟，因为有些人的确承受不来。在这种情况下，我们主动选择退出，使他人和自己免受伤害。这可能是一种伟大和善良的体现吧。

　　Being alone means not inflicting⁹ yourself on others.

　　单身意味着不让别人遭罪

　　However, being alone means not inflicting ourselves on others.It spares us from constant reminders¹⁰ of how difficult and strange we are!No one is there to hold a mirror up-record your antics and constantly make you accountable for them. If you ‘re lucky, you will be able to tolerate and even like yourself if you are on your own.

　　单身后，你就不会老想着自己多么奇葩而不近人情。没人会举着镜子，追踪你的一举一动，对你的所作所为指指点点。独自一人时，你能忍受自己、喜欢自己。

　　其实，我们真的不必担心，二十岁的关口，还算是年轻的！也没有哪一条规定你一定得结婚，即使单身一人，我们也可以将自己的生活过的有滋有味呢。如果没能遇见爱的人，那么余生就让我们自己酷下去吧！

1 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

2 conjugal   

adj.婚姻的，婚姻性的

参考例句：

• Conjugal visits are banned,so marriages break down.配偶访问是禁止的，罪犯的婚姻也因此破裂。
• Conjugal fate is something delicate.缘分，其实是一种微妙的东西。

3 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

4 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

5 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

6 fervent   

adj.热的，热烈的，热情的

参考例句：

• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。
• Austria was among the most fervent supporters of adolf hitler.奥地利是阿道夫希特勒最狂热的支持者之一。

7 sane   

adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的

参考例句：

• He was sane at the time of the murder.在凶杀案发生时他的神志是清醒的。
• He is a very sane person.他是一个很有头脑的人。

8 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。

9 inflicting   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was charged with maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm. 他被控蓄意严重伤害他人身体。
• It's impossible to do research without inflicting some pain on animals. 搞研究不让动物遭点罪是不可能的。

10 reminders   

n.令人回忆起…的东西( reminder的名词复数 )；提醒…的东西；（告知该做某事的）通知单；提示信

参考例句：

• The film evokes chilling reminders of the war. 这部电影使人们回忆起战争的可怕场景。
• The strike has delayed the mailing of tax reminders. 罢工耽搁了催税单的投寄。