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Meanwhile, children will continue to pounce upon the spoils of the sea, regardless of its value. It’s free treasure, after all, worth hunting even if you leave it behind at the end of the day, to be washed away by the tides.

与此同时，孩子们会不顾大海的价值，继续追逐大海的战利品。毕竟，它是免费的宝藏，值得你去寻找，即使你在一天结束的时候把它留在身后，任由潮水冲走。

So the next time you’re wondering how to make the best of a British beach, follow Cowen’s example, take up your position as a human crab and search for glowing pebbles before they vanish.

所以下次当你想知道如何充分利用英国海滩的时候，以考恩为例，采取你作为人类螃蟹的立场，在发光的鹅卵石消失之前寻找它们。

Reading across cultures / P64 Tied up in knots

Fashion accessory or schoolboy nightmare? For generations of British schoolboys (and girls too) struggling to put on their school tie in the morning, without ending up in knots, fashion is probably the last thing on their mind. But the tie is clearly not an essential item of clothing like on their mind. But the tie is clearly not an essential item of clothing like a coat or a pair of socks. It doesn’t cover very much, or keep you warm.

时尚配饰还是学生噩梦?对于一代又一代的英国男学生(以及女学生)来说，早晨戴上领带，又不打结，时尚可能是他们最不愿考虑的事情。但领带显然不是他们心目中必不可少的服饰。但领带显然不是像外套或袜子那样必不可少的衣服。它不能覆盖很多东西，也不能保暖。

The tie as we know it is only about a hundred years old. It evolved from an earlier fashion item, a piece of silk cloth worn around the neck and known as a cravat, which became all the rage in France

during the 18th century. Cravat is a corruption of the French word for Croat, since it was a regiment of Croatian soldiers visiting King Louis XIV of France, with their elegant uniforms and colorful neckties, which first caught the imagination of the French. Soon any French gentleman who considered himself well-dressed was sporting a cravat.

据我们所知，这条领带只有大约一百年的历史。它是从一种更早的时尚单品演变而来的，这种单品是一种围在脖子上的丝绸，被称为领带，在18世纪的法国风靡一时。“领带”是法语中“克罗地亚”一词的变体，因为“领带”是一群克罗地亚士兵拜访法国国王路易十四时用的词，他们穿着优雅的制服，打着五颜六色的领带，最先引起了法国人的想象。不久，任何一位自以为衣着讲究的法国绅士都戴上了领结。

It didn’t take long for the fashion to cross the Channel to England. But with the development of turndown collars on shirt, a different, longer necktie came into being. Around the turn of the last century ties began to represent schools and sports clubs. By the 1920s stripes had become the norm, with the colors of the stripes indicating the school or club the belonged to.

没过多久，这种时尚就漂洋过海来到了英国。但是随着衬衫翻领的发展，一种不同的，更长的领带出现了。在世纪之交，领带开始代表学校和体育俱乐部。到了20世纪20年代，条纹已经成为一种规范，条纹的颜色表明学校或俱乐部所属。

Since then, the tie has become a major player on the world stage, a symbol of power as well as a dedicated follower of fashion. In the 1970s, during the hippy movement, flowers were common. There also seems to be a relation between the width of men’s ties and the length of women’s hemlines. But more than anything else, the tie is a mark of the establishment. To turn up for a business meeting or a political summit without a tie is to take a risk. And as long as national leaders keep wearing ties on important occasions, the rest of us will (so to speak) follow suit.

从那时起，领带就成为世界舞台上的主要角色，权力的象征，也是时尚的忠实追随者。20世纪70年代，嬉皮士运动期间，鲜花随处可见。男士领带的宽度和女士裙摆的长度之间似乎也存在某种关系。但最重要的是，领带是权势集团的标志。不打领带就出现在商务会议或政

治峰会上是要冒风险的。只要国家领导人在重要场合一直系领带，我们其他人(可以这么说)就会效仿。

Unit 4 Active reading (1) / P68 The credit card trap

I have a confession. Several years ago, I was standing in a queue to collect some theater tickets for my family, and my friend was doing the same for hers. I got mine, and paid for them by credit card, feeling contented by the convenience of this cash-free transaction. It was then her turn to pay. The whole operation passed as smoothly as mine, but my delight soon turned to abject shame. My credit card was a fairly pathetic, status-free dark blue, whereas hers was a very exclusive gold one.

我要坦白一件事。几年前，我排队为家人买戏票，我的朋友也在为她的家人买戏票。我拿到了我的信用卡，用信用卡付了钱，对这种不用现金的交易感到很满足。轮到她付钱了。整个行动进行得和我一样顺利，但我的喜悦很快变成了耻辱。我的信用卡是一种相当可怜的、没有身份的深蓝色，而她的是一种非常昂贵的金色。

How did she do this? How could this be? I knew I earned more than her, my car was newer, and my house was smarter. How did she get to appear more flash than me?

她是怎么做到的?怎么会这样呢?我知道我比她挣得多，我的汽车更新，我的房子更漂亮。她怎么比我更抢眼?

Now, I had a job which was as steady as any job was in those days – that’s to say, not very, but you know, no complaints. I had a mortgage on my house, but then who didn’t? I paid off all my credit debt at the end of the month, so although technically, I was in debt to the credit card company, it was only for a matter of a few weeks. So I amused I had a good credit rating.

现在，我有了一份和当时任何工作一样稳定的工作——也就是说，不是很稳定，但你知道，

没有抱怨。我的房子有抵押，但谁没有呢?我在月底还清了所有的信用卡债务，所以尽管从技术上讲，我欠了信用卡公司的债，但那只是几周的事情。所以我觉得自己的信用评级很好。

Call me superficial, and I’m not proud of myself, but there and then, I was suddenly jealous of my friend. I decided I no longer wanted a blue card. I wanted a gold one. A gold card was suddenly indispensable, it would make me feel good about myself, and desirable to others.

说我肤浅，我并不为自己感到骄傲，但在那时，我突然嫉妒我的朋友。我决定不再要蓝卡了。我想要一个金色的。一张金卡突然变得不可或缺，它会让我自我感觉良好，让别人渴望。

So I applied for the most distinctive, shiny golden card the company offered.

于是我申请了公司提供的最有特色、最闪亮的金卡。

I was turned down.

我被拒绝了。

When I had recovered from the shock, which took several seconds, I asked why. It appears that because I pay my credit card bill both on time and in full, I’m not the kind of person that they want to have their gold credit risks, tempted so spend more than they have, and liable to fall behind with repayments. Then they can charge them more interest, and earn more money. That’s the way they do business.

我花了几秒钟才从震惊中恢复过来，我问为什么。看来，因为我按时足额支付信用卡账单，所以我不是那种他们想要承担黄金信用风险的人，他们想要花更多的钱，却有可能拖欠还款。然后他们可以收取更多的利息，赚更多的钱。这就是他们做生意的方式。

So does this explain why the credit card companies are luring impoverished students with unrealistic interest rates, like my kids?