四六级必读美文系列:装穷族

 　　Brooks¹ dubbed² them "BoBos," the "bourgeois³ bohemians" who created a new anti-establishment establishment. (1) They were the specialty-cheese-eating, sport-utility vehicle-driving environmentalists who railed against the elite⁴ even as they became one of themselves.

　　布鲁克斯称他们为“披波族（又译布波族）”，即“中产阶级波希米亚人”，他们创建了新的反正统的正统体制。（1）他们吃着特制的奶醋、开着SUV，还标榜自己是环保主义者，他们苛责精英阶层，即便自己就是其中之一。

　　They were, in a sense, the anti-rich.

　　在某种意义上，他们是仇富的富人。

　　Now, they are calling them the "Poorgeoise," affluent⁵ entrepreneurs and executives who prefer to look like starving artists. An article in the Guardian⁶ says the financial crisis has made the Poorgeoise more common than ever.

　　现在，他们称自己为“装穷族”，本是富有的企业家和公司高管，却喜欢装的像是忍饥挨饿的艺术家。《卫报》的一篇文章说，金融危机令装穷族比以往任何时候都常见。

　　"They're rich and they love to spend, but they like to pretend they're having as hard a time as the rest of us," the article says.

　　文章中说，他们很有钱，也喜欢花钱，但他们却乐于假装自己跟其他人一样也在艰难度日。

　　It's the latest must-have term, fresh in from Brooklyn and Portland where the streets are paved anew with poorgeoise hipsters. (2) The poorgeoisie are the counter-cultural rich who have adopted a form of consumerism look as though they haven't spent. It's a new way for rich people who don't want to seem rich to buy their way out of the guilt⁷ and shame of having money at a time of mass economic woe⁸.

　　文章中说，这是最新的必备术语，刚刚在布鲁克林和波特兰流行开来，那里的街道如同换了副新气象，满是想赶装穷族这个时髦的人。（2）装穷族是反文化的富人，表面上反对消费主义，实际上他们自己的所做所为仍然是消费主义的一种形式，他们花钱把自己弄成好像没钱花的样子。在许多人都陷入经济困境的情况下，富人因为自己有钱而产生罪恶感和愧疚感，不想露富的富人通过这种方式，花钱让自己摆脱这种感觉。

　　According to the article, they drive hybrids⁹, have creative jobs and grow their own vegetables.

　　文章中说，富人转而开混合动力车，从事创造性的工作，还自己种菜。

　　I wonder, though, whether the Poorgeoise are all that new, or all that real. Even before the crisis, many of the wealthy liked to drape themselves in the camouflage¹⁰ of the proletariat-boarding tbe G5 jet in jeans, T-shirts and sneakers. They preferred to be around "thought leaders" and creative artists rather than other rich people.

　　不过我很怀疑装穷族是不是最近才出现，或者有没有那么真实。即便在危机之前，许多富人也喜欢把自己打扮成下层阶级的样子——穿着牛仔裤、T恤和运动鞋登上G5私人飞机。他们喜欢跟“精神领袖”和有创见的艺术家在一起，而不是跟其他的富人一块儿。

　　They were the Google guys or the art-buying hedge-fund managers in Greenwich, Conn.

　　谷歌那帮高管以及在康涅狄格州格林威治购买艺术晶的那帮对~基金经理，这些人都属于这个行列。

　　Bobos and Poorgeoise and those who pretend to be less wealthy have been with us for years. What has changed is that many of them no longer have to pretend.

　　波波族，装穷族，还有假装自己没那么有钱的那些人，全都已经存在了很多年。真正发生改变的地方在于：他们中的很多人现在确实没钱了，不必再装了。

　　四六级句型讲解

　　1. They were the specialty-cheese-eating, sport-utility vehicle-driving environmentalists who railed against the elite even as they became one of themselves.

　　本句是一个复合句，主句是They were...environmentalists。其中the specialty-cheese-eating和 sport-utility vehicle-driving两个现在分词短语作前置定语修饰environmentalists o who引导限制性定语从句，修饰environmentalists。even as引导时间状语从句。

　　语法重点：分词短语作定语，定语从句，时间状语从句

　　2. The poorgeoisie are the counter-cultural rich who have adopted a form of consumerism against consumerism, a way of spending to make themselves look as though they haven't spent.

　　本句是一个复合句，主句是The poorgeoisie are the counter-cultural rich o who引导限制性定语从句，修饰the counter-cultural rich。其中 a way of...spent是a form of consumerism的同位语。其中as though引导方式状语从句。

　　语法重点：定语从句，同位语，方式状语从句

1 brooks   

n.小溪( brook的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brooks gave the business when Haas caught him with his watch. 哈斯抓到偷他的手表的布鲁克斯时，狠狠地揍了他一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ade and Brooks exchanged blows yesterday and they were severely punished today. 艾德和布鲁克斯昨天打起来了，今天他们受到严厉的惩罚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 bourgeois   

adj./n.追求物质享受的(人)；中产阶级分子

参考例句：

• He's accusing them of having a bourgeois and limited vision.他指责他们像中产阶级一样目光狭隘。
• The French Revolution was inspired by the bourgeois.法国革命受到中产阶级的鼓励。

4 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

5 affluent   

adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的

参考例句：

• He hails from an affluent background.他出身于一个富有的家庭。
• His parents were very affluent.他的父母很富裕。

6 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

7 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

8 woe   

n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌

参考例句：

• Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
• A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。

9 hybrids   

n.杂交生成的生物体( hybrid的名词复数 )；杂交植物（或动物）；杂种；（不同事物的）混合物

参考例句：

• All these brightly coloured hybrids are so lovely in the garden. 花园里所有这些色彩鲜艳的杂交花真美丽。 来自辞典例句
• The notion that interspecific hybrids are rare is ill-founded. 有一种看法认为种间杂种是罕见的，这种看法是无根据的。 来自辞典例句

10 camouflage   

n./v.掩饰，伪装

参考例句：

• The white fur of the polar bear is a natural camouflage.北极熊身上的白色的浓密软毛是一种天然的伪装。
• The animal's markings provide effective camouflage.这种动物身上的斑纹是很有效的伪装。