魔兽电影在中国历史性的成功有黑暗的一面

 With its fantastical realms and motley cast of supernatural miscreants¹, World of Warcraft broke new ground in multiplayer online role-playing computer games, and has now spawned² the most successful computer game movie adaptation of all time.

凭借神奇的地域和多样的超自然怪物，《魔兽世界》为多用户在线角色扮演游戏立下了新标杆，如今又衍生出了有史以来最成功的游戏改编电影。

After its second weekend at the box office, Warcraft: The Beginning has recouped $377.6 million globally, despite bombing in the U.S. The movie received a meager³ 32% on metacritic.com and took just $24.4 million in its first five days in American cinemas, and dropped a whopping 73% on its second weekend, bringing in a paltry⁴ $6.5 million. Yet the movie remains⁵ a financial triumph almost entirely⁶ owed to its showing in China, where cinema-goers have so far shelled out more than $200 million on it, even eclipsing Star Wars: The Force Awakens⁷, which took $125.4 million in its entire run in China.

到第二个周末为止，尽管在美国遭遇惨败，电影《魔兽》依然获得了3.776亿美元全球票房。影片在metacritic网站只被打了可怜的32分，在美国院线五天入账2440万美元，并在第二个周末骤跌73%，只有微不足道的650万美元。然而，影片依然获得了经济上的巨大成功，这主要归功于其在中国的表现，那里的观众为此花了超过2亿美元，甚至盖过了在中国共入账1.254亿美元的《星球大战：原力觉醒》。

Since its launch in 2004, WoW, as it’s better known to fans, has drawn⁸ over 100 million players — a record for a role-playing computer game. Half of the current five-million-strong playing roster⁹ resides in China, where the game is aptly know as “World of Magic Beasts.” They are typically young men aged¹⁰ 15-25.

这个游戏更为人熟知的名字是WOW，自2004年发行后，已经拥有了超过1亿用户——创造了角色扮演游戏的纪录。其500万活跃用户中有一半生活在中国，在那里这个游戏被恰当地称为“魔法野兽的世界”。他们是典型的青年，在15-25岁之间。

“I can still remember me and my roommates in college staying up late and playing Warcraft together,” posted another fan. “We were really bonding through this game. The success of Warcraft is not because how good the movie is, but it represents the years of our burning passions, and the unforgettable brotherhood¹¹.”

“我依然记得我和室友一起玩魔兽世界到深夜，”另一位用户说，“我们就是靠这个游戏混熟的。魔兽的成功不在于电影多好，而是它体现了我们那些年燃烧的激情和难忘的友谊。”

Chinese kids regularly get so hooked on WoW that they forget to eat, drink or sleep — one player even died after a marathon, 19-hour session. WoW is so popular that there are professional players who are treated like movie stars, complete with sponsorship deals with fawning¹² groupies. There are Chinese boot camps set up especially for kids who suffer from role-player game addiction¹³.

中国孩子经常因为过于沉迷魔兽世界而忘记吃喝睡觉——一位玩家甚至在19个小时的马拉松游戏后死去。魔兽在中国太流行了，甚至有专业玩家，由支持的团体赞助，像电影明星一样。中国还有专门为沉迷角色扮演游戏而开设的夏令营。

This obsession¹⁴ with role-playing escapism could have much to do with the highly regimented lives led by middle-class Chinese kids, who cope with enormous pressure. Due to China’s only recently rescinded¹⁵ One-Child Policy, many are only children, and are solely¹⁶ relied upon to support their aging parents and grandparents.

这种对角色扮演、逃避现实的沉迷应该是和中国中产阶级孩子被严格管制的生活有关，用以抵抗这种巨大的压力。由于最近才取消的独生子女政策，他们许多人是独子，是他们年长的父母、祖父母的唯一依靠。

This month, 9.4 million Chinese kids took the gaokao — China’s university entrance exam equivalent to America’s SAT — yet there were only 3 million college places up for grabs, and only a small fraction of those were at “top-tier” institutions. Exam-related suicide is so common that one school even installed special barriers to prevent students flinging themselves to their deaths.

本月，940万中国孩子参加了“高考”——中国大学的入学考试，相当于美国的SAT——而只有300万个大学名额可用，其中只有很少一部分属于“顶级”学府。考试引发的自杀太普遍了，有一所学校甚至安装了护栏防止学生跳楼自杀。

Adulthood¹⁷ doesn’t bring respite¹⁸. Deviant behavior massively jeopardizes¹⁹ career advancement²⁰ in a one-party state where every citizen has a dangan, or personal file, that lists their misdeeds from their entry into public life — typically enrollment²¹ at elementary school — until their death.

成年后也好不到哪里去。在一个一党国家，每个公民都有一份“档案”，即个人档案，列出了他们的违法行为，从踏进社会的时候起——即在初级学校注册时——至到他们的死亡。因此，离经叛道的行为会极大损害人们的职业发展。

Zhou agrees: “The government doesn’t like the idea of young people getting involved in sensitive issues,” he adds. “Comments concerning such sensitive issues are quickly removed, but entertainment content is free of control.”

周孝正同意。“政府不喜欢青年介入到敏感事件中，”他补充道，“涉及敏感事件的评论会很快被删除，但娱乐内容就较为自由。”

1 miscreants   

n.恶棍，歹徒( miscreant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I ordered the miscreants to let me out. 我命令这些土匪放我出去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Local people demanded that the District Magistrate apprehend the miscreants. 当地人要求地方法官逮捕那些歹徒。 来自辞典例句

2 spawned   

（鱼、蛙等）大量产（卵）( spawn的过去式和过去分词 )； 大量生产

参考例句：

• The band's album spawned a string of hit singles. 这支乐队的专辑繁衍出一连串走红的单曲唱片。
• The computer industry has spawned a lot of new companies. 由于电脑工业的发展，许多新公司纷纷成立。

3 meager   

adj.缺乏的，不足的，瘦的

参考例句：

• He could not support his family on his meager salary.他靠微薄的工资无法养家。
• The two men and the woman grouped about the fire and began their meager meal.两个男人同一个女人围着火，开始吃起少得可怜的午饭。

4 paltry   

adj.无价值的，微不足道的

参考例句：

• The parents had little interest in paltry domestic concerns.那些家长对家里鸡毛蒜皮的小事没什么兴趣。
• I'm getting angry;and if you don't command that paltry spirit of yours.我要生气了，如果你不能振作你那点元气。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

7 awakens   

v.（使）醒( awaken的第三人称单数 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• The scene awakens reminiscences of my youth. 这景象唤起我年轻时的往事。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The child awakens early in the morning. 这个小孩早晨醒得早。 来自辞典例句

8 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

9 roster   

n.值勤表，花名册

参考例句：

• The teacher checked the roster to see whom he would teach this year.老师查看花名册，想了解今年要教的学生。
• The next day he put himself first on the new roster for domestic chores.第二天，他把自己排在了新的家务值日表的第一位。

10 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

11 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

12 fawning   

adj.乞怜的，奉承的v.（尤指狗等）跳过来往人身上蹭以示亲热( fawn的现在分词 )；巴结；讨好

参考例句：

• The servant worn a fawning smile. 仆人的脸上露出一种谄笑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Then, what submission, what cringing and fawning, what servility, what abject humiliation! 好一个低眉垂首、阿谀逢迎、胁肩谄笑、卑躬屈膝的场面！ 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

13 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

14 obsession   

n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感)

参考例句：

• I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
• She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。

15 rescinded   

v.废除，取消( rescind的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Rescinded civil acts shall be null and void from the very beginning. 被撤销的民事行为从行为开始起无效。 来自互联网
• They accepted his advice and rescinded the original plan. 他们听从了他的劝告，撤销了原计划。 来自互联网

16 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

17 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。

18 respite   

n.休息，中止，暂缓

参考例句：

• She was interrogated without respite for twenty-four hours.她被不间断地审问了二十四小时。
• Devaluation would only give the economy a brief respite.贬值只能让经济得到暂时的缓解。

19 jeopardizes   

危及，损害( jeopardize的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• If your reckless behavior jeopardizes this mission, you're out! 如果你不注意你的言行，会危及到这次任务你也会被开除！
• Factionalism now seriously jeopardizes our overall interest. 现在闹派性已经严重地妨害我们的大局。

20 advancement   

n.前进，促进，提升

参考例句：

• His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
• The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。

21 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。