经济学人01:夏令营 顽皮鬼的天地

 　　Business.

　　商业。

　　Summer camps

　　夏令营

　　Camps for scamps

　　顽皮鬼的天地

　　An American tradition is spreading

　　一项美国传统正在传播蔓延

　　SOME have their faces painted as Spider-Man; others as sparkly pink butterflies. Children at Super Camps arrive each weekday morning bright-eyed and lunchbox-laden, ready for an eventful day. Besides wall-climbing (at which, no doubt, the Spider-Men excel), they are made to sing, dance, cook, swim, shoot arrows and create "graffiti art".

　　一些人把他们的脸涂成蜘蛛侠,其他则描画成耀眼的粉红蝴蝶。每个工作日的早晨，孩子们都满载热情并带上便当来到超级营地准备丰富多彩的一天。除了攀岩走壁（这毫无疑问是蜘蛛侠最擅长的），还有人带他们唱歌，跳舞，烹饪，游泳，射箭以及创建"涂鸦艺术"。

　　The poet William Blake likened kids in school to birds in cages. (Apparently he thought caging them was a bad thing.) During the summer holidays, the little horrors are released and their harried¹ parents must find ways to keep them out of trouble. Americans have long resorted to summer camps. A few weeks in the wilderness² teaches youngsters self-reliance and new swear words.

　　诗人威廉?布莱克把学校里的孩子比作笼子里的小鸟。（很明显，他认为将它们关在笼子里是一件糟糕的事情。）暑假期间,调皮蛋们被释放,被烦扰的家长们必须找到办法使他们不再捣蛋。美国人一直采取的是送进夏令营。在野外待几个星期，孩子们学会自立，当然也会学到新的脏话。

　　The idea is spreading. In Britain, where childcare is costly-the average family with two earners spends 27% of after-tax income on it-day camps are popular. Super Camps, a national operator, charges ￡38 ($60) a day at most. A smaller rival, Camp Energy in Oxfordshire, charges ￡33. One of the founders⁴ of Mumsnet, a parenting website, calls such fees "eye-wateringly expensive". Yet to many, they are a bargain. The minimum hourly wage for childminders is ￡6.08 and they will not teach you how to make fire with flints.

　　这个主意正在传播。在英国，由于儿童托管的昂贵费用占到拥有两个收入者的普通家庭税后的27% ，因此日间夏令营很受欢迎。国营的超级营地最多一天收费38英镑（合60美元）。一个规模较小的竞争对手—牛津郡的Camp Energy收费33英镑。一个育儿网站Mumsnet网的创始人之一称这种费用"十分昂贵"。 然而对许多人来说,他们很便宜。保育员每小时最低工资是6.08欧元，同时他们也不会告诉你如何用燧石生火。

　　By one estimate, 250,000 British children attend summer camps each year. Their purpose, says Camp Energy's founder³, Barry Grinham, is "to ease the pain of parenting". Their main competitor, says Justine Longford of Super Camps, is free child care from the extended family. Mr Grinham notes that many parents book at the last minute, after relatives cancel on them.

　　据估计，每年有25万的英国孩子参加了夏令营。Camp Energy的创始人巴里Grinham说, 他们的目的是"为了缓解的父母苦恼"。而超级阵营的杰斯丁朗福德说:夏令营的主要竞争对手,是大家族中其他亲属对孩子的免费照顾.Grinham指出，许多父母会在他们的亲戚没有时间照顾他们的小孩的时候才下的订单。

　　American camps operate on a grander scale. The American Camp Association estimates that over 10m children, including Sasha and Malia Obama, will attend one this summer. Specialist camps abound⁵: for robotics fans, diabetes-sufferers, children whose parents are in the army or in prison, and so on. Lighter⁶ regulations make American camps more fun: safety rules bar British brats⁷ from enjoying the risky⁸ games that delight their American peers.

　　美国夏令营的规模更大。美国宿营协会估计，今年夏天包括玛丽亚和萨莎奥巴马在内的有超过一千万的孩子将参加其中的一个。具有针对性培养计划的夏令营比比皆是:针对机器人爱好者的, 针对糖尿病患者的, 针对孩子的父母都在军队或监禁的, 诸如此类。放松的管制使美国阵营更有趣：安全条例禁止英国顽童享受那些带给美国同龄人喜悦的冒险游戏

　　Some camps are marketing⁹ opportunities. US Sports Camps (USSC), for example, is sponsored by Nike, a sporting-goods firm. More than 55,000 kids will attend one of its 450 camps this summer; revenues are nearly $30m a year, says Steve Pence, the president. He reports steady growth in the past four years. "The last thing parents will cut is something for their child," he explains.

　　一些营地是市场营销的机会。例如，美国体育训练营是由体育用品公司耐克赞助的。其总裁史蒂夫称，这个夏天将有超过55000名孩子参加它450个营地中的一个，这一年的收入将近3千万美元。他说，在过去的四年这都在平稳增长。他解释道："父母再怎么省也不会亏待孩子"。

　　USSC is trying to break into China. It has opened sports camps in Beijing and Shanghai, also sponsored by Nike. However, Mr Pence describes the Chinese market as "challenging". Urban Chinese couples typically have one child, whose four grandparents have no other grandchildren. Finding babysitters is easier in Beijing than in Baltimore or Balham.

　　美国体育训练营试图打入中国市场。同样由耐克赞助，它已经在北京和上海建起了运动营地。然而，Pence认为中国市场是一次"挑战"。 中国城市夫妇通常有一个孩子，他们的四个祖父母没有其他外孙。相比巴尔的摩或者是巴勒姆，在北京给孩子找个保姆更加容易。

1 harried   

v.使苦恼( harry的过去式和过去分词 )；不断烦扰；一再袭击；侵扰

参考例句：

• She has been harried by the press all week. 整个星期她都受到新闻界的不断烦扰。
• The soldiers harried the enemy out of the country. 士兵们不断作骚扰性的攻击直至把敌人赶出国境为止。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

3 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

4 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

5 abound   

vi.大量存在；(in，with)充满，富于

参考例句：

• Oranges abound here all the year round.这里一年到头都有很多橙子。
• But problems abound in the management of State-owned companies.但是在国有企业的管理中仍然存在不少问题。

6 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

7 brats   

n.调皮捣蛋的孩子( brat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I've been waiting to get my hands on you brats. 我等着干你们这些小毛头已经很久了。 来自电影对白
• The charming family had turned into a parcel of brats. 那个可爱的家庭一下子变成了一窝臭小子。 来自互联网

8 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

9 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。