经济学人158:独居时代的崛起

　　The rise of solo living
独居时代的崛起
A room of one's own
属于一个人的房间
Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone. By Eric Klinenberg.
走向单身:独身主义的崛起与诱惑》；艾瑞克·克兰伯格著
“YOU need an apartment alone even if it's over a garage,” declared Helen Gurley Brown in her 1962 bestseller “Sex and the Single Girl”. To Brown, who went on to edit Cosmopolitan¹ magazine, the benefits of solo living were innumerable: it afforded the space to cultivate the self, furnish the mind, work late and indulge in sexual experimentation². Young women should enjoy their best years without a husband, she advised, as this not only laid the foundation for stronger marriages but also gave them a lifestyle to fall back on in case they found themselves alone again.
"就算它是在停车库上方，你也需要一座属于自己的公寓。”海伦·格莉·布朗在其1962年的畅销书《单身女孩》宣扬道。对于这位《大都市》杂志的主编来说，独居生活的好处无穷无尽。独居可以拥有培养自我，心灵供给，熬夜工作，纵情性爱的空间。她认为，年轻女性应该不急于结婚，好好享受她们人生中最美好的年华。这样才能为强力的婚姻培养好基础，同时以防下一次落单能够重返从前的生活方式。
Sensational³ at the time, Brown's counsel seems sensible now. Certainly both sexes have taken it to heart, marrying later, divorcing readily and living alone in larger numbers than ever before. In America more than half of all adults are single and roughly one out of seven lives alone. Worldwide, the number of solo dwellers⁴ has climbed from 153m in 1996 to 202m in 2006—a 33% jump in a decade, according to Euromonitor International, a market analyst⁵. Yet little is known about the wider social effects of this unprecedented⁶ boom, writes Eric Klinenberg, a sociologist⁸ at New York University. His new book “Going Solo” offers a comprehensive look at the lures¹⁰ and perils¹¹ of living alone.
布朗的建议曾轰动一时，现在看来也不失理智。很显然，男女双方都将建议铭记于心，迟迟结婚，快速离婚，独自生活的人数比过往多了许多。美国有逾半数的成年人单身，大概有七分之一的人独居。据市场分析公司欧睿信息咨询公司数据统计，全球独居人数已由1996年的153百万攀升至2006年的202百万人—十年间增加了33%。而这始料未及的上涨所引起的更广泛社会效应却鲜有人知道，纽约大学社会学家艾瑞克· 克兰纳伯格写道。他的新书“走向独居”一书向我们全面诠释了有关独居生活的诱惑和冒险。
Mr Klinenberg parts with those who see the rise of solo living as yet another sign of the decline of civic¹² society. Now that marriage is no longer the ticket to adulthood¹³, a desire to live alone is perfectly¹⁴ reasonable, he writes. Young adults view it as a rite⁷ of passage, a period of personal growth before possibly settling down. Its cultural acceptance has helped to liberate¹⁵ women from bad marriages and oppressive families, granting them a space to return to civic life. And as elderly adults live longer than ever before, often without a partner, many hope to stay independent for as long as possible. Nearly everyone who lives alone prefers it to their other options, says Mr Klinenberg, and ever more people hope to join the ranks.
有人将独居人数的上涨视为公民社会衰退的象征，克兰伯格对此并不赞同。他在书中写道，现在婚姻并不再是通往成熟的唯一途径，独居的渴望是非常理智的。青年人将独居视为成熟的仪式，安定之前的自我成长。文化上对独居的接受让妇女得以从不良婚姻，压抑家庭解放出来，确保她们能有足够空间重返公民生活，而且随着人们寿命延长，年老者多无伴，许多人希望尽可能保持独立。几乎每位独居者更享受现在的生活，而且越来越多的人希望加入独居的队伍当中。
Solitary¹⁶ living need not mean solitude¹⁷. The author offers evidence that people who live alone are often more socially active than their cohabitating peers. The “communications revolution” has allowed more people to experience the pleasures of social life from the comforts of home, and cities with high numbers of singletons enjoy a thriving public culture of bars, cafés and restaurants. Urban officials are now eager to lure⁹ professional singles—known to both work and play hard—in the hope that they will stimulate¹⁸ the local culture and economy.
独居生活并不意味着形单影只。克兰伯格在书中罗列种种例子，表明独居的人比群居的同龄人更加活跃于社交。“通信革命”让更多人体验到由居家舒适感带来的社交愉悦，享受到和众多单身族一起在酒吧、咖啡馆和餐馆同欢这一种兴盛的公共文化。如今，城市官员热切希望职业单身族能够在当地定居。众所周知，职业单身族不仅勤于工作也乐于享受，这样就可以大大促进当地的文化和经济。
Living alone is easy enough for the young and solvent¹⁹; less so for the elderly, frail²⁰ and poor. Mr Klinenberg came to this story while working on a book about the lethal²¹ Chicago heatwave of 1995, when hundreds of people died alone at home, out of touch with friends and neighbours. The trend for solo living can too easily morph into social isolation²², particularly for men, who are less adept²³ than women at making and sustaining connections. Other bugbears include loneliness, discrimination (in the workplace, the tax code and so on) and workaholism. Ageing single adults—a fast-growing group—complain that there are few decent, affordable²⁴ alternatives to withering²⁵ away.
对于年轻人和富有的人来说，独居是很容易的，而对于长者，体弱多病或者穷人来说相对较难。克兰伯格正是在写作一本关于1995年芝加哥致命热浪的书而关注到独居现象的。当年，有成百的人在房子里孤独地死去，邻里朋友并不相知。独居的热潮很容易演变为社会孤立，特别是对于男人。因为男人并不如女人那样会创造和维持社会连接。其他令人担忧的原因还包括孤独感，歧视（在工作场所，免税代码等等）和工作狂。作为快速增长的群体，曾经的单身青年逐渐老去，开始埋怨很少有其他体面的，支付得起的变老方式傍他们逝去。
Mr Klinenberg looks wistfully to the Scandinavian countries, where generous social-welfare benefits and communal²⁶ urban design allow more people to live alone together. He optimistically calls for “bold policy initiatives” such as more affordable housing and assisted-living facilities. “We'll need them,” he adds, “since so many of us will be living alone.”
克林伯格想必非常渴望到斯堪的纳维亚国家生活。 这些国家拥有慷慨的社会福利，而公共的城市设计允许许多人可以一起享受独居生活。他积极呼吁“政治上进行勇敢的首创改良”—诸如提供老百姓支付得起的房屋和辅助生活设备。“我们将需要这些。”他补充说道“因为将来我们中的大多数人将过上独居的生活。“

1 cosmopolitan   

adj.世界性的，全世界的，四海为家的，全球的

参考例句：

• New York is a highly cosmopolitan city.纽约是一个高度世界性的城市。
• She has a very cosmopolitan outlook on life.她有四海一家的人生观。

2 experimentation   

n.实验，试验，实验法

参考例句：

• Many people object to experimentation on animals.许多人反对用动物做实验。
• Study and analysis are likely to be far cheaper than experimentation.研究和分析的费用可能要比实验少得多。

3 sensational   

adj.使人感动的，非常好的，轰动的，耸人听闻的

参考例句：

• Papers of this kind are full of sensational news reports.这类报纸满是耸人听闻的新闻报道。
• Their performance was sensational.他们的演出妙极了。

4 dwellers   

n.居民，居住者( dweller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes. 城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They have transformed themselves into permanent city dwellers. 他们已成为永久的城市居民。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

6 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

7 rite   

n.典礼，惯例，习俗

参考例句：

• This festival descends from a religious rite.这个节日起源于宗教仪式。
• Most traditional societies have transition rites at puberty.大多数传统社会都为青春期的孩子举行成人礼。

8 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

9 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

10 lures   

吸引力，魅力（lure的复数形式）

参考例句：

• He left home because of the lures of life in the city. 他离家是由于都市生活的诱惑。
• Perhaps it is the desire for solitude or the chance of making an unexpected discovery that lures men down to the depths of the earth. 可能正是寻觅幽静的去处，或者找个猎奇的机会的欲望引诱着人们进入地球的深处。

11 perils   

极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境）

参考例句：

• The commander bade his men be undaunted in the face of perils. 指挥员命令他的战士要临危不惧。
• With how many more perils and disasters would he load himself? 他还要再冒多少风险和遭受多少灾难？

12 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

13 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。

14 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

15 liberate   

v.解放，使获得自由，释出，放出；vt.解放，使获自由

参考例句：

• They did their best to liberate slaves.他们尽最大能力去解放奴隶。
• This will liberate him from economic worry.这将消除他经济上的忧虑。

16 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。

17 solitude   

n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方

参考例句：

• People need a chance to reflect on spiritual matters in solitude. 人们需要独处的机会来反思精神上的事情。
• They searched for a place where they could live in solitude. 他们寻找一个可以过隐居生活的地方。

18 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

19 solvent   

n.溶剂；adj.有偿付能力的

参考例句：

• Gasoline is a solvent liquid which removes grease spots.汽油是一种能去掉油污的有溶解力的液体。
• A bankrupt company is not solvent.一个破产的公司是没有偿还债务的能力的。

20 frail   

adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的

参考例句：

• Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了，身体虚弱，不便独居。
• She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上，看上去特别虚弱。

21 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

22 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

23 adept   

adj.老练的，精通的

参考例句：

• When it comes to photography,I'm not an adept.要说照相，我不是内行。
• He was highly adept at avoiding trouble.他十分善于避开麻烦。

24 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

25 withering   

使人畏缩的，使人害羞的，使人难堪的

参考例句：

• She gave him a withering look. 她极其蔑视地看了他一眼。
• The grass is gradually dried-up and withering and pallen leaves. 草渐渐干枯、枯萎并落叶。

26 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。