新奇事件簿 让中国女性消费千万美元的虚拟男友

A new dating app in China is very popular with women. It is so popular that Chinese women are spending over $30 million a month on it. It is a little different from the usual dating app because the boyfriends are not real. There are just four single men on the app and they are all virtual¹ boyfriends. Women have to role-play dating the four boyfriends. They have to use real money to buy "Purple Diamonds" from the app. They then spend their Purple Diamonds in the app to go on dates and keep their relationships going. The app is called Love and Producer. It is currently² the biggest money earner on Apple's App Store in China. Players spent over 200 million Chinese Yuan ($30 million) on playing it last month.

中国一款新交友app深受女性喜爱。该款游戏十分火爆，中国女性每月花费三千多万美元在这款app上。它和一般的交友app有些不同，因为这款交友app上的男朋友都不是真实人物。这款app上有四位单生男性，他们都是虚拟男朋友。女性玩家在里边角色扮演和这四名男友约会。玩家需用现金从app上购买“紫钻”。然后玩家在app里消费紫钻以让约会进行下去并维持他们之间的关系。这款app被称为“恋与制作人”。目前它是中国苹果app商店中最挣钱的应用。上月玩家在此app上消费超过两亿人民币（三千万美元）。

A market research company said the app has more than two million daily active users³. The vast majority of these are women in their early 20s. The company said users love the idea of romance⁴ and fun. A 19-year-old student at Wuhan University explained why she liked the app. She said: "It's like a romantic novel with fascinating voices. It's more real than reading a novel." She said she loved the app's "delicate⁵ drawings," as well as the "great voices" of the four male characters. Another young Chinese woman said: "I don't have a boyfriend, so I'm happy to have a relationship with a "paper partner". She also liked getting e-mail and chat messages from her virtual boyfriends.

一家市场研究公司表示这款app拥有超过两百万名每日活跃用户。大部分玩家为二十多岁的女性。该公司表示用户们喜欢这种浪漫娱乐的想法。武汉大学一名19岁学生解释了她喜欢这款app的原因。她说道：“这就像是一本声音令人陶醉的有声浪漫小说。比读一本小说更加真实。她说她喜欢这款app“精美的画面”，以及四位男性角色的“美妙声音”。另一位年轻女性说：“我没有男朋友，所以我很开心能够与一位“画中伙伴”恋爱。她也喜欢收到虚拟男友的邮件和语音消息。

1 virtual   

adj.实质上的，事实上的，实际上的

参考例句：

• This reply is a virtual acceptance of our offer.这一回答实质上是接受了我们的建议。
• At that time the East India Company was the virtual ruler of Bengal.那时东印度公司是孟加拉的实际统治者。

2 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

3 users   

用户，使用者( user的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The new software will prove a boon to Internet users. 这种新软件将会对互联网用户大有益处。
• Ramps should be provided for wheelchair users. 应该给轮椅使用者提供坡道。

4 romance   

n.恋爱关系，浪漫气氛，爱情小说，传奇

参考例句：

• She wrote a romance about an artist's life in Tokyo.她写了一个关于一位艺术家在东京生活的浪漫故事。
• They tried to rekindle the flames of romance.他们试图重燃爱火。

5 delicate   

adj.巧妙的，敏感的；易损的，娇嫩的

参考例句：

• Be careful with those wine cups — they are very delicate.当心那些酒杯—它们很容易碎。
• The delicate handicraft works will not bear rough handling.精致的手工艺品经不起粗鲁的摆弄。