本文选自《华盛顿邮报》11月12日文章。中国的双十一已经成为举世瞩目的购物狂欢节，11月11日零点刚过2分钟，阿里的销售额就达到100亿元人民币，凌晨1点04分，这一数字达到1000亿人民币，24小时内，更是创下了2684亿元人民币的销售额，较去年增长26%，这一数字是世界任何一个国家都望尘莫及、无法想象的。为了迎接双十一狂欢节，阿里特地请来了美国流行歌手泰勒·斯威夫特进行表演，并在全国播出；阿里的杭州总部摆满了大鼓，每当销售额达到一个里程碑时，鼓声就会响起，于是11月11日，阿里总部鼓声昼夜未息。双十一购物狂欢，你贡献了多少？
选文精讲
Alibaba Sales Soar on China’s Big Shopping DayHANGZHOU, China—For the world’s biggest day of shopping, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. placed traditional drums all over its campus here for employees to bang on each time China’s e-commerce giant reached a sales milestone.
中国杭州——在这个世界上最大的购物日，中国电子商务巨头阿里巴巴集团在其杭州总部摆满了传统的鼓，当销售额达到一个里程碑时，员工们就会敲响一次鼓。
As expected, the drums throbbed all day and night as Alibaba set another record, selling 268.4 billion yuan ($38.3 billion) of goods during the Singles Day shopping festival, which takes place each year on Nov. 11. That was up 26% from its previous record of 213.5 billion yuan, or about $30.8 billion, set last year.
不出所料，鼓声昼夜不停，阿里巴巴在双十一购物节期间创造了新的记录，销售了2684亿元(383亿美元)的商品，双十一购物节在每年的11月11日举行，这较去年创下的人民币2,135亿元(约合308亿美元)的纪录增长了26%。
Singles Day combines elements of Black Friday and half-time at the Super Bowl. On Sunday night, American pop star Taylor Swift performed at an Alibaba party in nearby Shanghai that was broadcast across the country in the minutes before the clock struck midnight, kicking off 24 hours of bargains.
光棍节结合了黑色星期五和超级碗中场秀的元素。周日晚上，美国流行歌手泰勒·斯威夫特在临近上海的阿里巴巴派对上表演，这场派对在午夜钟声敲响前几分钟在全国播出，开启了24小时的购物狂欢。
Starting at midnight, shoppers started to snap up discounted items: sneakers, personal electronics or an annual supply of tissue paper. By 12:02 a.m. on Monday, Alibaba had already sold 10 billion yuan, or $1.4 billion, of goods. By 1:04 a.m., the tally was 100 billion yuan.
从午夜开始，购物者开始抢购打折商品:运动鞋、个人电子产品或一年用量的卫生纸。截至周一凌晨12点02分，阿里巴巴已经销售了价值人民币100亿元(约合14亿美元)的商品。凌晨1:04，这一数字为人民币1,000亿元。
E-commerce experts say it is hard to draw conclusions about the Chinese economy or Alibaba’s performance from Singles Day alone. Though many of the sales are rung up on Nov. 11 itself, many promotions now begin several weeks earlier. Many purchases are also returned in the following weeks.
电子商务专家表示，单凭“光棍节”很难对中国经济或阿里巴巴的表现得出结论。虽然很多销售是在11月11日产生的，但现在很多促销活动都提前了几周开始，还有许多出售的物品会在接下来的几周内退货。
Even so, some analysts say Singles Day can indicate whether Chinese consumers are still willing to part with their disposable income, and to what extent.
尽管如此，一些分析人士说，光棍节可以表明中国消费者是否仍然愿意割舍他们的可支配收入，以及在割舍愿意的程度。
