BBC生活评论：为什么假期我们会超支？ | 读外刊学雅思

【读外刊学雅思】栏目

文章出处

By Alina Dizik

BBC生活评论

19 September 2017

唐伟胜/选注

使用指南

写作---针对雅思考试的写作亮点表达

红色---生词

蓝色---地道搭配以及表达

Why so many people overspend in their holidays？

知道你假期为何会超支吗？

Esta Shah always plans a fun activity for the day following her holiday. It’s not a coping strategy （应对策略） to combat the back-to-work blues （忧虑） – rather, it’s a budgeting trick she says prevents her from wild overspending （超支）. Knowing the fun will continue when you get back “keeps you from spending on [unnecessary] things during the last days of vacation to keep the fun going,” says Shah, a marketing professor at the University of Cincinnati. Continuing the fun post-holiday keeps her from chasing （追逐，追求） happiness while on holiday because she knows it’s awaiting （等候） her back home. Ultimately （最终，终于）, it allows her to spend more wisely during the days she’s travelling rather than splurging （挥霍） on items she doesn’t need just before she flies home.

【注】本段以Esta Shah——一位大学营销学教授如何避免在假期挥霍，购买不必要的商品的例子，引出本文的话题：假期的消费问题。

（1）keep sb. from doing sth. 阻止/妨碍某人做某事【写作】

（2）splurge on 在…上挥霍

Many people return from holidays to higher-than-expected （高出预期的）credit card bills. In the US, the overspend can represent a serious chunk of household （家庭的）income: 74% of Americans admitted falling into debt of more than $1,100 after returning from a holiday, according to a 2017 survey by personal finance website Learnvest. In the UK, many travellers spend an average of £532 ($718) per person even before they’ve left the country – on anything from duty-free （免税的） shopping to trip-related clothing, according to research from the Association of British Travel Agents.“I have worked with a lot of people who have no problems in their financial life – except on vacation,” says Brad Klontz, a psychologist and financial adviser in Hawaii who works with clients （客户） on spending.

【注】本段以数据表明，假期超支乃至陷入债务是普遍现象。

（1）a serious chunk=a considerable chunk 一大块

（2）The overspend can represent a serious chunk of household income 超支在很大程度上体现了家庭收入

So why do people lose control of their spending when travelling?

There are a host of subconscious （潜意识的） reasons behind spending more on holiday and it’s difficult to keep them in check, says Klaus Wertenbroch, marketing professor at INSEAD business school’s Singapore campus.

For one, currency （货币）differences can trick you into feeling you have more money to spend when abroad, says Wertenbroch. A 2007 paper he co-authored （合著）found that the nominal (face) （票面的）value of money affects how people perceive （感受） its real value: if you’re in a country where the face value of the foreign currency is a fraction of your home currency, you’re likely to spend more. For example, if you’re travelling from Canada to Indonesia, your one Canadian dollar is worth roughly 10,800 rupiah （卢比，印尼的货币）. You’re more likely to overspend with a wallet stuffed with high-denomination（高额的） bills, Wertenbroch says, because doing currency conversions （兑换货币） on the fly is mentally taxing – you’re more likely to make a biased （有偏差的）evaluation in favor of the face value, rather than the real value, of the price posted in the foreign currency.

【注】本段探讨度假超支的原因之一是不同国家的货币面值不一带来的错觉。

（1）There are a host of reasons behind… …背后有许多原因【写作】

（2）It’s difficult to keep sth. in check 很难使…处在控制中【写作】

（3）trick sb. into feeling… 给某人造成…错觉

（4）a fraction of 一小部分【写作】

（5）be likely to… 可能做…【写作】

（6）be stuffed with… 塞满了…

（7）on the fly 在飞行中，在忙碌中

（8）mentally taxing 费力的，费神的

（9）make an evaluation of sth. (in favor of sth rather than sth.) 在…而非…的基础上做出评判

Travellers can be susceptible to setting unrealistic budgets （预算）that are either too low or too high because of so-called “malleable （可塑的，易适应的，灵活的）mental accounting,” which increases the tendency to spend, points out Shah. That’s because we are likely to justify our spending based on present circumstances rather than sticking to a strict budget to control spending.

For example, if you budgeted spending only $100 per day on holiday, you can spend another $30 on food by categorizing food as an everyday purchase rather than strictly holiday spending. As a result, people justify that they can actually spend an extra $30 on food without recognising （辩认出，意识到）that they are already spending more than they do back home. “Your budgets are not as good as you think they are – things fall apart based on your motivations,” she says.

And conservative （保守的）budgets don’t always work either, adds Shah. For example, setting aside $1,000 for a weeklong trip, realising you’ve allocated （分配） too much money to spend and still had $500 left over on the last day, makes it easier to splurge on the day prior to flying home, according to Shah’s research. “When you put together those rounded figures （整数） [via a budget], that creates a 'licensing’ effect,” （许可效应） which provides a mental excuse to spend more money, she explains.

【注】本段主要讨论度假时超支的第二个原因：没有执行预算。

be susceptible to doing 易受…影响，倾向于【写作】

justify our spending on present circumstances rather than sticking to a strict budget 认为根据当前的环境而非严格遵守预算更合理

categorize… as… 将…归类到…

without recognizing (realizing) that… 没有意识到【写作】

prior to 在......之前【写作】

provide a mental excuse to do…这为…提供了精神上的借口

Feeling pressed for time in a now-or-never （机不可失） type of situation can also influence your spending, says Deepak Chhabra, an associate professor at Arizona State University who specialises in tourism. Whether it’s finding a one-of-a-kind holiday souvenir （纪念品） or splurging on dinner, “you are viewing life from a short-term perspective （角度） and can get carried away,” says Chhabra. Where you’re from can affect how much time you have to spend on holiday – a 2016 study by travel site Expedia found those from the US, Japan and South Korea are less likely to use all their holiday leave than Europeans. Chhabra thinks those with less time per year for holidays could be more eager to take the plunge when it comes to spending.

【注】本段探讨第三个原因：认为假期短暂，机不可失，时不再来。

（1）be pressed for time 时间紧迫【写作】

（2）specialise in... 专门研究......【写作】

（2）take the plunge 冒险尝试

（3）when it comes to 当涉及到【写作】

Viewing friends’ trips via（通过）social media can inspire（激发）a sort of FOMO (fear of missing out) that can influence especially younger travellers to overspend because they tend to value experiences more than other generations, says Chhabra. The pull of seeing acquaintances spend money on travel can often be a more powerful motivator （刺激因素） to spend more while travelling than seeing an advertisement, she says. “You want to be on par with what [others] are doing,” she says.

【注】本段探讨第四个原因：受熟人——尤其是发在社交网络上关于假期的消息的影响。

（1）social media 社交媒体【写作】

（2）be on par with 与…媲美，赶得上…

So what should you do?

Rather than creating a budget based on what you’re planning to spend, treat your holiday like you would daily life, recommends Shah. Get acquainted with the currency and how much items cost prior to the trip. Reading about transport, food and entertainment costs can make prices seem more familiar once you’re actually on the trip. Set up a daily – rather than a weekly – budget based on your research of how much you expect to pay for food, transport, activities and anything else you plan to purchase while traveling so it’s easier to track. Finally, attempt to pay for the holiday within a short period of time; incurring （招致，引发）flight and lodging （住宿） expenses over a few months makes it easy to lose track of how much you’ll spend on each portion （部分）, adds Shah.

【注】最后一段提出如何避免度假的时候超支的方法。

（1）get acquainted with 熟悉…【写作】

（2）lose track of… 失去对…的控制，不能跟上…的发展【写作】