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       2020考研英语阅读水平想要提升较快，并不容易!需要2020考研者每天有良好的英语阅读习惯，久而久之慢慢进步!接下来，北京文都考研网为助力学子们备考英语，分享了考研英语双语经济学人:乐高为何能俘获中国家长芳心?供考生参考。

2020考研英语双语经济学人:乐高为何能俘获中国家长芳心?

The Danish firm has outwitted its American rival in China

在中国，这家丹麦公司智胜了其美国竞争对手

Budding engineers cluster around a table-sized model of the China Art Museum, a landmark of Shanghai, adding helipads, carrot patches and other improvements with colourful bricks. Prising a child from Lego’s vast shop near People’s Square can be like unsticking two stubborn bits of Lego.

一群“小小的工程师”正聚集在中国美术馆(上海地标性建筑)中一个桌子般大小的模型前，他们用五颜六色的积木拼造了直升机停机坪、胡萝卜地和其他设施。想要从这家位于人民广场附近的乐高玩具店里带离一位孩子，就如同将两块牢牢拼接在一起的积木分开那样难。

Li Yang, visiting for a few days from Shenzhen, has been waiting for her daughter for two hours. Zhu Yunfei, watching his son, marvels at the variety: “Coming here to play with him is making up for my childhood,” he says. They drop by every week.

几天前从深圳来到上海旅游的李洋已经等了她女儿两个小时了。陪伴着儿子的朱云飞感叹于乐高积木的多样性玩法：“来这里陪他一起玩也是对我童年的一种弥补。”他们每周都会来。

Lego’s rise in China has been vertiginous. In 2017 it overtook Alpha Group, a local giant, to become the country’s leading toy company (not including video games). In the past two years it has opened 89 stores. It wants 50 more by December, which will bring it to 30 cities.

乐高在中国的崛起非常迅速。2017年，乐高超越了当地巨头阿尔法集团，成为了中国市场最大的玩具公司(不包括电子游戏)。在过去的两年里，乐高已经开设了89家门店。到今年12月，它还想再开设50家新店，届时将在30个城市拥有门店。

Its first Chinese factory started moulding bricks in 2016. The toy industry is growing by 9% annually in the country, but the Danish firm’s Chinese arm notches up “very strong double digits”, says Paul Huang, its boss.

2016年，乐高在中国的第一家工厂开始生产积木。中国的玩具业正在以每年9%的速度增长，但这家丹麦公司的中国分公司却能实现“非常稳定的两位数”的增长速度，乐高中国区总经理黄国强如是说。

Newly affluent parents in China have helped Lego recover. “We have not maxed out there, by far,” says Niels Christiansen, whom Lego brought in as chief executive two years ago.

在中国新晋富裕家长的帮助下，乐高得以复苏。两年前就任乐高首席执行官的尼尔斯·克里斯汀森说：“这还远未达到我们的极限。”

As in the West, the educational merits of bricks appeal to Chinese parents. Last year 98% of those surveyed by Lego said that play was essential for their child’s well-being, even more than Americans and Danes.

积木的教育价值吸引了中国家长，这一点同西方一样。乐高去年的一项调查显示，98%的中国家长认为玩耍对于孩子的健康很重要，这一比例甚至高于美国和丹麦。

Lego has also astutely catered to local tastes. This year the firm launched three sets specifically for China, the first time it has done so for any country. Fans were delighted at the attention to cultural detail.

乐高也敏锐地迎合了中国人的口味。今年，乐高推出了三套专为中国市场设计的积木，这也是乐高首次针对某个国家推出的产品。这三套积木对中国文化细节的关注令粉丝们高兴不已。

One was a Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner kit, with tiny red envelopes and chunlian, lucky couplets on banners pasted around doorways. A dragon boat race set included a sticky-rice dumpling, a popular festival snack. The high-quality kits are pricey, costing up to 700 yuan ($100) apiece.

其中一款春节年夜饭套装里有小红包和春联(贴在门上的吉祥春联)。一款赛龙舟套装中则有糯米团(一种颇受欢迎的节日小吃)。这些高质量的积木套装价格不菲，每套的价格高达700元(约合100美元)。

With Barbie, Mattel tried to localise in the wrong way. A former Chinese manager at the American company calls its promotion of a line of cheaper, flimsier dolls “arrogant”.

相比而言，美泰则在以错误的方式将芭比娃娃本土化。这家美国公司的一位前中国区经理表示，美泰在中国推广一系列廉价而轻薄的芭比娃娃的行为太过“傲慢自大”。

Because no effort was put into making her locally relevant, Barbie held none of her usual aspirational appeal, even for spendthrift Chinese. In 2009 Mattel opened the world’s largest Barbie shop on a luxury shopping street in central Shanghai, stuffed with 800 dolls. It was a flop and shut two years later.

由于美泰没有努力其在中国的影响力，即使面对的是挥金如土的中国人，芭比娃娃也没能唤起人们的购买欲。2009年，美泰在上海市中心的一条奢侈品商业街开设了全球最大的芭比娃娃专卖店，店里塞满了800个芭比娃娃。但仅仅两年后便关门大吉了。

 

【重难点词汇】

outwit [,aʊt'wɪt] vt. 瞒骗;以智取胜

stubborn ['stʌbɚn] adj. 顽固的;顽强的;难处理的

vertiginous [vɝ'tɪdʒɪnəs] adj. 令人眩晕的，眼花的;高而陡峭的;旋转的;不稳定的

astutely [əs'tju:tli] adv. 敏捷地;伶俐地

aspirational [,æspə'reʃənl] adj. 有雄心壮志的;梦寐以求的 n. 成功指南;处世自助手册

spendthrift ['spen(d)θrɪft] n. 挥霍无度的人，浪费的人 adj. 挥霍无度的;浪费的

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