2013年考研英语一阅读 Text 1 原文翻译及答案解析

In the 2006 film version of The Devil Wears Prada, Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep, scolds her unattractive assistant for imagining that high fashion doesn't affect her. Priestly explains how the deep blue color of the assistant's sweater descended over the years from fashion shows to department stores and to the bargain bin in which the poor girl doubtless found her garment.

在2006年电影版《穿普拉达的女王》中，由梅丽尔·斯特里普饰演的米兰达·普里斯特利责备她不起眼的助手，认为她想象高级时尚不影响自己。普里斯特利解释道，助手毛衣的深蓝色如何在多年间从时装秀降级到百货商店，再降到这个可怜女孩无疑找到她衣服的廉价区。

This top-down conception of the fashion business couldn't be more out of date or at odds with the feverish world described in Overdressed, Elizabeth Cline's three-year indictment of "fast fashion". In the last decade or so, advances in technology have allowed mass-market labels such as Zara, H&M, and Uniqlo to react to trends more quickly and anticipate demand more precisely. Quicker turnarounds mean less wasted inventory, more frequent releases, and more profit. These labels encourage style-conscious consumers to see clothes as disposable - meant to last only a wash or two, although they don't advertise that - and to renew their wardrobe every few weeks. By offering on-trend items at dirt-cheap prices, Cline argues, these brands have hijacked fashion cycles, shaking an industry long accustomed to a seasonal pace.

这种时尚业自上而下的观念早已过时，与伊丽莎白·克莱恩在《过度着装》中描述的狂热世界格格不入，该书是她对“快时尚”三年的控诉。在过去十年左右，技术进步使得Zara、H&M和优衣库等大众市场品牌能更快速地反应趋势并更精准地预测需求。更快的周转意味着更少的库存浪费、更频繁的发布和更多的利润。这些品牌鼓励时尚意识强的消费者将衣服视为一次性用品——只能洗一两次，尽管他们没有这样宣传——并每隔几周就更新衣橱。克莱恩认为，通过以极低的价格提供时尚单品，这些品牌绑架了时尚周期，动摇了长期习惯于季节性节奏的行业。

The victims of this revolution, of course, are not limited to designers. For H&M to offer a $5.95 knit miniskirt in all its 2,300-plus stores around the world, it must rely on low-wage overseas labor, order in volumes that strain natural resources, and use massive amounts of harmful chemicals.

这场革命的受害者当然不仅限于设计师。为了让H&M在全球2,300多家门店提供5.95美元的针织迷你裙，它必须依赖低工资的海外劳动力，订购大量资源紧张的订单，并使用大量有害化学物质。

Overdressed is the fashion world's answer to consumer-activist bestsellers like Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma. "Mass-produced clothing, like fast food, fills a hunger and need, yet is non-durable and wasteful," Cline argues. Americans, she finds, buy roughly 20 billion garments a year - about 64 items per person - and no matter how much they give away, this excess leads to waste.

《过度着装》是时尚界对像迈克尔·波伦的《杂食者的困境》这样的消费者行动主义畅销书的回应。克莱恩认为：“大批量生产的服装，就像快餐一样，满足了饥饿和需求，但不耐用且浪费。”她发现，美国人每年购买大约200亿件衣服——每人约64件——无论他们捐赠多少，这种过剩都会导致浪费。

Towards the end of Overdressed, Cline introduced her ideal, a Brooklyn woman named Sarah Kate Beaumont, who since 2008 has made all of her own clothes - and beautifully. But as Cline is the first to note, it took Beaumont decades to perfect her craft; her example can't be knocked off.

在《过度着装》的结尾，克莱恩介绍了她的理想人物，一位名叫莎拉·凯特·博蒙特的布鲁克林女性，自2008年以来她亲手制作了自己所有的衣服——并且非常精美。但正如克莱恩首先指出的，博蒙特花了几十年时间完善她的手艺；她的例子无法被轻易复制。

Though several fast-fashion companies have made efforts to curb their impact on labor and the environment - including H&M, with its green Conscious Collection line - Cline believes lasting change can only be effected by the customer. She exhibits the idealism common to many advocates of sustainability, be it in food or in energy. Vanity is a constant; people will only start shopping more sustainably when they can't afford not to.

尽管几家快时尚公司已努力遏制其对劳动力和环境的影响——包括H&M及其绿色的“意识系列”产品线——但克莱恩认为，持久的改变只能由消费者来实现。她展现了可持续性倡导者常见的理想主义，无论是在食品还是能源领域。虚荣是恒定的；人们只有在无法负担不这样做时，才会开始更可持续地购物。

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