According to these news items, economically independent women, like the ones seen on Sex and City1 , are no longer waiting for a man to buy them a rock for the ring finger of their left hand. Married or not, they are buying their own diamonds, and wearing them on the right hand as a symbol of their independence. Sales of rings are indeed up, but not for all ( and maybe none ) of this should be traced to a new wave in feminist thinking.

　　In fact, the trend can be traced to September 2003 , when the giant De Beers2 diamond company launched a massive advertising campaign across the US called“Women of the World, Raise Your Right Hand”. According to the ads, which appear in top-end magazines such as Vogue , wearing a diamond on the right hand means you are independentand free .

　　Obviously, the idea is to get well-paid women to buy their own diamonds, something they traditionally do not do. But in recent months Sarah Jessica Parker3 , from Sex and the City, has been spotted with monster-sized right-hand ring, as has newly separated Halle Berry.

　　The idea of using feminism to sell stuff to women is not new. Before cigarette advertising was banned, Virginia Slims4 tried, through advertising, to link smoking with female independence. It worked: more women took up the habit.

　　The De Deers campaign is also working. In a recent magazine article , writer Hermione Eyre announced the“beginning of a revolution”in the diamond trade, saying:“( The ads) mark the creation of the Me-ring, as brilliant and expensive as an engagement ring, only symbolizing independence, not alliance. It is a token of love from you to yourself. ”

　　The New York Times has also weighed in5 , declaring the right-hand ring finger the “ bling finger”(“bling”being the name given to the oversized , shiny jewellery that rap6 stars wear) .

　　Not everybody is impressed. Erika Katz , who runs a jewellery design business from her website , declares the right-hand ring campaign“ so stupid ”, especially the line that says“Your Left Hand Says‘We’. Your Right Hand Says‘Me’. ”“ I’m married. I never stopped being who I was because I got married , ”Ms Katz said.

　　But not everybody agrees. Women of the world are putting out their right hands, with credit cards attached. Maybe it proves only one thing: men can ’t tell these women what to do, but marketers certainly can.

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　　練習(xí)題：

　　Ⅰ. Complete th e se ntences according to th e p assage :

　　1. to the news items, independent women like the ones seen on Sex and the City are waiting for a man to buy them a ring.

　　2. The idea is to get women to buy their own diamonds, something they do not do.

　　3. The ads the creation of the Me-Ring, as brilliant and expensive as an engagement ring, only independence , not .

　　4. The New York Times has also , declaring the right-hand ring finger the “bling finger”.

　　Ⅱ. True o r Fa lse :

　　1. In the United States right now, you can find articles or ads about the right-hand diamond ring.

　　2. According to the ads, wearing a diamond means independent and free.

　　3. It is quite original to use feminism to sell stuff to women.

　　4. It is unanimously agreed that right-hand ring campaign is wise and brilliant.

　　5. Marketers can persuade women to purchase diamond more effectively than man can do.

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　　參考答案

　?、? 1. According / economically / no longer

　　2 . well-paid / traditionally

　　3. mark / symbolizing / alliance 4 . weighed in

　?、? 1. T 2. F 3 . F 4 . F 5. T

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　　參考譯文：

　　買(mǎi)個(gè)鉆戒給自己

　　右 手戴戒指是新的女性獨(dú)立宣言。眾所周知, 只要記者們開(kāi)始報(bào)道某些廣告戰(zhàn), 這些廣告的目的就達(dá)到了。時(shí)下在美國(guó), 你一翻開(kāi)雜志就能看到“ 最新首飾時(shí)尚”——— 右手戴鉆戒。

　　據(jù) 這些新聞報(bào)道, 像電視劇《欲望城市》中的女人們一樣, 經(jīng)濟(jì)獨(dú)立的女性不再等待男人給她們買(mǎi)鉆戒, 戴在左手的無(wú)名指上。無(wú)論有沒(méi)有結(jié)婚, 她們自己買(mǎi)鉆戒戴在右手, 以示獨(dú)立。戒指的銷(xiāo)量的確上升了, 但這不完全意味著新一輪的女權(quán)主義思潮又將抬頭, 甚至完全沒(méi)有這層意思。

　　事實(shí)上, 這一時(shí)尚始于2003 年9 月, 鉆石巨頭戴比爾斯公司在美國(guó)發(fā)起的一個(gè)名為“ 世界的女人, 舉起你的右手”的廣告大戰(zhàn)。根據(jù)這個(gè)登在諸如《時(shí)尚》等一流雜志上的廣告, 右手戴鉆戒意味著你很獨(dú)立和自由。

　　顯然, 他們目的在于讓高收入的婦女為自己購(gòu)買(mǎi)鉆戒, 而按傳統(tǒng)習(xí)慣, 她們不會(huì)這樣做。但最近幾個(gè)月,《欲望城市》的主角沙拉· 杰西卡· 帕克被發(fā)現(xiàn)在右手戴了一個(gè)巨大的戒指, 剛剛離婚的哈利· 貝瑞也是。

　　用女權(quán)主義的觀念向女人兜售產(chǎn)品并不新鮮。香煙廣告被禁以前, 維珍妮通過(guò)廣告將吸煙和女性獨(dú)立聯(lián)系起來(lái)。這一招果然見(jiàn)效, 更多女性開(kāi)始抽煙。

　　戴比爾斯的廣告也奏效。最近, 在雜志上的一篇文章中, 作家赫爾邁厄尼· 愛(ài)爾宣布一場(chǎng)鉆石貿(mào)易革命的開(kāi)始。他說(shuō):“ 這一廣告標(biāo)志‘ 我的戒指’的產(chǎn)生, 這個(gè)戒指和結(jié)婚戒指一樣華麗和昂貴, 只是它意味獨(dú)立, 而非聯(lián)姻。它是自己愛(ài)自己的信物。”

　　《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》也推波助瀾, 稱右手戴戒指的那只手指為“ 聚寶指”( blin g 是用來(lái)形容說(shuō)唱明星們佩戴的奢華珠寶) 。

　　并非每個(gè)人都為之所動(dòng)。經(jīng)營(yíng)網(wǎng)上珠寶設(shè)計(jì)生意的伊瑞卡· 卡茲, 認(rèn)為宣傳右手戒指的特大型廣告宣傳活動(dòng)“ 很愚蠢”, 尤其是那句“ 你的左手代表‘ 我們’, 右手代表‘ 我’”的廣告詞。她說(shuō):“ 我結(jié)婚了。但我從來(lái)沒(méi)有因?yàn)榻Y(jié)婚, 就變得不是自己了。”

　　并非所有的人都同意。全世界的婦女正伸出她們握著信用卡的右手。這也許只能證 明一件事: 男人們沒(méi)法指使這些女人, 但銷(xiāo)售商人可以。