考研英语时文赏读：变了味的母亲节还会让人感到温馨吗？

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Mother’s Day means big business for retailers. This year is no different -- shoppers will spend an average of $196 per mom. If you hate all of the commercialization behind the day that celebrates moms, imagine how Anna Jarvis would feel now.

对零售商来说，母亲节意味着巨大的商机。今年也不例外——据统计每位妈妈平均消费了196美元。如果你讨厌母亲节背后的商业化，想象一下安娜·贾维斯现在的感受。

The holiday’s founder worked so hard to get the world to give moms everywhere a shoutout. But before her death, even she had to admit she had some regrets about starting Mother’s Day. If she were alive now, she’d probably be living her worst nightmare. She just wanted to honor her mom.

这个节日的创始人曾努力地让世界给全球各地的妈妈足够的关爱。但直到她去世之前，就连她自己也不得不承认，她有些后悔母亲节的出现。如果她现在还活着，她可能正在经历她最可怕的噩梦。设立母亲节的初衷只是想向自己的妈妈致敬。

Long before her death, Jarvis’ mom Ann Reeves Jarvis hoped someone would dedicate a day to honor mothers. When she died on May 9, 1905, Jarvis set out to do just that. She began campaigning not only for her mom but for moms everywhere.

贾维斯的母亲安·里维斯·贾维斯在去世前的很长一段时间内就希望有人能抽出一天的时间来纪念自己的母亲。1905年5月9日，贾维斯母亲去世，贾维斯开始按照母亲生前的意愿过母亲节，同时她也开始呼吁世界各地过母亲节。

In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill recognizing Jarvis’ Mother’s Day as a national holiday. Jarvis couldn’t stand the idea of people spending so much money on extravagant flower arrangements, sappy greeting cards and overly priced chocolates.

1914年，伍德罗·威尔逊总统签署了一项法案，承认贾维斯的母亲节为全国性节日。但是贾维斯无法忍受人们在母亲节那天花那么多钱买奢侈的鲜花、多愁善感的贺卡和昂贵的巧克力。

First, she went after florists, protesting their marketing of those beautiful and ornate carnations. Then, her protests escalated to arrests for public disturbances.

首先，她去找花商，抗议他们推销那些美丽且华丽的康乃馨。随后，她因抗议升级扰乱公共秩序而被捕。

Jarvis didn’t stop there. She went after first lady Eleanor Roosevelt for using Mother’s Day as a way to promote the health and welfare of women and children. While it was true that Jarvis’ mother was a community health advocate, Jarvis still didn’t like the association. Jarvis died in a sanitarium in 1948. The holiday she created lives on.

贾维斯并没有就此打住。她指责第一夫人埃莉诺·罗斯福利用母亲节作为促进妇女和儿童健康福利的途径。虽然贾维斯的母亲确实是社区健康倡导者，但贾维斯仍然不喜欢这个协会。贾维斯于1948年死于疗养院，但是她创造的节日延续至今。

Today, more people purchase flowers and plants for Mother’s Day than for any other holiday except Christmas/Hanukkah. This year alone, Americans will spend $25 billion on the holiday. And most of that money will be spent on jewelry: $5.2 billion.

如今，除了圣诞节和光明节，母亲节这天购买鲜花和植物的人比其他任何节日都要多。仅今年一年，美国人就将在这个节日上花费250亿美元。其中52亿美元用于珠宝购买。

(全文共298个词，CNN)

►重难点词汇：

retailer n. 零售商;传播的人

extravagant adj. 奢侈的;浪费的;过度的;放纵的

sappy adj. 精力充沛的;树液多的;愚笨的

ornate adj. 华丽的;装饰的;(文体)绚丽的

carnation n. [园艺] 康乃馨;肉色;粉红色 adj. 肉红色的

escalate v. 逐步增强;使……加剧;升级，恶化;升高，增加;迅速增加，迅速增长

disturbance n. 干扰;骚乱;忧虑

sanitarium n. 疗养院;疗养所

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