launched her business开展业务
caught her eye吸引注意力
postdoc博士后学历
in a pose of 以。。。姿态
his phone had eight numbers stored in it他的手机里只有8个电话号码
a speck of an apartment 一间小公寓
orientation meeting见面会
Virgos处女座
Capricorns摩羯座
For the shape of my face, I had nine choices, including as oval as a “duck egg” or as narrow as a “sunflower seed.”形容人脸型为鸭蛋脸，或是瓜子脸
lantern jaw 尖下巴
A penny-pinching family ma吝啬小气的人
individuality 个性
phased out the direct assignment of jobs不再直接分配工作
spawned a new genre产生新的类别
novel form of entertainment.新的娱乐形式。
equestrian arena.马术竞技场
archetypal Chinese man 典型的中国人
as a icon of fortitude 坚韧不拔的偶像
bride wealth 彩礼 聘礼
80年代聘礼和现在不一样，那时是“three rounds and a sound”: a bicycle, a wristwatch, a sewing machine, and a radio. Or, in some cases, “thirty legs”: a bed, a table, and a set of chairs. In much of China, the custom persisted (in cash), but the financial stakes were growing.
而与传统不同，现在的新婚夫妇不再与婆婆们住在一起，而家里是儿子的父母则建造更大更昂贵的房子帮助儿子娶到理想配偶，也就促进了房地产产业发展。即mother-in-law syndrome.”那时房子就决定了一个男人的命运。这也就致使北京，上海等大城市的房价不断升高。
The age of ambition sorted people not by their pasts, but by their futures.
