My topic is fashion. Fashion is important to almost all of us. By fashion, we usually mean popular trends in styles of clothes. When we go out or to a party, we usually like to wear fashionable clothes. To illustrate my talk, I have brought along five objects.
我的题目是“时尚”。时尚对我们几乎所有人都很重要。所谓时尚,我们通常指服饰的流行趋势。当我们外出或参加聚会时,我们通常喜欢穿时髦的衣服。为了举例说明,我随身带来了五件物品。
My first object is this blouse. It looks beautiful, isn't it? It‘s my most expensive piece of clothing, and I love it. It cost me $200. It may seem very extravagant, but I could afford it with my own savings. It was't easy for me to earn the money, but when buying clothes, I think the more you spend the better the quality. So, you see, fashion is quite important to me.
我的第一件物品是这件衬衫。它看起来很漂亮,是不是?这是我最贵的一件衣服,我很喜欢它。它花了我200美金。这也许看起来很奢侈,但是我能够用自己的积蓄支付。我挣这些钱并不容易,但买衣服时,我觉得你花的钱越多,质量就越好。所以,你看,时尚对我来说很重要。
However, I am not as keen on fashion as my brother Gary. Last summer, he won a free trip to London in a contest. The organizers wanted to show him some famous sights. But he did't appreciate old buildings.
然而,我不像我哥哥Gary那样着迷于时尚。去年夏天,他在一次比赛中赢得了一次免费伦敦游。组织者们想要带他看一些著名景点。但是他并不欣赏老建筑。
He just spent all his time searching for the coolest pair of trainers! For him, fashion is more important than culture. These are the trainers he bought. Was it worth a trip to London to buy these? Well, I don't think so. It was a waste of time and money.
他所有的时间都只花在寻找最酷的运动鞋上!对他来说,时尚比文化更重要。这些是他买的运动鞋。伦敦游值得买这些吗?我认为不值得。这不但浪费时间还浪费钱。
Fashion is very big business. Changes in fashion can create or ruin jobs. As an example, I have brought this blonde wig to show you. It belongs to one of my mum's friends. In the 1960s, these are very fashionable. But a few years later fashion changed, and women wore wigs much less often. Many wig factories closed down, and hundreds of workers lost their jobs, which was terrible!
时尚是非常大的商业。时尚的变化能创造、毁灭工作。举个例子,我带了这顶金色假发给你们看。它是我妈妈一个朋友的。在20世纪60年代,很流行假发。但几年后时尚发生了变化,女士们不常带假发。许多假发工厂倒闭,数百名工人失业,这真可怕!
Fashion can effect the natural world, as well. I'm holding an old hat borrowed from a drama company. It's made of beaver fur. These hats were very fashionable about 200 years ago. As a result, beavers almost became extinct. Luckily, in the 1850s, these hats went out of style and the beavers were saved.
时尚也能影响自然界。里拿着一顶从戏剧公司借来的旧帽子。它是用海狸皮做的。大约200年前这些帽子非常流行。结果,海狸几乎绝种了。幸运的是,19世纪50年代,这些帽子过时了,海狸得到了拯救。
Finally, we should remember the saying, "Never judge a book by its cover". Clothes will not make us more or less clever, better or worse, more or less honest.
最后,我们应该记住一句话:“永远不要根据封面来评价一本书。”衣服不会使我们更聪明不那么聪明,更好或更坏,更诚实亦或不那么诚实。
I once saw a movie about Mother Teresa. She spent all her life helping poor people in India, most of whom were dying. in 1979, she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. When she flew to Sweden to get the award, she wore the same old clothes as usual, and carried all her possessions in a little bag like this, which I bought in a market.
我曾经看过一部电影《特蕾莎修女》。她一生致力于帮助印度穷人,他们中大多数是垂死者。1979年,她获得诺贝尔和平奖。当她飞往瑞典领奖时,穿着和往常一样的旧衣服,随身带的所有物品就装在一个像这样子的小包里,这是我在市场上买的。
This reminds us that fashion is not the most important thing in life. Thank you.
这提醒我们时尚不是生活中最重要的东西。谢谢大家!