Singles’ Day光棍节

A:Do you know what holiday falls on November 11th?

B:I’ve heard that a lot of young people call this day “Singles’ Day”! But how did it come from?

A:It is said it originated from the early 1990s, when college students first put forward the idea of choosing the day of November 11 (1111) as a day for single people. It became popular and turned into a cultural event on campus even society.

B:Then, How do they celebrate Single’ Day?

A:There are tons of ways to celebrate it! At some universities, student organizations have singles parties, to give single guys and girls an opportunity to meet and stop being single; some people go out singing and drinking, let off steam about being single; and some people go on blind dates looking for suitable partners; some people get together with other single friends to just have a good time. Singles’ Day has also become a holiday even people who aren’t single, on this day lots of people with partners pretend they are single again, together tasting their old single life.

B:That’s really cool! Looks like this holiday is a lot of fun for a lot of people.

A:It is, in China, the number of single people has increased. Before, being “single”had a connotation of being lonely, lonesome, and unloved, but now it is no longer the substitute name for sadness, it means more independence, more freedom and unrestrained way of life.

B:So what you’re saying is, before they were “passively”single, and now they’re “actively”single?

A:Some people are that way, but definitely not all of them. There are still lots of people these days who are sad about being single, and want to escape it somehow, but more and more young people think that marriage isn’t something one has to do, they aren’t looking for partners, and they don’t want to get married. They consider themselves very young at heart, and still have a lot of other things to do.

B:It looks like the economy has developed, society is changing, and people’s values are also changing!

A:In the past many older young people just married for the sake of marriage. But nowadays young people’s ideas about marriage and values have changed. They value intellectual exchange more, and require a common language of communication.

B:Perhaps this trend of singlehood will have a definite negative impact on society! If the number of single people increases, the existence of society and humanity may both be threatened. In some western countries, this trend has already become apparent.

A:Yep! So, some experts say, this kind of lifestyle deserves respect, but shouldn’t be advocated!

光棍节

A：你知道11月11日是什么节日吗？

B：我听说过，很多年轻人管这一天叫“光棍节”！但是这个节日是怎么来的呢？

A：据说它起源于90年代初期的大学校园，一些单身的大学生们首先提出了这个想法，就是把11月11日作为单身人的节日。之后，这个节日越来越流行，成了校园文化乃至社会文化中的一件大事。

B：那么，他们怎么庆祝“光棍节”呢？

A：庆祝的花样可多了！在一些大学，学生组织会举办单身晚会，为众多单身男女创造机会，结束单身；有的人会去K歌或喝酒，发泄自己身为一名“光棍”的郁闷；也有人去参加“陌生约会”，寻找适合自己的另一半；也有一些都是单身的好朋友会借这个机会聚会玩乐。还有，光棍节也成为越来越多非单身者的狂欢节日，许多人在这一天与爱人扮回单身状态，来回味自己久违的单身生活。

B：真有意思！看来这个节日给很多人都带来了快乐！

A：是的，在中国，现在单身的人越来越多了。以前，单身就意味着孤独、寂寞和没有人爱；可是现在，单身不再是伤感的代名词，它代表着一种更独立、更自由和没有约束的生活方式。

B：这么说，他们以前是“被动单身”，而现在是“主动单身”了？。

A：有些人是这样，但并不是所有的。现在还有很多人因为单身而痛苦，想摆脱单身；但是越来越多的年轻人不认为结婚是必须的，他们不是找不着对象，而是不想婚恋，他们认为自己的心理年龄还很小，还有很多事情要做。

B：看来经济发展了，社会在变，人们的观念也在变啊！

A：过去不少大龄青年是“为结婚而结婚”，但现代青年的婚姻观、价值观都发生了改变。他们更看重思想的交流，要求有共同语言。

B：可是单身的趋势也必然会给社会带来一定的负面影响啊！如果单身的人越来越多，社会和人类的存在都会受到威胁。在一些西方国家，这种趋势已经越来越明显了。

A：是的！所以，有的专家提出，这种生活状态值得尊重，但不应该提倡！