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Barbie will soon be 60—and is still going strong
芭比娃娃马上就要 60 岁了，依然活力四射
She is turning 60 this year and still doesn’t have a single wrinkle.
今年，她就要 60 岁了，而依然没有一道皱纹。
Blonde or brunette, slender or curvy, black or white, princess or president, Barbie is a forever favorite for young girls, even if she has caused controversy over the years.
不管她的头发是金色还是褐色，身材是苗条还是丰腴，无论她的皮肤是黝黑还是白皙，身份是公主还是总统，对于年轻女孩来说，芭比娃娃就是永远的至爱，即使她多年来造成了不少争议。
Around the world, Barbie is as universally known as Coca-Cola or McDonald’s, said Nathan Baynard, director of global brand marketing for Barbie. In all, more than one billion Barbie dolls have been sold since she made her debut at the American Toy Fair in New York on March 9, 1959.
芭比娃娃全球品牌营销总监纳森·贝纳德说，在世界各地，芭比娃娃就像可口可乐或者麦当劳那样尽人皆知。自 1959 年 3 月 9 日在纽约的美国玩具展上首次亮相以来，总共已有超过 10 亿个芭比娃娃被售出。
She was invented by Ruth Handler, the co-founder of Mattel, who was inspired by her own children to create the doll. “Her daughter Barbara was limited in the choices of her toys—the only ones were baby dolls,” Baynard recounted. “The only role she could imagine through that play was caregiver, mother,” whereas Handler’s son “could imagine being an astronaut, cowboy, pilot, surgeon.”
芭比娃娃的发明者是美泰公司的联合创始人露丝·汉德勒，她受自己的孩子们启发而创造了这款娃娃。“她的女儿芭芭拉的玩具，选择非常有限，都是一些婴儿娃娃，”贝纳德讲道。“通过那种玩耍和互动，芭芭拉只能想象一位保姆或是母亲的角色”，而汉德勒的儿子却“能在玩耍中想象自己是航天员、牛仔、飞行员或是外科医生”。
Barbie is, of course, a shortened version of Barbara. The doll was supposed to teach girls “that they had choices, that they could be anything. In 1959, it was a radical idea!” Baynard said.
很明显，芭比就是芭芭拉的小名。这个玩偶的初衷是教导女孩儿们，“她们有选择，她们可以成为任何人。在 1959 年，这是一个很前卫的想法了！”贝纳德说。
Since the blonde beauty first hit stores, and after a torrent of complaints over what was seen as unrealistic proportions, Mattel has made many changes—introducing multiple body types and dozens of skin tones. In 1965, four years before Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon, Barbie became an astronaut. In 1968, the first black Barbie doll, a friend named Christie, hit store shelves.
从这位金发美女在商店首次登场开始，就有大量抗议身材比例“不切实际”的声音出现，为此美泰公司曾多次改版，推出了拥有多种体型和数十种肤色的芭比娃娃。在 1965 年，芭比成为了一名宇航员，这比尼尔·阿姆斯特朗登上月球还早四年。1968 年，第一位黑人芭比娃娃——芭比的一个名叫克里斯蒂的朋友——在商店亮相了。
————— 文章来源 / 法新社
重点词汇
going strong
活力依旧；持续获得成功
- The company is still going strong despite new challenges.
-
- How are you recently? - Still going strong!
wrinkle/ˈrɪŋkl/
n. 皱纹
brunette/bruːˈnet/
adj. 深褐色头发的
- = dark brown hair
slender/ˈslendər/
adj. 苗条的，修长的
- a slender neck
curvy/ˈkɜːrvi/
adj.（尤指女性身材）有曲线美的，丰腴的
- She’s got curves. (n.)
controversy/ˈkɑːntrəvɜːrsi/
n. 争论，争议
in all
总共，合计
- = in total, altogether
debut/deɪˈbjuː/
n. 首次亮相，初次登台
- Barbie debuted in 1959. (v.)
recount/rɪˈkaʊnt/
v. 讲述，描述
play/pleɪ/
n. 玩耍
- = interaction
surgeon/ˈsɜːrdʒən/
n. 外科医生
- surgery n. 手术
radical/ˈrædɪkl/
adj. 前卫的
hit/hɪt/
v. 打击；抵达，出现在…；在…登场亮相
a torrent of
潮水般的，大量的
- torrent n. 汹涌急促的水流
- a torrent of emotions
- a torrent of criticism
proportion/prəˈpɔːrʃn/
n. 比例；（复数）身材，体型
- This is a man of generous proportions.
tone/toʊn/
n. 色调，深浅
- = color