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Summer camps
夏令營
Camps for scamps
頑皮鬼的天地
An American tradition is spreading
一項(xiàng)美國傳統(tǒng)正在傳播蔓延
SOME have their faces painted as Spider-Man; others as sparkly pink butterflies. Children at Super Camps arrive each weekday morning bright-eyed and lunchbox-laden, ready for an eventful day. Besides wall-climbing (at which, no doubt, the Spider-Men excel), they are made to sing, dance, cook, swim, shoot arrows and create "graffiti art".
一些人把他們的臉涂成蜘蛛俠,其他則描畫成耀眼的粉紅蝴蝶。每個工作日的早晨，孩子們都滿載熱情并帶上便當(dāng)來到超級營地準(zhǔn)備豐富多彩的一天。除了攀巖走壁（這毫無疑問是蜘蛛俠最擅長的），還有人帶他們唱歌，跳舞，烹飪，游泳，射箭以及創(chuàng)建"涂鴉藝術(shù)"。
The poet William Blake likened kids in school to birds in cages. (Apparently he thought caging them was a bad thing.) During the summer holidays, the little horrors are released and their harried parents must find ways to keep them out of trouble. Americans have long resorted to summer camps. A few weeks in the wilderness teaches youngsters self-reliance and new swear words.
詩人威廉?布萊克把學(xué)校里的孩子比作籠子里的小鳥。（很明顯，他認(rèn)為將它們關(guān)在籠子里是一件糟糕的事情。）暑假期間,調(diào)皮蛋們被釋放,被煩擾的家長們必須找到辦法使他們不再搗蛋。美國人一直采取的是送進(jìn)夏令營。在野外待幾個星期，孩子們學(xué)會自立，當(dāng)然也會學(xué)到新的臟話。
The idea is spreading. In Britain, where childcare is costly-the average family with two earners spends 27% of after-tax income on it-day camps are popular. Super Camps, a national operator, charges ￡38 ($60) a day at most. A smaller rival, Camp Energy in Oxfordshire, charges ￡33. One of the founders of Mumsnet, a parenting website, calls such fees "eye-wateringly expensive". Yet to many, they are a bargain. The minimum hourly wage for childminders is ￡6.08 and they will not teach you how to make fire with flints.
這個主意正在傳播。在英國，由于兒童托管的昂貴費(fèi)用占到擁有兩個收入者的普通家庭稅后的27% ，因此日間夏令營很受歡迎。國營的超級營地最多一天收費(fèi)38英鎊（合60美元）。一個規(guī)模較小的競爭對手—牛津郡的Camp Energy收費(fèi)33英鎊。一個育兒網(wǎng)站Mumsnet網(wǎng)的創(chuàng)始人之一稱這種費(fèi)用"十分昂貴"。 然而對許多人來說,他們很便宜。保育員每小時最低工資是6.08歐元，同時他們也不會告訴你如何用燧石生火。
By one estimate, 250,000 British children attend summer camps each year. Their purpose, says Camp Energy's founder, Barry Grinham, is "to ease the pain of parenting". Their main competitor, says Justine Longford of Super Camps, is free child care from the extended family. Mr Grinham notes that many parents book at the last minute, after relatives cancel on them.
據(jù)估計(jì)，每年有25萬的英國孩子參加了夏令營。Camp Energy的創(chuàng)始人巴里Grinham說, 他們的目的是"為了緩解的父母苦惱"。而超級陣營的杰斯丁朗福德說:夏令營的主要競爭對手,是大家族中其他親屬對孩子的免費(fèi)照顧.Grinham指出，許多父母會在他們的親戚沒有時間照顧他們的小孩的時候才下的訂單。
American camps operate on a grander scale. The American Camp Association estimates that over 10m children, including Sasha and Malia Obama, will attend one this summer. Specialist camps abound: for robotics fans, diabetes-sufferers, children whose parents are in the army or in prison, and so on. Lighter regulations make American camps more fun: safety rules bar British brats from enjoying the risky games that delight their American peers.
美國夏令營的規(guī)模更大。美國宿營協(xié)會估計(jì)，今年夏天包括瑪麗亞和薩莎奧巴馬在內(nèi)的有超過一千萬的孩子將參加其中的一個。具有針對性培養(yǎng)計(jì)劃的夏令營比比皆是:針對機(jī)器人愛好者的, 針對糖尿病患者的, 針對孩子的父母都在軍隊(duì)或監(jiān)禁的, 諸如此類。放松的管制使美國陣營更有趣：安全條例禁止英國頑童享受那些帶給美國同齡人喜悅的冒險游戲
Some camps are marketing opportunities. US Sports Camps (USSC), for example, is sponsored by Nike, a sporting-goods firm. More than 55,000 kids will attend one of its 450 camps this summer; revenues are nearly $30m a year, says Steve Pence, the president. He reports steady growth in the past four years. "The last thing parents will cut is something for their child," he explains.
一些營地是市場營銷的機(jī)會。例如，美國體育訓(xùn)練營是由體育用品公司耐克贊助的。其總裁史蒂夫稱，這個夏天將有超過55000名孩子參加它450個營地中的一個，這一年的收入將近3千萬美元。他說，在過去的四年這都在平穩(wěn)增長。他解釋道："父母再怎么省也不會虧待孩子"。
USSC is trying to break into China. It has opened sports camps in Beijing and Shanghai, also sponsored by Nike. However, Mr Pence describes the Chinese market as "challenging". Urban Chinese couples typically have one child, whose four grandparents have no other grandchildren. Finding babysitters is easier in Beijing than in Baltimore or Balham.
美國體育訓(xùn)練營試圖打入中國市場。同樣由耐克贊助，它已經(jīng)在北京和上海建起了運(yùn)動營地。然而，Pence認(rèn)為中國市場是一次"挑戰(zhàn)"。 中國城市夫婦通常有一個孩子，他們的四個祖父母沒有其他外孫。相比巴爾的摩或者是巴勒姆，在北京給孩子找個保姆更加容易。
