世界虛構(gòu)明星榜出爐 萬寶路牛仔最“牛”

A Marlboro billboard in Denver in an undated photo.

They influence everything from how we look and act to eat and speak and have even helped sway the course of history - but they are not real.

And topping a list of "The 101 most influential people who never lived" in a book released on Tuesday is theMarlboro Man- a macho American cowboy who emerged in the 1950s and helped boost sales of Marlboro cigarettes.

"The figments of our imaginations, the creatures we push out of our minds into the real world are fully capable of pushing back with surprising consequences," Jeremy Salter, one of the US book's three authors said.

Coming in at number two on the list isBig Brotherof George Orwell's 1984, followed byKing Arthur, who the authors say embodies for many the ideal monarch, and Santa Claus comes in at number four.

"Santa Claus governs our entire economy for the last quarter of the year and without him businesses wouldgo broke," said co-author Allan Lazar.

Barbie"the bodacious plastic babe who became a role model for millions of little girls, setting an impossible standard for beauty and style"makes the listat number 43.

"The idea came to us that influential characters didn't have to exist, that fictional characters were just as important in our lives, even in maybe some cases more so than real people," Lazar said.

Even theLoch Ness Monstermakes the list at number 56.

"As the most popular tourist attraction in Scotland, Nessie's influence on the cash flow of that country has been significant," wrote the authors of "The 101 most influential people who never lived."
(Agencies)

他們的影響無處不在，從人們的衣食住行到言談舉止，甚至影響了歷史進(jìn)程，但他們?cè)诂F(xiàn)實(shí)生活中并不存在。

本周二，一本名為《最具影響力的101位虛構(gòu)人物》的書新鮮出爐，其中，于上世紀(jì)50年代出現(xiàn)的“萬寶路牛仔”榮登榜首，這個(gè)頗具男子氣概的酷男形象曾使萬寶路香煙熱銷全球。

這本書共有三位作者，其中一位作者杰里米·索特說：“我們憑空虛構(gòu)出來的人物和形象反過來會(huì)對(duì)我們自身產(chǎn)生意想不到的影響。”

排名第二的是喬治·奧威爾的小說《1984》中的主人公“老大哥”，其次是亞瑟王，這本書的作者說他是很多人心中理想君主的化身；位居第四的是圣誕老人。

作者阿蘭·拉撒爾說：“圣誕老人在每年的最后一季度都是經(jīng)濟(jì)增長的最大動(dòng)力，沒有圣誕老人，很多企業(yè)會(huì)破產(chǎn)。”

風(fēng)靡全球的塑料芭比娃娃位居排行榜第43位，它是無數(shù)小女孩心中所向往的“美麗和時(shí)尚”的典范。

拉撒爾說：“有影響力的人物不一定真實(shí)存在，虛構(gòu)出來的人物在我們的生活中同樣重要，有時(shí)他們甚至比現(xiàn)實(shí)人物的影響力還要大。”

甚至連尼斯湖水怪也榜上有名，排行第56位。

作者在書中解釋道：“尼斯湖是蘇格蘭最受歡迎的旅游景點(diǎn)，它對(duì)大量資金流入當(dāng)?shù)鼐哂信e足輕重的作用。”

Vocabulary:
go broke :破產(chǎn)
make the list :登上排行榜