「紫皮书」英语六级汉译英小短文：汽车与牌照
没有哪个国家比中国对汽车更痴狂了，这里新成为中产阶层的人们的梦想就是拥有一辆闪闪发光的新汽车。但仅仅有汽车对这些渴望超越中产阶层的人们是不够的，牌照号就成为与汽车一样能够象征身份和地位的东西。车牌号的发放通常是随机的。但在这个每年有10万人死于交通事故的国家，对于迷信的常乘车的人来说，以4结尾的牌照号被认为是不吉利的象征，因为4的读音与"死"相同，而带8的车牌号则预示着你可能会发财。
No country is more bonkers over cars than China, where achieving the new middle-class dream means owning a shiny new vehicle. But the car is not always enough for those who aspire beyond the middle class. A license plate has become almost as much of a status symbol as the car. License plates are usually issued randomly. But in a country where 100,000 people die annually in traffic accidents, a plate that ends in 4 is considered a very bad omen for a superstitious motorist because 4 has the same pronunciation as death. Yet a plate overflowing with 8's portends you may make a fortune.
No country is more bonkers over cars than China, where achieving the new middle-class dream means owning a shiny new vehicle. But the car is not always enough for those who aspire beyond the middle class. A license plate has become almost as much of a status symbol as the car. License plates are usually issued randomly. But in a country where 100,000 people die annually in traffic accidents, a plate that ends in 4 is considered a very bad omen for a superstitious motorist because 4 has the same pronunciation as death. Yet a plate overflowing with 8's portends you may make a fortune.
