中國網(wǎng)站品牌欄目（頻道）
|
 A delivery man carries a bouquet of white roses for delivery on Valentine's Day in New York City February 14, 2008. |
|
Consumers will be digging deeper into their pockets to buy flowers, gift cards and chocolates on Valentine's Day with average spending expected to rise eight percent over last year to nearly $200. And along with their expanding wallets 4 million Americans are expected to pop the question or receive a proposal on Feb 14. "We've seen a consistent trend of consumers saying they will spend more, from holiday shopping to 2012 travel plans, and spending plans for Feb 14 are no exception," said Sonali Chakravorti, vice president at American Express. In its latest spending and savings tracker American Express questioned 2,000 adults across the United States to gauge how much and on what consumers will be spending their money on Cupid's big day. Nearly half of people said they intend to celebrate at a favorite restaurant, seven percent more than last year. Flowers are still the most popular gift for a Valentine, followed by gift cards, jewelry and electronics. Among couples getting betrothed, 30 percent said they would propose during a weekend getaway or vacation, which have been dubbed engagementcations. To seal the deal, 48 percent of people think an engagement ring costing between $1,000 to $5,000 would be appropriate but 22 percent said up to $2,000 for bling would be more realistic, while five percent thought nothing of spending $10,000 or more on a ring. Although nearly 40 percent of women think whoever asked for the date should pay for it, 14 percent said the bill should be split, but most unmarried men said they would cover the cost of the date. Finances can be a delicate subject, so half of people don't talk about money until they have been together six months and 20 percent of married couples did not broach the subject until after they have tied the knot. After marriage money matters can be a cause of disagreements, although the poll showed arguments over household budgets, spending on the children and everyday purchases have declined since last year. More men than women take credit for paying credit cards, property and school taxes and for filing income taxes, according to the poll, but 70 percent of women said they managed the household budgets. (Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
情人節(jié)這天消費者將花更多錢用于購買鮮花、賀卡和巧克力，預(yù)計今年情人節(jié)的人均花費將接近200美元，比去年上漲8%。 隨著錢包漸漸鼓起來，四百萬美國人將在2月14日求婚或者接受求婚。 美國運通副總裁索娜麗?查克拉沃提說：“我們看到消費者一致傾向于更多消費，無論是假日購物還是2012旅游計劃，2月14日的消費計劃也不例外?！?/p> 美國運通公司通過它最新的消費和儲蓄追蹤系統(tǒng)對美國各地2000名成人進行了調(diào)查，以此估測在丘比特的大日子里，消費者會在何種物品上消費多少錢。 近一半的人稱他們打算去最喜愛的餐館慶祝，該比例相對去年上升了7%。鮮花依然是情人節(jié)最受歡迎的禮物，其次是賀卡、珠寶和電子產(chǎn)品。 那些準備訂婚的情侶有30%稱他們會在被譽為“訂婚假日”的情人節(jié)周末或情人節(jié)假期求婚。 要達成婚約，48%的人認為一千到五千美元的訂婚戒指是合適的，但是22%的人認為花兩千美元買戒指將更為現(xiàn)實，5%的人認為就算花費上萬美元買個戒指也沒有什么。 近40%的女性認為約會邀請者應(yīng)該買單，14%的女性卻認為費用應(yīng)該平攤。不過大多數(shù)未婚男性稱他們會為約會買單。 資產(chǎn)是一個敏感話題，所以半數(shù)人在一起的前六個月都不談錢，20%的已婚夫婦一直到結(jié)婚后才會開始提及這個話題。 結(jié)婚以后錢財問題可能會導(dǎo)致分歧，不過民意調(diào)查顯示，自去年來有關(guān)家庭預(yù)算、孩子花銷、日常開支的爭吵已有所減少。 調(diào)查顯示，男性會更多地承擔(dān)償付信用卡、上繳財產(chǎn)稅和教育稅以及申報所得稅等責(zé)任，但也有70%的女性稱她們家里的管賬人。 相關(guān)閱讀 情人節(jié)墨西哥城4萬人同時接吻 創(chuàng)世界紀錄 （中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津 實習(xí)生蔡冬梅 編輯：陳丹妮） |
|
Vocabulary: get betrothed: 訂婚；betroth是“和……訂婚”。 getaway: 假期。 bling: 大又亮的璀璨珠寶。 credit: 功勞。 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
