2009/06/14

Swiss cleaning bug reaches new peaks瑞士清潔狂熱到達顛峰

◎俞智敏

A Swiss holiday resort is offering mountain-cleaning courses after an April fools spoof caught the imagination of a nation known for its cleanliness, the tourism board said recently.

在愚人節玩笑引發以愛乾淨著稱的瑞士人注意後,瑞士觀光局最近表示,一處度假勝地現在正式開始提供山區清潔課程。

Authorities in Engelberg, an idyllic ski resort where tens of thousands of skiers come annually, said the April fools joke had such global impact that they were now using it as a marketing tool to attract holidaymakers.

在每年有數萬名滑雪客湧入的鄉間滑雪勝地恩格堡,當局表示今年的愚人節笑話引起全球共鳴,所以他們現正把這個笑話當成行銷工具,藉以吸引更多人來此度假。

"We are offering four weekend courses after which participants can call themselves qualified mountain cleaners," Modeste Jossen, Engelberg cable car services director, said. Participants are awarded a special ’mountain-cleaner badge’.

「我們正提供4週課程,學生結業後可自稱為合格山區清潔員。」恩格堡纜車服務負責人約森表示。參加課程者可獲頒一塊特別的「山區清潔員徽章」。

On April 1 this year, the national tourism board aired an online video to recruit mountain cleaners to keep the country’s Alpine peaks in pristine condition all year round.

今年4月1日,瑞士觀光局在網路上播放了一段影片,徵求山區清潔員來維持瑞士阿爾卑斯山區全年純淨不受污染。

The video was translated into six languages and more than 30,000 people completed the spoof application to become a mountain cleaner in the first 24 hours of it being posted.

這段影片被翻譯成6種語言,結果竟有超過3萬人在影片播出後24小時內填寫了假的申請書,打算成為山區清潔員。

Cleanliness and tidiness are entrenched in the culture of Switzerland, where many households still set aside one day a week solely for washing and doing housework.

清潔和整齊深植於瑞士文化中,許多家庭現在都還會每週排出一整天時間,專門用來清掃和做家事。

新聞辭典

bug:名詞,口語用法,指對某事物非常熱中,或指對某事物非常熱中的人,如 He’s been bitten by the sailing bug.(他愛上了航海。)

peak: 名詞,指山頂、山峰,亦指某事的最高峰、頂點,如Holiday flights reach a peak during August.(假期航班在8月到達最高點),亦可做動詞,如Official figures show that unemployment peaked in November.(官方數據顯示失業率在11月達到頂點。)

pristine:形容詞,正式用語,具 正面含意,指原始的、清新的、純樸的,如a pristine fores(原始林),亦指全新的或接近全新的,如We’ve just moved into our pristine new offices.(我們剛剛搬進全新的辦公室。)

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