2. 外语
  3. China has surpassed the US to become the second-largest luxury market in 2009, spending of $9.4 billion and accounting for 27.5

China has surpassed the US to become the second-largest luxury market in 2009, spending of $9.4 billion and accounting for 27.5

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问题     China has surpassed the US to become the second-largest luxury market in 2009, spending of $9.4 billion and accounting for 27.5 percent of total global sales. Global luxury brands have been fighting for profits tooth and nail. Chinese people’s ability to purchase such products indicates the economic development of the country; however, some people’s obsession with luxury brands has raised criticism while some people are scraping by for money from their daily living expenses. What is your opinion? Write an essay of about 400 words on the following topic:
Can Luxury Brands Buy Happiness?
    In the first part of your essay you should state clearly your main argument, and in the second part you should support your argument with appropriate details. In the last part you should bring what you have written to a natural conclusion or make a summary.
    Marks will be awarded for content, organization, grammar and appropriateness. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks.
选项
答案 Can Luxury Brands Buy Happiness? The monopoly of the brand effect gives foreign brands advantages and privileges. However, who can boldly guarantee that luxury brands can buy happiness? Definitely not. Luxury goods buyers usually fall into three categories. One group is the really rich, another includes so-called "cool" youngsters, and the third consists of white-collar workers, especially managers. Rich people in and outside China buy luxury products to show off their wealth and status. What sets China apart from Western countries and, by extension, accounts for the unusually high purchase of luxury goods in relation to consumer assets, is the third major segment of the high-end product market: white-collar workers. While white-collar workers in the West, especially America, are big consumers, they typically hunt for bargains. This behavior is reflected in the success of retailers like Wal-Mart. In contrast, white-collar workers in China often equate expensive luxury brands with high quality. As one white-collar worker quoted in a Xinhua China. org report put it: "I think a bag priced at 10,000 yuan is more suitable for me. It is better than 100 bags priced at 100 yuan each." One extreme example is the case of Tony Wang, a senior executive in an advertising company. Even though Wang makes 20,000 yuan a month, he limits himself to fruits and a cup of coffee for lunch in order to add to his piggy bank for luxury purchases. The money saved to make such purchases could surely be better spent on other things, including continuing education to upgrade skills or travel to unique destinations to broaden one’s horizons. Moreover, this white-collar behavior certainly smacks of keeping up with the Joneses. The desire to show off one’s taste for elegance locks middle-class Chinese into a competitive struggle to sport the latest and best Italian clothes, designer handbags, and the like. And when it comes to function，most of the time one can get by just well with good generic brands versus expensive luxury goods. Finally and most importantly, the scramble for luxury products doesn’t seem to have made Chinese any happier. Indeed, in the most recent University of Michigan World Values Survey, China ranked 46th in the world with respect to the happiness of its citizens. In my personal observation, the happiest people in China are ordinary residents I see in parks and other public spaces indulging in simple pleasures like singing and dancing together. I seriously doubt that few, if any, of these folks care much about owning lots of luxury brand products. It is often said that money can’t buy happiness; the same goes for owning a very expensive Louis Vuitton handbag. Is it time for people to stop flaunting China’s flourishing luxury consumption?
解析     文章首先引发读者的思考，由于品牌效应占统治地位，这为国外牌子带来许多好处。但是否这就可以保证人们生活幸福呢?
    从第二段开始，深入阐明观点。奢侈品牌的消费者一般分为三类：巨富、潮人、白领(尤指经理)。限于篇幅，文章主要针对第三类人——白领展开。与国内白领不同，国外的白领通常买打折商品。
    第三段，强调中国白领的非理性消费，另起一段为了引起读者对这一现象的重视，这也是这篇文章的写作目的。在论证阶段，举出两个实例，说明奢侈品牌仅仅用于显示白领们的品位多么与众不刷。作者同时指出，这些省吃俭用的钱不应该花在追逐奢侈品牌上，而应该有更好的选择，比如提升专业技能，去旅游等。
    第四段进一步指出，白领争相购买大牌货品只是互相攀比的结果，而非出于实用的考虑。此处使用短语keep up with the Joneses，形象而贴切。
    有了前面几段的铺垫，文章水到渠成，指出争相购买奢侈品牌并不能让国人更加幸福。作者个人的观点是，老百姓的普通生活可以很幸福，与奢侈品牌没有任何关系。
    结尾部分，money can’t buy happiness一语点醒梦中人，奢侈品牌与幸福感无关。
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