震惊：5条美国传统，加拿大永远不懂

爱思英语编者按：美国兄弟会举世闻名的放荡不羁向来让北边的加拿大望尘莫及。平时聚会high点就算了，连入会测试都high出了水准，也难怪，这人要是测试high不了，以后聚会怎么玩！

震惊：5条美国传统，加拿大永远不懂

OVER THE TOP FRAT INITIATIONS / 出格的兄弟会入会测试

US fraternities have a reputation of being much wilder than those found north of the border in Canada. Not only are the parties crazier, but the initiation tests to be able to attend the parties are crazier themselves as well. For example, a friend of mine in a fraternity at UBC once described an initiation tests as simply having to go a certain number of days with a teddy bear on hand, and to not be caught without one by another frat member. No big deal right? Although we’re speaking quite generally, wild and even dangerous American fraternity initiation stories are a dime a dozen, which often sound over the top by Canadian standards.

美国兄弟会举世闻名的放荡不羁向来让北边的加拿大望尘莫及。平时聚会high点就算了，连入会测试都high出了水准，也难怪，这人要是测试high不了，以后聚会怎么玩！我有一位在英属哥伦比亚的朋友，他们的入会测试只是拿着一只泰迪熊晃荡几天，只要这几天别让其他兄弟会成员抓到你两手空空的瞬间就可以了。不算啥对吧？但要说到美国的入会测试，不管说得多笼统，狂野甚至危险的入会故事比比皆是，这些在加拿大人看来都是太过出格的事情。

TAILGATING PARTIES / 车尾聚餐会

While on the subject of partying, one odd form of it comes with tailgate parties. I actually had to look up exactly what this entails, which turns out to be a wild parking lot party held right before a big sporting event. Apparently getting hyped up during the game isn’t enough, and American sports fans like to arrive hours in advance to camp out by their car, often painted up in their team’s colours, drinking beers, grilling food and blasting music on their stereos. Compared to the typical Canadian demeanour – which tends to be a little more on the quiet and polite side – this tradition just sounds a tad bit obnoxious.

说起聚会这件事，我们就得谈一谈车尾聚餐会这种别样的存在。说实在的，我都得查查字典才知道啥叫“车尾聚餐会”：大型体育赛事前的停车场大派对。只在观赛过程中酣畅还不够，美国体育粉可要赛前几小时先开车来一场露营，每个人都涂成自己支持的球队颜色，喝着啤酒，弄点烧烤，音响在一旁震耳欲聋，真是热闹。相比加拿大的典型举止——文静礼貌——美国的这项传统在邻国有点不受待见。

BLOWN-UP NEWS REPORTS / 虚张声势的新闻报道

A few years ago I was in Mexico for a vacation with friends, and the hostel that we were staying in only had a few English-speaking American channels. One of those channels was the infamous Fox News, and for 10 days, my friends and I would return to our hostels, turn on Fox News and catch up on the latest happenings of the George Zimmerman trial. The case was a very high profile story all across America for a few weeks, and although it ended up being both bizarre and exciting to see every little new development being closely scrutinized by Fox News, I couldn’t help feel that the whole thing was being blown up way more than it needed to be. Only in America.

话说几年前，我和朋友在墨西哥度假，住在一家只有几个零星美国英语频道的小旅店，那些频道里就包含臭名昭著的福克斯新闻台，十天来，我们这群人回到旅店就打开福克斯新闻，追踪齐默曼一案（译者按：齐默曼以正当防卫为名枪杀黑人青年马丁）。这一案件持续数周成为全美新闻头条，虽然审判结果匪夷所思，福克斯也紧密跟进案件进展中的每个细节，但我依然觉得整个报道有些虚张声势。可这就是一大美国特色啊！

THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS / 持有武器的权利

One of the rights of American citizens written up in the second amendment to the American Constitution is the right to bear arms; in other words, the right for citizens to own a firearm for the sake of self-defence. This also means that any American citizen can go to a gun store and purchase a gun just like that – granted that you’re not a prohibited purchaser with a criminal record. Given the other traditions mentioned exhibiting how crazy Americans can be, this age old tradition has this Canadian slightly afraid.

美国公民持有武器的权利写在美国宪法第二修正案里；换句话说，美国公民有权为正当防卫持有武器。任何美国公民只要拿着无犯罪记录证明就可以到枪支店买枪。考虑到美国佬的在上文里桀骜不驯的表现，这一源远流长的传统也让加国人民脊背发凉。

USING THE IMPERIAL SYSTEM INSTEAD OF THE METRIC SYSTEM / 不用公制用英制

I mean c’mon, it’s 2015! The entire world (mostly) is already in on it. Perhaps it’s their country’s ego at work, but it seems strange simply for the fact that it would probably be easier for them to switch systems. It would certainly save them a lot of hassle making all these conversions when traveling abroad.

我勒个去啊，2015年了，全世界差不多都用公制了吧！也许英制是美国自我价值的标志吧，但换成公制能给自己省多少麻烦啊！妈妈再也不用担心我出国不会换算公制单位了。