今日导读
上周，“杭州童模妞妞被踢事件”引发了微博上网友们持续的关注。踹人的不是别人，正是孩子的亲生母亲。4 月 10 日凌晨，妞妞的妈妈在微博上发布了一条道歉声明，表示自己“决无所谓虐童之意”、“在沟通教导如视频上的稍大动作绝无伤害想法”...... 然而这些道歉很快就被网友们推翻了，妞妞妈打骂孩子其实是常态。这件事波及到了整个童模行业，这些 3 岁就开始工作、年收入百万的孩子究竟是童模还是童工？让我们跟着毛西老师一起进入今天的新闻。
新闻原文
Criticism for China’s child modeling industry after video of 3-year-old being kicked
The New York Times
China’s growing child modeling industry is under scrutiny after footage of a 3-year-old being kicked by her mother was widely circulated online.
According to China Daily, a state-run newspaper, the video was filmed Monday in the eastern city of Hangzhou, where the girl was modeling outfits for online retailers. It drew outrage on Weibo, a Chinese social media site, where one of the topic pages about the incident had been viewed more than 610 million times by Thursday evening.
The child modeling industry is growing in China, with an increase in runway shows, pageants and modeling classes for children whose work can provide their families significant income. Parents say they enroll their children in part to help them develop self-confidence, Sixth Tone, an English-language Chinese media outlet, reported in 2017. But according to local news reports, when children tire of posing, changing outfits repeatedly and hustling from location to location, it is not uncommon for parents to raise their voices or even use corporal punishment.
Chinese law forbids companies from hiring children younger than 16, but child models are usually paid in cash and do not sign formal contracts.
In response to the video, more than 110 children’s retailers on the e-commerce platform Taobao said they would scale back the use of child models and called for more regulatory protections in the shooting process.
“By employing little ones, we intended to show the delight that children’s clothing brings and to pass that on to even more children, ” they said in a joint statement. “But if children are hurt in the process of being photographed, this completely goes against the original intent.”
带着问题看讲解
如何理解 in part 这个短语？
家长们让孩子们当模特是为了什么？
淘宝儿童用品电商们对这次事件作出了怎样的回应？
新闻正文
Criticism for China’s child modeling industry after video of 3-year-old being kicked
3 岁童模被踢视频曝光，中国童模行业备受批评
China’s growing child modeling industry is under scrutiny after footage of a 3-year-old being kicked by her mother was widely circulated online.
一位母亲脚踢 3 岁女儿的视频在网上广泛传播之后，中国正在扩张的儿童模特行业受到了审查。
According to China Daily, a state-run newspaper, the video was filmed Monday in the eastern city of Hangzhou, where the girl was modeling outfits for online retailers. It drew outrage on Weibo, a Chinese social media site, where one of the topic pages about the incident had been viewed more than 610 million times by Thursday evening.
据官方报纸《中国日报》报道，这段视频是周一在杭州（位于中国东部的城市）拍摄的，小女孩当时在为网店做服装模特。而此次事件在微博（中国的社交媒体平台）上引发众怒。截止至周四晚，其中一个关于该事件的微博话题主页已被浏览了超过 6.1 亿次。
The child modeling industry is growing in China, with an increase in runway shows, pageants and modeling classes for children whose work can provide their families significant income. Parents say they enroll their children in part to help them develop self-confidence, Sixth Tone, an English-language Chinese media outlet, reported in 2017. But according to local news reports, when children tire of posing, changing outfits repeatedly and hustling from location to location, it is not uncommon for parents to raise their voices or even use corporal punishment.
中国的童模业正在不断发展，针对儿童的走秀、选美和模特班都越来越多，而这些孩子的工作可以给他们的家庭带来可观收入。据中国的英文媒体“第六声”在 2017 年报道，家长们表示，他们让孩子们当模特，一定程度上是为了帮助孩子们培养自信。但据当地新闻报道，当孩子们厌烦了摆姿势、反复换衣服以及奔波换场地时，父母们大声斥责、甚至体罚孩子的现象并不罕见。
Chinese law forbids companies from hiring children younger than 16, but child models are usually paid in cash and do not sign formal contracts.
中国法律禁止公司雇佣 16 岁以下的儿童，但是童模们的酬劳经常是以现金支付的，且不会签署正式合同。
In response to the video, more than 110 children’s retailers on the e-commerce platform Taobao said they would scale back the use of child models and called for more regulatory protections in the shooting process.
作为对这条视频的回应，电商平台淘宝上超过 110 家的儿童用品店表示，它们会减少使用童模，并呼吁在拍摄过程中加强监管保护措施。
“By employing little ones, we intended to show the delight that children’s clothing brings and to pass that on to even more children,” they said in a joint statement. “But if children are hurt in the process of being photographed, this completely goes against the original intent.”
他们在一份联合声明中说：“请小宝贝们拍摄童装样照，本意是展现童装的美好，也将这种美好传递给更多孩子，但如果拍摄的过程伤害到了孩子，做这件事就完全违背了初心。”
重点词汇
scrutiny
/ˈskruːtəni/
n. 仔细审查
e.g.
例句：Foreign policy has come under close scrutiny recently.
footage
/ˈfʊtɪdʒ/
n.（尤指表现一个事件的）一段影片，片段
e.g.
英文释义：part of a film showing a particular event
搭配短语：old film footage of the moon landing
circulate
/ˈsɜːrkjəleɪt/
v.（使）散布，传播；（使）流通，传送
e.g.
例句：Rumours began to circulate about his financial problems.
例句：Hot water circulates through the heating system.
outfit
/ˈaʊtfɪt/
n.（为特定场合或活动而穿的）全套服装，装束
e.g.
英文释义：a set of clothes that you wear together, especially for a particular occasion or purpose
搭配短语：a wedding outfit
outrage
/ˈaʊtreɪdʒ/
n. 愤慨，义愤
e.g.
英文释义：a strong feeling of shock and anger
例句：These murders have provoked outrageacross the country.
runway
/ˈrʌnweɪ/
n.（机场）跑道；（时装表演）台道
pageant
/ˈpædʒənt/
n.（女子的）选美竞赛
enroll
/ɪnˈroʊl/
v.（使）加入；注册；招（生）
e.g.
例句：A enrolled in drama school.
例句：The centre will enroll A for the new programme.
in part
部分地，在一定程度上
e.g.
同义词：partly; to some extent
outlet
/ˈaʊtlet/
n. 出口；商店，分销点
e.g.
搭配短语：media outlet (媒体门户)
tire of
对…感到厌烦
e.g.
同义词：be tired of
相关词汇：tire（v. 感到疲劳）
tire 例句：She began to tire.
tire 例句：The work tired her.
hustle
/ˈhʌsl/
v. 极速前进，奔忙
e.g.
词性拓展：hustle (n.)
搭配短语：hustle and bustle
例句：We escaped from the hustle and bustle of the city for the weekend.
corporal punishment
（尤指对孩子的）体罚
e.g.
英文释义：the physical punishment of people, especially of children, by hitting them
相关词汇：corporal（adj. 与身体有关的）
scale back
缩减，缩小
e.g.
相关词汇：scale（v. 缩小或放大）
同义词：scale down
英文释义：to make something smaller than it was
补充词汇知识
criticism
n. 批评
industry
n. 产业，行业
model
v. 做模特
retailer
n. 零售商
incident
n. 事件
contract
n. 合同
call for
呼吁
regulatory
adj. 管理的
delight
n. 高兴，美好
intent
n. 意图
长难句解析
Parents say they enroll their children in part to help them develop self-confidence, Sixth Tone, an English-language Chinese media outlet, reported in 2017.
据中国的英文媒体“第六声”在 2017 年报道，家长们表示，他们让孩子们当模特，一定程度上是为了帮助孩子们培养自信。
say 后面省略了 that。注意 enroll 这个词的意思要根据上下文来理解，前文提到了针对儿童的模特班、选美比赛等越来越多，所以这里的 enroll 指的是报名模特班、做模特这件事。后面的 in part 要合起来理解为“在某种程度上”，修饰后面“帮助小孩培养自信”这件事。最后报道这一信息的媒体“第六声”是一个 English-language Chinese media outlet，在这里 outlet 要和前面的 media 合起来理解，指通过报纸、网络等渠道去传播信息的媒体。
学习资源
讲解中提到的电影：《小偷家族》
一句话总结新闻
本期《纽约时报》为我们报道了中国童模被踢事件，3 岁女孩妞妞在为淘宝做童装模特时被母亲踢了一脚，该视频登上了微博热搜并引起了公愤。
拓展阅读
美国童模业
《小小选美皇后》（Toddlers and Tiaras）和《甜心波波来啦》（Here Comes Honey Boo Boo）这样的选秀节目，带起了美国的“儿童选美风”，而这也一直是一个备受争议的话题。
而现在，有些孩子甚至也变成了 YouTube 或者 Instagram 这些平台上的网红，很多欧美品牌会花钱请这些孩子们在平台上为他们推广产品，而这些账号背后真正的运营者往往也都是孩子们的父母。
不过相比国内童模刚起步的混乱，美国在童模规范的道路上先行了不少。加州、纽约等地已经出台了完善的法律，来提高童模的入行门槛，同时保护童模的权益。
“996 从 3 岁抓起”
中国童模有多赚钱？来看看妞妞妈的朋友圈：
“连着四天差不多 400 件，尤其今天 119 件再次破纪录，收工之后自己一个人带着妞妞开车去杭州，真的累爆了。”
一天工作 8 小时，能有上万元的日收入。不少父母为了利益，希望在孩子们的“黄金年龄”兑现“黄金价值”，这些因素共同推高了童模市场。而看似扮演主角的孩子们，读书休息的时间有没有被侵占？价值观有没有发生偏差？这些问题如若无人追问，孩子们的权益仍将继续处于被忽视的状态。
巨额收入的诱惑，让很多家长忘记了孩子应该是用来呵护的，而不是用来压榨的。
