Male students pursuing doctorate degrees in China are facing the unfortunate trade-off of becoming “l(fā)eftovers” in the marriage market due to extended education that shrinks their social circle and leaves them broke.
在中國(guó)，許多攻讀博士學(xué)位的學(xué)生正面臨著這樣的不幸境況，他們學(xué)業(yè)得意卻情場(chǎng)失意，成為“剩男”者比比皆是。這是因?yàn)閷W(xué)業(yè)深造縮小了他們的社交圈子，經(jīng)濟(jì)情況也不樂觀。
The plight of male doctorate students in the country has been the subject of public discussion following reports on a 30-year-old Ph.D. student who fell victim to a woman he met online, the Global Times noted.
環(huán)球時(shí)報(bào)曾報(bào)道了三十歲博士男網(wǎng)戀受騙的事件，這如一石激起千層浪，該國(guó)博士男的窘?jīng)r成為了公眾熱議的話題。
As far as the story goes, the male student, pressured by his family to marry already, was swindled out of over 7,000 yuan (roughly $1,040) by the woman who apparently lured him only for money.
故事內(nèi)容是這樣的，博士男不堪家庭催婚的壓力和一位女士相親結(jié)婚，最后被騙了7000多元（約合1040美元），顯然這位女士就是沖著錢才去勾引他的。
China’s male doctorate students, however, are not oblivious to the prospect of staying single for the rest of their lives, perhaps even aware of boys so much younger than they are but already in relationships.
可情況是殘酷的，中國(guó)的博士男們意識(shí)到，他們孤獨(dú)余生的可能性如芒在背，而那些比他們年多的男性卻已找到了另一半。
A primary disadvantage they perceive is their current economic status, which, understandably, would not be the best considering that their studies delay them from maximizing opportunities in the job market.
他們認(rèn)為其經(jīng)濟(jì)現(xiàn)狀是他們最大的短板，這種情況不難理解，因?yàn)閷W(xué)業(yè)是他們的優(yōu)先選擇，推遲了職場(chǎng)上最大化的發(fā)展機(jī)遇。
Ph.D. student John Fang, 29, recalled the demand of his ex-girlfriend’s mother:
John Fang博士今年29歲，他說起了他前女友的媽媽提出的要求：
“She told me several times that I need to have an economic basis for the new family and that a place of our own is a must.”
“她不止一次的對(duì)我說，你要有一定的經(jīng)濟(jì)基礎(chǔ)才能組建新家庭，而且房子是剛需，缺不得的。”
But Fang’s limited income made even the idea of a house loan practically impossible. He wanted to put the wedding on hold until he graduates and secures employment, but the wait was simply too long for his partner.
但小方的收入十分有限，甚至達(dá)不到申請(qǐng)房貸的基本要求。他想等到畢業(yè)后，工作有了保證再舉行婚禮，可這對(duì)于他的女友來說實(shí)在是過于漫長(zhǎng)了。
Another disadvantage the students find is their own preference for a “spiritual match,” which basically echoes their desire for a much deeper relationship that requires cautiousness on their part.
他們還發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個(gè)缺點(diǎn)，即他們傾向于“精神契合”的戀愛。這恰恰說明了他們渴望更深層的情感關(guān)系，而這是需要他們審慎交友，費(fèi)心費(fèi)力的。
“As your horizon has been widened and you have a more insightful vision of the world, you are more willing to find a real soul mate and less likely to make any compromise in a spiritual match. I think that’s one of the reasons that many doctoral students remain single,” said Wang, another doctorate student.
另一位博士生小王說：“因?yàn)槟阋姸嘧R(shí)廣，對(duì)這個(gè)世界有更深刻的見解，所以你會(huì)更希望找到一個(gè)靈魂伴侶，不愿意在精神上的匹配中有任何的妥協(xié)。我想這也是許多博士男保持單身的一個(gè)原因吧?！?/p>
Finally, students have noted the idea of a “watershed effect,” which results from the small social circle they associate with. One who identified as “Liu Qi” pointed:
最后他們指出，他們所處的小型社交圈產(chǎn)生了一種“分水嶺效應(yīng)”。一個(gè)名叫“Liu Qi”的學(xué)生解釋道：
“The dividing line is when you step into a doctoral program. It’s a like a watershed and you’d better have a stable relationship before that. If not, you are most likely going to be leftover.”
“博士階段就是那條分界線。它起到了分水嶺的作用，你最好有了一個(gè)穩(wěn)定的情感關(guān)系之后再攻讀博士。否則，你很可能會(huì)踏入單身漢的行列了?！?/p>
Liu explained that male doctorate students can only find love in two channels: at school or in blind dates. Sadly, female doctorate students are often few, of which many are already off-limits. Those in blind dates, on the other hand, tend to be employed women with more social experience, which puts male doctorate students at an “embarrassing” position.
小劉解釋說，博士男們要想找到另一半只有兩種方式，在學(xué)校戀愛或者相親?？刹恍业氖?，通常情況下，博士女?dāng)?shù)量很少，而且她們中大多都已結(jié)婚了。而參加相親的女性多是職場(chǎng)人士，有著豐富的社會(huì)經(jīng)驗(yàn)，和她們相親的話博士男們往往會(huì)陷入“尷尬”的境地。
Male doctorate students are in a bit of bind, but the phenomena may be also extending from economic and social factors within their reach. It must be noted that China has the most imbalanced gender ratio in the world, which, to be presumptive, trims their chances of finding the one even more.
博士男們的情感情況不容樂觀，可一旦他們有了一定的經(jīng)濟(jì)基礎(chǔ)和社會(huì)地位，這個(gè)問題就會(huì)迎刃而解。然而有一點(diǎn)必須指出，中國(guó)是這個(gè)世界上男女比例極不平衡的國(guó)家，可以推定，他們的尋愛之路困難重重，機(jī)會(huì)渺茫。
