《中英對照讀新聞》Ebola plush toys fly off the shelf for Connecticut company 康乃狄克公司的伊波拉填充玩具被搶購一空

◎張沛元

It may be the only time you will find these words in the same sentence： "Ebola" and "Add to Wishlist."

這大概是你唯一一次會發現「伊波拉」與「加入採購清單」這些字出現在同一個句子裡。

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Giantmicrobes Inc., which makes a line of plush toys based on viruses and other microscopic organisms, has sold out its entire Ebola stock, including the small Ebola doll for $9.95, a Gigantic Ebola doll for $29.95 and an Ebola Petri Dish toy for $14.95, according to the company’s website.

根據製造一系列病毒與其他微生物絨毛玩具的Giantmicrobes公司網頁，它的伊波拉絨毛玩具已被搶購一空，包括定價9.95美元的小伊波拉娃娃、29.95美元的「巨大伊波拉娃娃」，以及14.95美元的「伊波拉培養皿」。

"Since its discovery in 1976, Ebola has become the T. Rex of microbes," says the Stamford, Connecticut-based maker of the "uniquely contagious toy" on its website, which promotes them as gag gifts that also have educational value.

「自從在1976年被發現以來，伊波拉就是微生物界的暴龍，」這家總部設在康乃狄克州斯坦福、專門製造「獨特的傳染性玩具」，並聲稱這些玩具既能整人又具有教育價值的公司，在其網站上如此表示。

With the latest Ebola outbreak, mostly in West Africa, customers have snapped up the toy, which looks like half a pretzel.

（Reuters）

拜最近這波主要在西非爆發的伊波拉疫情之賜，消費者搶購這種看起來像半片蝴蝶餅的伊波拉玩具。（路透）

新聞辭典

fly off the shelf：慣用語，意指商品暢銷。

sold out：慣用語，賣光，售罄。例句：The tickets were sold out so we couldn’t go to the ball game.（票已經賣完了，所以我們無法去球場看比賽。）

snap up something／snap something up：慣用語，（字面意義）快抓，（形容）搶購。例句：As soon as the World Series tickets went on sale, fans snapped them up.（美國大聯盟世界大賽門票一開賣，球迷就瘋狂搶購。）