酸爽的“柠檬脸挑战”在国外火了，就问你敢不敢？

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Around this time a few years ago, it was common to see videos of friends on social media having a bucket of icy water thrown on them. Known as the “ice bucket challenge”, it was created as a way to raise money for the medical condition ALS. But now, there’s a new challenge – and this time, no water is involved.

几年前的此时，社交媒体上常常能看到朋友发布自己被一桶冰水浇遍全身的视频。这项“冰桶挑战”是为肌萎缩侧索硬化症患者筹款的一种方式。如今，又有一个新挑战来了 —— 而这一次不需要再用水了。



（“冰桶挑战”， 图片来源：中新网）

What is it? Well, think of a fruit that you’d never normally sink your teeth into. Perhaps you’ve got it: a lemon. While we enjoy using lemons to add flavor to dishes, very few of us would actually eat one as we’d eat an apple or an orange.

那是什么挑战呢？想想你通常不会直接一口咬下去的水果。或许你已经猜到了答案：柠檬。尽管我们喜欢往饭菜中加点柠檬调味，但很少有人会真的像吃苹果或者橙子那样吃柠檬。

But the horrible taste is the precise reason the “lemon face challenge” is taking off. Participants bite into a lemon, taking a selfie as they do it before posting the photo online. The fun is all about the expression people make as all that citric acid hits their taste buds. Every expression seems to say, “This is worse than freezing water.”

而柠檬可怕的酸味正是“柠檬脸挑战”大火的原因。挑战者们要边咬一口柠檬边自拍发到网上。好玩之处就在于人们在柠檬酸冲击味蕾时所露出的酸爽表情。每个表情似乎都在说，“这比冰水还可怕。”



The serious side to this trend is the good cause it’s all in aid of. The challenge aims to raise awareness of a rare brain cancer that affects young children. It was started by Aubreigh Nicholas, an 11-year-old US kid. She was diagnosed with this rare brain cancer herself in September 2017, but has since raised almost $50,000 (315,000 yuan) to cover her medical expenses thanks to the challenge.

这一流行趋势也有其严肃的一面，那便是支持慈善事业。挑战旨在唤起人们对一种罕见的幼儿脑癌的关注。该挑战由11岁的美国女孩Aubreigh Nicholas 发起。2017年9月，她被诊断出患有这种罕见脑癌，但多亏了这一挑战，她筹得了将近5万美元（约合人民币31.5万元）用以支付医疗费用。

Obviously, if a challenge is going to raise publicity and contributions from people, it has to be something interesting and original. And it needs to be something that many people can take part in.

很显然，如果一项挑战想要引起公众注意并获得筹款，就一定要独特且有趣，并且能够让许多人参与其中。

In the pre-internet days, it was almost impossible to share your message about raising money for charity with the world. But today, when so many of us have access to social media, a well-thought-out idea can reach and involve millions of people from all over the planet.

在没有互联网的日子里，向全世界分享为慈善组织筹款的信息几乎是件不可能的事。但如今，我们许多人都能通过社交媒体，将一个深思熟虑的想法传递给全球无数的人。



That was why the ice bucket challenge took off in 2014, and it explains why so many people are now sharing their lemon faces with a laughing global online population.

这正是2014年冰桶挑战走红的原因，也解释了为何如今这么多人分享自己的柠檬脸表情包，让全球网友哈哈大笑的原因。

There are a lot of stories about the downside of social media these days. The charity challenges, however, show how online culture can unite the world and bring help to the people who most need it.

近年来有不少关于社交媒体的负面消息。然而这些慈善挑战却体现了网络文化如何能够联合世界各地的人，帮助那些最需要帮助的人。