据BBC报道，上周末澳大利亚出现首例本土死亡病例，确诊病例数不断上升，当地人感到很恐慌。
澳大利亚卫生署8日公布的数据
官方指南建议人们保持卫生、勤洗手，如果需要可以囤些食物和日常用品。
Official guidance advised people to practice good hygiene and wash their hands. It was also suggested that people could prepare two weeks’ worth of food and water, as well as other household goods, if they felt it necessary.
令人意外的是，卫生纸销量暴增，比长保质期的食品等更受欢迎。
The demand for toilet paper surged – ahead of long-life food and other non-perishable goods.
有报道称，澳大利亚两位居民为了抢卫生纸，甚至拔刀相向。
其实，随着疫情蔓延全球，除了澳大利亚以外，美国、日本、新西兰、英国、加拿大等越来越多国家的民众加入了抢纸大军。
It’s not just Australians. Shops in Japan, the US and New Zealand have also run low on the precious sanitary rolls.
加拿大居民在抢购卫生纸↓↓
美国居民在抢购卫生纸↓↓
英国居民也在抢购卫生纸↓↓
此前，面对民众疯抢卫生纸，日本政府特地提醒居民不要囤积卫生纸，并对“卫生纸短缺”进行了辟谣。
相信国内不少人看到此类新闻会感到很好奇，囤吃的喝的都能理解，为啥外国人这么喜欢囤卫生纸呢？
其实，不少外国人对此也感到困惑。一位澳洲网友就在Reddit论坛上发问——“一个严肃的问题，为啥人们在买卫生纸？”
这位网友说，囤罐头食品、瓶装水啥的都能理解，但为啥要囤纸？
外媒也注意到了这个现象，纷纷写起了文章，分析背后的原因。
News.com.au：新冠肺炎疫情暴发：为啥澳大利亚人抢购厕纸？
BBC：新冠病毒恐慌：为啥人们在囤厕纸？
《卫报》：就算作为行为研究者，我们都抗拒不了想要买厕纸的迫切欲望
下面，双语君（微信ID：Chinadaily_Mobile）就来总结下外媒分析的几大原因。
▌恐慌性购物（panic buying）：害怕短缺
澳大利亚新闻网站News.com.au分析称，人们担心疫情打乱中国这一全球厕纸供应商的生产计划，从而导致澳大利亚卫生纸短缺。
The coronavirus outbreak has disrupted manufacturing in China, which is one of the world’s key suppliers of toilet paper.
That’s prompted fears there may be a shortage in Australia, but experts say there’s no need to worry.
而相同的原因，也引发了日本的卫生纸抢购现象。
日本民众排队买卫生纸
据Time Out东京报道，此前日本网络上有谣言称，由于卫生纸都是中国生产的，受疫情影响可能买不到。
The source of the hysteria is a few rumours circulating online, including one claiming toilet paper will no longer be available because it is made in China. Although, as The Japan Times was quick to point out, most toilet paper on sale in Japan is actually produced in Japan.
还有谣言称，卫生纸和口罩是同一种原料，口罩短缺，势必也引发卫生纸短缺。
随后，日本媒体对此类谣言进行了辟谣，消除民众恐慌情绪。
▌卫生纸体积大，空货架引人注目
行为研究者（behavioural researchers）Liam Smith和Celine Klemm发表在《卫报》的文章指出，卫生纸体积大，缺货后非常醒目，空货架很容易引发人们害怕买不到的心理。
The supermarket shelf itself also sends signals.Toilet paper is bulky and, as it’s removed, the shelves look empty quickly, which triggers the perceptions of scarcity. In reality, the situation appears worse than it actually is.
bulkyˈ[ˈbʌlki]：adj. 体积大的；庞大的；笨重的
澳大利亚超市卫生纸货架售空
消费者心理专家在接受BBC采访时也表示，比起50罐焗豆子或洗手液，50包卫生纸消失后，会更加引人注目。
“What you’ve got to remember is that when 50 packs of toilet paper rolls disappear off shelves, you really notice it because they take up so much room,” says Prof Debra Grace from Griffith University.
“It’s much more noticeable than say 50 cans of baked beans or hand sanitiser disappearing.
▌跟风抢购
新南威尔士大学消费者行为研究专家Nitika Garg称，人们抢购卫生纸还出于“害怕错过”（fear of missing out）的心理。如果你看到别人买了，就会觉得自己也应该买。
Another explanationfor the phenomenon is what’s known as the FOMO —fear of missing out— syndrome, Associate Professor Nitika Garg, a consumer behavior researcher at the University of New South Wales, told the news outlet.
“They think if this person is buying it, if my neighbor is buying, there’s got to be a reason and I need to get in too,” she said.
澳大利亚一超市，卫生纸货架售空
而《卫报》则引用了心理学上“社会证据启发”（social proof heuristic）这一概念来做进一步解释，即在不确定的情况下，很多人会把“别人做的”当作心理捷径加以效仿。
Humans are finely attuned to monitoring what everybody else is doing (even subconsciously). Most of us use “what other people do” as a mental shortcut to decide on what the appropriate behaviour would be if we are unsure. It’s a simple decision mechanism called “social proof heuristic”, a concept popularised by psychologist Robert Cialdini.
▌社交媒体加剧恐慌
《卫报》文章还指出，发达的社交媒体放大了对厕纸短缺的恐慌，而这种恐慌比病毒传播的还快。
Social media amplifies the fear which, in some way, seems to travel faster than the virus.
卫生纸货架空空的照片，也向人们传递了“赶紧抢购”的信息。
The hashtags #toiletpapercrisis and #toiletpapergate were trending on Twitter. Seeing image after image of empty shelves sends signals to the public that this is an important issue everyone is talking about.
▌卫生纸带给人控制感
据澳大利亚对话新闻网（The Conversation）报道，来自昆士兰科技大学公共卫生与社会工作学院的专家Niki Edwards表示，卫生纸能给人们带来一种控制感，让人觉得可以在卫生和清洁方面占据主动。
Toilet paper symbolises control. We use it to “tidy up” and “clean up”.
When people hear about the coronavirus, they are afraid of losing control. And toilet paper feels like a way to maintain control over hygiene and cleanliness.
▌卫生纸适合囤，不易坏
纽卡斯尔大学纽卡斯尔商学院专家David Savage把卫生纸称作一种“完美商品”，不易腐坏，不管啥时候，终究能用到。
I think it is the perfect product. It is completelynon-perishableand one of the few products that you can stock up on that you are guaranteed to use eventually.
面对民众空前囤纸热潮，日本、澳大利亚等国政府呼吁民众不要过量囤积，本地卫生纸制造商也表示厕纸供应不会出现短缺。
Leading Australian toilet paper manufacturers havetold news.com.au they won’t be running out anytime soon.
不少媒体和网友也劝大家保持理性，要为别人考虑一点。
So don’t be selfish, and keep others in mind when making purchases.
最后，大家来“囤积”一些本篇文章里实用的词汇和表达吧：
卫生纸一般称为toilet paper，在英媒报道中，也会用loo roll。
抢购或恐慌性购物可以叫panic buying/panic purchasing。
另外，囤卫生纸这个“囤”，可以用stockpile、hoard来表达。
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