近日，Facebook 和 Instagram (一款免费提供在线图片及视频分享的社交应用软件 ) 上出现了一股自拍热潮──妹子们大量上传自己涂抹睫毛增长精华前后的对比自拍照。就在今年早些时候，一家名为 Rodan & Fields 的护肤公司便开始在社交媒体上以独立经销商的模式销售一款叫做 Lash Boost 的睫毛增长精华液。这类直销和早年“拉芳” (Avon) 的销售方式极其相似，只不过是将线下转换为了互联网时代的线上模式。与此同时，有的人对网络社交时代铺天盖地的直销信息怨声载道，戏谑地总结道：“是朋友，就得买。” 但有人却对妹子们的自拍拍手叫好。

1. Tupperware Party 是什么？

2. 本文的主题句是什么？

3. 朋友圈卖东西的界限到底在哪里？

4. 请简要谈谈你对直销的看法。

In Social Media Era, Selfies Are the New Tupperware Party

The pitch comes in the form of before and after photosposted to Facebook or Instagram by a woman you know. The focus is on her eyes, specifically her eyelashes, which at first appear ordinary and untouched— a stark contrast from a picture taken weeks later, when they look long and thick. Mascara magnifies the effect in another snapshot.

Reach out, the captions enthuse, if you want in!

Such pictures have increasingly populated social media this year from women selling an eyelash enhancing serum, Lash Boost, from Rodan & Fields, a skin care company that distributes most of its products through independent "consultants." It is the kind of thing that, if seen on a television infomercial, might be skipped without a second thought.

The popularity illustrates the modern dynamics of direct sales companies, which were once mostly associated with door-to-door Avon visits and social gatherings. In the social media era, selfies are the new Tupperware party, influencing the types of products the companies can persuade people to buy.

Direct selling is used to promote everything from fitness shakes to jewelry to leggings online, but beauty products are particularly popular. Makeup, broadly, "does so well on social because it's very dramatic," said Larissa Jensen, a beauty industry analyst at the NPD Group.

Of course, plenty of people have griped about the deluge of direct-selling overtures from friends and acquaintances on social media. Animprov comedy group made a popular video that poked fun at the topic called, "If You're My Friend Then You'd Buy This."

"Honestly, the two of us are sick of getting all this information from friends we haven't heard from in years, where all they're interested in is making money off ofus," said Michelle Fortin, one half of the duo. Still, she said, "the before and after pictures are definitely eye-catching."

Tupperware: 特百惠 (厨房塑料密封收纳器具品牌)

pitch /pɪtʃ/: n. 宣传口号

eyelash /ˈʌɪlaʃ/: n. 睫毛

untouched /ʌnˈtʌtʃt/: adj. 未做改变的

stark /stɑːk/: adj. 明显的；鲜明的

mascara /maˈskɑːrə/: n. 睫毛膏

magnify /ˈmaɡnɪfʌɪ/: vt. 夸大；增强

snapshot /ˈsnapʃɒt/: n. 快照

enthuse /ɪnˈθjuːz/ : vi. 饱含热情地说

serum /ˈsɪərəm/: n. 精华液

infomercial /ˌɪnfə(ʊ)ˈməːʃ(ə)l/: n. 商业信息广告片

gripe /ɡrʌɪp/: vi. 埋怨

deluge /ˈdɛljuːdʒ/: n. 蜂拥而至的事物

poke /pəʊk/ fun at sth.: 拿某事开玩笑

make money off of sb.: 在某人身上赚钱