时间:2018-12-02 作者:英语课 分类:空中美语初级


英语课

来自中国的雇员Sue 1跟男同事Pete和女同事Julie一起去吃饭。


Pete: Hey Sue! Don't walk under that ladder...it's bad luck!


Sue: Julie, Is he serious?


Julie: Kind of. There is an old tradition in the West that says it's bad luck.


S: You mean a superstition 2?


J: Yes, I guess it is a superstition.


S: But, Julie...you're from the UK and Pete is American! I thought Western people weren't superstitious 3!


Pete: Actually, many of us are. In America we have a whole bunch of superstitions 4.


Pete警告Sue不要从梯子下面走,It's bad luck. 会带来坏运气。 Superstition迷信。Julie是英国人,Pete是美国人,原来,西方人也迷信。


S: Wow...I always thought Westerners considered superstitions old-fashioned. My family is Chinese; almost all of us are very superstitious.


Julie: Well, I think the superstitions might be different, but pretty much every country in the world has them.


S: Is the number "four" unlucky in the West?


J: No...I don't think so.


P: Um...wait. Why is the number "four" bad?


S: In Chinese the pronunciation of the "four" sounds a lot like the word for "death."


P: Oh, I can see why that would be bad.


Sue原以为,西方人觉得迷信是old-fashioned, 守旧过时的,只有中国人迷信,没想到,其实西方人也迷信,但是东西方迷信的内容不同。


J: We might be OK with the number "four" but some Western people think "thirteen" is an unlucky number.


P: That's true. Some buildings will skip the thirteenth floor or call it "12A" or something.


S: Ha! That's funny! In many Chinese places they do exactly the same thing with the fourth floor! But why is thirteen unlucky?


J: Well, it's not too clear how that happened...but it probably has something to do with twelve being a lucky number.


西方人不忌讳“四”,但是忌讳“十三”,很多大楼因此没有十三层,用12A来代替。Sue说,中国也有类似做法。不过,在西方文化里,“十三”为什么不吉利呢?Julie说,大概是因为“十三”前面的“十二”是一个lucky number,特别吉利的数字。


J: Twelve is a number featured in many stories and legends and so it's kind of considered to be a good number.


S: But thirteen is not?


P: Yeah...and the most unlucky day of all is if a Friday falls on the 13th of a month. That's considered to be a super unlucky day.


S: Yeah. I saw a horror movie called "Friday the 13" once!


J: Yeah! That's a great horror movie!


在西方,很多传说和故事里,十二都是吉祥数字,可十三却代表着厄运,如果哪个月的十三号正好又是星期五的话,一定要小心。


 



1 sue
vt.控告,起诉;vi.请求,追求,起诉
  • If you don't pay me the money,I'll sue you.如果你不付给我钱,我就告你。
  • The war criminals sue for peace.战犯求和。
2 superstition
n.迷信,迷信行为
  • It's a common superstition that black cats are unlucky.认为黑猫不吉祥是一种很普遍的迷信。
  • Superstition results from ignorance.迷信产生于无知。
3 superstitious
adj.迷信的
  • They aim to deliver the people who are in bondage to superstitious belief.他们的目的在于解脱那些受迷信束缚的人。
  • These superstitious practices should be abolished as soon as possible.这些迷信做法应尽早取消。
4 superstitions
迷信,迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 )
  • Old superstitions seem incredible to educated people. 旧的迷信对于受过教育的人来说是不可思议的。
  • Do away with all fetishes and superstitions. 破除一切盲目崇拜和迷信。
学英语单词
-derm
a beam in someone's eye
a plant that lives two years
AAE
accommodation of information
adaptive streaming
aglee
allnight
analog fiber link
anisometric growth
antimeria
applicability statement 1
Aspergillus flavescens
astrographic refractor
audit report on supplementary statements
backward pruning procedure
batch feed type disposer
Brestovac
burn-out test
carry-on brooder
carry-storage register
cash sale
channel section axle
chrome plating
coccygeal verebrae
composite cathodic-anodic wave
contact scouting
craved
curate cycloids
cyclopite
deskphone
Dhankuta
emergency telephone sign
Emāmzādeh'Abdollāh
Eresk
eurecurvin
exchange of commodities
firesafe
flood storage
free of cost
future exchange
germacrene
girardinia condensata wedd.
goodwell
grooved
harlandii
Heidenheim an der Brenz
implying
inclination angle of a windscreen
insulated aluminum wire
interpassings
isotope labelling
Jaluran
join-venture
junior-high-school
kalakukko
kaleidophone
Kozhym
Lett.
liver-Qi perversion
lizard's tails
logica
lug yard
magnetron beam switching tube
methylecgonine
miglior
monetary situation
multiple neutron capture
nauseatingly
nitrile rubber
not be much on
order for redirection
outgoing electron
paint leaves
pasigraphy
pipe threader
plectorhinchus niger
posteriormost
projection conversion
propeller capacity
Rijnsburg
semi-precious
semparatide
sequana
shuffle beat
Shāh Ismāīl
Skraup
slag removal equipment
special dye
stevenson rule
storage-discharge curve
Thalictrum taberiferum
theodore roosevelt memorial national parks
to-tee
travel plant
tremours
tse tse fly disease
unsandalled
vonnective tip
wanlich
withstand test
xls