Dario: Brian, you have that look in your eye.

Brian: What look?

Dario: Like you are going to ask me a stupid question.

Brian: Well, you're wrong.

Dario: I know that you wanted to ask me a question, so just go ahead and ask.

Brian: I tell you that you are wrong. I was just sitting here thinking.

Dario: That's dangerous, Brian.

Brian: Why are you always so mean to me?

Dario: I'm not mean to you, I just know you well.

Brian: Maybe you don't know me as well as you think!

达里奥：布莱恩，你的眼睛里有那种神态。

布莱恩：什么神态？

达里奥：好像你要问我一个愚蠢的问题。

布莱恩：唔，你错了。

达里奥：我知道你要问我一个问题，尽管问吧。

布莱恩：我告诉你你错了。我只是坐在这儿思考。

达里奥：那是危险的，布莱恩。

布莱恩：为什么你总是对我这么卑鄙？

达里奥：我不是对你卑鄙，我只是很了解你而已。

布莱恩：也许你并不像你所说的这么了解我！

NEW WORDS 新单词

1) Corny: old fashioned, not hip or cool

老的：老式的，不时髦的，不酷的

My father tells lots of jokes, but they are all old corny ones that I have heard many times before.

我老爸讲很多笑话，不过全是些老掉牙的笑话，我以前听过很多次了。

2) Century: a period of 100 years

世纪：100年的时期

If I live for a whole century, I will be happy but tired.

如果我能活整个世纪我会很高兴，不过会很累。

3) Tradition: history, things you do the same each year

传统：历史，每年你都做的相同的事情

Xmas and New Year are old western traditions that we celebrate the same way every year.

圣诞节和新年是西方的老传统，我们每年都用同一种方式来庆祝。

Dialogue-对话

Jessie: I love singing Xmas songs.

Tina: I noticed. I think you started singing carols in November this year!

Jessie: I try to start a little earlier each year so I can sing as many as possible before the New Year.

Tina: And what do you sing on New Year's Eve?

Jessie: Auld Lang Syne, of course!

Tina: That is a funny name for a song.

Jessie: It's very old and traditional, but it's easy to sing.

Tina: Well, we only have a few days left before the New Year, so you had better teach me quickly!

杰西：我爱唱圣诞歌曲。

蒂娜：我注意到了。我觉得今年从十一月份起你就开始唱圣诞颂歌了！

杰西：每年我都试着早一点，这样到新年以前我就可以尽可能多唱。

蒂娜：那么在新年除夕你唱什么歌？

杰西：当然是《友谊天长地久》了！

蒂娜：这首歌的歌名很有意思。

杰西：它是一首传统老歌，不过很容易唱。

蒂娜：唔，我们离新年只剩下几天了，所以你最好赶紧教我！

New Words 生词

1) Long gone: something that has happened already

已经过去：已经发生的事情

My parents are hopeless - they always say Happy Birthday after the day is long gone.

我的父母真是没治－他们总是在生日过后说生日快乐。

2) Celebrate: to mark a special day or event with festivities or a holiday

庆祝：用活动来纪念某个日子、事件或者节日

Most people celebrate their birthday, Christmas and New Year no matter what their culture is.

无论什么样的文化，大多数人都庆祝他们的生日、圣诞节和新年。

3) Humungous: very large, massive

巨大的：很大的，大而重的

I went out drinking on Saturday night and woke up with a humungous hangover.

星期六晚上我去喝酒了，醒来的时候感到很不适。

4) Arbitrary: decided by someone, without any obvious logic

武断的、专断的：由某人作出决定，没有任何明显的逻辑

At university, I often argued with my professors and said that their marking of my papers was arbitrary.

上大学的时候，我经常和我的教授们争论，还说他们对我论文的批注很武断。

Lesson: 课文

New Year Part 1 新年 第一部分

"Happy New Year!" That greeting will be said and heard millions of times as the New Year gets under way. But the day celebrated as New Year's Day throughout the western world was not always January 1.

过新年的时候人们互相问候“新年快乐”成千上万次。不过，以前西方世界庆祝新年的日子不总是在元月1日。

The celebration of the new year is the oldest of all holidays. It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 6000 years ago. In the years around 2000 B.C, the Babylonian New Year began with the first New Moon (actually the first visible crescent) after the Vernal Equinox (first day of spring).

新年庆祝在所有的节日中是最古老的。大约6000年前，古代巴比伦率先庆祝新年。大约在公元前2000年，巴比伦的新年随着春分（春天的第一天）之后的第一个新月（实际上第一个看得见的新月）开始了。

The beginning of spring is a logical time to start a new year. After all, it is the season of rebirth, of planting new crops, and of blossoming. January 1, on the other hand, has no astronomical or agricultural significance. It is purely arbitrary.

春天的开始是开始新的一年合乎逻辑的时间。毕竟，它是新生、庄稼播种和鲜花盛开的季节。另一方面，元月1日没有天文学或者农业的意义，（将它定为新年的开始）纯粹是任意（的决定）。

The Babylonian new year celebration lasted for eleven days. Each day had its own particular mode of celebration, but it is safe to say that modern New Year's Eve festivities pale in comparison.

巴比伦的新年庆祝持续11天。每一天都有它自己独特的庆祝模式，不过，如果说相比之下现代的新年除夕庆祝活动苍白无华是不会错的。

The Romans continued to observe the new year in late March, but their calendar was continually tampered with by various emperors so that the calendar soon became out of synchronization with the sun.

罗马人继续在三月底庆祝新年，不过他们的日历不断受到不同帝王的擅自更改，以致于不久日历就不与太阳同步了。

In order to set the calendar right, the Roman senate in 153 BC, declared January 1 to be the beginning of the new year. But tampering still continued until Julius Caesar, in 46 B.C, established what has come to be known as the Julian calendar. It again established January 1 as the new year. But in order to synchronize the calendar with the sun, Caesar had to let the previous year drag on for 445 days.

为了设置正确的日历，罗马参议院于公元前153年将元月1日宣布为新年的开始。不过擅自更改还在继续着，直到朱利斯·凯撒于公元前46年制定了为人所知的罗马儒略历为止。罗马儒略历再次将元月1日定为新年。但是为了使日历与太阳同步，凯撒不得不将上一年延长至445天。

Although in the first centuries AD, the Romans continued celebrating the new year, the early Catholic Church condemned the festivities as paganism. But as Christianity became more widespread, the early church began having its own religious observances concurrently with many of the pagan celebrations, and New Year's Day was no different.

尽管罗马人继续在公元开始的最初几个世纪里庆祝新年，早期天主教教堂将庆祝活动视为异教信仰。不过随着基督教遍及各处，早期的教堂在举行众多的异教庆祝的同时开始有了自己的宗教庆祝，元旦也不例外。

During the Middle Ages, the church remained opposed to celebrating New Years. January 1 has been celebrated as a holiday by Western nations for only about the past 400 years.

在中世纪期间，教堂仍然反对庆祝新年。自西方国家开始将元月1日作为节日庆祝以来只有过去400年的历史。

Dialogue

Jeff: Happy New Year, Joan!

Joan: Why are you wishing me a happy new year?

Jeff: Because new year's eve is nearly here.

Joan: You should know that not everyone celebrates new year at the same time, Jeff.

Jeff: So when do you celebrate new year?

Joan: I follow the lunar, or moon calendar, so I celebrate it much later than you.

Jeff: If you were smart, you would celebrate both new years so you could double up on the number of parties.

Joan: No! The hangover I get from one new year is bad enough for me, thank you!

杰夫：新年快乐，琼！

琼：你为什么祝我新年快乐？

杰夫：因为新年除夕就快到了。

琼：你应该知道并不是每个人都在同一时间里庆祝新年，杰夫。

杰夫：那你什么时候庆祝新年？

琼：我依照阴历，也就是农历，因此我庆祝新年比你晚多了。

杰夫：如果你聪明你就会庆祝两个新年，这样你就可以参加双倍的派对！

琼：不！一个新年（派对）给我带来的后遗症就已经够我受的了，谢谢你了！