西方常見十大迷信(英語).doc

【西方十大常見迷信】要是你認(rèn)為西方人不迷信，那你就大錯(cuò)特錯(cuò)了。不同國家迷信內(nèi)容或許不同，但幾乎所有國家都存在迷信。下面就是中國日報(bào)整理的西方共有迷信清單，希望可以幫助大家深入了解西方文化與風(fēng)俗。1. Friday the 13th is a bad day. 13號星期五不吉利（黑色星期五）The standard nineteenth-century explanation for the supposed unluckiness of the number 13 was that there were thirteen at Jesus Last Supper- Judas was generally thought of as the thirteenth. The supposed misfortune (災(zāi)禍；災(zāi)難) of Friday also originated (originate from, 起源于) from Christian beliefs, for the Crucifixion took place on that day. 十九世紀(jì)人們對數(shù)字13不吉利這一篤定的迷信來源于耶穌最后的晚餐-傳說耶穌受害前和弟子們共進(jìn)了一次晚餐，出賣耶穌的猶大就是參加晚餐的第13個(gè)人。而星期五不吉利這一說法也來源于基督教的宗教信仰，因?yàn)檫@一天就是耶穌的受難日。（所以，不管哪個(gè)月的十三日又恰逢星期五就叫“黑色星期五”。）2. Bird pooing on you is good luck. 鳥糞掉身上是走運(yùn)的象征One theory of this is the sort of karma (名詞，因果報(bào)應(yīng)) logic that assumes, if something bad happens to you, then something good must happen to balance out (詞組，平衡；相抵) the karma.這個(gè)理論是源于對因果報(bào)應(yīng)的假設(shè)，如果你碰到一件糟心事，那么之后必要有好運(yùn)來抵掉這件壞事以形成因果報(bào)應(yīng)。3. A black cat crossing your path is considered bad luck. 路遇黑貓意味不詳In the old, superstitious (迷信的) days, witches could transform themselves into black cats. If one crossed your path, it meant a witch was watching you.古時(shí)候人們迷信女巫們會(huì)化身為黑貓。所以如果你在路上碰見了黑貓，這意味著有女巫盯上你了。4. Atchoo (bless you) 有人打噴嚏（要對他說上帝保佑你）This comes from a plague (名詞，瘟疫) that was spreading in 590 A.D. Italy where most people who sneezed would die. The pope urged others to bless such people and pray for them that they might become better.這源于公元590年意大利的一場瘟疫。當(dāng)時(shí)，很多打噴嚏的人都會(huì)死亡。教皇就提議大家為那些打噴嚏的人祈禱祝福希望他們可以恢復(fù)健康。5. Crossing your fingers to wish for good luck 交叉手指期盼好運(yùn)One theory of this is that during the Hundred Years War between France and England, archers would cross their fingers before pulling the bow string in order to grant (動(dòng)詞，授予) them good luck. Before that, it was also a secret sign between members of Christianity (when it was illegal).一種說法是：在法英百年戰(zhàn)爭時(shí)，弓箭手在拉弓前會(huì)交叉手指以示好運(yùn)。在此之前，這也是基督教徒之間的暗號（當(dāng)時(shí)這樣做是違法的）。6. Never take the third light from a match, its bad luck. 不能用同一根火柴點(diǎn)3次火In World War I, snipers (sniper, 狙擊手) sometimes operated at night. Their technique involved waiting for someone to strike a match to light a cigarette; on spotting the light theyd train a scope on them. On the second light, the sniper would focus his shot, zooming in (zoom in, 拉近) ready for the kill, on the third light, he would fire, killing the person who lit the match.在一戰(zhàn)期間，狙擊手通常在夜晚作案。他們的作案技巧就是等有人點(diǎn)煙。第一次點(diǎn)煙時(shí)狙擊手可以確定方位；點(diǎn)第二根時(shí)狙擊手瞄準(zhǔn)準(zhǔn)備射殺；點(diǎn)第三根煙時(shí)，他就開火將點(diǎn)火之人打死。7. Walking underneath a ladder is widely held to be bad luck. 從梯子下走不吉利Walking under a ladder came about in England a few centuries ago when people drank more ale at lunch than ate food. Drunken sign painters were likely to dump (動(dòng)詞，傾倒) a bucket of paint if you walked by or under their ladder and handymen would drop tools.“從梯子下走不吉利”來源于英國幾個(gè)世紀(jì)前發(fā)生的事。在晚餐喝了過多的麥芽酒而沒吃多少食物之后，當(dāng)有人路過梯子或是從梯子下走，喝醉了的畫家們可能會(huì)將他們的油漆桶倒下去，雜務(wù)工要是喝醉了可能會(huì)將自己的工具丟下去。8. Broken mirror will result in seven years bad luck. 破碎的鏡子意味著之后7年的厄運(yùn)Breaking a mirror is bad luck because at one time mirrors were very expensive. If a palace maid broke a mirror she was sentenced (sentence, 判處) to 7 years in prison.打破鏡子被人為十分不吉利，因?yàn)殓R子曾經(jīng)是很昂貴的。如果皇宮里的一名女傭打破了鏡子，她將被判處7年牢獄。9. Carrots help you see in the dark. 胡蘿卜有助于提高夜視能力This was part of World War II propaganda. The British had invented radar and we began bombing the Germans at night. The Germans, confused as to how we bombed them at night, started researching how we were doing it. The British government began to spread the rumor that it was the carrots in our ration (名詞，口糧) packs that helped us see in the dark to put the Germans off our trail (off the trail, 偏離正軌). They figured it out eventually, but by that time, the rumor had already stuck.這是二戰(zhàn)期間的一個(gè)宣傳。英國人發(fā)明了雷達(dá)并開始在夜晚轟炸德國。德國人就對英國人是如何在夜晚進(jìn)行轟炸作業(yè)感到很好奇，并開始研究英國人是如何做到夜間瞄準(zhǔn)的。英國政府就散布謠言說他們食用一定數(shù)量的胡蘿卜來提高夜視能力，以此迷惑德國人。德國人最后發(fā)現(xiàn)了這只是個(gè)謠言，但到那時(shí)是這一說法已經(jīng)被廣泛接受了。10. Spilling salt is a bad omen (名詞，預(yù)兆). 鹽灑出來是不吉利的。Spilling salt is bad luck because in Roman times, salt was so valuable that soldiers were paid in salt rather than money. Spilling it was equal to burning money. Im not sure where throwing a pinch of salt over your left shoulder negates (negate, 否定；使無效) the action of spilling, but I can tell you that it is where the word salary came from.鹽灑出來是不吉利的象征。因?yàn)樵诠帕_馬時(shí)代鹽是很珍貴的，士兵們的薪酬領(lǐng)的是鹽而不是錢。灑出鹽意味著燒錢。我不確定是否可以通過在左肩上撒點(diǎn)鹽來消除背運(yùn)或鹽灑出的影響，但是我可以告訴你“薪水”（salary）一詞來源于鹽(salt)。【老外也迷信】精選新詞：Superstitious 迷信的主播外教：Andy Jim: Hey Paddy, look at my new shoes.吉姆：嘿，帕迪，看看我的新鞋子。 Paddy: Get those shoes off the table!帕迪：快把鞋子拿開，別放桌子上！ Jim: Why? They are brand new (adj.全新的，嶄新的)!吉姆：為什么？它們完全是新的！ Paddy: Dont you know, its bad luck to put a new pair of shoes on a table?帕迪：你難道不知道嗎，把鞋子放在桌子上會(huì)帶來霉運(yùn)。 Jim: I didnt.吉姆：我不知道。 Paddy: Yeah, its like walking under a ladder. You just dont do it!帕迪：是這樣的，就像在梯子下走路一樣。你就是不能這么做！ Jim: I dont believe in all that superstitious (adj. 迷信的；由迷信引起的) rubbish. (n.垃圾,廢物) Paddy.吉姆：帕迪，我可不相信任何關(guān)于迷信的無稽之談。 Paddy: Well, theres a practical reason behind every superstition.帕迪：每個(gè)迷信背后，都會(huì)有一個(gè)很實(shí)際的理由。 Jim: Really?吉姆：是嗎？ Paddy: Yes. Somebody may have worn them before. Just because you have just bought them, does not mean they are clean. My mother would have