英语访谈对话 195 Boxing Day

 　　Todd: Nicola, you're from England.

　　Nicola: Yes, I am.

　　Todd: OK. Now in England you have something called "Boxing day".

　　Nicola: Yes, we do.

　　Todd: So, we don't have that in America. What is Boxing day?

　　Nicola: Well, boxing day is always on the 26th of December, the day after Christmas day, and it was originally called boxing day because it was the day in England when the very rich people in Victorian times gave presents to their servants, the day after Christmas, and usually it would be something like money, or food but they would give it to them in a small box, and so on December the 26th, servants would receive their boxes,the Christmas boxes, and that's why it was called Boxing day.

　　Todd: OKNicola: Today, people don't really receive money or food so much, sometimes you give extra tips at Christmas, but Boxing day has stuck. So that's the name.

　　Todd: What do people do on Boxing day?

　　Nicola: Nothing really. Uh, eat the leftover¹ turkey, turkey sandwiches, watch TV, and in my family we usually go and watch dog racing², grey hound³ racing. Yeah, and lose some money...

　　Todd: Lose money!

　　Nicola: Yeah always. At least I do.

　　Todd: Wow, cool. Dog track. Is there a dog track near your house?

　　Nicola: Yeah, there is, where I live, yeah.

1 leftover   

n.剩货，残留物，剩饭；adj.残余的

参考例句：

• These narrow roads are a leftover from the days of horse-drawn carriages.这些小道是从马车时代沿用下来的。
• Wonder if that bakery lets us take leftover home.不知道那家糕饼店会不会让我们把卖剩的带回家。

2 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

3 hound   

n.猎狗，卑鄙的人；vt.用猎狗追，追逐

参考例句：

• The hound found the trail of the rabbit.猎狗发现了兔子的踪迹。
• The police have promised to hound down those responsible for the explosion.警方已保证要追查此次爆炸事件有责任的人员。