VOA慢速英语2011--Choosing the Right Calendar Takes Time

WORDS AND THEIR STORIES - Choosing the Right Calendar Takes Time

词汇典故 - 新年特别节目：买本日历正当时

Now, a special WORDS AND THEIR STORIES for the New Year. I'm Faith Lapidus.

现在是美国之音慢速英语词汇典故新年特别节目。

The New Year is the time for new beginnings. It is also the time to buy a new calendar. Yet it can take a lot of time just to choose the right one. There are lots and lots of choices. In fact, There are more calendars than days in the year. There are small ones. Big ones. Calendars that sit on a desk. Calendars that hang on the wall. Calendars to carry around. Calendars that show a whole month or one day at a time.

新年是一个新的开始，也是买份新日历的时间。然而光是选择一个合适的日历就要花很多时间，可供选择的日历太多了。实际上，当前在售的日历比一年中任何一天都要多。日历有大的，小的，有放办公桌上的（台历），有挂墙上的（挂历），有随身携带的（日程表），有一次显示整个月的，（月历）也有一次显示一天的（日历）。

Of course, in one way all calendars are the same. They all list the same days of the year in exactly the same order. But people do not buy calendars just to know what day it is. Calendars have become popular gifts because many are filled with beautiful pictures.

当然，某种意义上来说，所有日历都一个样，都是根据完全相同的顺序排列出同一天。但人们买日历不仅仅是看今天是几号。日历成为颇受欢迎的礼物是因为许多日历都画满了美丽的图画。

Some have pictures of famous art works. It is like hanging a different painting on your wall each month. You can even learn from calendars. They often give information about their subject -- such as famous writers or American Indians or flower gardens.

有些日历上有著名艺术作品，挂上它就像每月在墙上挂着不同的画。你甚至可以从日历中学习。它们经常会给出和主题相关的信息，如著名作家、美洲印第安人或花园。

There are calendars about food and about beautiful places in the world. Calendars about sports and about movies. Funny calendars with popular cartoon characters. Calendars of famous people, like Elvis Presley or Marilyn Monroe.

有些日历是关于世界各地的美食或美景，有些是关于体育或电影，有些是关于流行卡通人物的趣味日历，还有些日历是关于明星，例如埃尔维斯·普雷斯利（Elvis Presley）或玛丽莲·梦露（Marilyn Monroe）。

For pet lovers, there are calendars with pictures of cats doing unusual things. Three hundred sixty-five of them – one for each day of the year. Calendars of dogs wearing clothes. And calendars of beautiful women in swimming suits, not wearing much at all.

还有些是为宠物爱好者准备的日历，日历上有各种不同动作的猫咪的图片，365张图片，每天一张。还有穿着衣服的狗的日历，以及穿着泳衣，其实根本就没怎么穿的美女的日历。

Would you rather look at pictures of cars? There are calendars with those, too. For busy mothers, there is a magnetic calendar to hang on the wall. There are even calendars for children who can draw the pictures themselves.

你更喜欢看汽车图片？也有这种日历。还有给忙碌的母亲准备的挂在墙上的磁性日历。甚至还有可以让孩子们自己画画的日历。

A website called calendars.com sells more than six thousand different calendars.

一家名为calendars.com的网站出售超过6000种日历。

Some people do not just look at their calendars. They use them to write down important things they must remember, like meetings or doctor's appointments. Busy people can buy small calendars to carry around to help them organize and plan their life.

有些人不止是看日历是几号。他们还用日历记下一些必须记住的重要事情，像开会或门诊预约。忙人可以购买随身携带的小日历（日程表），帮助他们组织和规划他们的生活。

But what if they forget to look at their calendar? Do not worry, there are electronic organizers that make sounds to remind people of things they must do. These days, if you forget something, it is getting harder and harder to find a good excuse.

但如果他们忘了看日历了呢？别担心，电子记事本可以发出声音提醒人们必须做的事情。这年头，如果你忘了什么事情， 想找个好借口越来越难了。

Some people do not like little calendars, or big ones, or noisy electronic ones. They are happy just to write down notes to themselves on small pieces of paper. The smaller the better, usually.

有些人不喜欢小日历、大日历或吵闹的电子日历。他们喜欢在小纸条上记便签，通常越小越好。

These people never worry about all the time it takes them to find their small pieces of paper when they need them.

这种人从不担心当自己需要时寻找这些小纸条要花费的时间。

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This program was written by Avi Arditti. I'm Faith Lapidus, wishing all our listeners a Happy New Year.