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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Year of the Cat or Year of the Rabbit?
猫年还是兔年？
Many people in Asia and around the world will celebrate the Lunar New Year starting on January 22.
亚洲和世界各地的许多人将从1月22日开始庆祝农历新年。
The new year is called the Year of the Rabbit in China and the Year of the Cat in Vietnam1. How the cat replaced the rabbit in Vietnam is still the subject of debate.
新年在中国被称为兔年，在越南被称为猫年。在越南，猫如何取代兔子仍然是一个有争议的话题。
Both countries follow a calendar based on 12 signs of a zodiac represented2 by 12 animals.
这两个国家都遵循以十二生肖为代表的历法。
No one knows exactly how the 12 animals came to be named. But ancient storytellers said the Jade3 Emperor, or the Buddha4, organized a race across a river for all the animals in the world. The first 12 to reach the other side would appear in the zodiac.
没有人确切知道这12种动物是如何命名的。但古代的故事讲述者说，玉皇大帝或佛陀组织了一场世界上所有动物的渡河比赛。到达另一侧的前12个动物将出现在黄道十二宫。
In the Chinese version5 of the story, the cat and the rat were riding across a river on an ox when the rat pushed the cat into the water. The rat won the race, turning the two animals into enemies. That is why cats have been hunting rats ever since.
在中文版的故事中，猫和老鼠骑着牛过河时，老鼠把猫推入水中。老鼠赢得了比赛，把两只动物变成了敌人。这就是为什么猫从那以后一直在猎杀老鼠。
In the Chinese story, the rabbit crossed the river by jumping on the tops of stones in the river. When the rabbit got there, no others were around, so it went off to the side and slept. By the time the rabbit woke up, three others had already arrived.
在中国的故事中，兔子在河中的石头顶上跳过河。当兔子到达那里时，周围没有其他人，所以它走到一边睡觉了。当兔子醒来时，另外三只已经到了。
However, in the Vietnamese version – which did not have a rabbit – the cat could swim and ended up arriving fourth. The top twelve finishers which appear in the zodiac were rat, ox, tiger, cat (or rabbit), dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig.
然而，在越南版本（没有兔子）中，猫会游泳，最终排名第四。十二生肖中排名前十二的是鼠、牛、虎、猫（或兔）、龙、蛇、马、山羊、猴子、公鸡、狗和猪。
Philippe Papin is an expert on Vietnamese history at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris. He told the Northwest Asian Weekly in 2011 that one possible explanation for replacing rabbit with cat might have to do with language.
Philippe Papin是巴黎高级练习学校的越南历史专家。他在2011年告诉《西北亚洲周刊》，用猫代替兔子的一种可能的解释可能与语言有关。
He said in old Chinese, there is a little-used word tied to the sign of the rabbit (卯) that is pronounced like mao. The pronunciation is similar to mèo, the Vietnamese word for cat.
他用古汉语说，兔子的标志上有一个用得很少的词(卯) 发音像mao。发音类似于mèo，越南语中猫的意思。
The Chinese New Year website says males who are born in the Year of the Rabbit are polite and do whatever they can to avoid conflicts6. They like organizing and often help their wives with work around the house.
中国新年网站说，兔年出生的男性很有礼貌，会尽一切可能避免冲突。他们喜欢组织，经常帮助妻子在家里工作。
Females7 born in the Year of the Rabbit, the website says, love being social. They are also thoughtful8 and polite. And they hate violence9 and arguments.
该网站称，兔年出生的女性喜欢社交。他们也很体贴和有礼貌。他们讨厌暴力和争吵。
The Year of the Cat last came around in 2011. The website Vietnam+ reported at the time that the number of newborn babies increased in the first days of the Lunar New Year, called Tet in Vietnam. At a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, 72,000 pregnant10 women visited the hospital in January, an increase of 19,000 over the year before. Doctors said that the Year of Cat is considered a lucky year.
猫年最后一次出现在2011年。越南+网站当时报道称，在越南称为春节的农历新年头几天，新生婴儿的数量有所增加。在胡志明市的一家医院，1月份有7.2万名孕妇到医院就诊，比前一年增加了1.9万人。医生们说，猫年被认为是幸运的一年。
This year, another website, VNExpress, said many Vietnamese are buying new cat-themed cases for their mobile11 phones. And one of the top Google searches in Vietnam is "why there is no cat in the Chinese zodiac."
今年，另一家网站VNExpress表示，许多越南人正在为手机购买以猫为主题的新手机壳。谷歌在越南搜索最多的一条是“为什么中国十二生肖中没有猫”
Words in This Story
calendar –n. an account12 of the days and weeks of the year
日历--一年中的几天和几周
zodiac –v. a way of dividing years or parts of years following a system of special names and signs that some cultures have observed for a long time
黄道带--一种按照一些文化已经观察了很长时间的特殊名称和符号系统来划分年份或年份部分的方法
pronunciation –n. the sound of the way a word is said
发音--说话的声音
polite –adj. showing respect for other people; showing good behavior
礼貌的--尊重他人；表现出良好的行为
-themed –adj. a subject that is repeated again and again
-主题--一次又一次重复的主题
收听单词发音 |
1
Vietnam
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| n.越南 | |
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represented
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| v.表现( represent的过去式和过去分词 )；代表；体现；作为…的代表 | |
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jade
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| n.玉石；碧玉；翡翠 | |
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Buddha
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| n.佛；佛像；佛陀 | |
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5
version
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| n.版本；型号；叙述，说法 | |
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conflicts
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| 冲突( conflict的名词复数 )； 战斗； 相互干扰； 矛盾 | |
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females
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| n.雌性动物( female的名词复数 )；女人 | |
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8
thoughtful
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| adj.思考的，沉思的，体贴的，关心的 | |
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violence
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| n.暴力，暴虐，暴行，猛烈，强烈，强暴 | |
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10
pregnant
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| adj.怀孕的，怀胎的 | |
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11
mobile
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| adj.可移动的，易变的，机动的；n.运动物体 | |
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account
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| n.叙述；帐目；帐户 | |
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