VOA常速英语2018--加州洛杉矶的“南瓜之夜”预祝万圣节的到来

Night time in Pomona, California and early autumn is marked by a thousand bright faces carved into pumpkins² big and small all ready for Halloween night. There are at least 3000 jack-o’-lanterns on display for California Pumpkin¹ Nights each with its own unique design.One of the main alleyways is proudly called a mood alley³. Every pumpkin face here is different and reflects a certain feeling.All the designs were carefully thought through and crafted by artists and sculptors⁴.

在加州波莫纳的夜晚和初秋，成千上万的人被雕刻成大大小小的南瓜，准备迎接万圣节之夜。加州南瓜之夜至少有3000只南瓜灯，每只都有自己独特的设计。其中一条主要的小巷被自豪地称为“情绪小巷”。这里的每一张南瓜脸都是不同的，都反映了某种感觉。所有的设计都经过艺术家和雕塑家的精心设计。

We’re not really trying to do scary ones, just try to do some funny ones. They have a lot of more character and their character are better.However this art is by no means immortal⁵.It has a very definitive⁶ expiration⁷ date: about a month.The Chinese lanterns and Dragons, pumpkin reefs and pirates;all these scary and funny tributes to the spirit of Halloween will go bad shortly after the big night of October 31st but until that happens they bring joy to the many locals and tourists.It’s really fun, we’re really enjoying it. Yeah it’s really creative, we like the different faces, stuff like that so yeah.We just started getting into the mood of like, you know, being like festival and I more into the Halloween style like that.

我们并不是真的想做可怕脸，只是想做一些搞笑脸。这种脸更有性格，性格更好。然而，这种艺术绝不是不朽的。它有一个非常明确的有效期: 大约一个月。中国的灯笼和龙灯，南瓜做的礁岩还有海盗。在10月31日这个盛大的夜晚过后不久，所有这些对万圣节精神的既恐怖又滑稽的致敬都将化为泡影，但是在那之前，它们会给许多当地人和游客带来欢乐。这真的很有趣，我们真的很享受。是的，很有创意，我们喜欢不同的南瓜脸，诸如此类的。我们已经渐渐被这种情绪感染了，就像你懂的，过节的气氛，我更喜欢万圣节那样的风格。

While Halloween traditions date back 2000 years to the ancient Celts.The modern US celebration didn’t emerge until the late 1800s with festivities meant to appease⁸ good spirits and ward⁹ off evil one on All Hallows Eve which later became known as Halloween.Irish immigrants were the ones who made pumpkins a symbol of the holiday and the famous jack-o’-lanterns appeared even later.Yet again also thanks to the Irish.

而万圣节的传统可以追溯到2000年前的古代凯尔特人。美国现代万圣节直到19世纪末才出现，当时的庆祝活动在诸圣节前夜(后来被称为万圣节)旨在安抚善良的灵魂，击退邪恶的灵魂。爱尔兰移民把南瓜做成了节日的象征，再后来著名的南瓜灯也出现了，再次感谢爱尔兰人。

To make sure that this Pumpkin Night in Pomona is going smoothly¹⁰, a very special manager is keeping an eye on the celebration.Archie is an owl¹¹. He’s four years old and he is quite strict. This doesn’t bother him. He’s handled everyday, he goes out to events and commercial shoots.He’s got people in his face all the time, cameras lights, so none of this bothers him.The 90’s festivities in Pomona will continue beyond Halloween until early November.

为了确保这个南瓜之夜在波莫纳顺利进行，一名非常特别的经理正在密切关注庆祝活动。阿尔奇是一只猫头鹰。他四岁，而且非常严格。这一点都不困扰他。他每天都在忙，他会去参加各种活动和商业拍摄。他的面前一直都是人，摄像机都是亮着的，所以这些都不会困扰他。波莫纳的90年代主题庆祝活动将持续到万圣节之后直到11月初。

1 pumpkin   

n.南瓜

参考例句：

• They ate turkey and pumpkin pie.他们吃了火鸡和南瓜馅饼。
• It looks like there is a person looking out of the pumpkin!看起来就像南瓜里有人在看着你！

2 pumpkins   

n.南瓜( pumpkin的名词复数 )；南瓜的果肉，南瓜囊

参考例句：

• I like white gourds, but not pumpkins. 我喜欢吃冬瓜，但不喜欢吃南瓜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they cut faces in the pumpkins and put lights inside. 然后在南瓜上刻出一张脸，并把瓜挖空。 来自英语晨读30分（高三）

3 alley   

n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路

参考例句：

• We live in the same alley.我们住在同一条小巷里。
• The blind alley ended in a brick wall.这条死胡同的尽头是砖墙。

4 sculptors   

雕刻家，雕塑家( sculptor的名词复数 )； [天]玉夫座

参考例句：

• He is one of Britain's best-known sculptors. 他是英国最有名的雕塑家之一。
• Painters and sculptors are indexed separately. 画家和雕刻家被分开，分别做了索引。

5 immortal   

adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的

参考例句：

• The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
• The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽！

6 definitive   

adj.确切的，权威性的；最后的，决定性的

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• No one has come up with a definitive answer as to why this should be so.至于为什么该这样，还没有人给出明确的答复。

7 expiration   

n.终结，期满，呼气，呼出物

参考例句：

• Can I have your credit card number followed by the expiration date?能告诉我你的信用卡号码和它的到期日吗?
• This contract shall be terminated on the expiration date.劳动合同期满，即行终止。

8 appease   

v.安抚，缓和，平息，满足

参考例句：

• He tried to appease the crying child by giving him candy.他试图给那个啼哭的孩子糖果使他不哭。
• The government tried to appease discontented workers.政府试图安抚不满的工人们。

9 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

10 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

11 owl   

n.猫头鹰，枭

参考例句：

• Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
• I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚，经常半夜后才睡觉。