时间:2019-01-25 作者:英语课 分类:英语听力精选进阶版


英语课

When many people in the west think of China, the animal that they think of is the dragon. For them, the dragon is an aggressive monster that breathes fire. Many popular legends tell of how dragons killed brave knights 1 and ate beautiful maidens 2.


For Chinese people however, the dragon is not an evil 3 monster. It's a cultural and spiritual symbol for prosperity 5 and good luck. The dragon’s main task is to create harmony and bring rain. Dragons are celebrated 6 in art and architecture, and of course the dragon dance is a very popular ritual 4. Millions of Chinese have the word ‘long’, meaning dragon, as part of their name.


China isn't the only country to have the dragon as its symbol. Wales, one of the four countries in the UK, has a red dragon proudly displayed on its flag. The only other country in the world with a dragon on its flag is Bhutan, the tiny country between China and India.


Almost all countries in the world have an animal symbol to represent their country, and it is particularly obvious during sports. The English see lions as brave, proud animals and the England football team have three lions on the front of their football shirts.


Australia is famous for kangaroos, of course. The national rugby team is more commonly know as the Wallabies, a kind of small kangaroo. Similarly 7, the South African team are known as the Springboks, a type of African antelope 8, and the New Zealanders, whether playing sports or not, are commonly known as Kiwis. A kiwi is a native New Zealand bird that can't fly.


All countries are proud of their symbols, which they feel reflect national characteristics or the beauty and variety of their natural environments. Recently, a Shanghai professor claimed that using the dragon as a national symbol could make western countries have a negative view of China. But in an internet survey 90% of Chinese people wanted to keep the dragon, and as we are all familiar with that Chinese symbol, people in the west would no doubt want China to keep the dragon too.


GLOSSARY 词汇表


dragon 龙


aggressive monster 狰狞的猛兽       


legends 传说


knights 骑士 


maidens (未婚)女子


evil 邪恶;罪恶   


spiritual 精神(上)的


prosperity 繁荣 


harmony 和谐;和睦


architecture 建筑(学)     


ritual 礼仪;民俗     


proudly 自豪的   


flag 旗子


brave 勇敢的   


kangaroos 袋鼠


rugby 橄榄球    


antelope 羚羊   


characteristics 特点;特征


native 本土;当地的         


survey 统计;调查



骑士; (中古时代的)武士( knight的名词复数 ); 骑士; 爵士; (国际象棋中)马
  • stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
  • He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。
处女( maiden的名词复数 ); 少女; 未婚女子; (板球运动)未得分的一轮投球
  • stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
  • Transplantation is not always successful in the matter of flowers or maidens. 花儿移栽往往并不成功,少女们换了环境也是如此。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
n.邪恶,不幸,罪恶;adj.邪恶的,不幸的,有害的,诽谤的
  • We pray to God to deliver us from evil.我们祈求上帝把我们从罪恶中拯救出来。
  • Love of money is the root of all evil.爱钱是邪恶的根源。
adj.例行的,老规矩的,惯常的
  • This was the monthly ritual.这是每月一次的例规。
  • I realized that here the conventions required me to make the ritual noises.我意识到此时按照惯例我应该说些客套话。
n.繁荣,昌盛,成功
  • I wish you the life of happiness and prosperity. 我祝你生活幸福、万事如意。
  • A prosperity never seen before appeared in the countryside.农村出现了前所未有的繁荣。
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的
  • He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
  • The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。
adv.类似地,相似地
  • He was late and I similarly was delayed.他迟到了,我也晚了。
  • These two pages are similarly glued together.这两页好像粘在一起了。
n.羚羊;羚羊皮
  • Choosing the antelope shows that China wants a Green Olympics.选择藏羚羊表示中国需要绿色奥运。
  • The tiger was dragging the antelope across the field.老虎拖着羚羊穿过原野。
学英语单词
a lush
Adams chromatic value sysrem
adonol
all-gear drive
allowable pressure differential
alto cumulus nebulosus
antitoxic serum
assets price
Autorivalry
Aveiro, Dist.de
BCPC
bearing off
bisphenol
branta
bucking-out system
cheap labor policy
chimango
chonrdr-
chromiumcopper
Clinopodium gracile
compaction test
compressed-air bearing
Conradi-Drigalski agar
constableries
Dardanelles, the
delawarians
deprive somebody of something
deservice
draw cuts
Durande's remedy
dynamic stereotypy
eczema seborrhoeicum
elastic tube
excimer dye laser
exponential function generator
functoriality
furan-flavone
geranylgeranyltransferase
gonio-cycloscope
grest
grid sweep
grin
Hamiltonian cycles
hammer man
head-bangin'
heavy duty preselect radial drilling machine
heavy-bearded
high brightness LED
honkatonks
hoofprint
Ibrāhīmīyah
inboard rotor
incrusts
input power of motor
Invar-strut piston
Kanuworalak Buri
La Motte-d'Aveillans
labor under
marzzone
maximum allowable offset
megabook
military correspondent
monoclinic base
motion mark
MPEG IMX
mycetes
nattereri
natural limit
non-pancreatogenous
on one's knee
osteodifferentiation
pains in the neck
pekka
pool of labor
pressitant
propyperone
repentings
roaster charge
scabiophobia
scatter wave
seaboots
self-redox reaction
semi industrial scale
series parallel scan
servocontrol pipe
shape cutting machine
Sinwǒn-gun
stalloy
stirtons
supplied-air suit
take a fling at
teacher's node
top of the hour
ulriches
uncontrolled lines
UROLOGICALS
variate-difference method
Verstehen
vetting process
William Shakspere
wraithe