Visit Japan in the summer, and you will have the chance to see many exciting festivals. One of the most popular is "Tanabata", or "Star Festival", which happens on July 7. This is the day when people celebrate the romantic legend of the cowherd and the weaver girl.
The festival came to Japan from China in the eighth century. In Japan, there are actually two Star Festivals, falling on different days according to the solar and lunar calendars. Though the festival began in China, the Japanese celebrate it differently from the Chinese.
One Japanese tradition is for people to write their wishes on long, narrow strips of colored paper. They then tie the paper to bamboo branches on the evening of the Tanabata Festival. The branches are hung outside houses in hopes that the wishes will come true.
to be continued ....
Festival慶典：日本七夕風情畫(1)
在夏天造訪日本，你將有機會看到許多令人興奮的慶典。7月7日這天的“七夕節(jié)”就是歡迎的慶典之一。這是人們慶祝牛郎織女的浪漫傳說的日子。
這個節(jié)日在八世紀的時候從中國傳到日本。在日本，其實有兩個七夕節(jié)，根據(jù)陽歷和陰歷而分別在不同的日子。雖然這個節(jié)日開始于中國，但日本人慶祝的方式和中國人不同。
其中一個日本傳統(tǒng)是，人們會把他們的愿望寫在細長的彩色紙條上。然后他們在七夕的夜晚將紙條綁在竹枝上。人們把竹枝掛到房子的外面，希望愿望能實現(xiàn)。
詞匯小補帖：
●cowherd牛郎
●lunar calendar陰歷
●weaver girl織女
●bamboo branch竹枝
●solar calendar陽歷
Sentence 4U
語音講解：
(點擊右鍵“另存為”可下載語音)
come true "實現(xiàn)"，例如：
I'm saving my money, so my dream of traveling to Europe will come true.
我正在存錢，以實現(xiàn)我到歐洲旅游的夢想。
英語小教室
仰望夏夜星空，在銀河(the Milky Way)的兩邊可看到明亮的牛郎星(Altair)和織女星(Vega)。傳說中，牛郎織女一年只能在七夕相會一次。七夕節(jié)在唐朝時由中國傳到日本，《萬葉集》中，歌詠七夕節(jié)的詩歌就有一百多首。19世紀安藤廣重的畫作《名勝江戶百景》就有描繪江戶(現(xiàn)在的東京)地區(qū)在七夕節(jié)時家家戶戶擺飾竹子的情景。日本自從明治時代(1868-1910)改用陽歷(solar calendar)后，原本在陰歷(lunar calendar)七月七的七夕就改在陽歷的七月七日了。不過有些地方仍在陰歷的七月七過七夕節(jié)，因此在日本就形成了擁有"兩個七夕"的特殊景象。
英語練功房
happen是不及物動詞，沒有被動語態(tài)。主要有“發(fā)生”(以事情或it當主語)和“碰巧”(以人當主語)兩種解釋。例如：
A severe train accident happened two months ago.
兩個月前發(fā)生了一起重大的火車事故。
Something strange happened to me yesterday.
昨天我碰到了一件奇怪的事。
I happened to meet an old friend on the subway.
我在地鐵里碰巧遇見了一位老朋友。
練習:
1.可能會有什么事發(fā)生嗎？
2.我們正談論他的時候，他剛好走進來。
英語練功房_答案:
1.Is anything likely to happen?
2.He happened to come in while we were talking about him.?
聽力小試
語音播放：
(點擊右鍵“另存為”可下載語音)
1. Why are there two Star Festivals in Japan?
(A)Because the Festival went from China to Japan.
(B)Because it is an old Chinese tradition.
(C)Because of the solar and lunar calendars.
(D)Because the cowherd’s wish came true.
2.M: Didn’t the Tanabata Festival come from China?
W: Yeah, but the Japanese celebrate it differently.
Q: What does the woman mean?
(A)The Japanese celebrate the Tanabata Festival like the Chinese.
(B)The Chinese and Japanese do not celebrate the Tanabata Festival in the same way.
(C)The Tanabata Festival comes from Japan.
(D)The Tanabata Festival happens on July 7.
小測驗_答案:
1.C 2.B