1月31日午间英语新闻：喜迎兔年！兔子有何文化意义？

Learning into rabbit legends

喜迎兔年！兔子有何文化意义？

Rabbits are instinctively quiet and agile, which suits the traditional Chinese aesthetic values of being gentle and cultivated. There is a view of rabbits in Chinese culture as being smart and gentle. For example, the phrase dongru tuotu is a Chinese idiom praising people who are smart and agile like a rabbit.

兔子天性安静、敏捷，符合中国传统“温文尔雅”的审美价值。在中国文化中，兔子意味着聪颖、文雅，“动如脱兔”这个成语便是证明，人们用其赞美那些像兔子一样聪明、机敏的人。

Legend has it that Jade Rabbit lived on the moon as the pet of Chang’e, a goddess widely known in China. This may explain why rabbits are considered an auspicious sign.

在神话传说中，月亮上住着一只玉兔，它是中国家喻户晓的神仙嫦娥的宠物，这就可以解释人们为何视兔子为祥瑞。

Also, in ancient China, it was common sense that the more children you had, the luckier and happier you would be. This belief made the rabbit a popular sign of good fortune, since rabbits are full of vitality and fertile in nature.

此外，在中国古代，大家普遍认为子嗣越多，福运和喜气就越大。而在大自然里，兔子精力旺盛、繁殖能力强，因此就成为了吉祥的象征。

Similarly in the West, they are well-known to be able to reproduce and thrive in sometimes difficult and surprising conditions, with populations growing to enormous sizes in a short time. Rabbits are also considered to be incredibly lucky in the West, with several traditions illustrating how to gain the animal’s good luck for yourself.

兔子的形象在西方与中国有一点很相似：兔子以强大的生存能力著称，有时在出奇艰苦的条件下，也能生存繁衍、茁壮成长，并在很短的时间内将种群扩张到巨大的规模。西方人还将兔子视为极致的幸运，多个西方传统都解释了如何从兔子身上汲取好运。

One of the most well-known symbols of good luck, a stuffed rabbit’s foot, is supposed to bring good fortune. This is a good luck charm that can be found all over the world, from the people of Europe to the traditional cultures of North America.

毛绒的兔子脚是最著名的吉兆之一，人们认为兔脚应该会带来好运。从欧洲社会到北美的传统文化中，世界各地都能感受到这种好运气。

A hunter catching a rabbit is also a sign of good luck. Another tradition for bringing good luck found in North America and the UK is to say “rabbits” on the first morning of every month.

猎人在打猎的时候，如果能够先抓到兔子，也是一个好兆头。在北美和英国，还有另一个祈求好运的传统：在每个月第一天的早上，说出“兔子”一词。

So, with it now being the lucky animal’s turn on the Chinese zodiac, maybe the Year of the Rabbit can bring you some good fortune, too!

所以，现在轮到十二生肖中的祥瑞之兔登场了，或许兔年也能给你带来一些好运呢！

重点词汇：

1.auspicious

英[ɔːˈspɪʃəs]

美[ɔːˈspɪʃəs]

adj.吉利的; 吉祥的;

2.agile

英[ˈædʒaɪl]

美[ˈædʒl]

adj.(动作)敏捷的; 灵活的; (思维)机敏的; 机灵的;

3.fertile

英[ˈfɜːtaɪl]

美[ˈfɜːrtl]

adj.肥沃的; 富饶的; 能生育的; 可繁殖的; 能结果的; 能产生好结果的; 促进的; 点子多的;

China's Spring Festival box office second highest-grossing to date

2023年春节档票房创中国影史春节档票房第二

China's box office during the Spring Festival holidays (Jan 21-27) breached 6.8 billion yuan ($1 billion), surpassing 2022's 6.04 billion yuan mark, making this year's Spring Festival holiday the second highest-grossing to date, Chinese ticketing platform Maoyan showed.

猫眼专业版数据显示，截至周五（1月27日）21时20分，2023年春节档期总票房超68亿，超过2022年的60.4亿元，位列中国影史春节档票房榜第二位。

Chinese-made blockbusters led the profits. Ticket sales from director Zhang Yimou's historical epic ‘Man Jiang Hong,’ or ‘Full River Red,’ ranked first, with takings of more than 2.6 billion yuan, accounting for about 41.6 percent of the box office total. The historical drama was followed by science fiction film ‘The Wandering Earth 2,’ which raked in more than 2.2 billion yuan as of 9:20 pm.

国产电影引领春节档。张艺谋导演执导的《满江红》以超26亿元的票房成为2023春节档的票房冠军，约占总票房的41.6%。紧随其后的是科幻电影《流浪地球2》，截至27日21时20分，该片票房超过22亿元。

Across China, movie theaters were packed with audiences during the festive holidays, with some of them watching two or three movies "to release moviegoers' pent-up desire for high-quality films," the Global Times said. 

据《环球时报》报道，春节期间，中国各地的电影院人流量爆满，“为了满足对优质电影久违的追求”，一些观众甚至看了两三部电影。

"We're very thrilled to see the return of the hustle and bustle, even at midnight. There's no doubt that the box office during the holidays will surpass the 2022 level," a manager of a movie theater in Ningde, East China's Fujian province, told the Global Times. 

“即便是夜场，我们也很高兴看到喧嚣和繁忙的回归。毫无疑问，春节假期的票房将超过2022年同档期的水平。”福建省宁德市一家影院的经理在接受《环球时报》采访时说。

"I watched ‘Man Jiang Hong’ during the holidays. The cinemas were packed with people," a white-collar worker based in Beijing told the Global Times. "The pre-virus vigor of the Chinese movie industry is back."

“我在假期看了《满江红》，影院里人满为患。”北京的一位白领告诉《环球时报》说，“中国电影产业又恢复了疫情前的活力。”

Seven films hit the market during Spring Festival across a diverse range of genres, showing the creativity and high-quality development of China's film industry. The overall box office during the Spring Festival is expected to top 8 billion yuan, and is seen as key to the long-term revival of China's film industry, according to a research note issued by Guotai Junan Securities. 

春节期间，共有7部题材类型不同的电影上映，展现了中国电影产业的创造力和高质量发展。国泰君安证券发布的一份研究报告显示，今年春节档的整体票房预计将超过80亿元，也是中国电影业长期复苏的关键。

Another report issued by Wanlian Securities predicted that revenues may hit 9 billion yuan, fueled by the three-fold effect of the COVID response optimization, a slight drop in ticket prices, and popular films drawing moviegoers back to theaters.

此外，根据万联证券的一份报告预测，受疫情防控措施优化、电影票价小幅下降以及热门电影对观众吸引力的三重效应的推动，票房收入或达到90亿元。

重点词汇：

1.hustle

英[ˈhʌsl]

美[ˈhʌsl]

n.匆忙; 忙碌喧嚣;

v.推搡; 猛推; 催促(某人); (常指非法地)兜售，取得; 强行;

2.vigor

英[ˈvɪgə]

美[ˈvɪgər]

n.智力， 精力， 元气;