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来自中国的雇员Sue跟男同事Pete和女同事Julie一起去吃饭。三个人谈到了东西方的迷信。Sue说，
S: What about walking under a ladder? What's wrong with that?
J: You know, I'm not really sure! But it's probably a good idea to avoid it...something might fall on your head!
P: That makes sense!
S: So many of your superstitions don't really have a specific origin?
J: ---1---...but the origin kind of gets lost in history.
Julie说，西方很多迷信都不知道是从哪来的了。The origin kind of gets lost in history. 比如说，从梯子下面走会带来坏运气，可为什么呢？或许是上面会掉东西下来砸到你吧。
P: Oh! I can think of one superstition that's related to religion. ---2---.
J: Right. That's because around 500 years ago, people thought saying "God Bless You" could ---3---.
P: Still today, many people say, "Bless you" after someone sneezes. It's now considered polite.
S: I think that's a sweet thing to say. Tell me some more Western superstitions!
不过，不少迷信跟宗教有关。 Pete举例说，有人打喷嚏，旁边的人说"Bless You" 就起源于宗教。 Julie说，大约五百年前，人们觉得说上帝保佑你God Bless You能防治疾病，但是今天，别人打喷嚏，你说Bless You已经变成一种礼貌了。
P: Well, if you see a black cat walking in front of you...---4---!
S: A black cat is kind of evil, huh? I guess that's why a witch always has a black cat!
J: Yeah...but I have a black cat at home and he's not evil at all. He's a sweet little cat.
P: ---5---.
J: I know one! ---6---! Back in ancient times, a mirror was said to be a window to your soul, so breaking one was very bad!
在西方，如果你前面有一只黑猫，那可糟了，意味着厄运临头。可Julie就养了只黑猫，可爱极了。看来西方人也并不真信，They don't take these things very seriously. 另外，打碎镜子代表七年的坏运气，因为古代人觉得镜子是通向心灵的窗口。
S: Do you have superstitions about where things are built?
J: You mean like Feng-Shui?
S: Yes! Exactly! How do you know about that?
P: Feng-Shui is becoming quite popular in the West. Some people now do try to follow some of the rules if they can.
S: Wow! ---7---!
P: Sure! Why not?
J: Yes...I think it's good to get to know each other's culture better.
风水在西方越来越流行，这也算是文化互通吧。Many of them might be related to religious issues
Many Western people say "Bless you!" to a person if they sneeze
help heal the person and stop the spread of disease
bad luck might be coming very soon
I'd say many Western people don't take these things very seriously, but they are still a part of our culture
Breaking a mirror is seven years of bad luck
It seems we are starting to share traditions | 
发表于 2016-8-2 11:14:00