Two    Do you believe in palmistry?

你相信手相術(shù)嗎？

 1   Introduction
A    In America, thirteen is considered to be a superstitious number.  So some buildings don’t have the thirteenth floor, instead, they go from the twelfth to the fourteenth floor.  Some house door numbers are like that as well.
在美國，十三被認為是個迷信數(shù)字。所以一些建筑物都沒有十三樓，相反，它們是從十二樓直上到十四樓。一些房子的門牌號碼也是這樣的。

B    When a ladder is propped against the wall, it is supposed to be bad luck to walk underneath it.
當梯子靠墻支架時，從下走過被認為是有壞運氣。

C    At Halloween, people usually place a carved pumpkin with a candle inside and a scary face carved on it, outside their front doors.  It is meant to frighten off evil spirits.
萬圣節(jié)前夕，人們通常把一個里面點有蠟燭、表面雕刻有鬼臉的南瓜，擺放在他們的前門。目的是想嚇走陰魂鬼神。

 2    Sample Sentences
1.   Numerous devout men and women are kowtowing and praying.
     許多信男信女在磕頭、祈禱。
2.   She would be interested in having her fortune told.
     她很想有人給她算命。
3.   I believe they were fated to be married.
     我相信他們命中注定了結(jié)婚的。
4.   You should go to an astrologer to have your horoscope read.
     你應(yīng)該找一個占星家，讓他告訴你你的星象。
5.   You can get someone to tell your fortune over the phone.
     你可以找個人在電話里跟你算命。
6.   I believe for a business to succeed, it has to pay tribute to Buddha.
     我相信一個事業(yè)要成功，就必須拜佛進貢。
7.   How much would you pay for genuine peace of mind?
你會出多少錢買個心境平和？
8.   I believe that two people sharing a pear are not good.
     我覺得兩個人分梨是不好的。
9.   Are you superstitious?  I guess I am a fatalist.
     你迷信嗎？我猜我是個宿命論者。
10.  While many college students felt the urge to push their beliefs on their friends, they also recognized it might not be the most helpful thing at the moment.
     在許多大學(xué)生很想把他們的信念強加給他們的朋友時，他們同時也意識到了在這個時候這樣做可能并不是最有益的事。

 3    Conversations
1.   A funny story about ghosts.
Ruth:  So, Jack, do you believe in ghosts? 
Jack:  No, not really.  Why do you ask? 
Ruth:  Because I want to tell you about the time that I saw a ghost.
Jack:  You saw a ghost?  When?
Ruth:  It was many years ago, when I was a little child.  It was the middle of the night, and I went to get a drink of water from the kitchen.  I walked out of my room and was at the top of the stairs, when… 
Jack:  So that's where you saw the ghost?  In your house?  What did it look like?  Was it hideous1? 
Ruth:  It was a big, green thing that looked like a person.  It was in the kitchen, and it slowly moved towards the stairs… 
Jack:  So what did you do? 
Ruth:  I hid so that it couldn't see me.  Slowly it got closer and closer, until ……
Jack:  Until what?  What happened?  Did you see it clearly?  Did it attack you?
Ruth:  It moved slowly up the stairs, step by step, and I could hear its approaching2 footsteps.  When it finally got to the top of the stairs, I realized that it was my father in his green pajamas.  He had gone to get a late night snack.

【譯文】
——那么，杰克，你相信鬼嗎？
——不，不完全信。你為什么問這個？
——因為我想告訴你一次我看見了一個鬼。
——你看見了一個鬼？什么時候？
——那是許多年前，當我還是小孩子的時候。那晚半夜，我去廚房喝水。我走出我的房間，在樓梯的頂端，就在這時……
——那么說你就在那兒看見了鬼？在你家里？是什么樣子？可怕嗎？
——它是一個巨大的、綠色的東西，看上去像個人。它在廚房，慢慢向樓梯移動。
——那你怎么辦？
——我躲起來以便它看不見我。慢慢地它越來越近，直到……
——直到什么？發(fā)生了什么事？你看清楚了嗎？它有沒有攻擊你？
——它慢慢地移上了樓梯，一步一步，我能聽見它越來越近的腳步聲。當它最后走到樓梯頂端時，我才知道原來是我父親穿著他的綠睡衣。他去吃了個宵夜。

《零距離美語會話[信仰]Lesson2:Doyoubelieveinpalmistry?》永久閱讀地址: http://www.jiazhineng.cn/yingyu/2458/