英文原版杂志

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英文原版杂志

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Ghost Month, Taiwan

Western societies have always had a prickly relationship with ghosts and revenants; give your average Judeo-Christian a whiff of paranormal ectoplasm and they'll be off banishing, busting, exorcising and channelling.
It's as if the presence of a not-quite-dead soul brings out the worst in an orderly Calvinistic heart. The reason for this is that, for a start, it makes a mockery of that neat life-is-life-and-death-is-death thing; and for another it gives rise to soppy tear-jerkers starring Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze.
Eastern religions are a little more sanguine and pragamatic about the whole deal (and, on the whole, also don't make films with either Demi Moore or Patrick Swayze). Rather than banishing the spirits they try to appease them by inviting them temporarily into the world of the living. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Taiwan during Ghost Month. On the first day of the seventh lunar month, 'Open Day' in hell is held, the gates to the underworld are opened and the spirits are allowed to cross over into the living world.
Not only do the Taiwanese accept these hauntings with admirable equanimity, they actually give their ethereal guests the full VIP 5-star treatment. At the Chung Yuan Festival (about halfway through the month), huge banquet tables are set out in temple courtyards and mountains of fish, vegetables, meat and other delicacies are offered as sacrifice; hanging lanterns are erected to guide the ghosts to the table; non-stop operas entertain during dinner and fake money is burnt so that guests have a bit of pocket-money to spend when they return to hell.
This hospitality is not entirely altruistic - it's insurance against paranormal acts of retribution. Other do's and dont's to be observed during ghost month include the following: weddings, special plans, business deals and outings should be put on hold till the end of the month; no whistling, whistling is not a good idea, whistling will lead the ghost straight to your home; talking ill of the dead (even if it's true) will just bring tears and heartache; special care should be taken when walking along riverbanks where a water ghost can easily steal a living spirit; and adding to the numbers by burying the dead is, unfortunately, not a good idea. On the 30th day of the month, the gates of hell are closed again and the ghosts return to the other side.

This travel article focuses on the Chung Yuan Taiwanese festival that celebrates ghosts and other supernatural beings. It compares between Eastern and Western attitudes towards such supernatural phenomena, and claims that the former is more accepting and open toward it. The article then backs this claim by describing the various traditions of the festival, including food and money sacrifices, and certain superstitions concerning what you should and shouldn’t do during this period.

Each country and region has their own unique superstitions and old beliefs about ghosts and the supernatural. While most legends are not given much weight today, there is still a sprinkling of festivals and events that celebrate the paranormal. The most famous of these is Halloween, a holiday held in America that encourages people to dress up as their favourite supernatural being, such as ghosts, witches, monsters, and so on.
每个国家和地区都有他们自己的关于鬼神的迷信。尽管现在很多传说已经渐渐被遗忘了，但是仍然有一些祭祀神灵的节日。其中最有名的就是美国的万圣节，人们都装扮成他们最喜欢的神灵的样子，例如鬼，女巫和怪物等等。

Prickly : adj. 多刺的
ghosts : n. 鬼，幽灵
whiff : n. 一吹，一阵香气
paranormal : adj. 超过正常的
soul : n. 灵魂
pragamatic : n. 实用主义
spirits : n. 灵魂，幽灵
appease : v. 平息，安抚，使满足
lunar : adj. 月的，月亮的
underworld : n. 地狱，黑暗
hauntings : n. 幻影，幻象
banquet : n. 宴会
courtyards : n. 庭院，院子
sacrifice : n. 祭品，供奉
erected : v. 树立，使直立
operas : n. 歌剧
retribution : n. 报偿
whistling : n. 吹笛，吹口哨

Revenants : n. 幽灵，亡魂
Judeo : 耶稣
ectoplasm : n. 外质(指细胞基质外部的胶化区)
banishing : v. 流放，驱逐
exorcising : v. 驱邪，除怪
channeling : v. 引导，形成河道
Calvinistic : adj. 加尔文主义的
sanguine : adj. 血红的
equanimity : n. 镇定
ethereal : adj. 轻的，天上的，象空气的
temple : n. 寺庙，神殿，教堂
lanterns : n. 灯笼
altruistic : adj. 无私心的

cross over : 横渡

soppy tear-jerkers (spoken/written, informal)
collocation
If something is described as soppy it is very emotionally over the top, such as a soppy love story. A tear-jerker is the name given to a film or theatrical production that is terribly sad and will make the viewer cry.
I don’t want to watch any soppy tear-jerkers tonight! I want to see an action film.
soppy tear-jerkers: 催人泪下的故事
VIP 5-star treatment (spoken/written, informal)
collocation
VIP is an acronym that stands for Very Important Person such as celebrities, politicians and other famous people. 5-star treatment refers to the very special care and attention such people get, similar to the treatment that people receive at expensive 5-star hotels.
My mother-in-law is coming to stay with us next week. No doubt she’s going to expect us to give her the full VIP 5-star treatment.
mountains of fish, vegetables, meat and other delicacies (spoken/written, informal)
metaphor
As a mountain is an incredibly large natural land feature, by saying that there are mountains of food you are saying that there is a huge amount of the food. Delicacies also include foods that are rare or expensive.
At my wedding I want to have mountains of fish, vegetables, meat and other delicacies.
do's and don’ts (spoken/written, informal)
collocation
This collocation refers to the things that you are encouraged or allowed to do (the do’s) and the things that you are discouraged or not allowed to do (the don’ts).
When you go out for dinner at a fancy restaurant, there are a lot of do’s and don’ts that you have to be careful of.
talking ill of the dead (spoken/written, informal)
collocation
If you speak or talk ill of the dead, you are saying bad or negative things about a person who has died.
They say it’s bad luck to talk ill of the dead.

This article is obviously a feature that belongs to the travel section of a newspaper or a travel guidebook. It uses a very punchy and interesting style of writing, with a lot of slang, humour and graphic descriptions. For example, the metaphor of “mountains of fish” gives the reader a clear way to picture the words that they are reading on the page. This light and entertaining tone is very well suited to travel writing.
travel writing: 游记

1.What’s the difference between western and eastern religious?
A. The western religious believe the existence of ghosts, while the eastern don’t.
B. The western try to banish the spirits, while the eastern try to appease them.
C. The western respect the spirits, while the eastern hate them.
D. They hole the same attitude towards the spirits.
2.Which of the following that the Taiwanese will not do at the Chung Yuan Festival?
E. Huge banquet tables are set out in temple courtyards.
F. Mountains of fish, vegetables, meat and other delicacies are offered as sacrifice.
G. Non-stop operas entertain during dinner.
H. Real money is burnt so that guests have a bit of pocket-money to spend when they return to hell.
3.Which should not be done during ghost month?
I. Drinking
J. wedding
K. take special care when walking along riverbanks
L. gambling
4.What does the phrase makes a mockery of (para.2, line2) mean?

[ 本帖最后由 cinderellasnow 于 2009-6-22 17:25 编辑 ]