It’s About Time: The Story of the Calendar 日历的故事
- 详细资料
- 创建于 2007年8月22日
- 最后更新于 2024年5月25日
- 发布于 2012年1月14日
- 作者：Mike Lee
- 点击数：363
课文朗读
课文讲解
Calendars are a part of our lives that we all take for granted. They tell us what time of the year it is, and what to expect from the future. But as simple as it seems, our modern calendar has been evolving for thousands of years.
日历是我们生活的一部份，往往被视为理所当然之物。它让我们知道现在是一年的何时，以及未来可预期到什么。虽然看似简单，但现今的日历可是历经了数千年的演变。
Every early civilization needed a calendar to judge when to plant crops, and plan religious festivals. But most early civilizations had difficulty putting together an accurate calendar. Many of their calendars were based on the lunar cycle, which has nothing to do with the changing seasons. The Egyptians were the first people to realize that the sun and the stars were the key. As early as 2400 B.C., they had developed the 365-day year that represents the Earth making one full trip around the sun.
任何早期文明都需要日历来判断何时播种及安排宗教庆典。但多数早期文明都难以编制一套准确的历法；许多日历皆依据与季节更迭无关的月亮周期。埃及人最早了解到太阳和星象才是关键。早在公元前2400年时，他们便已发展出365天为一年，相当于地球绕行太阳一整圈。
The Romans, who came later, developed on a far more primitive system. Their calendar was based on a four-year cycle where each year had around 355 days. Over the years the lost days began to add up, confusing the calendar. In order to correct this problem, the Roman High Priest was given the power to lengthen or shorten the year as he saw fit. But this just made the problem worse, since the priests quickly began to abuse this power. When an official whom the priests did not like was elected, they would simply shorten the year until that person’s term had expired!
之后的罗马人则仰赖一种更为原始的系统。他们的历法以四年一期为基础，一年约有355天。但时间一久，少算的天数会累积起来，弄乱日历。为了更正此误差，罗马大祭司获得授权，能随意延长或缩短该年的长短。不过，这只让问题更加恶化，因为祭司们很快地开始滥用权力。他们不喜欢的人当选官职时，他们便会缩短一年的日数，直到官员任期届满为止。
Vocabulary
单词发音
evolve [ɪˋvɑlv] v. 逐步形成；发展；进化
lunar [ˋlunɚ] adj. 月球的; 阴历的
primitive [ˋprɪmətɪv] adj. 原始的
abuse [əˋbjus] v. 滥用
expire [ɪkˋspaɪr] v.（期限）终止
More Information
单词发音
take for granted 想当然认为 to expect something to be available all the time and forget that you are lucky to have it
Egyptian [ɪˋdʒɪpʃən] n. 埃及人
High Priest 主教；大祭司
课文朗读
课文讲解
By the first century B.C., the Roman calendar had become so off that autumn occurred in January. But all that changed after Julius Caesar’s celebrated love affair with Queen Cleopatra. After Caesar discovered the Egyptian calendar, he ordered its adoption throughout the Empire. By then, the calendar had been further modified to include the leap year, so every fourth year would have 366 days.
到了公元前一世纪，罗马人的历法因为偏离太多，导致秋天是从一月开始。但在西泽大帝与埃及皇后展开著名恋情后，一切为之改观。在西泽大帝发现埃及人所使用的历法后，便下令全罗马帝国改采埃及历法。那时历法已进一步修正，纳入闰年，因此每四年有一年是366天。
But still, this system was not completely accurate, and was off by about one day every century. The error was noticed in the 16th century, much to the alarm of the Catholic Church. The Catholics were afraid that the shifting calendar would alter the dates of important feasts like Christmas and Easter, which were based on the solar year. To correct these faults, Pope Gregory XIII commissioned the Gregorian calendar, which is still in use today.
但此系统仍非完全准确，每一世纪皆有一天的误差。这项失误在十六世纪获得重视，也令天主教会担忧。天主教徒担心，变动的日历会改变圣诞节、复活节等阳历重要节日。为了更正这些错误，教宗格勒哥里十三世委制了格勒哥里历，一直沿用至今。
Unfortunately, not everybody believed the Pope. The Catholic Church at that time was being split apart by the Reformation. Some claimed that the Pope had been sent by the devil to distort the celebration of holidays, rather than correct them. In fact, many Christians in European nations such as Greece and Ukraine continue to use the old Julian calendar despite its inaccuracies.
可惜的是，并非人人都相信教宗。当时，天主教教会因宗教改革而分裂；有些人指控说，教宗是恶魔派来扭曲节庆而非更正它们。事实上，尽管有不精确之处，许多如希腊、乌克兰等欧洲国家的基督徒仍然继续使用旧式儒略历（西泽历）。
It has taken thousands of years to develop, but the modern calendar is a thing of wonder. Civilizations may rise and fall, but the length of a year will always stay the same.
历经数千年的发展，现代日历可算是一项奇迹。各文明或许有兴衰，但一年的长度却恒久不变。
−by Michael Karanicolas
Vocabulary
单词发音
modify [ˋmɑdə͵faɪ] v. 修改
alter [ˋɔltɚ] v. 改变
solar [ˋsolɚ] adj. 太阳的
commission [kəˋmɪʃən] v. 委任，委托
distort [dɪsˋtɔrt] v. 扭曲
More Information
单词发音
off [ɔf] adj. 偏离的
Julius Caesar [ˋsizɚ] 尤利乌斯•凯撒（罗马共和国末期杰出的军事统帅、政治家）
Cleopatra [kliəˋpetrə] n. 克利欧佩特拉（古埃及艳后）
leap year 闰年〔每四年一次﹐二月份有29天而不是28天〕
alarm [əˋlɑrm] n. 惊慌，恐惧，担忧
shift [ʃɪft] v.〔想法﹑做法等的〕改变
Easter [ˋistɚ] n.（基督教）复活节
Gregorian [grɛˋgorɪən] calendar 格里高里历，公历（教皇格里高里十三世于1582年颁行）
split [splɪt] v. 分裂；断绝关系
Reformation [͵rɛfɚˋmeʃən] n.（大写）（十六世纪欧洲的）宗教改革运动
Julian calendar 西泽历，儒略历（西泽大帝于公元前46年制定的历法）
civilization [͵sɪv!əˋzeʃən] n. 文明
Reading Questions
1. Which of the following is NOT true about the Egyptian calendar?
A. The sun and the stars were used to make the calendar.
B. It was based on the lunar cycle.
C. It had 365 days in a year.
D. It was developed around 2400 B.C.
2. What role did the High Priest play in making the Roman calendar?
A. He came up with an advanced system to make the calendar.
B. He commissioned the best scholars to make the calendar.
C. He planned religious festivals based on the calendar.
D. He made the year shorter or longer based on his preference.
3. Why was the Gregorian calendar adopted by the Catholic Church?
A. Because autumn took place in January before then.
B. Because they were enemies of Julius Caesar and Queen Cleopatra.
C. Because the previous one didn’t include the leap year.
D. Because they did not want to change the dates of religious celebrations.
4. What is the main purpose of this article?
A. To tell the history of the calendar.
B. To illustrate the importance of using a calendar.
C. To explain how to properly use a calendar.
D. To give examples of different kinds of calendars.
Answer
|
1. ( B ) |
2. ( D ) |
3. ( D ) |
4. ( A ) |