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【听音频，也可猛戳左下角“
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This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. com.
这里是bbclearningenglish. com英语六分钟节目。
Alice:
Hello and welcome to
6 Minute English from BBC Learning English: we'll be talking about a
story in the news and learning some vocabulary along the way. I'm Alice
and joining me today is Kaz. Hi Kaz.
大家好。在这期的节目里，我们看一个新闻故事，同时教给大家一些新的词汇和短语。我是爱丽丝，今天和我一起主持节目的是卡兹。
Kaz:
Hi there Alice.
你好，爱丽丝。
Alice:
Now, if you're
listening to this programme on the 21 December 2012 or after, then I'm
very happy to say that the world hasn't ended.
如果你是在2012年12月21日或该日之后收听的本节目，那么我要很高兴地告诉你世界末日并未到来。
Kaz:
Alice, what do you mean the world hasn't ended?
爱丽丝，我所说的是世界末日是什么意思？
Alice:
Well, according to
the ancient Mayan civilisation, the people who lived in Central America
4,000 years ago, the world was supposed to end on December 21, 2012.
是这样的。古玛雅文明预测，2012年12月21日将是世界末日。而所谓玛雅人，则是4000年前生活在中美洲的人类。
Kaz:
Well, thank goodness they got the day wrong.
谢天谢地，他们把日期弄错了。
Alice:
It's very
interesting though, because the ancient Mayan calendar said December 21
2012 marked the end of a 5,000 year cycle. We'll find out more in a
minute, but first my question of the day. Kaz, December 21 is an
important day in the calendar because it is usually the shortest day of
the year in the northern hemisphere. Now, what's the word in English for
this? Is it: a) the winter equinox b) the winter solstice c) midwinter
但是这很有趣，因为古玛雅日历上显示2012年12月21日标志着为期5000年的周期结束了。稍后我们再讨论这件事，先来看看今天的问题。在日历中，12月21日是很重要的日子，因为这通常是北半球白昼最短的一天。那么卡兹，你知道这用英语怎么表达吗？是冬分，冬至还是仲冬呢？
Kaz:
I'd say midwinter.
恩，我觉得是仲冬。
Alice:
Well, as usual, we won't hear the answer until the end of the
programme. Now let's find out more about the Mayan people and their
calendar, which dates back over 5,000 years. Professor Pedro Yac, from
Guatemala, held a ceremony on a beach in Havana, Cuba, to mark the end
of the Mayan calendar cycle. December 21, 2012 may not mark the end of
the world, but Yac hopes people will use it as a day to think about what
is important in life:
好的，和往常一样，我们会在节目的最后再揭晓答案。卡兹，现在咱们继续聊聊玛雅人和他们的日历吧，这还要追溯到5000多年前呢。危地马拉的Pedro
Yac教授在古巴哈瓦那市的海滩上举行了一个仪式，以此来标记玛雅日历周期的结束。2012年12月21日可能不是世界末日，但Yac希望人们能在这一天仔细想想生命中重要的是什么。
Enough of the culture of fear. We should
stop planting fear. Not in the present generations, not in the future
generations. We have to return to our roots. We are the children of
mother earth. When we forget this everything becomes complicated.
这是一种文化恐惧现象。我们应该停止传播恐惧，既不在当代传播，也不传播给后代。我们应该追本溯源。我们都是地球母亲的孩子，如果我们忘记了这一点，所有事情就会变得很复杂。
Alice:
So, Professor Pedro Yac says he hopes humanity returns to its roots – to think about where we came from, how we were created.
Pedro Yac教授说，他希望人类能追本溯源，去想想我们来自哪，我们是怎样被创造出来的。
Kaz:
He says people are children of mother earth – the earth is considered to be the source of all living things.
他还说，人类是地球母亲的孩子。也就是说，地球是万物之源。
Alice:
And he thinks that when people forget where they come from, everything becomes complicated.
而且他认为，当人类忘记了自己来自哪里，一切都会变得很复杂。
Kaz:
He says we should stop planting fear – spreading fear.
Yac教授还说，我们应该停止种植恐惧的种子，也就是停止传播恐惧。
Alice:
What's really
interesting is how many people believe that the end of the world will
happen soon. According to a poll by Reuters IPSOS earlier this year,
nearly 10% of people believe that the end of the world is nigh - is
coming soon. Here are two interesting pieces of language to listen out
from the next speaker. "Humanity's time on earth is up", which means
people will die out, and "Doomsday". What's Doomsday Kaz?
但真正有趣的是，有多少人会相信世界末日即将到来。路透社和伊普索斯于年初联合进行的一项民调显示，近10%的人相信世界末日即将来临。下面的两句话很有意思，待会大家仔细听一下。第一句是：“人类在地球上的时代已结束”，意思就是说人类即将灭亡。第二句话是“Doomsday”。卡兹，你知道这个词是什么意思吗？
Kaz:
Doomsday is the name given to the day the world will end.
Doomsday就是世界末日的意思。
Alice:
Here's reporter Tom Santorelli:
下面是Tom Santorelli的报道。
Last May a Reuters IPSOS poll found that
nearly 10% of people worldwide go along with the interpretation that
humanity's time on earth is up. The Doomsday prediction has spawned a
glut of films and books on the subject.
去年5月份，路透社和伊普索斯联合进行了一项民调。调查显示，世界上有近10%的人相信人类在地球上的时代已结束。世界末日的预言催生出了很多关于这一主题的电影和书籍。
Alice:
Reporter Tom
Santorelli says the Doomsday prediction has spawned a glut of films and
books about the end of the world. A glut of – it means a lot of.
记者Tom Santorelli说，世界末日的预言催生出了很多关于这一主题的电影和书籍。A glut of，就是很多的意思。
Kaz:
And he used the verb
'spawned' – we usually hear that in the terms of frog spawn, the
thousands of little eggs that a frog lays, which grow very fast.
他还用到了“spawned”这个动词。我们经常听到frog spawn（青蛙产的卵），即青蛙孵出的成千上万颗小卵，其生长速度很快。
Alice:
And as the world
hasn't ended, I wonder what we can conclude from the end of this Mayan
calendar cycle. Here's archaeologist Richard Hensen, who says it marks a
new era – a new period in time.
既然世界没有结束，我在想我们可以从玛雅日历的周期结束中得出什么结论。下面是考古学家Richard Hensen的观点，他表示，玛雅日历周期的结束标志着新纪元，即一个新的时代。
What we see is a new era. We are privileged
to witness and enjoy the end of one era that started 3,114 years before
Christ. It's rare to have an opportunity like this to experience a very
important date.
我们现在看到的是一个新时代。现在这个时代始于公元前3114年，能目睹并享受时代的终结是一种荣幸，毕竟我们很难有这样的机会去体验非常重要的日子。
Alice:
Archaeologist
Richard Hensen, who says we are privileged, fortunate, to witness and
enjoy the end of one era, and experience a new one.
考古学家Richard Hensen称，目睹并享受旧时代的结束、经历新时代的开始是我们的荣幸。
Kaz:
He says it's rare to have an opportunity like this to experience a very important date.
他还说，难得有这样的机会去体验非常重要的日子。
Alice:
Now, that question I
asked you at the beginning of the programme, Kaz. What's the name in
English for the event that usually happens on or around December 21
every year in the northern hemisphere?
好了，卡兹，我们来看节目开始时我问你的那个问题。通常在北半球每年12月21日左右发生的事件用英语怎么说？
Kaz:
And I said midwinter.
我当时说仲冬。
Alice:
Well, it's a bit of
a trick question. Midwinter can be around December 21, but we usually
think of it as a longer period of time. And the winter equinox doesn't
exist. Equinox means that the day is the same length as the night – so
that usually happens in March and September. So the answer I was looking
for is ‘the winter solstice'. It's the day when the sun at noon is at
its lowest altitude above the horizon.
其实这个问题有点难。仲冬是在12月21日左右，但通常指的是较长的一段时间。至于冬分，这个词根本不存在。春分指的是昼长和夜长相等的那天，所以通常发生在3月和9月。所以我想要的答案是冬至。当冬至来临时，太阳在正午时的海拔将达到最低。
Kaz:
I see. So, that usually occurs in the northern hemisphere sometime around December 21.
我明白了。所以这一天通常发生在北半球的12月21日左右。
Alice:
That's right. And before we go Kaz, could you read us some of today's words and phrases?
没错。卡兹，在节目结束之前，你能给我们读一下今天学到的单词和词组吗？
Kaz:
I'd be delighted. We heard: equinox, solstice, return to our roots, mother earth, spawned, a glut of.
我很愿意。今天我们听到了以下单词：
equinox
春秋分，二分点
solstice
至日
return to our roots
追本溯源
mother earth
地球母亲
spawned
催生，大量产生
a glut of
很多，许多
Alice:
Thanks Kaz. And please join us again soon for more 6 Minute English frombbclearningenglish. com.
非常感谢你，卡兹。同时也欢迎大家登录网站（bbclearningenglish. com）收听更多的BBC英语六分钟节目节目。
Both:
Bye.
再见。
That was 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. com.
以上是bbclearningenglish. com英语六分钟节目。
