四六级口语阅读必备：春节

和春节有关的单词

春节 Chinese New Year
除夕 Chinese New Year"s Eve
春运 spring migration
农历 the lunar calendar
生肖 zodiac animal
春联 Paper scrolls
春晚 the Chunwan Gala
舞龙 dragon dance
舞狮 lion dance
庙会 Temple Fair
烟花 fireworks
红包 red envelope
压岁钱 gift money
鞭炮 firecrackers
灯笼 lantern
守岁 staying-up
拜年 New Year"s visit
团圆饭 family reunion dinner
年夜饭 the dinner on New Year"s Eve

和春节有关的习俗问答
 
Q：春节是哪一天呢？
A：Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year. According to the lunar calendar, it"s dictated by the first new moon closest to the beginning of spring.
中国的春节每年的日期都不一样。根据农历，春节的具体时间是最接近春天开始的第一个新月日。

Q：什么是生肖？
A：In China, the New Year can start from like, the middle of January than to the end of February. And this lunar cycle repeats itself every 12 years. One animal represents each year, so totally 12 animals represent 12 years. The animals include the horse, goat, tiger, rooster, dog, pig. And, of course, the monkey.
中国的春节那天会在是1月中旬到2月底其间的一天。这种农历的循环每12年重复一次。每种动物代表一年，一共12种动物代表12年。生肖里包括马，羊，虎，鸡，狗，猪。当然还有猴。

Q：本命年是好的吗？
When it"s your year, it is believed you are going to get more bad luck. The Chinese think that this year you are gonna offend the God of Taisui.
到了本命年，人们认为会更容易倒霉。中国人认为本命年的时候容易犯太岁。
A：There are a few things you can do. You just wear red. In China right now you"re seeing so much red. Red is a very auspicious color.
有几件事情可以做，穿上红的就行了。在中国现在到处都看得到红色，红色是非常吉利的颜色。

Q：中国人过年为什么喜欢吃白菜？
A：The cabbage, Chinese cabbage, in Chinese we call this Baicai.  And the reason why we love to eat it during Chinese New Year is if you pronounce it slightly different that means 100 fortune in Chinese.
中国大白菜，我们中国人管这叫白菜。新年里我们之所以爱吃这个，是因为在中文里，它的发音跟"百财"只有一点点不同。

Q:过年前要做什么？
A：In the first five days of the New Year, we are not supposed to do any cleaning, so before that, the whole house needs to be thoroughly cleaned and everyone in the family gets involved.
在新年的头5天，我们不会做清洁活，因此节前，家里需要彻底大扫除，家庭成员都应该参加。

Q除了大扫除，还有什么要做的吗？
A：There is an interesting tradition that we need to have our haircut before Chinese New Year day. Because in China we believe that if we have a haircut, in the first month of the New Year, it will do harm to a maternal uncle"s health.
有个有趣的传统，中国新年前，我们必须要理发。因为中国人相信如果理发这事安排在新年第一个月，会损害舅舅的健康。

Q:什么是春联？
A：Paper scrolls are normally put up on both sides of the doorway. There are certain strict rules to mirror the words, like if there is a character on the left-hand side that saying, sky, for example, there should be one on the right-hand side saying ground, and if there is rain, there is wind. If there is red, there is green. So it is kind of a thing that brings good blessing and good wishes for the New Year.
春联一般贴在门的两边。词的对仗有很严格的规定，如果左联上有一字，比如“天”字，右联必须有个“地”字，“雨”对“风”，“红”对“绿”。因此是语意万千，希望新年带来祝福和好运。

Q:春节期间，适合买什么作为礼物？
A：You know, there is a saying in Chinese for the New Year. It"s actually... Meaning a dumpling with Baijiu, the more you eat or drink, the richer you will be. So if you don"t mind bringing some Baijiu in for us, that will be perfect.
新年，中国有句老话，就是：饺子就酒，越喝越有。就是边吃饺子边喝酒，吃喝越多就越富有。那不介意的话就带着白酒来我家，这就完美了。

Q：中国人为什么喜欢去庙里拜佛？
A：People come here every day to make offering incense sticks and pray. But on New Year"s Eve, it is a particularly important day to come and to ask for health and good fortune for the coming year. To tell your fortune, you have to take a bamboo vessel filled with 100 pre-sticks and shake it until one falls out. That numbered stick is then interpreted by a fortune teller.
每天都有人来这里，来烧香祈愿，但在除夕夜，在这尤为重要的一天中，必须到此祈求来年的安康鸿运。要想预知自己的运势的话，你得先拿一个竹筒，然后摇晃里面的100根签条，直至有一根晃出来，然后拿着这根签条让算命先生算一下。

Q:大年初一还有哪些规矩需要注意吗？
A：Rule number one. No medicine on the first day of the lunar New Year, because it is believed that if you take any medicine on the first day of the year, you will be ill all year. That is no good.
第一条规矩。农历大年初一不能吃药，据说如果你在初一吃了药，你全年身体都会不好。这可不妙。
Rule two, no porridge.  It is a peasant food and you will be eating poor food and be poor all year if you eat porridge on the first day of the year.
第二条，不能喝粥。粥是乡下人吃的东西，吃了穷人的东西你就会变穷，新年第一天喝了粥，一年都会穷。
Rule three, no sweeping because it means you are sweeping away the wealth of the new year to come. Make sense.
第三条，不能打扫卫生，如果搞了卫生，就会把新年里的财运统统扫掉，有道理。