西方情人节来历
关键词：
西方,情人节
西方情人节来历
There are varying opinions as to the origin of Valentine's Day. Some experts
state that it originated from St. Valentine, a Roman who was martyred for
refusing to give up Christianity. He died on February 14, 269 A.D., the same day
that had been devoted to love lotteries.
关于情人节的起源有许多种说法。有关人士认为情人节是一个名叫桑特-瓦伦丁的人士发起的。他是罗马人，因为拒绝放弃基督教而于公元前269年2月14日惨遭杀害，这一天也正好是全城盛行彩票抽奖的日子。
Legend also says that St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer's
daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it "From Your Valentine".
而另外一种说法更具有传奇色彩，相传桑特-瓦伦丁曾留下一本日记给了狱卒的女儿，署名为“你的情人”，据说这名狱卒的女儿就是桑特-瓦伦丁的情人。
Other aspects of the story say that Saint Valentine served as a priest at the
temple during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Claudius then had Valentine jailed
for defying him. In 496 A.D. Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honour St.
Valentine.
还有其它的说法也颇为有趣。比如说有人认为在克劳迪亚斯君王统治时期，桑特-瓦仑丁曾经是一名神父，因为公然挑战克劳迪亚斯君王的权威身陷囹圄。所以公元前496年罗马教皇格莱西亚斯特意将2月14日作为一个特别的日子以纪念桑特-瓦伦丁。
Gradually, February 14 became the date for exchanging love messages and St.
Valentine became the patron saint of lovers. The date was marked by sending
poems and simple gifts such as flowers. There was often a social gathering or a
ball.
此后2月14日就成为了一个具有特殊意义的日子。在这天人们向自己心仪的人传递信息以示爱意。而理所当然的桑特 瓦仑丁也就成为了为恋爱中的男女们牵线搭桥的人。在2月14日这天人们会特意做诗或者用一些小礼物送给自己心爱的人。而且人们还会组织各种各样的聚会来庆祝这个特殊的节日。
In the United States, Miss Esther Howland is given credit for sending the first
valentine cards. Commercial valentines were introduced in the 1800's and now the
date is very commercialised.
艾瑟-霍兰德小姐是美国第一位因为发送情人节卡片而受到荣誉奖励的人。早在19世纪初情人节就已处露商业化的端倪。而如今情人节已经完全被商业化了。
比如每当每年2月14日来临的时候，一些城镇如罗夫兰、克罗拉多等，这里的人们都要派送大量的为情人节特备的卡片。
The town of Loveland, Colorado, does a large post office business around
February 14. The spirit of good continues as valentines are sent out with
sentimental verses and children exchange valentine cards at school.
而在这天人们往往吟歌做诗并且把这些写入卡片中送个自己喜欢的人以表达自己的爱意。而在学校里孩子门也喜欢互增贺卡来度过这个特殊的节日。久而久之就形成了一种习俗并且延续至今天。
使时间管理成为生活方式（英汉对照）
原作者: Vishal 译者: 小狼诺夫
Most of us would like to accomplish more than what we are able to in a day. How many times have you felt that it would be so much easier if you only had a few more extra hours in a day to complete the various tasks that you have on your plate? And how many times have you wished that you could do with a lesser amount of stress and strain that your workload is causing you?
The thing you need to know to overcome this feeling of being over laden with work all the time is to be able to manage your time better. And the most important thing to understand is that time management is not something that you can do as and when you feel that work is getting difficult to handle. It is a lifestyle that you need to adopt and practice each and every day of your life! It is a habit that will lead you to a life where you have peace of mind, better and more efficient work churn out and more time on your hands to do the things you enjoy.
The other thing to appreciate when you start off on your journey to be able to manage your time better is to be prepared that this change that you are going to adopt in your lifestyle will take some time to internalize. It is not something that you can switch on at will. But also be aware of the fact that once this change has been made, life will be much smoother.
There are many techniques that you can adopt to help you in managing your time better and get a kick-start in this process. And the best technique to start with is to learn how to focus on the job at hand. This can be done once you have prepared a list and prioritized the tasks that you have on hand. But once you have decided to take up a particular job, don’t let yourself get distracted on the way. Don’t allow thoughts on other projects to mingle and disturb your thought process. Ensure that you are determined to complete the job at hand before you allow your mind to take detours into other arenas awaiting attention. Avoid taking any kind of breaks while you are at that task and ensure that you complete it before you consider a cup of coffee or a call that you need to make.
Learning the tricks of determination, concentration and discipline shall ensure that after a while you will get so used to focusing on the task that you are doing that you will not need to consciously drive out errant thoughts from entering. At this level, you can safely assume that you have learnt one of the tricks of time management that will ensure that your work gets finished on time and is far better in quality that it used to be earlier.
Vishal P. Rao runs the Work at Home Forum, an online community of those who work from home.
大多数人想完成比我们一天里所能完成的更多的事情。有多少次你觉得如果一天里只要再多出几个小时那样完成你案桌上的各项任务就会变得容易得多？有多少次你希望你可以处于一种较轻的工作压力和较低的紧张情绪中工作？
为了克服所有时候总是这样超负荷工作，你所需要知道就是能够更好地管理你的时间。需要理解的最重要的事情是，时间管理不是处理工作中的紧急变故。它是一种生活方式，你要接受它并在生命中的每一天履行它！它是一种习惯，可以引导你进入一种静心的生活，从而产生更高、更优质的工作效率，继而有更多的闲暇时光来做你喜欢的事情。
当你踏上通往更好的时间管理的旅程时，另一件需要明白的是你要准备一段时间来接受这种生活方式上的改变并能够和它融合。它不是你可以随意改变的东西，但也要意识到一旦改变形成，生活亦必会变得舒畅得多。
你可以采用许多方法来帮助自己更好地管理时间，并抓紧启动这一行动。最好的启动方案是学习如何关注手头的工作。你只要准备一张列表并把手头工作按轻重缓急排序，它就算完成了。但是一旦你决定开始一项特殊的工作，别让自己心神不定。别让对其他项目的想法牵绊你的思路。确保自己下定决心先完成手头的工作，然后让思路迂回到其他需要关注的竞技场。避免在工作时的任何中断，确保在你想喝一杯咖啡或必须打的一个电话之前完成它。
学会果断、专注和纪律的诀窍将确保一段时间之后你将习惯于关注你在做的工作而不必自觉驱除潜入的不定情绪。在这一级别，你可以确实假定你已经学会时间管理的一个诀窍，它将使你的工作不仅按时完成，而且在质量上比之前更好。
Schooling and Education
上学与受教育
It is commonly believed in the United States that school is where people go to get an education. Nevertheless, it has been said that today children interrupt their education to go to school. The distinction between schooling and education implied by this remark is important.
Education is much more open-ended and all-inclusive than schooling. Education knows no bounds. It can take place anywhere, whether in the shower or in the job, whether in a kitchen or on a tractor. It includes both the formal learning that takes place in schools and the whole universe of informal learning. The agents of education can range from a revered grandparent to the people debating politics on the radio, from a child to a distinguished scientist.
Whereas schooling has a certain predictability, education quite often produces surprises. A chance conversation with a stranger may lead a person to discover how little is known of other religions. People are engaged in education from infancy on. Education, then, is a very broad, inclusive term. It is a lifelong process, a process that starts long before the start of school, and one that should be an integral part of one's entire life.
Schooling, on the other hand, is a specific, formalized process, whose general pattern varies little from one setting to the next. Throughout a country, children arrive at school at approximately the same time, take assigned seats, are taught by an adult, use similar textbooks, do homework, take exams, and so on. The slices of reality that are to be learned, whether they are the alphabet or an understanding of the workings of government, have usually been limited by the boundaries of the subject being taught. For example, high school students know that they are not likely to find out in their classes the truth about political problems in their communities or what the newest filmmakers are experimenting with. There are definite conditions surrounding the formalized process of schooling.
上学与受教育
在美国，人们通常认为上学是为了受教育。 而现在却有人认为孩子们上学打断了他们受教育的过程。 这种观念中的上学与受教育之间的区别非常重要。
与上学相比，教育更具开放性，内容更广泛。 教育不受任何限制。 它可以在任何场合下进行，在淋浴时，在工作时，在厨房里或拖拉机上。 它既包括在学校所受的正规教育，也包括一切非正规教育。 传授知识的人可以是德高望重的老者，可以是收音机里进行政治辩论的人们，可以是小孩子，也可以是知名的科学家。
上学读书多少有点可预见性，而教育往往能带来意外的发现。 与陌生人的一次随意谈话可能会使人认识到自己对其它宗教其实所知甚少。 人们从幼时起就开始受教育。 因此，教育是一个内涵很丰富的词，它自始至终伴随人的一生，早在人们上学之前就开始了。
教育应成为人生命中不可缺少的一部分。然而，上学却是一个特定的形式化了的过程。 在不同场合下，它的基本形式大同小异。 在全国各地，孩子们几乎在同一时刻到达学校，坐在指定的座位上，由一位成年人传授知识，使用大致相同的教材，做作业，考试等等。 他们所学的现实生活中的一些片断，如字母表或政府的运作，往往受到科目范围的限制。 例如，高中生们知道，在课堂上他们没法弄清楚他们社区里政治问题的真情，也不会了解到最新潮的电影制片人在做哪些尝试。 学校教育这一形式化的过程是有特定的限制的。
The Language of Music
音乐的语言
A painter hangs his or her finished picture on a wall, and everyone can see it. A composer writes a work, but no one can hear it until it is performed. Professional singers and players have great responsibilities, for the composer is utterly dependent on them. A student of music needs as long and as arduous a training to become a performer as a medical student needs to become a doctor. Most training is concerned with technique, for musicians have to have the muscular proficiency of an athlete or a ballet dancer. Singers practice breathing every day, as their vocal chords would be inadequate without controlled muscular support. String players practice moving the fingers of the left hand up and down, while drawing the bow to and fro with the right arm -- two entirely different movements.
Singers and instrumentalists have to be able to get every note perfectly in tune. Pianists are spared this particular anxiety, for the notes are already there, waiting for them, and it is the piano tuner's responsibility to tune the instrument for them. But they have their own difficulties: the hammers that hit the strings have to be coaxed not to sound like percussion, and each overlapping tone has to sound clear.
This problem of getting clear texture is one that confronts student conductors: they have to learn to know every note of the music and how it should sound, and they have to aim at controlling these sounds with fanatical but selfless authority.
Technique is of no use unless it is combined with musical knowledge and understanding. Great artists are those who are so thoroughly at home in the language of music that they can enjoy performing works written in any century.
音乐的语言
画家将已完成的作品挂在墙上，每个人都可以观赏到。 作曲家写完了一部作品，得由演奏者将其演奏出来，其他人才能得以欣赏。因为作曲家是如此完全地依赖于职业歌手和职业演奏者，所以职业歌手和职业演奏者肩上的担子可谓不轻。一名学音乐的学生要想成为一名演奏者，需要经受长期的、严格的训练，就象一名医科的学生要成为一名医生一样。 绝大多数的训练是技巧性的。音乐家们控制肌肉的熟练程度，必须达到与运动员或巴蕾舞演员相当的水平。歌手们每天都练习吊嗓子，因为如果不能有效地控制肌肉的话，他们的声带将不能满足演唱的要求。 弦乐器的演奏者练习的则是在左手的手指上下滑动的同时，用右手前后拉动琴弓--两个截然不同的动作。
歌手和乐器演奏者必须使所有的音符完全相同协调。 钢琴家们则不用操这份心，因为每个音符都已在那里等待着他们了。 给钢琴调音是调音师的职责。 但调音师们也有他们的难处： 他们必须耐心地调理敲击琴弦的音锤，不能让音锤发出的声音象是打击乐器，而且每个交叠的音都必须要清晰。
如何得到乐章清晰的纹理是学生指挥们所面临的难题：他们必须学会了解音乐中的每一个音及其发音之道。 他们还必须致力于以热忱而又客观的权威去控制这些音符。
除非是和音乐方面的知识和悟性结合起来，单纯的技巧没有任何用处。 艺术家之所以伟大在于他们对音乐语言驾轻就熟，以致于可以满怀喜悦地演出写于任何时代的作品。