礼节美语124讲
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来自中国的雇员Sue跟男同事Pete和女同事Julie一起去吃饭。
Pete: Hey Sue! Don`t walk under that ladder...it`s bad luck!
Sue: Julie, Is he serious?
Julie: Kind of. There is an old tradition in the West that says it`s bad luck.
S: You mean a superstition?
J: Yes, I guess it is a superstition.
S: But, Julie...you`re from the UK and Pete is American! I thought Western people weren`t superstitious!
Pete: Actually, many of us are. In America we have a whole bunch of superstitions.
Pete警告Sue不要从梯子下面走，It`s bad luck. 会带来坏运气。 Superstition迷信。Julie是英国人，Pete是美国人，原来，西方人也迷信。
S: Wow...I always thought Westerners considered superstitions old-fashioned. My family is Chinese; almost all of us are very superstitious.
Julie: Well, I think the superstitions might be different, but pretty much every country in the world has them.
S: Is the number "four" unlucky in the West?
J: No...I don`t think so.
P: Um...wait. Why is the number "four" bad?
S: In Chinese the pronunciation of the "four" sounds a lot like the word for "death."
P: Oh, I can see why that would be bad.
Sue原以为，西方人觉得迷信是old-fashioned, 守旧过时的，只有中国人迷信，没想到，其实西方人也迷信，但是东西方迷信的内容不同。
J: We might be OK with the number "four" but some Western people think "thirteen" is an unlucky number.
P: That`s true. Some buildings will skip the thirteenth floor or call it "12A" or something.
S: Ha! That`s funny! In many Chinese places they do exactly the same thing with the fourth floor! But why is thirteen unlucky?
J: Well, it`s not too clear how that happened...but it probably has something to do with twelve being a lucky number.
西方人不忌讳“四”，但是忌讳“十三”，很多大楼因此没有十三层，用12A来代替。Sue说，中国也有类似做法。不过，在西方文化里，“十三”为什么不吉利呢？Julie说，大概是因为“十三”前面的“十二”是一个lucky number,特别吉利的数字。
J: Twelve is a number featured in many stories and legends and so it`s kind of considered to be a good number.
S: But thirteen is not?
P: Yeah...and the most unlucky day of all is if a Friday falls on the 13th of a month. That`s considered to be a super unlucky day.
S: Yeah. I saw a horror movie called "Friday the 13" once!
J: Yeah! That`s a great horror movie!
在西方，很多传说和故事里，十二都是吉祥数字，可十三却代表着厄运，如果哪个月的十三号正好又是星期五的话，一定要小心。
礼节美语125讲
来自中国的雇员Sue跟男同事Pete和女同事Julie一起去吃饭。三个人谈到了东西方的迷信。Sue说，
S: What about walking under a ladder? Whats wrong with that?
J: You know, Im not really sure! But its probably a good idea to avoid it...something might fall on your head!
P: That makes sense!
S: So many of your superstitions dont really have a specific origin?
J: Many of them might be related to religious issues...but the origin kind of gets lost in history.
Julie说，西方很多迷信都不知道是从哪来的了。The origin kind of gets lost in history. 比如说，从梯子下面走会带来坏运气，可为什么呢？或许是上面会掉东西下来砸到你吧。
P: Oh! I can think of one superstition thats related to religion. Many Western people say "Bless you!" to a person if they sneeze.
J: Right. Thats because around 500 years ago, people thought saying "God Bless You" could help heal the person and stop the spread of disease.
P: Still today, many people say, "Bless you" after someone sneezes. Its now considered polite.
S: I think thats a sweet thing to say. Tell me some more Western superstitions!
不过，不少迷信跟宗教有关。 Pete举例说，有人打喷嚏，旁边的人说"Bless You" 就起源于宗教。 Julie说，大约五百年前，人们觉得说上帝保佑你God Bless You能防治疾病，但是今天，别人打喷嚏，你说Bless You已经变成一种礼貌了。
P: Well, if you see a black cat walking in front of you...bad luck might be coming very soon!
S: A black cat is kind of evil, huh? I guess thats why a witch always has a black cat!
J: Yeah...but I have a black cat at home and hes not evil at all. Hes a sweet little cat.
P: Id say many Western people dont take these things very seriously, but they are still a part of our culture.