Concerns about the weather are also reflected in British cultural life。 For example， because rain is as common as cats and dogs on the street， so in English when they describe the heavy rain， the British simply say “It rains dogs and cats”。 It’s so vivid。

對天氣的關(guān)注也反映在英國人的文化生活中，比如下雨如同街上的小貓小狗一樣常見，因此在英語當中，形容下大雨時，英國人干脆說成是“貓貓狗狗”。這十分的形象生動。

In the office， colleagues often murmured new colleagues。 If you hear “he does not even take an umbrella”， it means that people think the newer is not stable enough， and lack of consideration。

在辦公室里，同事間常會私下議論新同事，如果聽到“他連雨傘都不帶”，就說明大家認為這位新人不夠穩(wěn)重、做事欠考慮。

During the age of Industrial Revolution， the dust pollution in the air once often led to “Black Rain” in London， Manchester and other big cities which made the gentlemen in white shirt have to care about the weather， because if they went out without an umbrella， they would be made fun of being a “zebra” or “l(fā)eopard” by his colleagues around him。

在工業(yè)革命時代，空氣中的粉塵污染曾經(jīng)讓倫敦、曼徹斯特等大城市常常降下“黑雨”，這讓愛穿白襯衣的紳士們不得不關(guān)心天氣，因為一旦沒有帶傘出門，自己難免就會被身邊同事取笑成“斑馬”或是“花豹”。

Although British people like to complain about bad weather， they generally put a brave face on it。 If someone complains about too much rain， you might hear： “Never mind—it’s good for the garden。” If someone complains that it’s too hot， you could hear： “At least my tomatoes will be happy。” If the conversation has been about general bad weather， perhaps someone will say： “Well， I’ve heard it’s worse in the west。 They’ve had terrible flooding。”

雖然英國人喜歡抱怨天氣不好，但他們總能樂觀面對。比如有人抱怨雨水過多，你可能會聽到：“沒關(guān)系。這雨水對花園好”，如果有人抱怨說，天兒太熱了，你能聽到：“至少我的西紅柿會很快樂。”如果談話是關(guān)于普遍的惡劣天氣，也許有人會說：“嗯，我聽說西方的天氣更糟糕，他們已經(jīng)有可怕的洪水了。”

Let’s Talk！

開始交流吧！

Yang Hu： I didnt see you for a tong time， where have you been？

楊虎：好久沒見，你去哪兒了？

Wang Dong： I went to the UK， just returned last night。

汪董：是啊，我去了英國一趟，昨晚剛回來的。

Yang Hu： Did something funny happen in the UK？

楊虎：那你在英國有沒有發(fā)生什么趣事啊？

Wang Dong： Not really， but I understand the principles of getting on with the British。

汪董：趣事倒沒有，不過，我明白了一個與英國人打交道的原則。

Yang Hu： What principles？ Tell me。

楊虎：什么原則，快說來聽聽。

Wang Dong： That is， if you want to talk with them， you can pick up the topic of weather。

汪董：就是如果你想和英國人講話，那你就講天氣。

Yang Hu： But what do they say about weather？

楊虎：可天氣有什么好講的啊？

Wang Dong： I do not know， maybe it is their national habit。 In addition， I found out a very strange phenomenon in England。 They will take an umbrella even in a sunny day。

汪董：不知道，這是他們的習慣吧。而且，我在英國發(fā)現(xiàn)一個很奇怪的現(xiàn)象，他們上街都會帶著一把傘，即使是晴天。

Yang Hu： Do they use umbrellas to shade sunlight？

楊虎：他們用傘來遮陽嗎？

Wang Dong： No， they just take it。

汪董：不撐，就只是拿著。

Yang Hu： This is really strange， and could only be explained by “different ethnic groups have different styles”。

楊虎：這可真是奇怪啊，只能用“各民族有各民族的風格”來解釋了。

Wang Dong： Right， travelling around can broaden our horizon。

汪董：對啊，去別的地方轉(zhuǎn)轉(zhuǎn)，能開闊咱們的眼界呢。

Uncle Sam

山姆大叔

山姆大叔主要在美國、英國的新聞報道中被用來代指美國或美國政府。“山姆大叔”是美國五大象征之一，它同自由女神一樣，為世人所熟知。在美國的報紙雜志、文學作品和漫畫中，經(jīng)常可以看到“山姆大叔”的名字及其生動的形象。在不同畫家的筆下，“山姆大叔”神態(tài)各異，有的兇狠可憎，有的和藹可親。但最常見的形象還是高高的個子、瘦削的面龐，頭戴星條高頂帽，身穿燕尾服和條紋褲，雖白發(fā)蒼髯，卻精神矍鑠，一派威儀。這一形象深受美國人民的喜愛。

Realize Uncle Sam

認識山姆大叔

1山姆大叔簡介

Uncle Sam is a common national personification of the American government originally used during the War of 1812。 He is depicted as a stern elderly man with white hair and a goatee beard。 Typically he is dressed in clothing that recalls the design elements of the flag of the United States—for example， a top hat with red and white stripes and white stars on a blue band， and red and white striped trousers。 The first use of Uncle Sam in literature was in the 1816 allegorical book The Adventures of Uncle Sam by Frederick Augustus Fidfaddy。

Earlier representative figures of the United States included such beings as “Brother Jonathan”， used by Punch magazine。 These were overtaken by Uncle Sam somewhere around the time of the Civil War。 The female personification “Columbia” has seldom been seen since the 1920s。 The well－known “recruitment” image of Uncle Sam was created by James Montgomery Flagg， an illustrator and portrait artist best known for commercial art。 The image of Uncle Sam was shown publicly for the first time， according to some， in a picture by Flagg on the cover of the magazine Leslie’s Weekly， on July 6， 1916， with the caption “What Are You Doing for Preparedness？” More than four million copies of this image were printed between 1917 and 1918。 The image also was used extensively during World War II。

There are two memorials to Uncle Sam， both of which commemorate the life of Samuel Wilson： the Uncle Sam Memorial Statue in Arlington， Massachusetts， his birthplace； and a memorial near his long－term residence in Riverfront Park， Troy， New York。

2山姆大叔個人

The American icon Uncle Sam was in fact based on a real man， albeit a beardless one。

A businessman from Troy， New York， Samuel Wilson， provided the army with beef in barrels during the War of 1812。 The barrels were prominently labeled “U。S”。 for the United States， but it was jokingly said that the letters stood for “Uncle Sam”。 Soon， Uncle Sam was used as shorthand for the federal government。

The man himself looked nothing like the gaunt， steely－eyed patrician of popular lore。 The Abe Lincoln look， along with the star－spangled outfit， was a product of political cartoonist Thomas Nast， who was one of the most popular artists of the 1800s。

Uncle Sam became a useful icon in cartoons， much like the John Bull character who represented the United Kingdom。 John Bull and Uncle Sam have squared off in hundreds of political cartoons throughout the years。

The most famous image of the Uncle Sam persona was a World War I recruiting image that depicted a stern Sam pointing his finger at the viewer and declaring， “I want you”。 It was painted by artist James Montgomery Flagg in 1916， just prior to US involvement in World War I by or even based on the character Sam Slick， created by Canadian。

山姆大叔的形象代表了美國，是美國人很好的榜樣，也是很好的寫照。山姆大叔這個名字的由來也頗具戲劇性。山姆大叔在美國有很高的聲譽，和美國人討論他時，每一個美國人的臉上都洋溢著驕傲的神情。

Key words ＆ Sentences

關(guān)鍵詞句全知道

Uncle Sam is one of America’s national symbols。

山姆大叔是美國的國家象征之一。

The United States Congress adopted a resolution which saluted Uncle Sam Wilson as the origin of America’s National symbol of Uncle Sam on September 15， 1961。

1961年9月15日，美國國會通過一項決定，將山姆？威爾遜大叔作為國家象征。