下面这则新闻可谓是真的“八卦”了，不过拿咱们中国的黄道历学做本本、搞占卜，阅读时除了感到有意思，似乎还有那么几分自豪。据马来西亚《星报》报道：今年是中国的狗年，按照中国的“黄道”学，巴西和意大利有望成为本届世界杯的夺冠之王。该报称，按照中国的农历纪年，世界杯恰在虎年、狗年和马年举行，而只有狗年才会呈现出巴西和意大利轮流封王的现象，有史为证——在狗年，意大利曾两次夺得世界杯王冠而巴西则三次捧走大力神杯。

Chinese zodiac The Year of the Dog is also the year of Italy and Brazil, according to the Chinese zodiac, making the two countries clear favorites for the World Cup, says a Malaysian newspaper.  Brazil and Italy are the only two nations to have won a World Cup in the Year of the Dog, and 2006 is again the year of man's best friend, said The Star newspaper on Thursday. In the five previous World Cups held in the Year of the Dog, Italy has won twice and Brazil three times. The tournament is held every four years, which means it is held only in the Years of the Dog, Horse and Tiger. The Chinese zodiac moves in a 12-year cycle named after animals, starting with the Year of the Rat and ending with the Year of the Pig, which falls in 2007. "World Cup champions in the Horse and Tiger years have been diverse, but the Dog years peculiarly favor Italy or Brazil," the paper said in an article devoted to the influence of Chinese zodiac signs on World Cup matches. Italy, which has won the cup three times, triumphed in the Dog years of 1934 and 1982. Brazil meanwhile, won in 1958, 1970 and 1994. No tournament was held in 1946. British-based bookmaker Ladbrokes placed Brazil at 5/2 favorites this year. Italy are joint fourth with host Germany at 7/1. The final is July 9. (Agencies)

Vocabulary:

Chinese zodiac: “黄道十二宫图”，zodiac一词来自希腊语“zodiakos”（动物园），在希腊人眼中，星座是由各种不同的动物形成，这也是十二个星座名称的由来。中国本土化的zodiac则是指按十二生肖排列的“中国农历纪念”。 tournament: 比赛，锦标赛，文中指“世界杯” （英语点津陈蓓编辑）