李薇 译注

On February 2nd, in a few small towns in Canada and the USA, people gather to see if a groundhog (an animal that looks like a big mouse) comes out of his hole in the ground and sees his shadow. It's a kind of local festival. The most famous one is in Pennsylvania in the USA. Newspapers and TV news shows talk about it, and there was a famous movie about it called, of course, Groundhog Day.

A: This winter is really dragging on. I hate the cold.

B: They say it’ll be cold all week.

A: That’s a drag. When will this winter end?

B: Well, it’s February already and we might get an early spring. We’ll know tomorrow for sure.

A: Why? What’s tomorrow?

B: It’s Groundhog Day.

A: What’s that? I’ve never heard of it.

B: Every February 2nd, the groundhog comes out of his burrow.

A: What’s a groundhog?

B: An animal. If he sees his shadow, he goes back inside to continue sleeping and there’ll be six more weeks of winter. But, if it’s a cloudy day, he stays out and spring will come soon. The forecast calls for clouds tomorrow!

A: Is this true? It sounds implausible.

B: It’s a legend. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but their prediction is pretty accurate. They’re spot-on, most of the time.

A: What if different groundhogs disagree? There are lots of them, right?

B: There are a few famous ones. Some small towns have a special pet groundhog they use. They have a festival every February 2nd. Journalists and school kids come to see if the groundhog sees his shadow.

A: So, Groundhog Day is a kind of tourist attraction, right?

B: Yes, it’s lots of fun, and profitable for small-town hotels.

A: What does a groundhog look like? I’ve never seen one.

B: It’s a small animal. It looks like a big fat mouse. They live underground and hibernate in winter. I think they mainly live in the countryside.

A: They sound delicious. Are they in the supermarket?

Groundhog Day: 〈主美〉土拨鼠日，一般为2月2日，据说土拨鼠于该日出洞，如天晴而看见自己的影子，就回洞继续冬眠，冬天也将延续6周；如天阴，则预示春天将早日来临。

Exercise

1. drag on a. very pleasant and enjoyable to taste

2. burrow b. a guess about the future

3. call for c. professionals guess about the weather

4. implausible d. not impossible but difficult to believe and
therefore unlikely to be true

5. legend e. an informal way to mean exactly right

6. prediction f. keeps being right and correct, no mistakes

7. accurate g. time passes very slowly and boringly

8. spot-on h. very old story. Is it true? Some people think so.

9. journalist i. sleep all winter

10. tourist attraction j. most of the time/most of the group

11. profitable k. this business can make good money

12. hibernate l. animal makes a long, deep hole in the ground

13. mainly m. famous place made for travellers to see

14. delicious n. a reporter (TV news, or newspaper)

Answers: 1–g, 2–l, 3–c, 4–d, 5–h, 6–b, 7–f, 8–e, 9–n, 10–m, 11–k, 12–i, 13–j, 14–a

Usage Tips

1. legend是“传说，传奇故事”的意思，这样的故事往往都很古老，且口口相传、家喻户晓，但未必都是真实的，比如英国两个著名的传说：罗宾汉（Robin Hood）劫富济贫的故事和亚瑟王（King Arthur）与圆桌骑士寻找圣杯的传说。同时，legend还可指“传奇中的人”，如：He has already become a legend in his homeland.（他在自己的祖国已变成了一个传奇人物。）

2. 如果说某件事implausible，这就意味着它是令人难以置信的事情，不大可能是真实的，比如：an implausible excuse（难以叫人相信的借口）；A story that you don’t have your homework because a dog ate it is totally implausible.（你的作业本被狗狗吃掉的这种说法真是让人难以相信。）该词与impossible的关键区别在于：如用implausible，说明还存在一定的可能性，而impossible则着重强调根本“不可能发生”这层含义。

3. drag指“用力或慢慢地拖，拉”，如拖着椅子，就可以说：drag a chair。当形容时间过得很慢时，用drag这个词就能非常形象生动地表达出“痛苦乏味地捱过时间”的含义。20世纪60年代，“It’s a drag”这一说法在美国俚语中流行起来，它的意思是“令人厌倦（或讨厌）的、不好的小事”，如: It’s a drag that I have a cold, so I can’t come to your party!（真够郁闷的，我得了感冒，所以不能参加你的聚会了。）

（来源：英语学习杂志）