新视野大学英语2文章翻译

English is known as a world language, regularly used by many nations whose English is not their first language. Like other languages, English has changed greatly. The history of the English language can be divided into three main periods: Old English, Middle English and Modern English. The English language started with the invasion of Britain by three Germanic tribes during the 5th century AD, and they contributed greatly to the formation of the English language. During the medieval and early modern periods, the influence of English spread throughout the British Isles, and from the early 17th century its influence began to be felt throughout the world. The processes of European exploration and colonization for several centuries led to significant change in English. Today, American English is particularly influential, due to the popularity of American cinema, television, music, trade and technology, including the Internet.

人们普遍认为英语是一种世界语言，经常被许多不以英语为第一语言的国家使用。与其他语言一样，英语也发生了很大的变化。英语的历史可以分为三个主要阶段：古英语，中古英语和现代英语。英语起源于公元5世纪，当时三个日耳曼部落入侵英国，他们对英语语言的形成起了很大的作用。在中世纪和现代社会初期，英语的影响遍及不列颠群岛。从17世纪初，它的影响力开始在世界各地显现。欧洲几百年的探险和殖民过程导致了英语的重大变化。今天，由于美国电影、电视、音乐、贸易和技术、包括互联网的大受欢迎，美国英语的影响力尤其显著。

中国书法（calligraphy）是一门独特的艺术，是世界上独一无二的艺术瑰宝。中国书法艺术的形成、发展与汉文字的产生与演进存在着密不可分的关系。汉字在漫长的演变发展过程中，一方面起着交流思想、继承文化的重要作用，另一方面它本身又形成了一种独特的艺术。书法能够通过作品把书法家个人的生活感受、学识、修养、个性等折射出来，所以，通常有"字如其人"的说法。中国书法不仅是中华民族的文化瑰宝，而且在世界文化艺术宝库中独放异彩。

Chinese calligraphy is a unique art and the unique art treasure in the world. The formation and development of the Chinese calligraphy is closely related to the emergence and evolution of Chinese characters. In this long evolutionary process, Chinese characters have not only played an important role in exchanging ideas and transmitting culture but also developed into a unique art form. Calligraphic works well reflect calligraphers' personal feelings, knowledge, self-cultivation, personality, and so forth, thus there is an expression that "seeing the calligrapher's handwriting is like seeing the person". As one of the treasures of Chinese culture, Chinese calligraphy shines splendidly in the world's treasure house of culture and art.

A MOOC (massive open online course) is an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web. MOOCs are a recent development in distance education and have now become a surging trend in higher education. These classes are aimed at expanding a university's reach from thousands of tuition-paying students who live in town, to millions of students around the world. In addition to traditional course materials, MOOCs provide interactive user forums to support interactions between students and professors. MOOCs can encourage communication among participants who bring a variety of viewpoints, knowledge, and skills to the course; inspire people to "try on" subjects that they wouldn't otherwise pursue or even try on education itself; provide multiple ways to engage with course material, encouraging multimodal (多模式的) learning that can address the needs of learners with a variety of learning styles; and inspire better teaching and use of technologies for face-to-face courses.

慕课是一种网络课程，它旨在通过网络实现广泛参与和开放接入。慕课是远程教育迈出的最新一步，现已在高等教育领域迅速引领潮流。通过这些课程，大学可以扩大影响的范围，从影响成千上万住在城里付学费的学生，扩展到惠及全球上百万的学生。除了拥有传统的课程资料，慕课还给使用者提供互动论坛，支持学生和讲师之间的交流。慕课能够促进参与者之间的交流，使得多种观点、知识和技能涌现到课堂上来；它鼓励人们尝试之前不可能尝试的课程，甚至是尝试新的教育方式；它提供多种学习课程资料的方式，鼓励多模式学习，以各种学习风格满足学习者的需求；另外，慕课促进教学的改善，使技术在面对面授课中得以更好地应用。

近年来，随着互联网技术的发展，我国的数字化教育资源建设取得了巨大的成就。很多高校建立了自己的数字化学习平台，数字化教学在教育中发挥着越来越大的作用。和传统教学方式相比，数字化教学方式有很大的优势。一方面，数字化教学使教学资源得以全球共享；另一方面，它拓展了学习者的学习时间和空间，人们可以随时随地通过互联网进入数字化的虚拟学校学习。这使得人类从接受一次性教育走向终身学习成为可能。

In recent years, with the development of Internet technology, the construction of digital education resources of our country has made great achievements. Many universities have set up their own digital learning platforms, and digital teaching is playing an increasingly important role in education. Compared with the traditional way of teaching, the digital way has a lot of advantages. On one hand, digital teaching makes global sharing of teaching resources possible; on the other hand, it expands the learner's study time and space to learn, allowing people to get access to the digital virtual schools through the Internet anytime and anywhere. These advantages make it possible for people to shift from one-time learning to lifelong learning.

Valentine's Day on February 14 is celebrated in various American and European countries. It is a holiday of love and romance usually by exchanging valentines or love tokens between lovers. There are different origins regarding the festival. One legend goes that the Romans put a priest named Saint Valentine into prison for refusing to believe in the Roman gods. On February 14, Valentine was put to death not only because he was Christian, but also because he had cured the jailer's daughter of blindness. The night before he was executed he wrote her a farewell letter signed "From your Valentine". Later, February 14 became a holiday for people to show affection for their loved ones. Today, people celebrate Valentine's Day in different ways, sending greeting cards and flowers, giving chocolate or other gifts, or joining in romantic dinners. The holiday has now become popular all over the world. In China the festival is also becoming increasingly popular with young people.

美洲和欧洲各国都会庆祝2月14日的情人节。这是一个充满爱情和浪漫的节日，恋人之间通常都会交换情人卡和爱情信物。关于这个节日的起源有着不同的说法。一个传说是罗马人把一个叫圣瓦伦丁的神父关进了监狱，因为他拒绝相信罗马神。2月14日那天，瓦伦丁被处死，不仅因为他是基督徒，而且因为他曾治愈了一位监狱看守双目失明的女儿。他在被处死的前一天晚上给她写了一封署名“你的瓦伦丁”的告别信。后来，2月14日就成了一个人们可以为他们的情人展示感情的节日。现在，人们以不同的方式庆祝情人节，他们发送贺卡、鲜花，赠送巧克力或其他礼品，或共进浪漫的晚餐。现在这个节日已流行世界各地。在中国，这个节日也正越来越受年轻人的欢迎。

农历七月初七是中国的七夕节(Qixi Festival)，是中国传统节日中最具浪漫色彩的一个节日。一些大的商家每年都举办不同的活动，年轻人也送礼物给他们的情人。因此，七夕节被认为是中国的“情人节”(Valentine's Day)。七夕节来自牛郎与织女（Cowherd and Weaving Maid）的传说。相传，每年的这个夜晚，天上的织女都会与牛郎相会。所以，在七夕的夜晚，人们可以看到牛郎织女在银河（the Milky Way）相会。姑娘们也会在这一天晚上向天上的织女乞求智慧，以获得美满姻缘。但随着时代的变迁，这些活动正在消失，唯有标志着忠贞爱情的牛郎织女的传说一直流传民间。

July 7th on the Chinese calendar is Chinese Qixi Festival, the most romantic of all the traditional Chinese holidays. Every year, some big businesses organize various activities, and young people send gifts to their lovers. As a result, the Qixi Festival is considered to be Chinese "Valentine's Day". The Qixi Festival is derived from the legend of Cowherd and Weaving Maid. The legend holds that on this particular night every year the Weaving Maid in heaven meets with Cowherd. So, people can see Cowherd and Weaving Maid meeting in the Milky Way on the night of Qixi. On this night, girls would also beg Weaving Maid for some wisdom for a happy marriage. But, with the changing of times, these activities are diminishing. All that remains is the legend of Cowherd and Weaving Maid, a sign of faithful love, continuously circulated among the folk.

The color and style of a wedding gown can depend on the religion and culture of the wedding participants. For example, in Western cultures brides often choose a white wedding dress, while in China the traditional wedding dress is in red. Though white has become the most preferred color for wedding gowns across the world today, this was not a widespread trend before the Victorian era. White became a popular option in 1840, when Queen Victoria wore a white gown at her wedding. The official wedding photograph was widely published, and many brides chose white to become the followers of the Queen. Many people believed that the color white symbolized virginity, though this was not the original intention. As far as the style is concerned, wedding dresses were once typically short in the front with a longer train in the back. This tendency continued until the late 1960s, when it became popular to revert to long, full-skirted designs.

婚纱礼服的颜色和款式可取决于婚礼参与者的宗教和文化。例如，在西方文化中新娘通常会选择白色的婚纱，而在中国，传统的结婚礼服是红色的。虽然白色已成为当今婚纱礼服在世界各地最受青睐的颜色，可是这在维多利亚时期之前并不是一个普遍的潮流。白色在1840年成为了一个受欢迎的选择，那年维多利亚女王在她的婚礼上穿了一件白色的礼服。官方的婚礼照片被广泛刊登后，很多新娘都仿效女王选择白色。很多人相信白色象征着童贞，尽管这不是她们选择白色的初衷。就款式而言，婚纱礼服曾一度是前面短短的、后面是长长的裙摆。这种趋势一直持续到20世纪60年代后期，那个时期全长裙边的设计恢复了流行。

中国是丝绸的故乡，因而有很多与丝绸相关的艺术，刺绣（embroidery）就是其中的一种。刺绣是中国民间传统手工艺之一，至少有两、三千年的历史。从事刺绣的多为女子，因此刺绣又被称为"女红"（women's needlework）。刺绣在中国受到了人们广泛的喜爱。刺绣可用来装饰衣物，如在衣服、被子、枕套（pillowcase）等物品上绣上美丽的图案，也可制作成特别的饰品（ornament）。中国有四大名绣: 苏州的苏绣、广东的粤绣、湖南的湘绣以及四川的蜀绣。各种绣法不仅风格有差异，主题也各有不同。在这其中，苏州的苏绣最负盛名。

China is home to silk, thereby having a variety of arts related to silk, one of which is embroidery. Embroidery, with at least two or three thousand years of history, is one of the Chinese traditional folk arts and crafts. Since most embroiderers are women, it's also called "women's needlework". Embroidery has been much-loved by the Chinese people. It can be used to beautify clothing and things. For example, clothes, quilts, pillowcases etc. can be embroidered with beautiful designs, or a piece of embroidery can be made for a special ornament. There are four most famous types of embroidery in China: Suxiu from Suzhou, Yuexiu from Guangdong, Xiangxiu from Hunan, and Shuxiu from Sichuan, each having its own style and theme. Among the four, Suzhou embroidery has enjoyed the highest reputation.

Unit 8

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment. The organization was originally named the World Wildlife Fund in 1961. In 1986, it changed its name to World Wide Fund for Nature to better reflect the scope of its activities. With over five million supporters worldwide, it is the world's largest independent conservation organization, working in more than 100 countries and supporting about 1,300 conservation and environmental projects. Its mission is to stop destroying the planet's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature. Currently, much of its work focuses on the conservation of oceans and coasts, forests, and freshwater. Among other issues, it is also concerned with endangered species, pollution and climate change. They now need, above all, money to carry out its missions and handle conservation emergencies.

世界自然基金会（WWF）是一个致力于有关保护、研究和修复环境议题的国际性非政府组织。该组织最初于1961年被命名为世界野生动物基金会。1986年，它更名为世界自然基金会，以更好地反映其活动范围。它是世界上最大的、独立的自然保护组织，拥有世界各地超过500万的支持者，在100多个国家开展工作，并援助约1,300个与自然和环境保护有关的项目。它的任务是阻止破坏地球的生态环境，建立一个能使人类与自然和谐相处的未来。目前，其大部分工作都集中在对海洋和海岸、森林、淡水的保护。在其他问题上，它也关注濒危物种，污染和气候变化。现在他们最需要的是资金，以履行其使命和处理与自然保护有关的突发事件。

新中国成立以来，特别是改革开放以来，中国政府在生态环境(eco-environmental) 保护方面做出了大量努力，取得了有效进展。政府采取了一系列保护和改善生态环境的重大举措，譬如积极推进重点生态工程，加强生态系统建设(ecosystem) 及生物多样性保护(biodiversity conservation)，建立了一批自然保护区(nature reservation)、生态示范区(ecological demonstration zones)、风景名胜区和森林公园。加强生态环境的保护和建设，实现人与自然和谐相处，是构建社会主义和谐社会（harmonious society）的重要目标之一。环境保护和生态文明建设为中国经济、社会的可持续发展提供了坚实的基础。

Since the founding of New China, especially since the economic reform and door-opening to the world, the Chinese government has made considerable efforts in eco-environmental protection and achieved effective progress. The government has taken a series of important measures to protect and improve the ecological environment, such as actively promoting key ecological projects, enhancing ecosystem construction and biodiversity conservation, establishing a number of nature reservations, ecological demonstration zones, scenic spots and forest parks. One of the important goals of building a socialist harmonious society is to strengthen ecological protection and construction and to achieve harmony between man and nature. Environmental protection and ecological civilization construction have provided a solid foundation for the sustainable development of China's economy and society.