新标准大学英语综合教程3课文翻译和课后习题答案 unit 8.pptx

Text Text Chinese or Western, it’s a time to relax 1 Its that time of the year when the world seems tobe caught in a trance – the trance of end-of-yearcelebrations. End-of-year, I said.2 The problem seems to be exactly that. Why should we inChina refer to the week between December 24 and 31 as theend of the year when ours (according to the lunar calendar) isat least a month away?Text 3 We do so apparently because Christmas and New Yearhave become global festivals, not because they (especiallyChristmas) are essentially Western in nature and spirit, butbecause we can relax during those few days.4 Nevertheless, some scholars and students have expressedconcern over the increasing influence of Christmas onoriental, particularly Chinese, culture. Their fears may bejustified to a certain extent. In fact, we Chinese do seem toattach a lot more time and attention to Christmas today thanwe did even a couple of decades ago.Text 5 For good or bad, the world has possibly undergone morechanges in the past two decades than it did in the past twocenturies. We have used more resources, burnt more fuel,caused more pollution and killed off more animals and plantsas we have come closer to each other to form a truly globalvillage. Television, we thought, was the last uniting factor tillwe got a feel for the Internet.Text 6 All these changes have made us take a different lookat the world beyond and our home within. Nothing comeswithout a rider in this global market. If we want to be part ofthe dazzle and comfort that the West is known for, we hadbetter accept some of its anomalies, too. This is not to saythat festivals mean something else to the West.Text 7 Be it on the mainland or in the highly developed West or inthe poorest of societies, a festival carries the same meaning.People across the world celebrate them with their family andfriends. The basic concept is the same too, sharing a feast ora humble meal (with a few drinks in some societies like oursand the West).Text 8 We cel