Why is 2020 called a leap year?
Today we are talking about the somewhat unusual day of February 29. It comes up on the calendar only every four years. A year with a February 29 might be good news if you are paid by the day or the week. But it might be bad news if you were born on a February 29. You have to wait three years in between birthdays!
今天我們要談論的是2月29號這個有些不同尋常的日子。2月29號每四年才出現一次。如果你的工資是按天或按周計算的，那麼2月29日對你來說是個好事。但是，如果你出生在2月29日，這也許有點不太好了，每過一次生日必須得等三年！In any case, American English has a term for the unusual situation. February 29 is called a leap day. And the entire 12 month period with a February 29 in it is called a leap year. This year, 2020, is such a year.無論如何，美式英語有一個術語來描述這種不同尋常的情況。2月29號被稱為閏日。整整12個月，包括2月29日，被稱為閏年。今年2020年就是閏年。A leap day and a leap yearAs a verb, the word "leap" means to jump, or to move quickly. "Leap" can also be a noun, meaning a jump, or a sudden move.作為動詞，leap的意思是跳躍，或者快速移動。leap也可作名詞，表示跳躍或突然移動。In a leap year, the dates jump over one day of the week. Let me explain. In 2017, the last day of the year, December 31, fell on a Sunday. In 2018, it fell on a Monday. In 2019, it fell on a Tuesday. But in 2020, December 31 will fall on a Thursday. It just leaped right over Wednesday.在閏年，日期會跳過去一天。我來解釋一下。2017年12月31日是一年中的最後一天，正好是星期日。2018年的的最後一天是星期一。2019年的最後一天是星期二。但是，在2020年，12月31日是星期四。這剛好跳過了周三。Why do we have a leap year?The reason for a leap day or a leap year is because our calendar does not follow the Earth's orbit around the sun exactly. Each year, we have a little time left over. So every four years, we put all that time together into an extra day – or, what is officially called an intercalary day. But I have never, ever heard an English speaker use that term. "Leap day" is fine.之所以有閏日或閏年，是因為我們的日曆與地球繞太陽旋轉的軌道不完全一致。每一年，我們都會多出一點時間。因此，每四年，我們把多出來的這些時間放在一起，把它變成額外的一天，這多加的一天就被稱為閏日。但是我從來沒有聽一個說英語的人用過閏日這個詞。閏日很美好。"Leap" is also an important word for two other common – but opposing – American expressions. One is a kind of warning. If you want someone to investigate a situation completely before taking action, you might say, "Look before you leap."leap也用於另外兩個常見的但對立的美式短語。一種是警告。如果你想讓一個人在付諸行動之前徹底調查一下情況，你可以說："Look before you leap."意思是：「三思而後行」。The other expression is a phrase of hope. Urging someone to "take a leap of faith" invites the person to take action, even if not everything about a situation is known.另一種則用於表示希望。"Take a leap of faith."意思是：「要有信心」，用來督促他人採取行動，即使對某一情況並不完全了解。Interestingly, both phrases are completely reasonable to say to someone who is about to get married.有趣的是，把這兩個短語說給即將結婚的人則非常適用。On that note, some people choose to marry on February 29 because it is an unusual date. One wedding chapel in the U.S. city of Las Vegas is even offering a free ceremony for those who decide to "take the leap" into marriage on the last day of this month. The ceremony is followed by a chance to skydive together – that is, jump out of an airplane with a parachute.因為2月29日是一個非同尋常的日子，所以有的人會選擇在這一天結婚。美國拉斯維加斯的一家婚禮教堂甚至為那些決定在本月最後一天結婚的人提供免費的婚禮儀式。婚禮之後，還有機會一起跳傘——帶著降落傘跳出飛機。But some ancient peoples would likely tell couples not to do it. Leap years were believed to be difficult, and leap days unlucky and a bad time to begin anything new.然而，古代的人可能不贊成新婚夫妻這樣做。在過去，閏年被認為是困難的一年，閏日被認為是不吉利的日子，並不適合新事物的開始。Whatever you think about them, the change in the calendar will be gone soon enough. Then we can return to normal, and leap over February 29 as usual.不管你是怎麼想的，日曆上的這一變化很快就會消失不見。之後都恢復正常，跳過2月29日。往期節目推薦▼
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