Sara: Hi, Yangyang! Happy Chinese New Year!
萨拉:嗨,阳阳!春节快乐!
Yangyang: Hi, Sara! Happy Year of the Tiger!
阳阳:嗨,萨拉!虎年快乐!
Sara: Sorry. What do you mean?
萨拉:对不起。你是什么意思?
Yangyang: Well, we Chinese named the years after twelve animals. In the Chinese calendar, we just entered the year of the tiger.
阳阳:嗯,我们中国人用十二个动物给年命名。在农历,我们刚刚进入了虎年。
Sara: How interesting! What are the twelve animals?
萨拉:多么有趣啊!十二个动物是什么?
Yangyang: They are Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.
阳阳:它们是鼠、牛、虎、兔、龙、蛇、马、羊、猴、鸡、狗和猪。
Sara: How often does each animal come around?
萨拉:每个动物多久循环一次?
Yangyang: Every twelve years. I was born in the year of the tiger, so my birth-year animal is the tiger.
阳阳:每十二年。我出生在虎年,所以我的生肖是虎。
Sara: Who decided the order of the birth-year animals, Yangyang?
萨拉:谁决定生肖的顺序,阳阳?
Yangyang: That’s a good question. There are many different stories about it.
阳阳:那是个好问题。有很多关于它的不同的故事。
Sara: Please tell me one of them.
萨拉:请给我讲它们中的一个。
Yangyang: In one story, the Jade Emperor held a swimming race to choose animals for the names of the years. Those twelve animals were faster than others.
阳阳:在一个故事中,玉皇大帝为了年的名字举办了一场游泳比赛挑选动物。那十二个动物比其他动物快。
Sara: Which animal was the first of the twelve?
萨拉:哪一个动物是十二个中的第一个?
Yangyang: It was the rat.
阳阳:是老鼠。
Sara: Then the Jade Emperor decided to name a year after each of them. The rat starts the cycle.
萨拉:然后玉皇大帝决定用它们中的每一个给年命名。老鼠是循环的开始。
Yangyang: You are right.
阳阳:你是对的。
Mike: Hi, Lingling! I have a New Year gift for you.
迈克:嗨,玲玲!我有一份新年礼物给你。
Lingling: What a surprise! Thank you. What is it?
玲玲:太惊喜了!谢谢你。它是什么?
Mike: Look! It’s a tiger--year stamp! I got it in Canada. I know you were born in the year of the tiger.
迈克:看!它是一枚虎年邮票!我在加拿大得到它的。我知道你出生在虎年。
Lingling: Yes, I was. My favourite animal is the tiger. I collect the birth--year animal stamps. I’ll show them to you.
玲玲:是的,我出生在虎年。我最喜欢的动物是老虎。我收集生肖邮票。我将向你展示它们。
Mike: Great! My grandma also collects the birth-year animal stamps. She likes the dog best. She is as caring as a dog.
迈克:太棒了!我(外)祖母也收集生肖邮票。她最喜欢狗。她像狗一样乐于助人。
Lingling: What is your birth-year animal, Mike?
玲玲:你的生肖是什么,迈克?
Mike: I’m an ox. I work as hard as an ox.
迈克:我属牛。我像牛一样努力工作。
Lingling: I’m as brave as a tiger.
玲玲:我像老虎一样勇敢。