美語情景對話 第1073期:Commercial Christmas 商業聖誕
Abidemi: So Rory, do you think holidays these days ... do you think they're too commercial? What do you think?
阿比德米：羅瑞，你有沒有覺得現在的假日太商業化了？你是怎麼想的？Rory: I mean, they really are commercial aren't they? Christmas especially. It seems to start earlier and earlier every year, so now you hear Christmas songs like in November and maybe even in October, and the stores start to have decorations. It is too commercial? I don't know. I love Christmas, you know. So I love all the Christmas lights, but there is a lot of pressure on people to spend a lot of money at Christmas.
羅瑞：的確很商業化，不是嗎？尤其是聖誕節。看起來聖誕節的活動開始得越來越早，現在11月甚至是10月就能聽到聖誕歌曲，商店也早早就開始進行裝飾。這不是太商業化了嗎？我也不清楚。我很喜歡聖誕節。我喜歡所有的聖誕節彩燈，可是現在由於人們會在聖誕節花很多錢，所以他們面臨着很大壓力。Abidemi: That's true. I think I am with you on that. I love Christmas. I love everything that comes with it: the songs, the food, the family time, so I can't really complain about it, but I think the year, the calendar year, has just become one big holiday thing, where you start off, you know ... I don't know, you start whenever. December Christmas finishes and we're already looking forward to Valentine's Day. Valentine Day finishes — Easter, St. Patrick's Day. So it's like one continuous holiday coming up right after the other. So ...
阿比德米：沒錯。在這點上我同意你的看法。我也喜歡聖誕節，我喜歡一切與聖誕節有關的事物：比如歌曲、美食、家庭時光，所以我不能抱怨，可是我認爲日曆年已經完全被節日主宰了，從一個節日開始……12月份的聖誕節剛過，我們已經開始期待情人節了。情人節之後是復活節、聖帕特里克節等等。一個節日接着一個節日。
Rory: And things like St Patrick's Day — when I was a kid — my family's Irish. We never celebrated St. Patrick's Day at all. I mean nothing. Didn't even talk about it. But now, all the pubs, and the bars, have promotions. The restaurants have promotions. You can buy green beer. People are wearing funny hats. It seems to me like completely a commercial holiday.
羅瑞：像聖帕特里克節這種節日，我家是愛爾蘭家庭，在我小時候我們從來不慶祝聖帕特里克節。那一天我們不會慶祝，也不會談論這個節日。可是現在，所有酒館和酒吧都在這一天舉行促銷活動。餐廳也有優惠活動。在這個節日，你可以買到綠色的啤酒，而且人們會戴着搞笑的帽子。對我來說那完全就是個商業節日。Abidemi: That's true.
阿比德米：沒錯。Rory: It doesn't seem to be related to St Patrick at all.
羅瑞：看起來完全和聖帕特里克沒有一點關係。Abidemi: That's true. That's true. Why do you think it's becoming more and more like that?
阿比德米：是的，沒錯。你認爲爲什麼會演變成這樣？Rory: I guess just that companies see it — the way to sell more products.
羅瑞：我想是因爲各家公司看到了可以出售更多商品的商機。
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重點講解：
1. look forward to sth./doing sth. 期待；盼望；
例句：The children were eagerly looking forward to the party.
孩子們熱情地期待着晚會。
2. come up 即將發生；即將到來；
例句：I'm afraid some pressing business has come up.
也許有些緊急的事要辦。
3. right after 就在…之後；
例句：All of a sudden, right after the summer, Mother gets married.
突然，剛過夏天，媽媽就結婚了。
4. be related to 相關的；有聯繫的；
例句：This heart attack may be related to his overwork.
這次心臟病發作可能和他工作過勞有關。
