Once in a Biue Moon 1千載難逢

Anna Matteo

張倩云選譯

Today we are talking about a lunar phenomenon 2. It 's called a blue moon.

Experts at the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration （NASA） explain thislunar event. They say a blue moon is the "extra" full moon in a season with four full moons.

Since the 1940s. the term "blue moon" has also been used for the second full moon m acalendar month. This usually happens only every two-and-a-half years.

The NASA experts explain that a blue moon is not actually blue in color. In fact. it looksthe same as a regular monthly full moon.

What makes a blue moon different is that it does not appear in the sky that often. Andthis is how we use it as an English expression.

A "blue moon" is a long or seemingly long period of time.

If I say something happens once in a blue moon". it is uncommon， infrequent 3， rare 4. Ithappens very seldom. These words all describe something that happens once in a blue moon.

For example， I usually keep busy. So when I'm not working， I like to sing songs， writestories or read books. But sometimes， I just like to do nothing. So， once in a blue moon， you'llfind me on the couch， watching movies and eating popcorn.

Here's another example.

Let's say you have a friend who you do not see very much anymore. You can say you seehim once in a blue moon. It feels like an eternity 5 since you have talked. It's like he hasdropped off the face of the Eart 6！ You can also say it has been forever since you haveseen him.

Forever is a long time. So， forever and a day 7 is even longer！ And it has been foreverand a day since you have seen your friend. You miss himl You should call.

And finally， here is our last example. If you have been busy， you may not have had timeto practice your English. But just remember， if you only practice once in a blue moon， yourEnglish may not improve very quickly.

今天，我們談論的是一個月亮的現(xiàn)象。它被稱為藍月亮。

美國國家航空航天局（NASA）的專家解釋了這個月亮現(xiàn)象。他們說，藍月亮指的是當一個季度出現(xiàn)四次滿月時“額外的”那次滿月。

自20世紀40年代以來，“藍月亮”一詞也被用來指一個月中出現(xiàn)的第二個滿月。這種現(xiàn)象通常兩年半才發(fā)生一次。

美國國家航空航天局的專家解釋說，藍月亮實際上不是藍色的。事實上，它看起來和每月正常的滿月一樣。

藍月亮的與眾不同之處在于它不常見。這也是人們把它作為一個英語表達來使用的方法。

“藍月亮”是一段很長或看起來很長的時間。

如果我說某件事“千載難逢”，那么那件事就是不尋常的、不常見的，甚至是罕見的。這件事情很少發(fā)生。這些詞語都可以被用來描述很長時間才發(fā)生一次的事情。

例如，我通?？偸呛苊?。所以在不工作的時候，我喜歡唱歌，寫故事或看書。但有時，我什么都不想做。所以，難得一見地，你會發(fā)現(xiàn)我躺在沙發(fā)上看著電影，吃著爆米花。

下面是另一個例子。

假設你有一個不常見到的朋友，你可以說你很難見到他一次。距你們上次說話感覺已經(jīng)過了很久了，就好像他消失得無影無蹤！你也可以說，你再也沒見過他了。

“永遠”已經(jīng)是指很長的一段時間了。所以，比永遠多一天的時間就更長了！你已經(jīng)很久沒有見到你的朋友了。你想念他！你應該打個電話。

下面這是最后一個例子。如果你一直很忙，你可能沒有時間練習你的英語。但請記住，如果你只是很久才練習一次，你就很難快速提高你的英語水平。

（英語原文選自：VOA Special English）

[Notes]

1.once in a blue moon千載難逢;極為罕見

2.phenomenon[f??n?m?n?n] n.現(xiàn)象

3.infrequent[?n?fri?kw?nt] adj.罕見的;不頻發(fā)的

4.rare [re?]adj.稀有的

5.eternity [??t??n?t?]n.永世;極長的時間

6.drop off the face of the Earth消失得無影無蹤

7.forever and a day極長久地，永久地