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?wù)摰氖且粋€(gè)月亮的現(xiàn)象。它被稱為藍(lán)月亮。

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

自20世紀(jì)40年代以來，“藍(lán)月亮”一詞也被用來指一個(gè)月中出現(xiàn)的第二個(gè)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(lán)月亮實(shí)際上不是藍(lán)色的。事實(shí)上，它看起來和每月正常的滿月一樣。

藍(lán)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(gè)英語表達(dá)來使用的方法。

“藍(lán)月亮”是一段很長(zhǎng)或看起來很長(zhǎng)的時(shí)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(zhǎng)時(shí)間才發(fā)生一次的事情。

例如，我通常總是很忙。所以在不工作的時(shí)候，我喜歡唱歌，寫故事或看書。但有時(shí)，我什么都不想做。所以，難得一見地，你會(huì)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(gè)例子。

假設(shè)你有一個(gè)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(yuǎn)”已經(jīng)是指很長(zhǎng)的一段時(shí)間了。所以，比永遠(yuǎn)多一天的時(shí)間就更長(zhǎng)了！你已經(jīng)很久沒有見到你的朋友了。你想念他！你應(yīng)該打個(gè)電話。

下面這是最后一個(gè)例子。如果你一直很忙，你可能沒有時(shí)間練習(xí)你的英語。但請(qǐng)記住，如果你只是很久才練習(xí)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(zhǎng)的時(shí)間

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

7.forever and a day極長(zhǎng)久地，永久地