by Elizabeth Sunshine
This Saturday, on the windswept plains of Mongolia, 35 riders will line up and then explode into action, galloping over the steppe. This is the beginning of the world’s longest horse race, the Mongol Derby. Participants spend 10 days traveling its nearly 1,000-kilometer-long route – or rather, “un-route.” They choose their own path across the vast Mongolian wilderness, occasionally checking in at rest stations to change horses. Riders may choose to sleep in tents at these stations, enjoying the local hospitality. Or they may prefer to sleep in the open under a night sky sprinkled with stars.
These riders are following in the hoofprints of Genghis Khan and his ancient Mongolian warriors. Like those warriors, they have a mission. But instead of conquering the world, their goal is to save it. The Mongol Derby is one of several events organized by the Adventurists, a team of courageous, eccentric adventure-lovers. The adventures are for fun, but a noble purpose can make any experience more exciting. So participants must raise at least 1,000 pounds for charity to enter. At least half of this goes toward rain forest conservation, “so future generations have somewhere to get stuck.”
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This month let's talk about the origin of the Englsih names for the days of the week.
Okey, once again, we'll need to visit ancient Rome which name the days after heavenly bodies.
Okey, the first two day names honor Sol (the sun) and Luna (the moon), creating the model for our Sunday and Monday.
Right! Ancient Rome's third day was named for the planet Mars.
And, the succeeding days, in order, were Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn.
Some of these Roman names are still reflected in the Latin-based romance languages.
For example, instead of Mars, the French say Mardi.
But, in English, because of its Germanic influence, the Roman god names were replaced by Norse god equivalence.
So Mars, remember, the Roman god of war, was replaced by the Norse goddess of war - Tiu. That's where we got "Tuesday".
The Norse god, Woden, gives us Wednesday.
And, Thursday comes from Thor, god of Thunder.
Venuse Roman god of love was replaced by the Norse god of love named Frigg, giving us the word- Friday.
The lone Roman survivor is Saturn, who is memorialized in the English word, Saturday.
星期的名稱是要追溯到古羅馬, 北歐神化, 天體行星的名稱,
Sunday: Sol 太陽,
Monday: Luna 月亮,
Tuesday: Mars 原羅馬神化裡的戰神, 後被北歐的戰神取代 Tiu
Wednesday: Woden 北歐諸神之父
Thursday: Thor 北歐神化的雷神
Friday: Frigg 紀念愛神
Saturday: Saturn 是唯一還保有羅馬神化的名字, 農業之神也是行星中的土星
Language Lab
the faint of heart 膽小的人
- Bungee jumping is not for the faint of heart.
高空彈跳不適合膽小的人
faint-hearted adj. 膽小的；怯懦
not trying very hard, because you do not want to do something, or you are not confident that you can succeed
- There's no time to be faint-hearted when you are at war.
打戰的時候, 可沒有時間可以膽怯
windswept adj. 迎風的 [wind風/ swept-sweep 席捲 v. 的過去分詞]
/ˈwɪndˌswɛpt/
a place that is windswept is often windy because there are not many trees or buildings to protect it
- It's difficult to shoot a video on such a windswept hill.
要在這個迎風的山坡上錄影是困難的
- You can find goats on this treeless, windswept field.
你可以在這片荒蕪樹又被風吹掃的平原上看得到山羊
eccentric adj. 古怪的, 怪異的
/ɪkˈsɛntrɪk/ [第一個c發: k/ 第二個c發:s 音]
behaving in a way that is unusual and different from most people
- The eccentric old man lives with a bunch of reptiles.
這個古怪的老人跟一大堆爬蟲類住在一起
- The woman's eccentric behavior attracted a lot of attention.
這個女人的奇怪行為引起了大家的注意
conservation n. [noncount] 保護, 節約
the protection of natural things such as animals, plants, forests etc, to prevent them being spoiled or destroyed
- The company is saving over $10,000 each month by its energy and water conservation efforts.
這個公司省電和省水的努力, 讓他們每個月省下超過一萬美元的支出
- The wildlife conservation proposal was passed in Congress.
這項保預野生動物的提案, 在國會通過了
hoof n.
/ˈhʊf/
the hard covering on the foot of an animal (such as a horse or pig)
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