Take Away English-February 29th 闰年的二月二十九

29th February only happens once every four years

The year 2008 has one extra day in it – February 29th. This is because it's what we call 'a leap year'.

Every four years, the year has 366 days in it instead of 365 – but why does this happen? Well, it actually takes the planet Earth 365 days and six hours to revolve¹ completely around the sun. After four years an extra 24 hours have accumulated so an extra day is added to the calendar.

It is called a leap year because hundreds of years ago in England, the extra day wasn't legally recognised. Contracts that were made were apparently² not seen as binding³ on that day. The British just leapt over that day. Therefore a year with 29 days in February is consequently called a leap year and that 29th day is sometimes called Leap Day.

If you are born on 29th February in a leap year, there are difficulties in celebrating your birthday as the day only occurs once every four years. So people tend to celebrate on either 28th February or 1st March every year.

There is a well-known tradition in the UK associated with 29th February, introduced many centuries ago. Women are allowed to break with tradition and propose to their boyfriends on this day.

This all started back in the 5th Century, when a famous Irish saint, Bridget, complained to Saint Patrick, another famous Irish saint, that women had to wait too long for men to propose. According to the legend, Saint Patrick said any females yearning⁴ for a proposal could ask their boyfriend to marry them on this additional day in February.

This so-called tradition was even written in law in the 13th Century. Scotland passed a law allowing women to propose to men in a leap year. It was said that if the men refused, they had to pay a fine!

Now in 2008, there are calls for 29th February to become a public holiday. Some people believe that it should be an official day off, because no one gets paid extra for working an extra day in a leap year. For the moment though, the British still have to go to work on this day.

GLOSSARY 词汇表 

 

the planet Earth 行星地球 accumulated 累计 binding 有约束力的 consequently （由…）导致 tend to 往往 to break with tradition 打破传统 saint 圣人 yearning 渴望 so-called 所谓 a fine 罚款

revolve 运转 legally recognised 法律上认可的 leapt over 跳过去 occurs 出现 associated with 与…相关的 propose 提出/求婚 legend 传说 additional 额外的/多余的 passed a law 通过法律 calls 呼吁

 

1 revolve   

vi.(使)旋转；循环出现

参考例句：

• The planets revolve around the sun.行星绕着太阳运转。
• The wheels began to revolve slowly.车轮开始慢慢转动。

2 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

3 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

4 yearning   

a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的

参考例句：

• a yearning for a quiet life 对宁静生活的向往
• He felt a great yearning after his old job. 他对过去的工作有一种强烈的渴想。