VOA慢速英语2014 Valentine's Day: A History of the Day of Love 情人节：爱的纪念日（在线收听）

Valentine's Day: A History of the Day of Love 情人节：爱的纪念日

Welcome to American Mosaic in VOA Learning English. I'm June Simms. On the show today we explore the history of Valentine's Day.

欢迎收听美国之音英语教学美语训练班的节目。我是琼·西姆斯（June Simms）。今天的节目将探讨情人节的历史。

Happy Valentine's Day! Americans celebrate the holiday each year on February fourteenth. So do candy companies, jewelry stores and people selling flowers. Marsha James tells us more about Valentine's Day in the United States.

情人节快乐！美国人每年二月十四日庆祝该节日，这也是糖果公司、珠宝店和卖花者欢庆的日子。玛莎·詹姆斯（Marsha James）报道了更多美国情人节的情况。

Valentine's Day is for lovers. It is a good day to ask your boyfriend or girlfriend to marry you. It is also a popular day for marriage ceremonies.

情人节是恋人的节日。这是个向男友或女友求婚的好日子，很多人还会在这天举行婚礼。

But, other couples might celebrate with dinner at a nice restaurant.

不过，也有些夫妻会选一个浪漫的晚宴餐厅庆祝。

The holiday is named for Saint Valentine. He was an early Christian clergyman who was said to have helped young lovers. Valentine was executed for his Christian beliefs on February fourteenth, more than one thousand seven hundred years ago. But the day that has his name is even older than that.

这一天以圣·瓦伦丁（Saint Valentine）的名字命名，据说他是一名帮助年轻恋人的早期基督教牧师。一千七百多年前，他因为基督教信仰在二月十四日被处死。但以其命名节日的时间更久远。

The ancient Romans celebrated a holiday for lovers more than two thousand years ago. As part of the celebration, each girl reportedly wrote her name on a piece of paper and put it in a large container. Each boy reached into the container and pulled out the name of a girl. That girl became his girlfriend for a year.

两千多年前古罗马人有个专门为恋人庆祝的节日。据传在庆祝时，每个女孩在一张纸上写了自己的名字，之后放在一个大箱子中。每个男孩把手伸进箱子，拿出一个名字，一年后女孩便成了他的女友。

Lovers still put their names on pieces of paper on Valentine's Day. They send each other cards that express their love. Sometimes they send other gifts, too, like jewelry... or flowers... or candy...or all three!

现在的情人节，恋人们仍旧把自己的名字写在纸片上，彼此赠名字以表达爱意。有时他们也会送别的礼物，如珠宝、花、糖果，或是全部送！

So Valentine's Day is big business in America. The National Retail Federation is a trade group. The federation represents retail stores in the United States and other countries. It expects the average American to spend about $134 for Valentine's Day this year. That is up about three dollars from 2013. The organization also says men will about twice as much on their partners as women will. And it says it expects total spending for Valentine's Day in the United States to reach about $17.3 billion.

因此情人节在美国是个大商机。全美零售商联合会属于贸易组织。该联合会代表着美国及其他国家的零售商店。据预计，今年美国在情人节人均花费约134美元，比2013年上涨近3美元。该组织还说，男性比女性更愿意为恋人花钱，预计美国情人节的总开销高达173亿。

I'm June Simms. Join us again next week for American Mosaic from VOA Learning English.

我是琼·西姆斯。欢迎收听下周的美国之音英语教学美语训练班的节目。