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Holiday draught? Guinness tries to make St Patrick's Day a US national holiday 美國擬增定國定假日
Thursday, Mar 06, 2008,Page 15
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People hold the Irish flag during a St Patrick's Day parade at Omotesando shopping district in Tokyo on March 18, 2007.
去年三月十八日，在東京表參道商圈參加聖派翠克節遊行的民眾手握愛爾蘭國旗。 照片：法新社
PHOTO: AFP
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A petition has been launched in cyberspace, bars and stores to make St Patrick's Day, the feast of the patron saint of Ireland, a holiday in the US.
"If we have a million signatures by midnight March 16, we're going to get it into the hands of someone in Congress and try to get the ball rolling," said Shawn Clair of the public relations firm which handles the US account of Guinness, an Irish stout beer which is sponsoring the campaign.
"The campaign has been launched for a couple of weeks now and we already have 70,000 online signatures," Clair said.
St Patrick's Day falls on March 17.
"This is a very sincere effort. There are over 90 parades in the US dedicated to St Patrick's Day, and yet it's not an official holiday," Clair said.
According to the US Census Bureau, 36 million US residents claim Irish ancestry, which is nearly nine times higher than the population of Ireland. Millions of Irish died or emigrated in the mid-1800s, when a potato famine hit the small island, which was then governed by Britain. The population of Ireland fell from around 8.2 million before the famine to 4.4 million in 1911 as poverty, hunger and disease drove the Irish out of their country. Many settled in the US, where, according to the Census Bureau, 12 percent of Americans have Irish blood.
Advocates of another day off in the US can either sign the petition online, at www.petition317.com, or in bars and shops that sell Guinness. To support the effort, Guinness has taken out full-page ads in newspapers and purchased thirty-second TV spots. (AFP)
美國的網路、酒吧和店家已發起一項連署請願活動，希望能將聖派翠克節訂為美國國定假日；聖派翠克節是為了紀念愛爾蘭的守護神。
負責愛爾蘭金氏黑啤酒在美宣傳業務的公關公司代表尚恩．克萊爾說：「假如我們在三月十六日午夜前能達到一百萬人連署的話，我們就能把請願書交給某國會議員，設法推動制訂國定假日事宜。」金氏黑啤酒是這次活動的贊助商。
克萊爾說：「連署活動已進行了幾週，現已有七萬人在網路上連署。」
聖派翠克節是在三月十七日。
克萊爾說：「我們衷心希望活動能成功，美國有九十多個慶祝聖派翠克節的遊行活動，但這天卻不是國定假日。」
美國人口普查局指出，有三千六百萬的美國人聲稱他們的祖先來自愛爾蘭，這個數字將近是愛爾蘭人口的九倍。十九世紀中期，愛爾蘭的馬鈴薯歉收，導致數百萬人餓死或出走；當時在英國統治下的愛爾蘭，飢荒前的人口約有八百二十萬，接連而來的貧窮、飢餓和疾病肆虐迫使愛爾蘭人離開家園，到了一九一一年，愛爾蘭人口驟減至四百四十萬；其中許多人移居美國，據美國人口普查局統計，美國有一成二的國民有愛爾蘭血統。
主張美國應該多放一天國定假日的人可至網址www.petition317.com，或販售金氏啤酒的酒吧和商店填寫連署書。金氏啤酒為支持贊助這項活動，還買了報紙全版廣告和三十秒電視廣告。（法新社／翻譯：袁星塵）
| Today's Words 今日單字 |
| 1. patron saint n.
守護神 (shou3 hu4 shen2)
例: A patron saint of a particular group is especially important to that group.
(某特定族群的守護神對該族群來說特別重要。)
2. stout beer n.
黑啤酒 (hei1 pi2 jiu3)
例: Stout beers are dark and sometimes bitter.
(黑啤酒顏色較深，有時會帶有苦味。)
3. famine n.
飢荒 (ji1 huang1)
例: When was the last great famine?
(上一次鬧大飢荒是什麼時候？)
4. advocate n.
擁護者 (yong3 hu4 zhe3)
例: Elisa is an advocate of universal health care.
(伊莉莎是全民健保的提倡者。) |
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| Say What? 說說看 |
| get the ball rolling
開始、著手進行
To get the ball rolling means to get something started. For example, "The manufacturing company had a lot of trouble getting the ball rolling, but once the project was underway, everything went smoothly," or "The Eagles lost their first few games, but once they got the ball rolling they couldn't be stopped."
Another idiom which means to get something started is to kick something off. For example, "The political party kicked their fundraising drive off by holding a mass rally in the public square."
「get the ball rolling」指的是開始進行某事，例如：「那家製造商一開始面臨許多困境，但一旦計畫進行下去，一切都變得很順利」或是「老鷹隊輸了頭幾場比賽，但一旦他們開始了，誰也不能阻止他們」。
另一個表示開始進行某事的片語是「kick something
off」，例如：「那個政黨在大眾廣場辦了一場
公眾集會，開始進行募款宣傳」。
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| Out Loud 對話練習 |
| Emma: What are you doing?
Samantha: I'm getting a new green dress for St Patrick's Day online.
Emma: Which one are you going to buy?
Samantha: The slinky strapless one. I'm going to wear it to the hotel party downtown. I'm going with Jacob.
Emma: Hannah's ex? She's going to be green with envy.
Samantha: That's the goal.
艾瑪：妳在做什麼啊？
莎曼莎：我正在網購一件新的綠色洋裝準備去參加聖派翠克節。
艾瑪：妳打算買哪件？
莎曼莎：那件緊身的露肩洋裝，我要穿它去市區的飯店派對，我會和雅各一起去。
艾瑪：漢娜的前男友？她一定會忌妒死的。
莎曼莎：那就是我的目的啊。
green with envy 忌妒得要命
To be green with envy means to be very envious. A person who is green with envy resents someone else because that person has something he or she wants.
「green with envy」表示非常忌妒的意思，「green with envy」的人會因為他人擁有他或她非常想要的東西而怨恨對方。 |
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