大甲鎮瀾宮每年都會在元宵節晚上進行擲杯儀式，確認今年遶境的時間。今年大甲媽祖遶境確定於4月21日週五起駕，行程為期9天8夜，本次就讓我們從這場轟動全球台的宗教盛事來學TOEIC測驗相關英文吧。
節慶不只有festival
首先來看看各種活動的英文講法。媽祖遶境是一種宗教活動，比較精準的用詞是pilgrimage「朝聖之路；參拜之行」。當然可以用較廣義的festival「節日，節慶」來表示，相關的字有形容詞festive、名詞festivity「慶祝活動」，例如元宵節Lantern Festival，德國的啤酒節Oktoberfest等。除了festival外，也有嘉年華carnival，如巴西的Brazilian Carnival，威尼斯的Mask Festival/Carnival。
Photo courtesy of Pixabay 照片：Pixabay 提供
Chinese New Year is usually celebrated with a number of festivities such as lion dances.
（中國新年通常有很多慶祝活動，比如舞龍舞獅。）
很多嘉年華都會有歡慶的遊行活動，「遊行」的英文是parade (n)，這和抗議遊行的「遊行；示威」demonstration (n)用字不同，demonstration除了示威遊行之外，另一個常用的意思是「展示」，常聽到的「demo」就是demonstration的縮詞，動詞為demonstrate。
Taiwan’s LGBT Pride parade is held annually in October.
（台灣同志遊行通常在每年10月舉行。）
Protesters gathered to join the demonstrations against police brutality.
（抗議者聚集對抗警察暴力。）
The instructor of this workshop will demonstrate how to use electrical tools properly and safely.
（工作坊的講師將會示範如何正確並安全使用工具。）
展覽用show
「展覽」英文可以用fair、exhibition、exposition、show來表示。exhibition、exposition (expo)、show比較偏向有商品或物件的展示，或者有business to business (B2B)、business to consumer (B2C)的買賣，所以博物館的展覽、畫展和商品展就常用exhibition、trade show。
There’s a Picasso Exhibition at the art gallery this month.
（這個月在美術館有畢卡索的畫展。）
Remember to visit our competitors’ booths while you’re at the trade show.
（當你到了展場時，記得去看一下我們競爭者的攤位。）
而fair通常指人們聚集的地方，除了產品的買賣和展示外，還有比較娛樂、有趣的活動或表演，常用fair的情況如書展book fair、就業博覽會job fair、美國的夏日市集country fair等。
Join our annual job fair on campus next Friday.
（請參加我們下周五的年度校園就業博覽會。）
另外exhibit這個字，可當作名詞「展示品；展覽（exhibition）」，也可以用做動詞「展示（display）」。
Young children usually exhibit shyness when they are around strangers.
（小孩子通常在陌生人前會顯得害羞。）
The museum has new exhibits from Egypt.
（博物館有從埃及來的新展品。）
延期用postpone
若活動或展覽取消可以用最簡單的cancel (v)或者call off，當然也可用比較活潑的方式如pull the plug，字面上的意思是「拔插頭」，所以可以想見就是「停止」。而「延期」則可用postpone、delay、put off等詞表達，譬如英文諺語「Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.」（今日事今日畢）。注意，cancel、call off、pull the plug如果後面還要加動詞的話，需要用動名詞Ving的形式。
We had to postpone traveling abroad due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus.
（由於新冠肺炎爆發，我們必須取消海外旅遊。）
He decided to call off the news conference at the last minute.
（他在最後一刻決定取消新聞記者會。）
聚集用assemble
不管是節慶的慶祝活動或展覽，這些都是人群聚集的地方，「聚集」在英文上可用gather (v)和assemble (v)。assemble尤其是TOEIC重要單字，有兩個常用的意思，一是「聚集，集合」，名詞就是assembly，另一個是「組裝」（put together）。
The movie star came out and waved at the fans assembled outside the hotel.
（那位電影明星出來對聚在飯店外的影迷揮手致意。）
To assemble this table, follow the steps illustrated in the manual.
（根據手冊圖解的步驟來組裝這個桌子。）
convene也有集合的意思，但是比較指集合召開會議，所以常看到它的名詞形式convention「會議；集會」，例如會議中心也常用convention center。
The manager convened a meeting of his sales team to discuss the upcoming product launch.
（經理召集他的業務團隊討論產品發布事宜。）
【多益模擬試題】
1. The organizer decided to __________ the exhibition until next month.
(A) put out (B) put on (C) put off (D) call off
2. A lot of __________ line workers were let go when they closed one of the factories.
(A) assemble (B) assembly (C) assembled (D) assembling
【解析】
1. 正解為(C)。本題為動詞片語題，所以要選符合題意的片語，(A)「撲滅；澆熄」、(B)「穿上，戴上」、(C)「延期」、(D)「取消」，本題題意是「主辦單位決定將展覽延期到下個月。」因此正確答案為(C)。
2. 正解為(B)。本題需要一個複合名詞，空格部分需用名詞assembly，所以正確答案是(B)，assembly line是「包裝線；組裝線」。本題題意是「當他們關閉一個工廠，許多組裝線員工也被解僱了。」
SOURCE: https://www.englishok.com.tw/toeic/toeic-issue/mazu-pilgrimage-activity-delay
文章由TOEIC Program Taiwan · Chun Shin提供：
www.facebook.com/ToeicProgramTaiwan
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