關於數字的英語故事閱讀
在小學英語教學的過程中故事教學在其中佔據着非常重要的地位。兒童天生就有着好奇、樂於模仿的性格,小學英語故事教學正是迎合了孩子們這些特徵。小編精心收集了關於數字的英語故事，供大家欣賞學習!
Numbers
數字
A lady noticed her husband standing on the bathroom scale, sucking in his stomach. Thinking he was trying to weigh less with this maneuver, she commented,"I don’t think that’s going to help.""Sure it will,"he said."It’s the only way I can see the numbers."
一個女人看見丈夫使勁收腹站在體重秤上，以爲他想稱得輕一點，就說：“沒用的。” 丈夫說：“當然有用，這樣我才能看到秤上的數字。”
關於數字的英語故事篇2Originated in the Christian legends -the Last Supper of s' disciple Judas betrayed Jesus to the Roman s and his 12 disciples,a total of 13 individuals with eating the Last Supper,after Jesus was arrested executions.13 on behalf of the traitor Judas,on behalf of Good efore,the Christian national general disgust 13,dinner,parties,things are not like 13 people together to do some of the streets on the 13th,do not have 13-story buildings.
最早起源於傳說——耶穌最後的晚餐.耶穌的門徒猶大向羅馬當局出賣了耶穌.耶穌和他12個門徒一共13個人一起吃了最後的晚餐,之後耶穌就被逮捕處決了.
13代表叛徒猶大,代表耶穌受難.因此,國家一般厭惡13,吃飯、聚會、做事都不喜歡13個人一起做,有的街道沒有13號,樓房沒有13層.
關於數字的英語故事篇3十大經典數字背後的故事
Numbers factor into everything. Some numbers have become so well-known that nobodyquestions where they came from or how they became so important.
數字無處不在。有些數字廣爲人知，成爲生活中再平常不過的代號，人們甚至都無意追溯其緣起。
e 66
10.66號公路
It's known as America's Main Street. It's the place where you can get your kicks. Running fromChicago to Los Angeles, Route 66 is an icon of Americana, whisking travelers across thenation's heart. The road was decommissioned in 1985, but it still holds a mythical place inAmerican culture.
66號公路從芝加哥一路橫貫到洛杉磯，被稱爲"美國主幹線"，是美國文化的象徵之一。它讓無數旅行者蠢蠢欲動，吸引人們駕車馳騁，穿越這個民族的心臟，探尋其魅力。1985年，66號公路被迫退役，雖已不復見於公路地圖，但其傳奇般的過往仍在美國文化中舉足輕重。
So why 66? Why not 12, or 384? Let's go back to the beginning. In 1917, Wisconsin becamethe first state to prohibit the marking and naming of roads without the approval of thegovernment. Previously, it was common for roads to be sponsored by motor clubs, privatecompanies, and tourist boards, who would choose the route that best suited them—regardlessof whether it was the best or quickest path for motorists. To replace this confusing system,Wisconsin's State Highway Commission developed an efficient layout of numbered highways,an innovation that was quickly adopted across the country. In 1925, St. Louis was selected asthe hub for four major highways traveling across the US. None of them was supposed to benumbered 66. Instead, Routes 40, 50, and 60 would run east/west, while Route 61 would travelnorth/south. But the plan hit a bump when Kentucky demanded the name Route 60 for thehighway between Virginia Beach, Virginia and Springfield, Missouri (which ran right throughKentucky). The reason? Kentucky was the only state in the Missouri Valley without a road thatended in zero. Really, it was that petty. The original plan was for Route 60 to run betweenChicago and Los Angeles, but Kentucky suggested that this could be renamed Route 62. TheBluegrass State got their way, but other state highway agencies weren't enthusiastic aboutthe Route 62 name—they wanted something more memorable. After noticing that the numberwas still available, Midwest agency members Cyrus Avery and B.H. Piepmeier sent a letter tothe Bureau of Public Roads simply stating, "We prefer 66 to 62." And that was that—the mostfamous road in the United States got its name after a silly fight over numbers ending with zero.
那麼問題來了，爲什麼要叫"66號公路"，而不是"12號公路"或者"384公路"呢?讓我們回到最初來一探究竟。1917年，威斯康星州成爲第一個通過"未經政府允許，不得給公路標號或命名"法案的州。在此之前，公路名稱一般都由汽車俱樂部、私人公司或旅遊局來命名，這些機構選擇最適合他們宣傳的公路予以贊助，而不考慮這條路對於車主來說是不是最好、最快、最便捷。所以，爲了取代這些紛繁複雜的公路系統，威斯康星州公路委員會規劃以數字命名公路，這一創舉迅速被其他州所借鑑。1925年，聖路易斯被選爲橫跨美國的四大主要公路網的中心樞紐。起初，人們完全沒有考慮66這個數字，而是計劃用60命名東西向的那條公路，用61命名南北向的那條公路，用40和50命名另外兩條公路。但是，由於肯塔基州要求以60命名穿過肯塔基州的那條公路，於是計劃泡湯。爲什麼肯塔基想要60呢?因爲在密蘇里谷，肯塔基是唯一一個沒有以0結尾公路的州。沒辦法，誰讓肯塔基州規模小呢。最初的計劃是將芝加哥到洛杉磯的洲際公路編號爲60，但是肯塔基州想給經過自己州的公路編號60，所以提議將這條公路改名爲62。牧草州(美國肯塔基州別名)一意孤行，可其他州並不買賬，大家都想要一個更具紀念意義的編號。意識到彼此相執不下也不能解決問題，中西部地區的代理成員Cyrus Avery和B.H. Piepmeier給國家公共道路管理局寫了一封信，說"我們不喜歡62，給我們66吧"。於是，在一場激烈的"搶零風波"後，偉大的66號公路就這樣誕生了!
h-22
9.第22條軍規
"Catch-22" is a common phrase in English-speaking countries. It can defined as "a paradox inwhich the attempt to escape makes escape impossible." The term comes from Joseph Heller'sclassic novel of the same name, although its popularity as a phrase didn't really take off untilthe 1970 movie came out. In the book and movie, the phrase refers to an Air Force ruling thatonly a crazy person would make an extremely dangerous bombing run without trying to getout of it. Any pilot who doesn't try to get out of it is clearly deranged and therefore qualifiesfor immediate medical leave on the grounds of insanity. However, anyone who asks not tomake the run must be sane (since trying to get out of danger is the sign of a rational mind)and therefore any pilot who requests medical leave for insanity cannot be granted it. Eitherway, every pilot has to make the run. Catch-22.
"Catch-22"在英語國家是個常用短語，用來形容"自相矛盾、不合邏輯的規定或條件所造成的無法脫身或左右爲難的困境"。它出自約瑟夫·赫勒的經典同名小說，不過直到1970年同名電影上映，這個短語才真正爲人所熟知。在同名小說和電影中，catch-22指空軍部隊的一條軍規，它規定"只有瘋子可以免於執行轟炸的飛行任務"。如果一個飛行員真的瘋了，想不去執行轟炸任務，他可以提出申請，證明自己瘋了，休病假，免於飛行。可是，任何想以神智不清爲由不去執行任務的人一定是心智健全的(因爲對自身安全表示關注，乃是頭腦理性活動的結果)，所以沒人能取得瘋癲的病假，因而每個飛行員都必須執行轟炸任務。這就是第22條軍規，又謂"坑人二十二"。
But why Catch-22? Well, it's mostly because another book took the original number. In 1955,the first chapter of what became Catch-22 appeared in a magazine under the title full book hit stores in 1961, but by then there was another popular book with "18" in thetitle: Leon Uris's Mila 18. The publishers thought that the reading public couldn't handle twobooks with the same number in the title, so Catch-18 became Catch-22. But it's not like 18 wasjust some random number Heller pulled out of the sky—it had a specific meaning that the newtitle lost. In Jewish culture, 18 is a highly significant number—the 18th letter in the Jewishalphabet is "chai" which means life (or living). Early drafts of Heller's work had more of a Jewishemphasis. Heller suggested Catch-14 as an alternate title, but the catchier Catch-22 won out.
那麼爲什麼是第22條呢?這就要追溯到另一本書了。1955年，小說《第22條軍規》的第一章發表在一本雜誌上，不過當時這本小說名爲《第18條軍規》;1961年，全書完成，小說面世。當時，利昂·尤里斯的小說Mila18很受歡迎，出版者考慮到讀者可能會混淆兩本同帶數字18的書，於是建議將Catch-18改爲Catch-22。赫勒起初選取數字18，不是一時興起、毫無緣由的。在猶太文化中，18是一個很重要的數字，猶太字母表中的第18個字母是"chai"，意思是生命或生存。赫勒的早期作品比較強調猶太文化，不過改名之後的小說名稱失去了這一暗含寓意。赫勒曾經想過用Catch-14，不過最後還是選擇了更吸引眼球的Catch-22。
cky numbers
8.不吉利的數字
Different cultures consider different numbers to be bad luck. In English-speaking countries, it'susually 13 which is held to be unlucky. This belief might go back as far as the Babylonian Codeof Hammurabi, which skips a 13th law for unclear reasons. There are quite a few otherindications that the number had negative connotations in the ancient world, including Judasbeing the 13th person to arrive at the Last Supper. The belief could have originated in ancientSumeria, where 12 was considered the perfect number.
每個文化中都有所謂的厄運數字，而在英語國家，這個惡名就落到了數字13身上。"13不吉利"的說法最早要追溯到古巴比倫的《漢謨拉比法典》，該法典中跳過了第13條法律，原因不明。另外，古代有很多關於13不吉利的傳說，其中一個是說在最後的晚餐上，猶大是第13位到場的客人。還有人將不吉利13的緣起歸於古蘇美爾文化，該文化中12被視作完美的數字。
In modern times, there are still many buildings in North America that don't have a 13th floordue to the superstition. Every year, Friday the 13th sees about $800 million less in economicactivity than you'd expect, as people tend to avoid the day for traveling or events likeweddings. In 1907, Thomas Lawson had a hit bestseller with Friday the Thirteenth, in which acrazed stockbroker attempts to bring down the market, further cementing the day's poorreputation. In Asia, it's four which is considered bad luck. The number four in Chinese soundsremarkably similar to the word for death. Naturally, people don't like to associate with anythingthat sounds like death. China went as far as discontinuing license plates with the number fourin them. As American buildings skip 13, some Chinese buildings skip the fourth floor. Fans ofthe acclaimed Hong Kong police thriller Infernal Affairs (which was given a Hollywood remake asThe Departed) may have noticed that the classic elevator scene skips the fourth floor.
現在，北美的很多建築仍然由於這一迷信而有意跳過樓層13，甚至每年恰逢13號星期五的經濟額也比其他時候少8億之多，因爲人們都儘量避免在那一天出去旅遊或舉辦婚禮之類的大型活動。1907年，托馬斯·勞森所著之書《黑色星期五》躋身暢銷書單，書中描述了一個精神失常的股票經紀人企圖使市場股價下滑的故事，這又進一步加重了13的不吉利意味。在亞洲，人們往往認爲數字4不吉利，中文中數字"4"的發音跟"死"的發音相近，所以人們聽到"4"就很自然的聯想到了"死"。在中國，人們的車輛牌照往往沒有4，就像美國建築會跳過樓層13一樣，中國有些大樓也會跳過樓層4。一些鍾愛香港警匪片的粉絲們也許留意過，在電影《無間道》(曾於2006年被好萊塢翻拍爲《無間道行者》)經典的電梯一幕中，電梯上沒有4層的按鈕。
ts Numbers
7.運動場上的數字
Look around any sporting event and you'll see thousands of fans wearing their favorite players'jersey. These days, the most popular players are practically synonymous with their origin of numbered jerseys couldn't be any simpler. In soccer, or football to most of theworld, shirt numbers were introduced to match up with your position on the field. Goalies wore1, and at the other end of the field the field strikers wore 9 and 10. The first substitute wore12, and the next wore 14—naturally, few players wanted to wear unlucky 13. These days,numbers mostly no longer correspond to position, but some elements of the system remain,like the term "false nine " for a striker who tends to drop deep into midfield instead of stayingforward like a traditional 9.
環顧各大運動賽場，會發現無數的粉絲穿着代表他們最喜歡的運動員的運動服。現在，運動員似乎跟他們場上所穿衣服的號碼融爲了一體。運動員穿帶有數字的運動衫，原因很簡單。比如說大多國家的足球或橄欖球項目，球衣號碼就代表着球員在場上的位置。守門員穿1號，前鋒穿9號和10號，第一替補穿12號，第二替補穿14號——沒人願意穿不吉利的13號。現在，數字大多與位置無關，不過有些數字的位置信息還是保留了下來，比如說"僞9號"，指的是一個經常回撤到中場拿球的中鋒，而不是傳統的只在禁區線附近活動的正統9號。
In baseball, the first team to wear numbers was the minor league team in Reading,Pennsylvania in 1907. Nine years later, the Cleveland Indians of the majors wore numbers forthe first time (it only lasted a few weeks, but they brought them back later). As with soccer,baseball's numbers coincided with positions—in this case in the usual batting order. So BabeRuth's famous 3 wasn't his personal choice, it was because he batted third in the lineup. ThePhiladelphia Athletics were the last team to fully embrace numbers—they wouldn't wear themfor home games until 1937 .
在棒球運動中，賓夕法尼亞州雷丁的一支棒球小聯盟於1907年首次身着帶號碼的球衣進行比賽。9年後，美國職棒大聯盟球隊克里夫蘭印地安人隊首次身着號碼球衣。跟足球一樣，棒球服的數字也跟位置對應，不過棒球服的數字排序簡單，是根據打擊順序排列的。所以，巴比·魯斯身着三號球服並不是出自個人意願，而是由他在場上的位置決定的。費城的棒球運動員是最後一批完全接納數字球衣的隊伍，直到1937年，他們才願意穿上帶號碼的球衣進行主場比賽。
6.205 Communists
6.205名共產黨員
In one of the most infamous speeches in American political history, Senator Joseph McCarthymade a shocking allegation—there were communists working in the US government! Thespeech was headline-grabbing then, and it might be even more notorious now. McCarthy wouldeventually flame out after accusing the US Army of harboring communists and becoming thebutt of ridicule for his over-the-top antics, which famously climaxed with him being chided, "Have you no sense of decency?"
美國參議員約瑟夫·麥卡錫曾大肆宣稱美國政府有共產黨員滲透，這一演講也成爲美國政壇史上一次臭名昭著的演講。該演講的主題在當時奪人眼球，在當下更是聲明狼藉。麥卡錫譴責美國軍隊包庇共產黨員，這種滑稽透頂的言論讓他變成了人們的笑柄，大家斥責他："你難道都沒有一點良知嗎"，麥卡錫這才消停了。
But his 1950 speech caused a sensation. The speech was given in the rather incongruoussetting of the Women's Republican Club of Wheeling, West Virginia. There's some debate overhow many communists McCarthy claimed were in the government, since he later announcedthat there were 57 card-carrying communists in the State Department, but most agree that theoriginal number he gave was 205. So where did the flamboyant McCarthy pull that 205number out of? Believe it or not the number did have some basis in reality. In 1946, the StateDepartment's screening committee identified 284 potential security risks—people with far leftties. Later in the year, 79 of them were let go, leaving 205. Congress had been informed ofthese findings in 1946, but it didn't raise much of a stir. In 1950, immediately after the AlgerHiss trial, the first Soviet atomic bomb test, and the fall of China to communism, the mood wasvery different. So despite McCarthy's questionable motives, he did have reason to believe thataround 205 State Department employees could potentially be security risks. Naturally,McCarthy wildly exaggerated (he was so adamant that he had discovered 205 communiststhat it took the State Department weeks to realize he was alluding to their own investigation)but he didn't just make the number up out of thin air either.
1950年，在對西弗吉尼亞共和黨婦女俱樂部的演講中，麥卡錫聲稱自己有一張紙，上面記錄着爲國務院工作的57名共產黨人名單，這一舉動引起輿論譁然。不過大家都認爲最初的人數有205個。那麼，狂傲的麥卡錫是從哪裏挑出的205人呢?不管你信不信，這個數字還真有現實依據。1946年，國務院審查委員會指控了284名潛在危險人物，唯一的證據就是對公務員進行"忠誠調查"後的甄別材料。其後一年，284人中有79人被解僱，剩下205人。國會早在1946年就公佈過這些材料，但當時並未引起注目。而到了1950年，阿爾傑·希斯審判案後不久，蘇聯發起第一次原子彈實驗，中國也成爲共產主義共和國，於是使得美國的氣氛也變得不同。所以，儘管麥卡錫動機可疑，但他確實有理由質疑國務院存在205名左右的危險分子。很明顯，麥卡錫誇大了事實(他堅持說有205名共產黨員，國務院花了數週才意識到麥卡錫是拐彎抹角的指明他引用了他們之前調查的數據)，但這個數字也不是憑空捏造的。
s
5.城鎮的命名
Naming a town seems like a pretty straightforward thing. In America, they're mainly namedafter people, local landmarks, or other towns. So if someone tells you it's called New Yorkbecause people just liked it better that way, you can correct them and say it was named for theeventual King James II of England, then known as the Duke of York and Albany.
給城鎮命名聽上去似乎很簡單。美國的城鎮一般以人物、地標或其他城鎮的名字爲名，所以如果有人跟你說紐約之所以叫紐約，只是因爲人們喜歡這麼叫時，你就可以糾正並告訴他，紐約的叫法其實包含了對當時的約克和奧爾巴尼公爵、英王詹姆斯二世的尊敬。
But what about towns named for numbers? One such town came to public attention via thenational pastime. Bill Voiselle was a major league baseball pitcher during the 1940s. Today,he's best remembered for his uniform number—at a time when everyone wore low numbers,Voisselle wore #96. His reasoning was pretty simple: he was from the town of Ninety Six,South Carolina. Ninety Six got its unusual name from a simple quirk of cartography. In 1730,surveyor George Hunter marked the area as being 96 miles from the Cherokee town ofKeowee. The number made it onto the maps, and the name has stuck around ever ational building supply chain 84 Lumber got its name in a similar way—the company wasfounded in the town of Eighty Four, Pennsylvania. Like most number-based towns, there are allsorts of crazy stories about how Eighty Four came to be named, but the most likely story isactually quite simple. The small rural community wanted the name Smithville for their postalroute. That name was already taken in eastern Pennsylvania, so postmaster H.F. Weir asked forthe route to be named after the year the post office was built: 1884. A slightly abbreviatedversion ended up becoming the town's official name.
那麼，以數字爲名的城鎮又有什麼說法呢?比爾·維斯樂是20世紀40年代棒球大聯盟的一名投手，他因自己的球衣號碼爲人所熟知，那個時候，大家的球衣號碼都是小數字，而維斯樂球衣背後的號碼是大數字96。他說選這個數字的原因很簡單：他來自南卡羅來納的九十六小城，這個小城因製圖時的一個小失誤而得名96。1730年，測量員喬治·亨特一時疏忽把這個小城距切羅基原住民居住地的距離標到了地圖上，自那之後，這個小城就成了96小城。84木材是一家連鎖國家建材供應商，跟96小城一樣，它的命名也是源自公司所在的地區：賓夕法尼亞州的84小城。大多以數字命名的小城都有着各種各樣的稀奇傳說，84小城也不例外，不過，它的來歷相對比較簡單。起初，這個小城想以Smithville來命名其郵遞路線，但那個名字已經被賓夕法尼亞州東部的一個小城用了，於是郵政局長 H.F. Weir徵求大家意見，建議用郵局所建年份1884做名字，最後，大家選擇了年份的後兩位數作爲小城的官方名稱。
z 57
4.亨氏57變
The Heinz Company is known for making condiments—so many of them that the companyfamously adopted the advertising slogan "57 Varieties." The company was founded in 1869 andhas prospered ever since, although it took a bit of a tumble when John Kerry ran for Presidentin 2004. Since Kerry was married to Teresa Heinz, the widow of company Heir John Heinz III,some Republicans claimed that purchasing Heinz products was "like giving to the Democrats."Unsurprisingly, Heinz survived this backlash and continues to produce well over 57 products.
亨氏集團以其調味品著稱，很多調味品都採用了"57變"的廣告語。亨氏集團自1869年成立以來生意一直很好，只是2004年約翰·克里競選總統時業績有些下滑，因爲克里娶了亨氏集團繼承人約翰·海茵茨三世的遺孀特麗莎·海茵茨，所以一些共和黨人認爲購買亨氏集團的產品"就像在給民主黨投票"。不過，亨氏集團最終還是熬過了這次抵制行動，繼續生產了57種產品。
So why is the number 57 associated with Heinz? It all started in 1896, when company founderHenry Heinz was on a train in New York City and passed a sign advertising 21 different styles ofshoes. Heinz thought that was brilliant—it made the company seem complex and diversifiedand appealed to many different tastes in shoes. By that point, his company already had wellover 60 products available, but Heinz decided 57 worked better. Some sources say heconsidered 57 his lucky number, others claim that his lucky number was five, and his wife's wasseven. Or maybe he just liked how it sounded. Regardless, the number 57 doesn't actually referto 57 specific varieties of anything—it's just a catchy marketing device.
爲什麼57會跟海茵茨扯上關係呢?這要追溯到1896年，那一年，亨氏集團創始人亨利·海茵茨在紐約市的火車上，正巧看到路邊一則廣告上展示着21種不同風格的鞋子。海茵茨心想，這個廣告主意不錯，能展現出公司鞋子產品的多樣化並吸引不同需求的消費者購買。那個時候，他的公司已經生產了60餘種產品，但是海茵茨覺得57更好。有傳言說57是海茵茨的幸運數字;還有人說5是他的幸運數字，7是他妻子的幸運數字;也或者他就僅僅是喜歡57的發音呢。不管怎麼說，雖然是選擇了57，但這並不是指代57種特定的調味品，而是吸引市場眼球的一個手段。
Million Jews
3.600萬猶太人
There are some numbers that shouldn't be questioned, yet Holocaust denial has been aroundsince the 1950s, when the influential American priest Gerald L. K. Smith claimed that no Jewshad been killed by the Nazis—they had all secretly emigrated to America instead. Former IranianPresident Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is still telling anyone who can stand to hear him talk that theHolocaust is a myth, while others content themselves with claiming that the six million Jewsestimated to have been killed is an exaggeration.
有些數字不容人們質疑，可是自20世紀50年代起，否認大屠殺的事就一直未平息。美國一位很有影響力的牧師Gerald L. K. Smith聲稱，納粹不曾殺害過一個猶太人，相反，猶太人都被祕密安全轉移到美國了。前伊朗總統馬哈茂德·艾哈邁迪-內賈德仍然大言不慚的跟那些能忍着聽完他講話的人說納粹德國對猶太人的大屠殺是一個迷;還有一些人則安慰自己說600百萬猶太人被殺害有些誇大其詞。
But six million isn't just a random guess—it's well documented. The Nazis kept detailedrecords of their atrocities, including how many Jews were moved to concentration camps orkilled by roving death squads. Adolf Eichmann, as responsible as anyone for planning theHolocaust, was confident that a bit over five million Jews had been killed. Historians have doneextensive work to determine the exact number—including those who never even made it toEichmann's camps. For example, SS records confirm at least 7,000 died during the fighting ofthe 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. After meticulously scouring the records, the historian LucyDawidowicz put the total number killed at 5.93 million. Other historians have reached similarfigures. The fact that these figures derive from German bureaucratic records should beenough to blow a hole in any Holocaust denier's theories. There was a Holocaust, it was real,and the Nazis are the ones who said so.
但是600萬這個數字並不是隨意的猜想，而是有文件記載的。納粹黨人保留了他們暴行的詳細記錄，包括有多少猶太人被運往集中營，有多少人死於敢死隊。在猶太人大屠殺中執行"最終方案"的主要負責者納粹戰犯阿道夫·艾希曼承認有500多萬猶太人被殺害。歷史學家做了大量工作以獲得確切數字，想知道那些都沒能到集中營就喪命的人數。就如，根據SS黨衛軍的記錄，單在1943年華沙猶太人隔離區起義中，就有至少7000名猶太人被殺害。經過細緻調查和統計，歷史學家Lucy Dawidowicz指出，被迫害的猶太人有593萬，其他歷史學家的統計也跟這個計算結果相近。這些根據德國官方記錄而得出的受害人數足以抨擊否認大屠殺的人的陰謀論。大屠殺真實存在，迫害方納粹黨就是這場殘暴屠殺的見證者。
38th Parallel
2.三八線
The 38th parallel is a circle of latitude that served as the initial basis for the famousdemilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea—the most heavily fortified border inthe world. The DMZ traces its origins to World War II. As US forces landed in the south ofKorea and the Soviet Red Army overran the Japanese forces in the north, there needed to be aline where the two armies could meet without overlapping (and possibly ending up fighting eachother). The 38th parallel was chosen. But why?
三八線是一條用以劃分南北朝鮮之間受降範圍的暫時軍事分界線，是世界上防衛最森嚴的一條邊界線。其歷史要追溯到第二次世界大戰，那時，美國武力登陸朝鮮南部，蘇聯紅軍將日本軍力控制在北部，所以需要有一條分界線來劃分兩國部隊控制的受降區，以免兩國軍隊見面打起來。於是，就選擇了三八線，爲什麼呢?
It turns out that the line had no real historical significance. Prior to the Allied invasion, Koreafunctioned as a whole pretty well. It was the Soviets and Americans who decided to split thenation. Dean Rusk, a member of General George Marshall's staff (and a future Secretary ofState), looked over a National Geographic map with Army Colonel Charles "Tic" Bonesteel. Thepair were determined that Seoul should be in the American zone, but they couldn't find anatural break north of the city. They eventually settled for the 38th parallel, around 56kilometers (35 mi) north of Seoul. The Soviets agreed to the entirely arbitrary dividing line andthe rest is (war-torn) history.
事實證明這條分界線的確立並沒有什麼歷史性的意義。盟軍入侵之前，朝鮮還是個完整的國家，是蘇聯和美國硬生生把這個國家一分爲二。喬治·馬歇爾將軍的一位年輕參謀迪安·拉斯克上校(Dean Rusk，後來擔任美國國務卿)和陸軍軍官查爾斯·邦斯迪爾審視了國家地圖後，認爲首爾應該歸在美國受降區，但是他們沒能在這個城市的北部找到一個自然分界線。於是最後選擇了距首爾北部大約56,000米，位於北緯38度附近的一條線。蘇聯對這個隨意劃分的分界線也表示同意，三八線就這麼形成了。
erman's Top 10 lists
1.萊特曼的前10榜
Everyone loves lists. There are even websites based on the idea. But the idea behind a Top 10list didn't originate in the Internet age—magazines have been doing them for decades. Butnothing helped popularize Top 10 lists as much as Late Night with David Letterman.
每個人都喜歡榜單，有很多網站也是基於排名而設立。不過，前十排行這個主意可不是緣起於互聯網時代，雜誌媒介已經採用這種形式數十年了。但要說讓前十榜單這一形式紅起來的，那還要屬午夜聊天節目《大衛深夜脫口秀》。
In its early days, Letterman was known for being edgier than other talk shows—since it was onlater in the evening, it had more leeway to get away with silly stunts. Writer Randy Cohen hasoften been given credit for the idea of doing a humorous Top 10 list, but Cohen himself saysit was more of a team effort. Which is good, because it seems like everyone who worked forLetterman except Letterman himself thinks they came up with the idea as a spoof of other Top10 lists. The direct inspiration was likely a Cosmopolitan list of the 10 sexiest men over first list, written by Kevin Curran, was the Top 10 Words That Almost Rhyme With "Peas."But what about Listverse? Well, our very first list was published way back in 2007. And whileListverse didn't always follow the 10-item format, it works well, as history has shown us.
早期時候，這檔脫口秀以其生動犀利的語言而聞名，因爲節目是在午夜播出，所以可以盡情嬉笑怒罵，將娛樂精神展現的淋漓盡致。人們常常將前十排行這一創意歸功於寫手蘭迪·科恩，不過科恩自己說這更多的是團隊協作的成果。這樣想也好，因爲這樣一來，似乎除了主持人萊特曼以外，每個爲這檔脫口秀工作的人都可以把自己算作創造前十榜單笑料的一員。前十排行的直接靈感來源於Cosmopolitan的"十大60歲以上的最性感大叔"榜單。《大衛深夜脫口秀》中的第一份前十排行榜是凱文·庫然寫的"十大跟peas(豌豆)押韻的詞語"。
翻譯：毛志遙
