GText15VAChineseorWesternit'satimeto relax
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TextChineseorWestern,it'satimetorelax1. It's that time of the year when the world seems tobe caught in a trance - the trance of end-of-yearcelebrations. End-of-year, I said.The problem seems to be exactly that. Why should we inChina refer to the week between December 24 and 31 as theend of the year when ours (according to the lunar calendar) isat least a month away?Translation
Text Chinese or Western, it’s a time to relax 1 It's that time of the year when the world seems to be caught in a trance – the trance of end-of-year celebrations. End-of-year, I said. 2 The problem seems to be exactly that. Why should we in China refer to the week between December 24 and 31 as the end of the year when ours (according to the lunar calendar) is at least a month away?
TextWe do so apparently because Christmas and New Yearhave become global festivals, not because they (especiallyChristmas) are essentially Western in nature and spirit, butbecause we can relax during those few days.Nevertheless, some scholars and students have expressed4concern over the increasing influence of Christmas onoriental, particularly Chinese, culture. Their fears may bejustified to a certain extent. In fact, we Chinese do seem toattach a lot more time and attention to Christmas today thanwe did even a couple of decades agoTranslation
Text 3 We do so apparently because Christmas and New Year have become global festivals, not because they (especially Christmas) are essentially Western in nature and spirit, but because we can relax during those few days. 4 Nevertheless, some scholars and students have expressed concern over the increasing influence of Christmas on oriental, particularly Chinese, culture. Their fears may be justified to a certain extent. In fact, we Chinese do seem to attach a lot more time and attention to Christmas today than we did even a couple of decades ago
TextFor good or bad, the world has possibly undergone morechanges in the past two decades than it did in the past twocenturies. We have used more resources, burnt more fuel,caused more pollution and killed off more animals and plantsas we have come closer to each other to form a truly globalvillage. Television, we thought, was the last uniting factor tillwe got a feel for the Internet.Translation
Text 5 For good or bad, the world has possibly undergone more changes in the past two decades than it did in the past two centuries. We have used more resources, burnt more fuel, caused more pollution and killed off more animals and plants as we have come closer to each other to form a truly global village. Television, we thought, was the last uniting factor till we got a feel for the Internet
Text All these changes have made us take a different lookCat the world beyond and our home within. Nothing comeswithout a rider in this global market. If we want to be part ofthe dazzle and comfort that the West is known for, we hadbetter accept some of its anomalies, too. This is not to saythat festivals mean something else to the WestTranslation
Text 6 All these changes have made us take a different look at the world beyond and our home within. Nothing comes without a rider in this global market. If we want to be part of the dazzle and comfort that the West is known for, we had better accept some of its anomalies, too. This is not to say that festivals mean something else to the West