小編按

世界上四分之一的人關註中國的生肖。薛曉蘭說，就算你不相信生肖，也最好知道它是如何運作的。在這個有趣而內容豐富的演講中，她分享了一些有助於了解古代傳統的技巧及為什麼生肖可以影響個人性格，職業，婚姻走向和接下來一年的運勢。你的生肖有著什麼涵義呢？

今天和大家分享一個關於Chinese zodiac sign 中國生肖屬相的精彩演講。該演講難度偏低，演講者發音有中式英語的特點。練習聽力、補充詞匯都是不錯的選擇。只有6分鐘。值此春節到來之際，絕對可以讓你在介紹傳統中國十二生肖的時候有充分的詞匯積累和句式可以用。如果堅持要練習聽力的同學，可以不看字幕試一試，畢竟不是很難。

暴露屬相=瞬間暴露年齡

演講者也提出了一個有趣的觀點，羊意味著軟弱，老虎因為脾氣暴躁，都不被看好，那一年份的小孩出生率會明顯下降，反過來想想，正因為同一年出生的孩子少，那麼這些孩子長大以後面臨的競爭不就更少了嗎？也許正因為這樣，他們反而能更多地獲得成功的機會。比爾蓋茨、喬布斯可都是屬虎的哦。

中國12生肖詳細介紹演講稿

Have you ever been asked by your Chinese friend,

" What is your zodiac sign? "

Don't think they are making small talk.

If you say, " I'm a Monkey, "

they immediately know

you are either 24, 36, 48 or 60 years old.

(Laughter)

Asking a zodiac sign is a polite way of asking your age.

By revealing your zodiac sign, you are also being evaluated.

Judgments are being made about your fortune or misfortune,

your personality, career prospects

and how you will do in a given year.

If you share you and your partner's animal signs,

they will paint a picture in their mind about your private life.

Maybe you don't believe in the Chinese zodiac.

As a quarter of the world population is influenced by it,

you'd be wise to do something about that.

So what is the Chinese zodiac, exactly?

Most Westerners think of Greco-Roman zodiac,

the signs divided into 12 months.

The Chinese zodiac is different.

It's a 12-year cycle labeled with animals,

starting with a Rat and ending with a Pig,

and has no association with constellations.

For example, if you were born in 1975, you are a Rabbit.

Can you see your zodiac sign there?

Our Chinese ancestors constructed a very complicated theoretical framework

based on inner yang, the five elements and the 12 zodiac animals.

Over thousands of years,

this popular culture has affected people's major decisions,

such as naming, marriage, giving birth and attitude towards each other.

And some of the implications are quite amazing.

The Chinese believe certain animals get on better than the others.

So parents choose specific years to give birth to babies,

because they believe the team effort by the right combination of animals

can give prosperity to families.

We even refer to the zodiac when entering into romantic relations.

I'm a Pig; I should have perfect romance with Tigers, Goats and Rabbits.

Chinese people believe some animals are natural enemies.

As a Pig, I need to be careful with a Snake.

Raise your hand if you are a Snake.

Let's have a chat later.

(Laughter)

We believe some animals are luckier than the others,

such as the Dragon.

Unlike the Western tradition,

the Chinese Dragon is a symbol for power, strength and wealth.

It's everyone's dream to have a Dragon baby.

Jack Ma's parents must have been very proud.

And they are not the only ones.

In 2012, the Year of the Dragon,

the birthrate in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan

increased by five percent.

That means another one million more babies.

With a traditional preference to baby boys,

the boy-girl ratio that year was 120 to 100.

When those Dragon boys grow up,

they will face much more severe competition in love and job markets.

According to the BBC and the Chinese government's press release,

January 2015 saw a peak of Cesarean sections.

That was the last month for the Year of the Horse.

It's not because they like horses so much,

it's because they try to avoid having unlucky Goat babies.

(Laughter)

If you are a Goat, please don't feel bad.

Those are Goat babies.

They don't look like losers to me.

(Laughter)

Tiger is another undesirable animal,

due to its volatile temperament.

Many Chinese regions saw a sharp decline of birthrate

during those years.

Perhaps one should consider zodiac in reverse,

as those Tiger and Goat babies will face much less competition.

Maybe they are the lucky ones.

I went through the Forbes top 300 richest people in the world,

and it's interesting to see

the most undesirable two animals, the Goat and Tiger,

are at the top of the chart,

even higher than the Dragon.

So maybe we should consider,

maybe it's much better to have less competition.

One last but interesting point:

many Chinese people make their investment decisions

based on the zodiac sign index.

Although the belief and tradition of the zodiac sign

has been over thousands of years,

the trend of using it in making major decisions

did not really happen until the past few decades.

Our ancestors were very busy surviving poverty, drought,

famine, riot, disease and civil war.

And finally, Chinese people have the time, wealth and technology

to create an ideal life they've always wanted.

The collective decision made by 1. 3 billion people

has caused the fluctuation in economics and demand on everything,

from health care and education to property and consumer goods.

As China plays such an important role in the global economy and geopolitics,

the decisions made based on the zodiac and other Chinese traditions

end up impacting everyone around the world.

Are there any Monkeys here?

2016 is the Year of the Monkey.

Monkeys are clever, curious, creative and mischievous.

Thank you.

知 識 拓 展

關於中國年和十二生肖的傳說（中英字幕視頻）

關於中國十二生肖和傳統文化的地道口語表達（中英字幕視頻）

暴露屬相=暴露年齡

只要把屬相一說出來，瞬間暴露年齡。看看，在這一點上，咱們的傳統的十二生肖就是那麼科學。雖然現在比較流行十二星座，我小時候還是經常讀到很多文字，屬相一樣可以預示運勢，性格，事業，還有來年的運程等。

掐指一算，還是愛生“金龍寶寶”

貌似平日裏關心生肖屬相的人少了，然而一到人生的關鍵時刻，世界各地的華夏子孫還是會找出來掂量一下。特別是像生孩子這件事件，只要那年遇到孕婦紮堆，產科人滿為患，那肯定是趕上某個生肖裏的“大咖年”了，類似龍年這種。因為中國人相信有的屬相就是要更幸運一些。這麼看來挑年份生娃也是能理解的。演講裏還提到，馬雲就屬龍，多有說服力吧。

“虎寶”和“羊寶”才是人生的贏家

事情真的是這樣嗎？紮堆出生的寶寶雖然趕上了好的屬相，但是換個角度想一下，他們以後面對的競爭也會更激烈啊，求學，擇業，擇偶都是壓力。反之，人們不太偏好的“虎寶、“羊寶“獲得了更寬松的環境。根據薛女士對全球前300的富翁進行統計，排在前兩位的就是屬虎和屬羊的。這個佐證的科學性還是要吐一下槽。難道意思是因為華人中的屬虎的和屬羊的人少，所以對全球其他的富翁沒有威脅嗎。沒準哦，咱們華夏民族太強了。

生肖文化帶動全球經濟

事實上，因為中國人對生肖的各種偏好，從而影響我們的諸多決定，包括消費和投資這些。所以說傳統的生肖文化影響著中國甚至全球的經濟狀況和需求也不為過。特別是在全球化日益加劇，中國經濟騰飛，這種影響是世界範圍的。又回到前面的挑年份粉生寶寶，那一年的嬰兒用品，奶粉必然火上加火；可以預知的是，接下來幾年的早教市場也會需求旺盛，等等等等。所以，關註中國文化是可以起到推動全球經濟的效果的，那是在為整個人類做貢獻呢。