There are many expressions using the word“sun”. So today, lets talk about the stories of the sun.
The first expression is about everything, everything under the sun. If you own a store that sold many different things, your advertisements could say you sell everything under the sun. This would not be exactly true, of course. But what would advertising be without some creative descriptions?
Here is another example: Lets say you are talking with a friend you have not seen for a long time. The two of you could have a lot of things to share. So, you talk about everything under the sun.
“Under the sun” is an old expression—at least 3,000 years old. It means everywhere the sun shines. King Solomon of Israel used it in the Bible. He wrote that nothing under the sun is new. What has been will be again, he said, and what has been done will be done again.
There is nothing new under the sun, there is nothing new anywhere. New or old, few things can be hidden in the bright light of the sun.
That leads to another expression: a sunshine law. This law says that all government meetings must be open to the public. In some states, sunshine laws also say the government must permit the public to see government records.
The Atlanta Journal and Constitution published a report about the value of sunshine laws. It told about how officials of a local government met secretly with a land developer to discuss using public land for a private entertainment center. The deal was stopped when it finally became publicly known.
“It often takes a crisis,” the newspaper report said, “to awaken citizens to their rights under the state sunshine laws.” It said the laws are called that because they shine sunlight on dark corners where secret deals can be made.
Another expression about the sun is sunbelt. The word describes the warmer states of the American south, from Florida to California. The warmer weather in the Sunbelt causes many people to move there. They move from the Frostbelt, the colder northern states, and the Rustbelt, the older industrial states.
In addition, labor costs are lower in the Sunbelt, and labor unions are not as strong as in the north. So many companies moved their factories to the Sunbelt. Workers followed. By 1990, the Sunbelt cities of Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio were among the ten largest cities in the United States.
From geographic areas to music, the word “sun” finds its place.
Every type of music—from rock to pop to country—has songs about the sun. One of the most popular is“You Are My Sunshine”. What began as a sad love song is now a classic childrens song. Many performers have recorded this song.
The rock group Beatles have several songs with“sun” in the title. A couple are “Here Comes the Sun” and “Good Day Sunshine”. Elton John sang “Dont Let Sun Go down on Me”.
And the musical group 5th Dimension wanted to let the sunshine in on a United States that was heavily involved in the Vietnam War. “Let the Sun Shine In” became a popular song in the anti-war culture in the 1960s U.S. This song was originally in the musical theater performance and movie “Hair”, which criticized the Vietnam War. Now, its your turn to guess the meanings of the expressions using the word “sun”!
英語(yǔ)中有很多表達(dá)中使用了“太陽(yáng)”一詞,所以今天我們就從太陽(yáng)的故事說(shuō)起吧。
首先要說(shuō)的第一個(gè)表達(dá)是關(guān)于所有的,位于太陽(yáng)之下的事物。如果你有一間商店,出售各種商品,那么你就可以在廣告上說(shuō)你店里的東西“應(yīng)有盡有”。當(dāng)然,這也未必全是真的。但是沒(méi)有創(chuàng)意描述的廣告還叫廣告么?
舉另一個(gè)例子:你和一個(gè)很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間沒(méi)有見(jiàn)面的朋友談話時(shí),你們兩個(gè)可能有很多事情想要分享。因此你們說(shuō)的話題可能是天南海北包羅萬(wàn)象的。
“under the sun”是一種非常古老的說(shuō)法,最起碼有3000年的歷史了。這個(gè)說(shuō)法指的是所有在太陽(yáng)下籠罩的地方。以色列國(guó)王所羅門在圣經(jīng)中這樣使用過(guò)。他寫道,太陽(yáng)之下皆為舊事。他說(shuō),已有之事會(huì)必再有,已行之事會(huì)必再行。
太陽(yáng)之下無(wú)新事,任何地方都沒(méi)有。新或舊,只有極其一小部分可以在強(qiáng)烈太陽(yáng)光之下隱藏。
由此引導(dǎo)出另一種表達(dá):“陽(yáng)光法案”。這種表達(dá)含義是政府所有會(huì)議必須向公眾公開(kāi)。在一些州,“陽(yáng)光法案”還可以理解為政府必須準(zhǔn)許公眾查看政府記錄。
《亞特蘭大憲政報(bào)》發(fā)表了一篇有關(guān)“陽(yáng)光法案”價(jià)值的報(bào)道。該報(bào)道講述了當(dāng)?shù)匾晃徽賳T是如何秘密會(huì)見(jiàn)土地開(kāi)發(fā)商、討論利用公共土地開(kāi)發(fā)私人娛樂(lè)中心的事情的。當(dāng)這件事被公眾知曉之后被叫停。
該報(bào)道稱:群眾往往需要一場(chǎng)危機(jī)才能意識(shí)到他們?cè)诟髦荨瓣?yáng)光法案”下的權(quán)利。該報(bào)道稱,該法案被稱之為陽(yáng)光法案,是因?yàn)樗麄儼殃?yáng)光照進(jìn)存在秘密交易的黑暗角落。
關(guān)于太陽(yáng)的另一種表達(dá)是“陽(yáng)光帶”。這個(gè)詞描述的是從佛羅里達(dá)州到加利福尼亞州比較暖和的美國(guó)南部州地。該地區(qū)溫暖的氣候吸引了大批人移居。這些人從北邊稍冷一些的霜凍地帶和舊工業(yè)州地的塵土地帶搬到了陽(yáng)光地帶居住。
另外,在陽(yáng)光地帶的勞動(dòng)力價(jià)格是比較低的,勞工會(huì)也遠(yuǎn)不如北方強(qiáng)大。所以許多公司將其工廠搬到了陽(yáng)光地帶。大批工人也隨之而來(lái)。到了1990,陽(yáng)光地帶的洛杉磯、圣迭戈、菲尼克斯、休斯敦、達(dá)拉斯和圣安東尼奧已躋身于美國(guó)10大城市行列。
從地理領(lǐng)域到音樂(lè)領(lǐng)域,“sun”這個(gè)詞都找得到適合它的位置。
每一首歌曲,無(wú)論是從搖滾到流行,再到鄉(xiāng)村音樂(lè),都有關(guān)于太陽(yáng)的歌曲。其中最受歡迎的一首歌是《You Are My Sunshine》。最初作為一首悲傷情歌出現(xiàn)的這首歌,現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)成為了一首經(jīng)典兒童歌曲。許多歌手都翻唱過(guò)這首歌。
搖滾樂(lè)隊(duì)甲殼蟲(chóng)唱了很多題目關(guān)于“sun”的歌曲。其中兩首是《Here Comes the Sun》和《Good Day Sunshine》。Elton John則演唱過(guò)《Dont Let Sun Go down on Me》。
還有,音樂(lè)團(tuán)體第五維度希望陽(yáng)光照進(jìn)深陷越戰(zhàn)的美國(guó)?!禠et the Sun Shine In》成為了1960年代美國(guó)反戰(zhàn)文化中的流行金曲。這首歌最初是出現(xiàn)在批評(píng)越戰(zhàn)的音樂(lè)劇和電影《Hair》中。
下面,你來(lái)猜一猜文中使用了“太陽(yáng)”一詞的表達(dá)方式的意思吧!