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And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语《词汇掌故》节目。
Today we talk about the word "season."
今天我们谈论的是“season”这个词。
We use this word in many different ways.
这个词有很多不同的用法。
"Season" can refer to one of the four parts of the year.
“Season”可以指一年中的四季之一。
For example, Washington, D.C. is in a part of the United States that has four seasons: winter, spring, summer, and autumn.
例如，华盛顿特区位于美国四季（冬季、春季、夏季和秋季）分明的地区。
Some parts of the U.S. do not have four seasons.
美国的一些地区没有四季。
"Season" can also describe the periods marked by warmth and growth or cold weather and falling leaves.
“Season”也可以指以温暖和生长或寒冷天气和落叶为特征的时期。
For example, when the weather becomes warmer and days are lighter longer, the growing season begins for some plants.
例如，当天气变暖，白昼变长时，一些植物的生长季就开始了。
When the weather gets colder and the days darker, the hibernation season begins for some animals.
当天气变冷，白昼变短时，一些动物的冬眠季节就开始了。
We also use "season" to describe periods that are only related to the weather.
我们也用“season”来描述只与天气有关的时期。
For example, some areas of the world have rainy seasons and dry seasons.
例如，世界上一些地区有雨季和旱季。
Some parts of the U.S. have tornado season.
美国部分地区有龙卷风季节。
And in other parts of the world there are monsoon seasons.
在世界的其他地方也有季风季节。
"Season" can also refer to the time before and during a major holiday.
“Season”也可以指重大节日之前和期间的时间。
December is a busy holiday season in many parts of the world.
在世界上的许多地区，12月是一个繁忙的假日季节。
Holidays include Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Winter Solstice.
其中包括圣诞节、光明节、宽扎节、瓜达卢佩圣母节和冬至。
December is often a time to take a break from work and spend time with loved ones.
12月通常是从工作中抽出时间休息，与亲人共度时光的时候。
Speaking of Christmas, when we say 'tis the season we are talking about something dealing with this holiday – its good side and its not-so-good side.
说到圣诞节，当我们说“'tis the season”时，我们谈论的是与这个节日有关的事情——它好的一面和不太好的一面。
For example, let's say I give a co-worker a big box of homemade cookies.
例如，假设我给了同事一大盒自制饼干。
They might say to me, "Thanks! But why are you giving me so many cookies?" I can answer, "'Tis the season!"
他们可能会对我说：“谢谢！但你为什么要给我这么多饼干？”我可以回答，“这正是送礼物的时候！”
Here is another example.
下面是另一个例子。
If I go out to a store and it is packed with holiday shoppers, I could complain to a friend.
如果我去商店，那里挤满了假日购物者，我可能会向朋友抱怨。
And they could respond, "Well, 'tis the season!"
他们可能会回答，“这正是购物的时候！”
What they really mean is this: At this time of the year, stores are usually very busy with Christmas shoppers.
他们真正的意思是：每年的这个时候，商店里通常都挤满了圣诞购物者。
In fact, Christmas is like open season on shopping deals.
事实上，圣诞节就像是购物的开放季节。
"Open season on" something means that it is being hunted, targeted, or in this case ... bought.
“Open season on sth”的意思是它正在被猎杀、瞄准，或者在这种情况下……被买。
"Open season" also describes a period of time when a particular activity or opportunity is unrestricted.
“Open season”也指某一特定活动或机会不受限制的一段时间。
It is widely available.
它可以被广泛获得。
This term probably comes from hunting.
这个词可能来源于狩猎。
Hunting traditionally has many restrictions.
传统上，狩猎有许多限制。
People can hunt only at certain times of the year and even then, there are restrictions on which animals and how many you can hunt.
人们只能在一年中的某些时间狩猎，即使在那时，你可以狩猎的动物种类和数量也是有限制的。
Fishing too has similar restrictions.
捕鱼也有类似的限制。
But if it is open season, there are few restrictions.
但如果是开放季节，就几乎没有限制了。
As in our earlier shopping example, we can use this term for just about anything that is targeted with few restrictions.
正如我们前面提到的购物一样，我们可以使用这个词来表示几乎没有限制的任何事情。
When talking about the best times to travel, for example, it is a good idea to travel off-season.
例如，当谈到旅行的最佳时间时，淡季旅行是一个好主意。
If few people are traveling, it is a good time to find cheap air travel, hotels, and rental cars.
如果旅行的人很少，这正是寻找便宜的机票、酒店和租车的好时机。
It is open season on travel deals.
现在是旅游的开放季节。
And like hunting season, we can have other "seasons" too.
就像狩猎季节一样，我们也可以有其他的“季节”。
For example, beach areas are popular during tourist season.
例如，海滩地区在旅游旺季很受欢迎。
And people with allergies probably do not like hay fever season or allergy season.
过敏的人可能不喜欢花粉病季节或过敏季节。
So, "season" can simply mean a time of the year marked by a special activity.
因此，“season”可以只表示一年中的某个以特殊活动为标志的时间段。
Sports seasons, for example, are popular with fans of sports.
例如，运动季很受体育迷的欢迎。
We also have different seasons in our lives: Our time as children, going off to college, becoming parents, helping our aging parents, starting new careers or starting retirement.
我们的生活中也有不同的季节：童年、大学、为人父母、赡养年迈的父母、开始新的职业生涯或开始退休。
These are all different seasons of life.
这些都是生命中不同的季节。
And they all have different aspects to enjoy and to be thankful for.
它们都有不同的方面值得享受和感激。
And that's the end of this Words and Their Stories. Until next time ... I'm Anna Matteo.
以上就是本期《词汇掌故》节目的全部内容。下次见……我是安娜·马特奥。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
