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Postcards and Holidays
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E: Hi! Welcome to 'Let's Talk'. Today we have a very special program for you. We want to talk about greeting cards.
R: We have a lot of examples for you to look at today.
E: And we wanted to just tell you a little bit about the history of greeting cards. You know these cards that we send now, birthday cards, Christmas cards, maybe Valentine's Day cards, about a hundred years ago, people didn't send cards.
R: It's about a hundred-year-old tradition and it's grown and grown. And now you can buy all kinds of cards here in China.
E: Yes. You can get cards all over the world in every country. And these cards all started as postcards, not as real cards. Postcards like these that people would send to each other to welcome the holiday or to send holiday greetings or wishes.
R: And today we have many greeting cards. Some old fashion cards from 1900 to 1930. We've enjoyed looking at them and preparing for our show, because they're from generations ago. But the symbols in them are still the same today.
E: And here are two cards from New Years for you to look at. In this card here you have the young person because a year is young and new, you often have a baby on a New Year's card. But on this card you have a new face. And over here you have a young girl and she has a horseshoe. Do you know why she has a horseshoe? Because a horseshoe is good luck. She also has four-leaf-clovers, clovers with four leaves on them. In these case a four-leaf-clovers are also a symbol of good luck. Now these cards together bring you good wishes for prosperity, for wealth and riches in the New Year and also for good luck. And that is one of my favorite holidays is Valentine's Day.
R: Oh and it's a popular season for sending cards.
E: Yes. And here the two older cards from Valentine's Day. We have the cupids, and here you can see the cupids with their little wings. And cupids have lots of jobs but of course their biggest job is finding matches for lovers, isn't it?
R: I always think of cupids with bow and arrow. But here this is interesting. They're fishing for hearts.
E: Yes. They are fishing. And cupids have lots of tasks that they do. They can fish for hearts. You can 'Diao' a boyfriend or a girl friend, like 'Diao Yu'. Or you can also see them doing other things. Like maybe they're like a metal worker, some one who work with metal, and they'll make a new heart, or mend, fix??
R: Fix an old broken heart. That a cute idea.
E: So you'll find some old fashioned cards that have cupids on them fixing a broken heart. Be my valentine. That's what you write on a Valentine's Day Card. You write 'Be Mine.'
R: 'Be Mine' or 'Be my Valentine' is very personal, like I love you. But if it is someone who is not so intimate with you, you could still just wish them 'Happy Valentine's Day.' That you could write on a Valentine to a friend. The next popular holiday in our group of cards is 'Easter'. And here you'll see some symbols of Easter in these old postcards. We have chicks, which were baby animals; we have bunnies, which are rabbits and they're also a symbol of springtime. And the egg here is a symbol of new life in the spring. So all the Easter cards traditionally have symbols of new life and spring. And what you could write is 'Happy Easter' or 'Happy Easter', 'Happy Spring'. These are all good ideas for springtime. The timing for Easter changes every year, but it's usually in March or April.
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节日的卡片
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欢迎收看“你说我说”，今天我们将谈谈有关节日的卡片。
我们带来了很多卡片。
首先我们谈谈节日卡片的历史。现在人们都会寄节日卡，像生日卡、圣诞卡、情人节卡等。但在一百年前人们不送卡片。
送节日卡的传统只有一百年，但这个传统不断发展。现在在中国能买到各种贺卡了。
对，在世界各国都是这样。这些贺卡都是来自明信片，那时人们在节日里互赠这样的明信片表达祝福。
今天我们带来了一些从1900年到1930年代的明信片，我们非常喜欢看它们，并把它们带到节目中。它们都很有年头了，但上面的标志性图案与今天还是一样的。
这两张是新年的明信片，你看到上面有年轻人的形象，因为新年意味着年轻和新鲜，所以这种明信片上总有孩子，他们有着新鲜的面孔。这张卡上有个小女孩，还有个马蹄铁。你知道为什么要有马蹄铁呢？因为马蹄铁代表着幸运。她还有一个四叶苜蓿，四叶苜蓿也代表着幸运。所以这张明信片给人们祝福，还祝人们在新年中富裕幸运。接下来是我最喜欢的情人节。
这也是个寄卡片的好季节。
这里有两张情人节的明信片，上面有丘比特的形象。丘比特有很多工作，最重要的工作是为人们发现伴侣。
我印象中丘比特总带着弓和箭，但在这张明信片中，丘比特在用鱼网捕获人心。
对，他在捕捉人心。丘比特有很多的工作，像钓鱼一样钓到朋友。你也能看到他做别的事情，比如像铁匠一样修补破碎的心。
所以在有些明信片上，你能看到丘比特修补破碎的心。Be my Valentine是经常用的祝贺语，或者写Be Mine.
这些都是很亲密的祝贺语。但对于一些不太熟悉的人，你可以写Happy Valentine's Day。下一个重要节日是Easter复活节，在这些明信片上，你可以看到很多Easter的标志。这里有小鸡，还有小兔子，这些都是春天的标志。这里还有鸡蛋，象征着春天的新生。传统的Easter明信片都有这些象征新生的标志。在这些明信片上，你可以写Happy Easter.或Happy Spring.这些都是很好的春天嘱咐语。Easter的时间每年都不一样，但都是在三四月间。
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