【词汇】
Hungry Ghost Festival 中元节(也叫“鬼节”)
The Hungry Ghost Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month.
中元节在农历七月十五日。
【中元节的起源】
The origin of the Hungry Ghost Festival and the Ghost Month in China is uncertain. Cultures in Asia from India to Cambodia to Japan share similar beliefs about the month, and these traditions seem to date from before Buddha.
中元节是否起源于中国并不确定。关于该节日的文化在一些亚洲国家诸如印度、柬埔寨、日本都信奉着相似的信仰，似乎这些传统都起源于佛教。
According to Taoism, the gates of hell are opened on the first day of the seventh month, and hungry ghosts are released to find food or to take revenge on those who have behaved badly according to Taoist records.
根据道教说法，农历七月的第一天地狱之门将打开，饥饿的鬼魂得以释放去寻找食物或报复那些道家记载的作恶多端的人。
【中元节习俗】
在英语中，关于“胖”，我们首先想到的就是fat。但fat在英语中是个强烈的贬义词，所以在西方如果说某人fat，不仅是对别人的伤害与歧视，也是自身粗鲁无教养的表现。那么英语中如何恰当而又有礼貌地表达 “胖”呢?下面是小编为大家整理的一些常见的委婉表达法。大家一起来学习奥!
1. gain weight: 增加体重。例如：
People who drink diet soft drinks don’t lose weight. They gain weight, a new study finds.
2. super size person: 超大之人。例如：
No more hamburgers, I don’t want to be a super size person.
3. heavyset: 体格魁伟的。例如：
He was tall and heavyset.
4. nutritionally endowed: 营养丰富的。例如：
Though garlic is a nutritionally endowed food, it is only consumed in small amounts.
5. gravitationally challenged: 受地球引力挑战的。例如：
That girl is gravitationally challenged.
6. well-built: 体格健美的，体型匀称的。例如：
That girl is well-built.
7. stout 结实的，壮实的。例如：
She is getting too stout for her dresses.
8. big-boned: 骨骼粗大的。例如：
I’m not fat, just big-boned.
9. overweight: 超重的。例如：
Overweight in a child should not be neglected.
10. chubby: 胖乎乎的(多指小孩和女子)。 例如：
The baby has a chubby face.
11. buxom: 体态丰满的。例如：
A generation ago, fat babies were considered healthy and buxom actresses were popular, but society has come to worship thinness.
同样，“瘦”不能说skinny，它是“皮包骨”的意思。要形容一个人苗条应该用slender,slim，或delicate。“减肥”则可以说lose pounds或lose weight。
总之，“胖”和“瘦”是英美人敏感的话题， fat和skinny的使用要十分小心，注意回避。但是有一个例外就是phat(妙，好，酷)，是fat 的异体词，在口语中常常用于赞美美妙的东西，相当于cool。例如：
The car is really a phat.
Family members offer prayers to their deceased relatives, offer food and drink and burn hell bank notes and other forms of joss paper.
家庭成员向已故的亲人祈祷，送上祝福，奉上食物和饮料，烧一些诸如冥币这样的纸钱给他们。
