V alentine’s Day

By Amirah Ahmad

提到“情人节”，人们的反应首先是浪漫的爱情和巧克力。其实，情人节的特别，不只是因为巧克力，更是因为“爱”——情人间的爱，朋友间的爱，家人间的爱。2014年的情人节，你准备好了吗？

Some people are armed while some people actively embrace it,but no one doubts its ubiquity in the air.1. 有些人对它加以戒备，有些人则热情接受，没有人怀疑它是无处不在的。ubiquity: 普遍存在，无处不在。Everyone is susceptible to2. susceptible to: 易受……影响的，对……敏感的。its power. It is what makes the world turn, breaking hearts but repairing them simultaneously3. simultaneously: 同时地，同步地。. The most intelligent students cannot comprehend it, Einstein never figured out a formula to calculate its strength, and Pablo Picasso could never put it on canvas.4. 连最聪明的学生也无法理解它，爱因斯坦没能想出一个可以计算它能量的公式，巴勃罗·毕加索也没能将它呈现在画布上。Pablo Picasso: 巴勃罗·毕加索（1881—1973），西班牙画家、雕塑家，是现代艺术的创始人，西方现代派绘画的主要代表。Its evasiveness, however, is what motivates us to run after it.5. evasiveness: 闪避，含糊其辞；motivate: 激发，促动。

That’s why, of course, we have an entire day to celebrate the one thing that no one can understand.

Love.

In America, Valentine’s Day is often referred to as a holiday where either people are delirious with bliss while spending the day with their soul mate or mourning their single status, eating a box of chocolates they bought for themselves.6. delirious: 发狂的，精神错乱的；soul mate: 精神伴侣，心灵伴侣。We imagine couples frolicking through parks and meadows, while girls and boys who don’t have a boy or girlfriend sit in their bedrooms lamenting their miserable love life.7. frolic: 嬉闹，欢快地玩耍；lament:感到悲痛，感到失望。More or less, this is the basic gist8. gist: 主旨，要点。of the holiday. However, there are several different types of love to be taken into consideration. Romantic love is important, but not the only type of affection that should be or is celebrated as a part of Valentine’s Day. The beauty of this day is the commemoration of all types of loves that dictate all relationships, whether they are romantic or familial.9. 这一天的美好之处在于对各种爱的纪念，这些爱影响着我们的关系，无论是爱情还是亲情。dictate:影响，控制。

I’ve decided to divide the different characteristics of love into three categories.

1. Child’s play

This type of affection is apparent in all children under the age of 12, who are silly enough to eat glue but also innocent enough to religiously follow the rule that prohibits them from10. prohibit sb. from doing sth.: 禁止某人做某事。running with scissors. For these children,Valentine’s Day is a day filled with treats and corny but endearing cards that are exchanged.11. corny: 老生常谈的，过时的；endearing: 惹人喜爱的，讨人喜欢的。They have no idea what love means, moreover they have no clue12. have no clue: （对……）一无所知。what it is. Essentially, this day is all about the treats. A day or two before, children start to prepare their Valentine’s Day treats. Although these treats aren’t required, they are advised primarily because of one rule: if you don’t give, you don’t get. And all children want to get.

Furthermore, grocery stores know what to expect. They’re stocked with13. stock with: （使）备有，（使）储备有。cards and candy just for those children. With a list of children in the class that is usually given to them by their teacher, the kids write the name of each of their classmates on every one of the cards possibly with a note before taping a piece of candy to it. On the day, these treats are passed out14. pass out: 分发，分配。and they enjoy the candy while the rest of America spends their Valentine’s Day in a different way.

2. A day of mourning

This type of love-sickness is both pitiful but also enjoyable from an observer’s perspective15. perspective: 视角，观点。. It consists of pubescent16. pubescent: 青春期的。teenagers lamenting over the lack of boyfriends or girlfriends. From ages 12—18, both girls and boys are guilty of this practice and they all know it. Many often make an effort of incorporating17. incorporate: 混合，把……并入。red or pink into their out fits for a cute touch, but in reality it’s a day of mourning for these teens that haven’t met anyone special. The entire day, they mourn over the boyfriend they never had, feeling their juvenile hearts break when they see couples strolling the hallways, walking awkwardly with their hands grasped awkwardly together.18. juvenile: 青少年的，不成熟的；stroll:漫步，闲逛；awkwardly: 笨拙地，不熟练地。

To those who feel bad about themselves on Valentine’s Day, I have only one thing to say: Don’t fret19. fret: 烦恼，担心。; you’ll find the “one.”

3. All-encompassing20. all-encompassing : 包罗万象的，无所不包的。

This type of love is most beautiful. For those who practice the “allencompassing” way of Valentine’s Day, all loved ones are celebrated. A box of chocolates with a card with a heart-warming message is given to their special someone, while chocolate and other small gifts are distributed to their entire family. This way, everyone’s happy and feels loved, exactly the feeling this day should elicit21. elicit: 引发，引起。.

There are certain holidays that have been desecrated by gifts, shopping,and money and there remain few days that still achieve the purpose they were created to fulfill.22. 有些节日已经被礼物、购物以及红包糟蹋了，只剩下少数几个节日还能实现人们创造它们的初衷。desecrate: 故意破坏，亵渎、It’s easy to get caught up with holiday shopping,and spend time and money looking for the perfect gifts to give to family and friends on Christmas. Yet, spending ridiculous23. ridiculous: 荒谬的，可笑的，此处ridiculous amounts of time and money指大量的时间和金钱。amounts of time and money for gifts doesn’t seem all that worth it in the end. It’s wonderful to spend Thanksgiving Day dining with the family, but the elegance of the day is ruined by black Friday shopping the following day.24. Thanksgiving Day: 感恩节。美国、加拿大等国的习俗节日，起源于最初来到北美的移民为丰收向上帝和印第安人献上感谢。美国的庆祝日期为每年11月的第四个星期四。加拿大是每年10月的第二个星期一；black Friday: 黑色星期五。是感恩节（11月第四个星期四）后开业的第一天，很多商店都会顾客盈门从而有大额进帐。而传统上用不同颜色的墨水来记账，红色表示亏损即赤字，黑色表示盈利。所以人们把这个星期五叫做“黑色星期五”，用以表示这一天期待会有盈利。It seems as if this consumer society has not only brainwashed our minds but also has in filtrated25. brainwash: 给……洗脑；in filtrate: 潜入，渗入。our holidays.

Valentine’s Day, however, has managed to keep its integrity26. integrity: 正直，诚实。此处指情人节坚持了它的初衷。. There are no shopping deals or retail store sales that can distract from this joyous occasion.It’s simply a day set aside27. set aside: 留出。to show gratitude to loved ones. In simpler terms,it’s a day of love and chocolate, the two greatest things on earth.