Catch up with family and friends

新春特辑之——走亲访友

Chinese New Year is a time to head home – here’s to hoping you still fit in a twin bed. So get ready to have your cheeks pinched, your plate filled and your life choices questioned. Like many major holidays, CNY is best spent with family and friends. The tradition is so crucial that CNY travel is annually heralded as the ‘world’s largest human migration’. Family reunion dinners falling on CNY Eve also include ancestral worship rituals that connects the 3,800-year history of the holiday to the present.

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pinched

英 [pɪntʃt] 美 [pɪntʃt]

adj. （因疾病、寒冷、愁苦等）苍白清瘦的，清瘦的；为缺钱而苦恼的；压紧的，收缩的

v. 捏；使苦恼（pinch 的过去式和过去分词）

He pinched the baby’s cheek playfully.

他捏着宝宝的脸颊逗着玩。

question

英 [ˈkwestʃən] 美 [ˈkwestʃən]

n. 问题，疑问；试题，题目；（待讨论或处理的）事情，议题；不确定，怀疑

v. 向……提出问题，盘问；对……提出质疑（异议），怀疑

If you question someone, you ask them a lot of questions about something. 询问

This led the therapist to question Jim about his parents and their marriage.

这让治疗师询问起吉姆关于其父母以及他们的婚姻情况。

crucial

英 [ˈkruːʃ(ə)l] 美 [ˈkruːʃl]

adj. 至关重要的，决定性的；<非正式>极好的

比较级more crucial

最高级most crucial

crucial 关键性的

来自cross，十字，分叉口，引申义关键的。

If you describe something as crucial, you mean it is extremely important. 至关重要的

He had administrators under him but made the crucial decisions himself.

尽管他手下有许多官员，但重要的决定还是他自己做。

herald

英 [ˈherəld] 美 [ˈherəld]

v. 预示^{[预示，预先显示。]}……的来临；宣布，宣传；热烈欢迎；公开称赞

n. 预兆；使者，先驱^{[1.前行开路。]}；棘翅夜蛾；<古> 掌礼官，（负责比武大会的）纹章^{[纹章（Coat of Arms），指一种按照特定规则构成的彩色标志，专属于某个个人，家族或团体的识别物。]}官；（英国）宗谱纹章院或苏格兰纹章院官员（位低于纹章官助理）

herald 信使，使者，传达，通报

her-,军队，词源同harry,harbor,-ald,命令，统率，词源同wield.即军队统率官，指挥官，将军，后引申词义指挥官的使者，传令员，后用于指传达，通报。

Something that heralds a future event or situation is a sign that it is going to happen or appear. 预示…的来临

…the sultry evening that heralded the end of the baking hot summer.

…预示着炙热的夏天即将结束的那个闷热的夜晚。

international herald tribune 国际前锋论坛报.

sydney morning herald 悉尼先驱晨报.

Herald Journal 先驱日报.

Chinese Herald. 中国先驱报

Daily Herald. 每日先驱报

reunion

英 [ˌriːˈjuːniən] 美 [ˌriːˈjuːniən]

n. （有组织的）聚会^{[聚会，指聚集，会合。]}，团聚；重逢，团圆；再联合，重新统一

复数reunions

re-,再，重新，union,联合。比喻用法。

A reunion is a party attended by members of the same family, school, or other group who have not seen each other for a long time. (家庭、学校及其他团体成员的) 重聚会

The association holds an annual reunion.

这个协会每年举行一次重聚会。

ancestral worship rituals

祖先崇拜仪式

ancestral

英 [ænˈsestrəl] 美 [ænˈsestrəl]

adj. 祖先的；祖传的

You use ancestral to refer to a person’s family in former times, especially when the family is important and has property or land that they have had for a long time. 祖先的

worship

英 [ˈwɜːʃɪp] 美 [ˈwɜːrʃɪp]

v. 敬奉（神）；爱慕，崇拜

n. 敬神，拜神；崇拜，爱慕；<英> 阁下（对地位高的人的尊称）

If you worship a god, you show your respect to the god, for example, by saying prayers. 敬奉

ritual

英 [ˈrɪtʃuəl] 美 [ˈrɪtʃuəl]

n. （宗教等的）仪式，典礼；习惯，例行公事；（尤指某一宗教或教派特定的）程序，仪式

adj. 仪式上的，庆典上的；（行动）常规的，例行的

A ritual is a religious service or other ceremony which involves a series of actions performed in a fixed order. 宗教仪式; 典礼

This is the most ancient, and holiest of the Shinto rituals.

这是最古老、最神圣的神道教仪式。

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农历新年是回家的好时机——希望你还能安逸地睡在你原来的那张双人床上。做好准备，接下来你的脸就要被长辈们随意揉捏，他们为你夹的菜会堆得像小山一样，而你的人生计划也会遭到疯狂询问。和许多重要节日一样，春节能与家人和朋友一起度过是最幸福的事。这一传统非常重要，因此每年的春运都预示着“世界上规模最大的人口迁移”的开始。除夕夜上的团圆饭还包括祭拜祖先，这将3800年的节日历史与现在联系起来。

来自culture trip