(单词翻译:单击)
Youtube:五个最怪异的圣诞传统
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5 Weirdest Christmas Traditions
五个最怪异的圣诞传统
Number 5 – A Christmas of Remembrance (Finland)
5.追忆祖先过圣诞节（芬兰）
On Christmas Eve, families often visit the graves of their ancestors to light candles in memory of the deceased. Even if families do not have their ancestors’ graves near them, they will still leave out candles in nearby graveyards in honour for their ancestors who are buried elsewhere.
圣诞前夜，家人经常探访祖先墓地，点燃蜡烛，纪念逝世者。即使祖先的墓地离他们很远，他们也会在附近的墓地点燃蜡烛，纪念埋葬在其他地方的祖先。
Number 4 – Let the Goat Live Until Christmas(Sweden)
4.让山羊活到圣诞节（瑞典）
In 1966, a 13-metre tall goat figure made of straw was built in the town square of Gavle.At the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve,the goat went up in flames. However, the town
never stopped building the goat year after year. By 2011, the goat had been burned down 25 times! The burning of the Gavle goat happened so often that bookmakers began taking bets for the survival of the goat since 1988.
1966年，耶夫勒广场建起一座高13米的用稻草制作的山羊塑像。平安夜的钟声敲响时，山羊起火。然而，整个小镇年复一年都会建造山羊雕像。到2011年，这座山羊雕像已经被烧毁了25次。耶夫勒山羊这么经常被烧毁，从1988年开始，庄家开始以山羊雕像是否能幸免于难来下注。
Number 3 – Toss your Shoes and Get Hitched (Czech Republic & Slovakia)
3.扔鞋子结婚（捷克共和国和斯洛伐克）
This tradition is very similar to a wedding tradition where the bride would throw a bouquet and whoever caught the bouquet would be the next person to get married. However, in Czech Republic and Slovakia, this involves a shoe and it needs to be on Christmas day. The person would stand with their back to the door and then throw the shoe over their shoulders.If the shoe lands with the toe pointing to the door then that person would be deemed to get married soon.
这个传统非常类似一个婚礼传统：新娘扔捧花，接到捧花的人就会是下一个结婚的人。然而，在捷克共和国和斯洛伐克，他们扔的是鞋子，而且要在圣诞节那一天。背对门站着，把鞋子向后扔。如果鞋尖指向门，那么这个人很快就会结婚。
Number 2 – Go Bananas with Christmas (India)
2.用香蕉树庆祝圣诞（印度）
In India, only 2.3% of the population are Christians but if you think about that, it is an enormous amount considering their population! In fact, that’s about 25 million people. Instead of celebrating Christmas with the normal Christmas tree made out of fir or pine to decorate, they use banana trees or even mango trees.
在印度，只有2.3%的人是基督徒，但是鉴于他们的人口基数非常庞大，基督徒的人数也非常众多。实际上，印度基督徒的总数达到2500万。他们不像其他地方一样用冷杉和松树做成的圣诞树来装饰，而是用香蕉树甚至芒果树。
Number 1 – Kentucky for Christmas (Japan)
1.吃肯德基庆祝圣诞节（日本）
Instead of the usual turkey Christmas dinner,the Japanese feast on the Colonel’s Kentucky Fried Chicken, all thanks to a campaign in 1974. KFC has been associated with Christmas in the minds of the Japanese for generations,a tradition passed on from parent to child. More than 240,000 barrels of chicken will be sold during Christmas, five to ten times its normal monthly sales.
他们不是享用常见的圣诞节大餐，日本人会去上校肯德基连锁店庆祝圣诞，这都是由于1974年一场运动。在几代日本人的心目中，肯德基已经和圣诞节联系起来。这个传统一代一代地流传下来。圣诞节期间，日本的肯德基将出售24万桶炸鸡，是平时月销量的五到十倍。
CCTV9:暴风雪影响美国西部交通
Heavy snow affects road traffic in west U.S.
暴风雪影响美国西部交通
Winter storms have hit the west coast of the United States for days, affecting road traffics in many areas.
Earlier this week, multiple trailers were overturned in the state of Nevada because of the strong winds. Meanwhile in west Washington state, heavy snow had made it hard to see or drive on the road.
As a result, numerous cars were trapped on a single interstate, and had to wait in a long line. For some areas, the snowfall exceeded 28 centimeters. The region is expected to receive more snow in the coming days.
CCTV9视频:政府要求房地产降价去库存
China to destock housing inventory
政府要求房地产降价去库存
China's oversupply of unsold homes was another heatedly discussed topic at the Central Economic Working Conference.
It was agreed that rural residents relocating to urban areas should be allowed to register as city residents, which would enable them to buy or rent property. In addition, a low-rent public housing program will be launched and the government will support rental enterprises.
To address market weakness and a broader economic slowdown, China's central bank cut benchmark interest rates five times since last November. It also lowered banks' reserve requirement ratio three times since February. Deposit requirements for second-home purchases were reduced and some local governments rolled back restrictions on home purchases.
Officials in many small cities have already showed resolve in addressing the country's housing woes. Our reporter went to Anyang city in Henan province, to see how the local government is stimulating property sales there.
Time: 7 o’clock. Temperature: minus 4 degrees. It's a regular cold morning in Anyang, central China's Henan province. But before the doors of the city’s real estate trading center, people have formed a long queue. They're waiting to get their 20,000 Yuan subsidies to buy new apartments.
"I came here a 7 o'clock last night and stayed in my car overnight. I had to come so early because many people are waiting to get the subsidies," said a local resident.
"I was be hesitating to buy an apartment. But after the government announced the policy, I decided to go for one. If there are subsidies like this in the future, I’ll probably buy another one," said a local resident.
This August, Anyang government introduced a series of measures to attract more people to buy apartments. Anyone, including city dwellers or migrant workers, can get a subsidy of 20,000 Yuan, if they buy new homes through Dec. 31. So far, nearly 13,000 houses have been sold, costing the local government a total subsiday of over 2 hundred million Yuan.
"Besides the financial and interest subsidies, more stimulus measures have been rolled out, including tax reduction. We can see huge growth in property sales on a year-on-year basis. And related industries such as renovation and home appliances have reported good sales," said Shi Zhijie, Anyang Housing Administration Bureau.
China today is facing a critical challenge: How to fill the people into millions of empty, unsold homes. Most of these properties are in third- and fourth-tier cities, which have been hit hard by emigration to larger cities.
Local authorities in Henan Province are pinning their hopes on urbanization as a source of property de-stocking. Last month, the province vowed to allocate at least 300 million Yuan annually, to encourage farmers to buy their first home by cutting transaction fees.
"Urbanization can't happen if migrant workers have nowhere to live in the cities. So we will dedicate our efforts to making sure they can settle where they want, and enjoy the same social benefits. This will fuel consumption in housing," said Li Xuejun, an engineer.
In 2014, China's housing market experienced a downturn, due to weaker demand and a supply glut. And the trend continued into 2015, with a continued decline in sales and prices. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the unsold home inventory hit a record 686.3 million square meters by the end of October, up 17.8 percent from the previous year.
Under record high destocking pressure, cities like Anyang are making all their efforts to increase the incentives for people to buy homes. Many say that besides existing stimulus measures, measures such as transforming commercial housing into affordable housing are also expected next year.
