常春藤生活英語：Tie Me Up 領帶的起源

Finding the perfect gift for dear old dad can be difficult. You don't want to get him anything too old-fashioned, and you don't want to waste your money buying something that's too young or hip. As a result, you end up getting him a tie. When he unwraps the gift, he smiles and adds it to his growing collection of ties. This simple yet elegant gift of a strip of fabric has a history that dates back further than the first Father's Day.

As many great things have come from Asia, the same is true for ties. The first-known ties were found in the grave of Qin Shi Huang in 1974. He had planned to have his army buried along with him, but was finally talked out of it. He decided to replace these soldiers with ones made of terracotta instead. Around each of these statues' necks was a small piece of cloth. This discovery shows not only that ties have been around since 210 BC, but also that some fathers had been trying to get rid of their ugly ties even in ancient times.

幫親愛的老爸找個完美的禮物不是件容易的差事。你不想送他太過時的禮品，也不想浪費錢買太年輕或太時髦的東西。結果你最后買了條領帶給他。當他拆開禮物時，他露出微笑并把它加入他日漸增加的領帶收藏中。這個簡單卻高雅的布條禮物，其歷史可回溯至比第一個父親節(jié)還古早的歲月前。

許多偉大的事物都來自亞洲，領帶也一樣。最早為人所知的領帶于1974年在秦始皇的陵墓中被發(fā)現。秦始皇本來打算讓他的軍隊跟他一起陪葬，但最終被人勸退。他于是決定用赤陶制成的軍隊來取代。在這些兵馬俑的脖子上都有一小塊布。這個發(fā)現不但代表領帶在大約公元前210年就出現了，也讓我們看到早在古時候，就有一些父親試圖將他們丑陋的領帶丟掉。

Building Your Vocabulary

1.unwrap　vt. 解開;打開

The boy can't wait to unwrap his present.

那個男孩等不及要打開他的禮物。

2.elegant　a. 高雅的;優(yōu)美的

Catherine is an elegant lady.

凱瑟琳是一位優(yōu)雅的淑女。

3.bury　vt. 埋葬;埋藏

What did the dog bury in the backyard?

小狗在后院里埋了什么東西?

Phrases for Learning

1.end up + 現在分詞　　結果∕最后……

Charles planned to go jogging, but ended up watching TV at home.

查爾斯本來計劃去慢跑，結果卻在家里看電視。

2.talk + 人 + out of + 名詞∕動名詞　　勸某人不要……

Lucy talked Dan out of skipping class.

露西說服阿丹不逃學。

3.replace A with B　　用 B 取代 A

I decided to replace my car with a new one.

我決定換一臺新車。

參考字詞

1.hip　a. 新潮的，時髦的

2.tie　n. 領帶(= necktie)& vt. 系(領帶)

3.strip　n. 條狀物(紙、布料等)

4.fabric　n. 布料

5.terracotta　n. 赤陶土

Enjoy Box

領帶抗皺大作戰(zhàn)

領帶代表著一個男人的成熟風范。上頭若是出現皺折，除了顯得破舊，系在身上甚至還會破壞一個人的專業(yè)形象。因此，對需要打領帶的人來說，避免領帶出現皺紋是個很重要的課題。以下提供幾個防止領帶出現皺紋的小撇步：一、不要把領帶結打的太緊。二、使用領帶后記得解開領結后再收納。(若不將領結解開，直接將領帶由衣領拿下，隔日再掛上脖子的話，領帶會出現永久性的皺紋。)三、若旅行需攜帶領帶時，將其卷成一卷或放入領帶盒再放入行李中，避免其它行李將領帶壓皺。

即使您小心預防，使用過的領帶仍會出現些微的皺紋，您可以參照以下兩點來去除領帶皺紋：一、將領帶懸掛一段時間，大多數的輕微皺紋就會消失。二、若皺紋較明顯時，可先把領帶卷成一卷，邊卷邊撫平皺紋，然后將領帶放置在桌子等平面上一段時間，再把它懸掛一段時間，應可去除皺紋。

Tips In Use

This simple yet elegant gift...

(這個簡單卻高雅的……禮物……)

1.yet 在本句中作連接詞用，表示含驚訝之意的語氣上的轉折，可譯成『卻，然而』。

It's only a small restaurant and yet it is always filled with ustomers.

(這只是一家小餐廳，然而它總是高朋滿座。)

2.yet 亦可作副詞。用于否定句時，表『還沒』之意;用于疑問句時，則表『已經』。

Bruce hasn't come in yet.

(布魯斯還沒進來。)

Have you made up your mind yet?

(你已經下定決心了嗎?)