Dog Days——大熱天

** hot, sultry summer weather（炎熱、悶熱的夏季天氣）// a period of stagnation（一段停滯期）

~~ 一、大熱天，一般認為是七月三日到八月十一日；酷暑期；伏天；三伏天；暑天；盛夏；炎熱夏季 ；二、無精打采的日子；無所作為的時期；倒霉的日子

~~ sultry days of summer // hot as hell // blazing hot // extreme heat // heat wave // hot spell // sweltering heat // hot sultry weather // hottest days of the summer // hottest period of the year // hot days during July and August

!! Ancient Romans believed that the hottest days of the summer were caused by the Dog Star, Sirius, the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (the Greater Dog), which rises in conjunction with the sun, the combined heat causing the sultry weather. They called these days "days of the dog," or "dog days" in the first half of the 1500s.

（古羅馬人認為，夏季最熱的日子是由大犬星座中最亮的恆星天狼星引起的，它與太陽一同升起，兩種熱力導致了悶熱的天氣。他們稱這些日子為“狗的日子”，但在十六世紀上半葉稱之為“狗日”。）

!! There was a popular belief that this hot period was given the name "dog days" because dogs frequently went mad in such weather.

（人們普遍認為，這個炎熱的時期被稱為“狗日”，因為狗經常在這種天氣下發瘋。）

>> When a super typhoon enters the 800-kilometer range of Macau, Macau will have its dog days, and the general temperature in various districts will be as high as 40°C.

（當超強颱風進入澳門八百公里範圍時，澳門會變成大熱天，各區普遍氣溫均高達攝氏四十度。）

>> In these sultry days of summer, all the swimming pools are full of people.

（在這個酷暑期，各大泳池都擠滿了人。）

學勤進修教育中心英語專科導師 李啟文　　教授