下面這則新聞可謂是真的“八卦”了，不過拿咱們中國的黃道歷學做本本、搞占卜，閱讀時除了感到有意思，似乎還有那么幾分自豪。據馬來西亞《星報》報道：今年是中國的狗年，按照中國的“黃道”學，巴西和意大利有望成為本屆世界杯的奪冠之王。該報稱，按照中國的農歷紀年，世界杯恰在虎年、狗年和馬年舉行，而只有狗年才會呈現出巴西和意大利輪流封王的現象，有史為證——在狗年，意大利曾兩次奪得世界杯王冠而巴西則三次捧走大力神杯。

Chinese zodiac The Year of the Dog is also the year of Italy and Brazil, according to the Chinese zodiac, making the two countries clear favorites for the World Cup, says a Malaysian newspaper.  Brazil and Italy are the only two nations to have won a World Cup in the Year of the Dog, and 2006 is again the year of man's best friend, said The Star newspaper on Thursday. In the five previous World Cups held in the Year of the Dog, Italy has won twice and Brazil three times. The tournament is held every four years, which means it is held only in the Years of the Dog, Horse and Tiger. The Chinese zodiac moves in a 12-year cycle named after animals, starting with the Year of the Rat and ending with the Year of the Pig, which falls in 2007. "World Cup champions in the Horse and Tiger years have been diverse, but the Dog years peculiarly favor Italy or Brazil," the paper said in an article devoted to the influence of Chinese zodiac signs on World Cup matches. Italy, which has won the cup three times, triumphed in the Dog years of 1934 and 1982. Brazil meanwhile, won in 1958, 1970 and 1994. No tournament was held in 1946. British-based bookmaker Ladbrokes placed Brazil at 5/2 favorites this year. Italy are joint fourth with host Germany at 7/1. The final is July 9. (Agencies)

Vocabulary:

Chinese zodiac: “黃道十二宮圖”，zodiac一詞來自希臘語“zodiakos”（動物園），在希臘人眼中，星座是由各種不同的動物形成，這也是十二個星座名稱的由來。中國本土化的zodiac則是指按十二生肖排列的“中國農歷紀念”。 tournament: 比賽，錦標賽，文中指“世界杯” （英語點津陳蓓編輯）