四年一度的2月29来了
四年一度的2月29来了，今天的你是怎么过的呢？
Leap year explained: Why February has an extra day in 2020
CTVNEWS
February 29 is a leap day – an extra 24 hours added to the shortest month in a leap year.
a leap year
表示“闰年”，英文解释为“A leap year is a year which has 366 days. The extra day is February 29th. There is a leap year every four years.”
Most years have 365 days, but in a leap year we have 366 to keep our calendar aligned with the seasons.
align
1）表示“排整齐；校准；（尤指）使成一条直线”，英文解释为“to arrange sth in the correct position, or to be in the correct position, in relation to sth else, especially in a straight line”举个🌰：
Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.
务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。
2）表示“使一致”，英文解释为“to change sth slightly so that it is in the correct relationship to sth else”举个🌰：
Prices have been aligned with those in world markets.
价格已调整到与世界市场一致。
But a leap year isn’t always every four years; it’s slightly more complicated than that.
A year according to the Gregorian calendar, named after Pope Gregory XIII, is 365 days or how long it takes the Earth to orbit the sun.
the Gregorian Calendar
1582年，罗马教皇格里高利十三世（Pope Gregory XIII）正式颁布其所制新历，史称格里高利历（the Gregorian Calendar），就是我们现在使用的阳历。
Pope
表示“罗马天主教教皇”，英文解释为“The pope is the head of the Roman Catholic Church.”举个🌰：
The highlight of the pope's visit will be his message to the people.
教皇访问的亮点是，他将给人们传达训诫。
orbit
表示“环绕…的轨道运行”，英文解释为“If something such as a satellite orbits a planet, moon, or sun, it moves around it in a continuous, curving path.”举个🌰：
In 1957 the Soviet Union launched the first satellite to orbit the earth.
1957年，苏联发射了第一颗环绕地球运行的人造卫星。
But Earth’s orbit is actually closer to approximately 365.25 days, so without leap days, the calendar would be off by five hours, 48 minutes and 45 seconds more each year.
After 100 years, the seasons would be off by 25 days.
The orbit of the Earth is measured by the vernal equinox in March so the calendar is reset in the month preceding it.
the vernal equinox
表示“春分”，英文解释为“the time at which the sun crosses the plane of the equator towards the relevant hemisphere, making day and night of equal length. It occurs about March 21 in the N hemisphere (Sept 23 in the S hemisphere)”。
precede
表示“（某事件）先于（另一事件）而发生；（某时段）先于（另一时段）而存在”，英文解释为“If one event or period of time precedes another, it happens before it.”举个🌰：
The earthquake was preceded by a loud roar and lasted 20 seconds.
地震之前有一声巨响，持续了20秒钟。
“The calendar year was originally meant to start in March with the vernal equinox, so that’s the first day of spring,” Rachel Ward-Maxwell, a staff astronomer with Ontario Science Centre, told CTV’s Your Morning.
“And so February was the last day of the year, so that’s why the extra date would be added in February to make sure that the first day of spring was always aligned with the right time.”
Generally a leap year happens every four years, but there are exceptions.
A year may be a leap year if it is evenly divisible by four. Years that are divisible by 100, century years such as 1900 or 2000, cannot be leap years unless they are also divisible by 400.
be divisible by
表示“可整除的”，英文解释为“If one number is divisible by another number, the second number can be divided into the first exactly, with nothing left over.”举个🌰：
Twenty-eight is divisible by seven.
二十八可以被七整除。
补充：”除；除以“的英文表达为”divide“，英文解释为”If you divide a larger number by a smaller number or divide a smaller number into a larger number, you calculate how many times the smaller number can fit exactly into the larger number.“
30 divided by 6 is 5 (30 ÷ 6 = 5).
30除以6等于5。
5 divides into 30 6 times.
5除30等于6。
For this reason, the years 1700, 1800 and 1900 were not leap years, but the years 1600 and 2000 were.
This rule about years divisible by 100 years and 400 years was added with the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in 1582.
Roman statesman Julius Caesar introduced the idea of a leap year much earlier when he created the Julian calendar in the first century BC, eventually replaced by the Gregorian calendar.
According to tradition, a leap day is also known as “Ladies Day” or “Ladies’ Privilege,” the one day when women were free to propose to men.
privilege
1）可数名词，表示“特殊利益；优惠待遇”，英文解释为“a special right or advantage that a particular person or group of people has”举个🌰：
You can enjoy all the benefits and privileges of club membership. 你可以享受俱乐部成员的一切福利和优惠。
2）不可数名词，表示“（有钱有势者的）特权，特殊待遇”，英文解释为“( disapproving ) the rights and advantages that rich and powerful people in a society have ”举个🌰：
As a member of the nobility, his life had been one of wealth and privilege. 身为贵族中的一员，他过着有钱有势的生活。
3）常用单数，表示“荣幸；荣耀；光荣”，英文解释为“something that you are proud and lucky to have the opportunity to do”举个🌰：
I hope to have the privilege of working with them again.
但愿有幸与他们再度合作。
propose
表示“求婚”，英文解释为“If you propose to someone, or propose marriage to them, you ask them to marry you.”举个🌰：
He proposed to his girlfriend over a public-address system.
他在有线广播系统上向女友求婚。
And people born on a leap year are called leaplings.
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