深圳英语9年级上册第8单元文化角

深圳英语九年级上册 第八单元文化角 ——白象 White elephants In ancient Thailand, white elephants were sought to be a gift from the gods. When the king had many white elephants, people believed that the country would have peace and wealth. However, white elephants were not to allow to work, and they cost a lot of money to keep. For this reason, the king might give a white elephant to a person who made him angry. That person would have to spend all his money taking care of the elephant，and get nothing in return. Today, whenever we have something which costs us a lot of money and which we do not want or which is useless, we call it a white elephant. 在古代暹罗(今泰国)，白象被认为是神赐予的礼物。当一个国王有许多白象时，人们就相信这个国家将会国泰民安、富庶强大。然而，白象是不被允许干活的，而且饲养它要花费很多钱。因为这个，国王可能会给惹他生气的人一头白象。那个人将不得不花费他所有的钱去照顾那头像，而且不会得到任何回报。 现在每当我们拥有某件花费我们许多钱而我们不想要或者没有用的东西时，我们称它为一头白象。