國際左撇子日

The two hands are of great importance to us in daily life. But to most people， the right hand seems to be more important， for they usually depend more on the right hand. For example， people usually write and eat with the right hand. In fact， it is a predominantly1 right-handed world. Many products are designed for the right-handed. If you are the special one who likes to use the other hand， life can be quite difficult. Even daily things like opening doors， using computers mouses and cutting with scissors will leave you in an awkward2 position.

兩只手在我們的日常生活中扮演著舉足輕重的角色，但是對大多數(shù)人來說，右手似乎更為重要一些，因為人們一般更依賴于自己的右手。比方說，人們一般都用右手來寫字和吃飯。事實上，習(xí)慣用右手的人在世界上占主導(dǎo)地位。許多產(chǎn)品都是根據(jù)人們喜歡用右手的習(xí)慣來設(shè)計的。如果你是一個另類，更喜歡用自己的左手，那么你將在生活中遇到很多困難。一些日常事情如開門、使用鼠標(biāo)和剪刀都會使你處于尷尬的境地。

However， it is said that there is still about ten percent of the worlds population is left-handed. The scientists say that the left-handers are genetic3. It runs in families. So if one has the left-hander gene， one or more of his children may grow up to be left-handed. For thousands of years， the left hand is associated4 with the bad. Children would be spanked5 in school and at home for being different. Their parents will use many ways to force them to write with their “correct” hand. Although left-handed people have many disadvantages and face much discrimination6， they are said to be more creative and talented. Many famous people are left-handed. Michelangelo， Leonardo da Vinci， and Pablo Picasso are all among them.

盡管如此，據(jù)說世界上還是有大約10%的人是左撇子。科學(xué)家聲稱左撇子屬于基因遺傳，可以在家族中遺傳下去。因此，如果你帶有左撇子基因的話，你的一個或者多個孩子長大后也很有可能是左撇子。幾千年來，左手總是與不好的一面聯(lián)系在一起。左撇子的孩子會因

為他們的“異于常人”而經(jīng)常被老師和家長打屁股。他們的家長會使用各種辦法來迫使他們用“正確”的手來寫字。盡管左撇子們在生活上有諸多的不利而且還會受到很多歧視，但是很多人認(rèn)為左撇子更具創(chuàng)造力、更有才能。許多知名人士都是左撇子，其中包括：米開朗琪羅、列奧納多·達(dá)·芬奇和巴勃羅·畢加索。

To pay tribute7 to the great left-handers in the past and to celebrate their own uniqueness8， some left-handers in America started a group called Left-Handers International in 1975. The group celebrated their first International Left-Handers Day on August 13， 1976. They celebrated it to draw peoples attention to their special life and ask for more rights. In 1992， the Left-handers Club in London also made August 13 as International Left-Handers Day. They set up special websites and organized activities to tell more and ask more for left-handers.

為了對以往的偉大的左撇子們表示敬意，也為了頌揚他們自己的獨特，1975年美國的一些左撇子們成立了一個“國際左撇子組織”。1976年8月13日，這個組織第一次慶祝他們的國際左撇子日，旨在引起別人對他們獨特生活的關(guān)注并維護(hù)自己的權(quán)利。1992年，倫敦的左撇子俱樂部也將8月13日定為國際左撇子日。他們?yōu)榇私⒘藢ｉT的網(wǎng)站并組織了各種各樣的活動，來告訴人們更多關(guān)于左撇子的知識和故事，并為左撇子們要求更多的權(quán)利。

Today， tens of countries in the world celebrate this special day. The left-handers organizations are said to be especially active in European countries. On the day， they organize left-vs-right sports matches， left-handed tea parties where people drink and play games with the left hand only. Also right-handers are encouraged to try out everyday left-handed objects to see just how awkward it can feel using the wrong equipment9！

如今，世界上有數(shù)十個國家都在慶祝這個特別的節(jié)日。據(jù)說在歐洲國家，左撇子組織最為活躍。在8月13日這一天，他們會舉辦專門的左撇子對右撇子運動比賽及只能用左手端杯喝茶和玩游戲的茶會。而且在這一天，會鼓勵右撇子使用日常生活中需要用左手操作的物件，這樣他們可以體會一下使用不適當(dāng)?shù)墓ぞ邥r是多么的尷尬！

These events have made people aware10 of the difficulties left-handers experience in everyday life. They have also led to greater consideration of the needs of the left-handers. People also began to improve the design of some products for the left-handers， although there is still a long way to go.

這些活動使人們意識到左撇子們在日常生活中遇到的諸多不便，也使人們更加關(guān)注左撇子們的需求。雖然我們現(xiàn)在需要改進(jìn)的地方還有許多，但是人們已經(jīng)開始在產(chǎn)品設(shè)計方面為左撇子們做一些改變。

1. predominantly [] adv. 主要地；顯著地

2. awkward [] adj. 尷尬的；笨拙的 3. genetic [] adj. 遺傳的；基因的

4. associate [] v. 聯(lián)想 5. spank [] v. 打……的屁股

6. discrimination [] n. 歧視；區(qū)別

7. tribute [] n. 禮物；頌詞；致敬 8. uniqueness [] n. 獨特性；獨一無二

9. equipment [] n. 設(shè)備，裝備 10. aware [] adj. 意識到的