爱思英语编者按：关于星座，人们有越来越多的话题，它们和我们的生活息息相关。又有一句名言叫“性格决定命运”，所以，关于星座的性格特点，也是当下的网络热点。作为十二星座节目中的一员，来自四川大学文学与新闻学院的Ris孙墨很高兴和大家谈一谈关于金牛座的一些特性。金牛的小贪财，金牛的乐于安逸，金牛的保守，金牛的勤奋和执着都是金牛的性格。让我们在这一期爱思广播Ace Radio中关注金牛吧！

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金牛座：Taurus the bull

We come from the black prairie, with thousands of our other brothers and sisters. Going to an endless sky, we moo-moo and shine. There are twelve constellations running to the same direction on a huge chessboard, having different characteristics in each of them. And we Taurus people should be not less confident at all, as we are trustable, calm and brave. Welcome to ACE Radio, I’m Ris. Today, I’m going to give you, especially those Tauruses among you, a special program on one constellation—Taurus the bull.

Taurus has quite some interesting traits; here is a brief introduction on it.

Tauruses are definitely Money-Lovers. People may sometimes consider us to be so stingy that give us some nicknames, such as Purse-Pursuer, and Coin-Cock. Well, I say that is not fair.

Ok, ok, fine. We do love money. But what is wrong with it? As a matter of fact, Tauruses are not just cheapskates. We treat money as a kind of material method of living. Look, the world now has been flat. And during this process, as you and me all agree with, currency has done a great job. So that means almost every one minute we stand or sit or lie on the ground, we are gonna need money.

It’s very easy to understand. Daily necessaries. When you drive a vehicle, you must fill it with fuel. When you are preparing a wonderful dinner for your lover, you can’t round salt and sugar, even some warm candles and romantic music CDs. When you suddenly come up with an idea of travelling to Tibet to see the alpine vegetations by yourself, there is no way for you to set off right away without food and water. When you are thinking about going abroad for further study, even with the support of scholarship, you also have the necessity of affording the flight, which will do you a great favor by avoiding you from swimming all the way across the Pacific Ocean.
Here, let’s enjoy a piece of cut from the movie Mamma Mia, you’ll know my meaning much better.

Actually, the love of money is also a reflection upon Taurus’s belief in reality. We don’t usually float in the wild ocean of fantasy. Staring at something that is beyond our reach with red eyes is also not what we would like to do. Let alone dreaming about meeting with a white horse prince who is extremely charming and handsome, waving his shining sword, looking at me with a pair of deep blue eyes which are just like two precious gems, and we finally fall in love and have a happy ending. To Tauruses, this can only be in fairy tales, not our real lives.
 
The positive points of this character are obvious. Tauruses are apparently tended to be saving, and most of us have our own ways to plan the income and expense so that we can not only easily meet the both ends, but also be able to keep our wallets swelling. To some degrees, any one has the possibility to be a beggar while Tauruses do not as we never drain the river.

Many Tauruses keep account books--I’m happy to be one in this troop—and the good habit help us to know exactly how our coins come in and where do they pathetically go. We will study the account book in the end of every month, reflecting if there is any sum of money that has been spent inappropriately and unnecessarily. If there is, then we gotta to avert something similar happens again in the next month. But it doesn’t mean that Tauruses have no entertainments. It’s only that we are learned about how to control the fire. We have a flexible space in which money can be used without questions on our interests, like bookworms’ books and movie zealots’ tickets. What’s more, Taurus’s small exchequer will be quite helpful when we face the need of buying something expensive.
 
What else do Tauruses have in our characteristics?
Though we might not be as smart as the others do, we are practical and hard-working. There may be a pile of files waiting for arrangement and classification. Tauruses complain, too. However we will finish the job anyway. The work can be very boring, Tauruses sign, too. But we eventually will hand it in on time.

It’s sometimes just like how Chris Gardner went get his happiness with the perspiration and determination. Will Smith played this role in the movie, The Pursuit of Happiness, which was adopted from a true story happening on an African-American investment expert. I think we all learn how hard life could be in it, and also how we are able to change it with our own hands.
 
Anyway, no matter what constellation we belong to, happiness is definitely the most important thing we are chasing after. So, let’s do what we must do, lie on the bed after a tired day of working, then tell ourselves that we have done the best. May every Taurus find his happy ending.

Thank you for listening to ACE Radio. I’m Ris. Bye bye!

词汇注解：

Taurus ['tɔ:rəs] 

n. [天] 金牛座；金牛宫

prairie ['prεəri]

n. 大草原；牧场

cheapskate ['tʃi:pskeit] 

n. 小气鬼；吝啬鬼

alpine vegetation

[植] 高山植被

alpine ['ælpain] 

adj. 阿尔卑斯山的，高山的

vegetation [,vedʒi'teiʃən]

n. 植物，草木；植被；呆板单调的生活

pathetically [pə'θetikəli] 

adv. 可怜地；感伤地；悲哀地；情绪上地

avert [ə'və:t]

vt. 避免，防止；转移

zealots

n. 狂热者（zealot的复数）；奋锐党人

exchequer [iks'tʃekə, 'eks-] 

n. 财源；国库；财政部