Dragons can be friendly or fierce (凶狠), they can bring good luck or cause death, but one thing is sure——people talk about them almost everywhere in the world.
In Chinese culture, dragons are generous and wise, although they can be unpredictable. The dragon was closely connected to the royal family: the emperor's robes (礼袍) have a symbol of a gold dragon with five claws. According to popular belief, if you were born in the year of the dragon, you are intelligent, brave, and a natural leader.
But in the west, dragons had a different reputation (名声). The very first text in English, the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf, tells the story of a Scandinavian hero, Beowulf, who fights and kills a dangerous dragon but is himself killed in the fight. However, across the border in Wales, the red dragon which appears on the Welsh flag is a positive symbol, indicating strength and a sense of national identity.
Why should the dragon have a different character in different parts of the world? Some experts believe it is due to the animals that the myths grew out of. In the west, the idea of the dragon probably came from the snake—an animal which people hated and were afraid of.
But in China, the idea of the dragon may have come from the alligator--a shy animal which lives in rivers, but which is usually only seen when there is plenty of water--a good sign for agriculture(农业). So the Chinese dragon was a bringer of good fortune.
小题1:将划线句子翻译成中文。
_____________________________________________________________
小题2: 阅读填词，每空一词。
In China, people think the dragon may have come from the ____ which is a shy animal. However, in the west, they think the dragon may come from the _____ that they hated and scared.
小题3:What are the differences between Chinese dragons and western dragons? (从文中找
出相关描述的英语单词或短语，每空至少一个。)
Chinese dragons：_____________ Western dragons：___________.
