(来源：EnglishCN.com)

中国人用动物这种独特的表示方法来代表中国农历的新年。
 
THE Chinese have a unique way of representing the lunar new year through animals.

我们用12种不同的动物来表达12年一轮中的每一年。
 
We use a dozen different animals to represent each year of a 12-year cycle. 

动物的排序是不变的，用老鼠作为这一轮回的开始，以猪为结束。
 
The order remains the same, with the rat beginning the cycle and the pig ending it.

中国人给这些不同的动物以及出生于某年的人们分别赋予了有趣的特性。
 
The Chinese have given interesting characteristics to these various animals and to the people who are born under their sign.

今年牛年始于1月26号。人们一般认为生于牛年的人比较有耐心，寡言少语，同时也能获取别人的信任。
 
This time, the Year of the Ox begins on January 26. People born in the Year of the Ox are thought to be patient, to speak little, and to inspire confidence in others.

然而，他们却有一种偏执、顽固的倾向，并且很容易生气。
 
They tend, however, to be eccentric, and bigoted and they anger easily.

可以想象，属牛的人即使话很少脾气也很大，然而一旦他们开口说话，他们会有很好的口才。
 
Supposedly, ox people have fierce tempers and, although they speak little, when they do speak they are quite eloquent. 

无论在精神还是身体上，他们都很机警。
 
They are also mentally and physically alert.

总的来说他们很随和，但他们也会非常顽固，他们讨厌失败和被反抗。
 
Generally easy-going, they can be remarkably stubborn, and they hate to fail or to be opposed.

如果一个人有牛一样的脾气，无论他是对是错，一旦他下定决心就没有人能让他改变想法。
 
If a person has the temper of an ox, no one can make him change his mind once he makes a decision, whether he is right or wrong.

在英语里顽固这个词在指这类人的时候也有这种类似的意思。
 
The word bullheaded in English has a similar meaning when referring to such a person.

有趣的是，这些特点在一些牛年生的名人上都有所体现，例如：法国国王拿破仑，英国喜剧演员查理－卓别林。
 
Interestingly, these traits can be spotted on famous people born in the Year of the Ox, like the French emperor Napoleon and the English comedic actor Charlie Chaplin.

在中国，一些著名的人物，像刘备，范仲淹，以及著名诗人李白都是属牛的。
 
In China, some famous figures like Liu Bei and Fan Zhongyan, and the great poet Li Bai were all ox men.

如果你在中国网络的搜索引擎上打出“公牛”、“瓷器”这两个词，
 
If you type the words bull and china on a search engine on the Internet, 

你就会发现很多有趣的习语，例如“鲁莽冲撞的人”，专指人的行为鲁莽，而不是认真仔细。
 
you will find the interesting idiom "like a bull in a china shop", which is used to refer to someone behaving in a clumsy manner instead of being careful.

中国农历新年将至，我们希望年轻读者工作要像今年的动物牛一样的努力，至少传统上是这样认为的。
 
As the Chinese New Year approaches, Teens hopes that all our readers work as hard as this year's animal often does — or at least as it is traditionally believed to.

我们还希望大家不要遭遇到让你们生气的事，不会像面前有一面红旗子在挥舞的公牛那么愤怒。
 
And we hope that you don't run into something that makes you angry, that would be like waving a red flag in front of a bull. 
 我们希望“今年你一定回成功”这类的话不是无稽之谈，而是成为实现。
 
We also hope that the success you say you achieve this year is not, well, just some cock and bull story.