2023年上半年四六级汉译英预测：长寿面

预测背景：作为一种仪式感的食品，长寿面会成为中国特色考点之一。

预测目的：学会表达成语故事，和与长寿相关的词汇。

简析会在四六级考试后送上。

        中国人的文化中，生日除了吃生日蛋糕之外，生日宴上还会有一道菜，那就是面。但是，它通常只有一根却很长很长的面——人们也叫它长寿面。这一习俗相传与汉武帝有关。据说在一次宴会上，为了化解尴尬，一个叫做东方朔的智者告诉汉武帝，之所以彭祖能活800岁，是因为他脸长，宴会上的面条甚至比彭祖的脸还要长，正是厨师对汉武帝长寿的美好祝福。汉字“面”又有“脸”的意思，“脸长即面长”，于是人们就借用长长的面条来祝福长寿。渐渐地，这种做法演化成了生日吃面条的习惯，并传承了下来，称之为吃“长寿面”。在·传统习俗中，长寿面之所以是一根面条，是对长寿的美好祝福，吃的时候最好不要弄断。同时，人们还习惯于加上一两个荷包蛋（fried-poached egg），象征着新的一岁中将好运团团包围。

        In Chinese culture, apart from birthday cakes, another dish always served at the birthday dinner is noodles. But what is special about the dish is that it is with only one piece of noodle that is really long – we also call it “The longevity noodle.” It is said that this is a custom originated from the emperor Han Wudi. It is said that it was at a banquet, in order to defuse embarrassment, a wiseman named Dong Fangshuo told Wudi that the secret of Peng Zu’s long life over 800 years old was that Peng Zu got a really long face, while the noodle was even longer than his face, and the long noodle was the best wishes that the chef carried to the emperor. The Chinese character “Mian”（面）also has the meaning of “Face”, The longer the face, the longer the “Mian” (noodle), then people started to carry their best wishes of a long life through long noodles. Over time, this evolved into a habit of eating noodles on their birthdays and is passed on for generations, becoming a custom of eating longevity noodles. In our tradition and custom, the reason why the longevity noodle is made with only one piece of noodle is that it represents a long life and it is encouraged not to cut the noodle while eating. Meanwhile, people also like to add one fried-poached egg or two hoping in their new age he or she will be overwhelmed with all the good luck.