又中又英｜At the stroke of midnight

At the stroke of midnight

At the stroke of midnight on December 31 the world finally booted out 2022. Many people will remember 2022 as a turbulent year. It was filled with sad, tragic, and worrisome events. But there were also eye-popping and hopeful moments. The expression “at the stroke of midnight” means exactly at midnight. To boot out something or someone means to force that person or something to leave. The world booted out 2022 to make way for 2023. If something is eye-popping it means it is very exciting or surprising.
Much of the world will remember 2022 as the year Russia invaded Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin thought he would make short work of the invasion. To make short work of something means to deal with it quickly, but his military has still failed to win the war almost a year after the invasion. It is tragic that so many soldiers have died on both sides. Many people will sadly remember 2022 as the year Queen Elizabeth II and Brazil football superstar Pele died. The shocking assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was also a sad 2022 event.
High inflation and a possible global recession were worrying events in 2022. They continue to cause worry. One of the most eye-popping 2022 events was Argentina football superstar Lionel Messi leading his country to win the World Cup. Also eye-popping was the US space agency NASA’s successful trial spacecraft launch which will return Americans to the moon. Locally, John Lee Ka-chiu became the new chief executive and Hong Kong opened to the world again after three years of Covid restrictions. China’s eye-popping opening-up brings new hope to the economy.
當十二月三十一日午夜十二時鐘聲響起之際（at the stroke of midnight），世界終於趕走了（booted out）二零二二年。許多人想起二零二二年，會是動盪的一年，充滿着憂傷、悲慘與令人擔憂的事件；但它亦有令人驚訝（eye-popping）與充滿希望的時刻。習語“at the stroke of midnight”就是凌晨零時正。To boot out something or someone就是驅逐某人或迫使某事物離去。世界踢走了（booted out）二零二二年，讓路給二零二三年。若某事是 eye-popping，意即它是令人振奮或非常意外的。
世界許多人都會記得二零二二年為俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭之年。俄羅斯總統弗拉基米爾‧普京以為他能迅速完成（make short work of）侵略行動。To make short work of something意即迅速解決某事，但在入侵近一年以後，他的軍隊仍然未能在戰爭中獲勝。雙方陣營有那麼多的士兵陣亡，實在非常悲慘。許多人也會遺憾地記得二零二二年是英女皇伊利沙伯二世以及巴西足球巨星比利逝世之年。而日本前首相安倍晉三遇刺身亡，令人相當震驚，亦是二零二二年一件悲傷的事件。
高通脹及潛在的全球經濟衰退，則是二零二二年令人憂慮的事件，它們持續令人擔憂。而其中一件最驚奇（eye-popping）的事件，則數阿根廷足球巨星利安奴‧美斯帶領他的國家隊贏得世界盃。同樣令人驚奇（eye-popping）的是美國太空總署成功試射太空船，它將會運載美國人重返月球。香港本地方面，李家超就任新一屆行政長官，而經過三年的防疫管制措施以後，香港將會重新對世界開放。中國令人瞠目的（eye-popping）開放，亦將會為經濟帶來新希望。

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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻