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　　语音讲解：
　　　(点击右键“另存为”可下载语音)

　　Diana and her boyfriend Jared are at a weekend flower market:

　　Diana:Three thousand dollars for a dozen roses? What a rip-off!

　　Jared:Last week they were only four hundred. Why did the price go up?

　　Diana:Aren’t you forgetting something? A certain holiday named for an ancient saint who helped young lovers marry...

　　Jared:You mean Valentine’s Day?

　　Diana:Of course!

　　Jared:But didn’t Valentine’s Day start in 1415, when the Duke of Orleans was jailed in the Tower of London and sent a love card to his wife?

　　Diana:That was the earliest Valentine’s Day card, but the holiday was actually established by a fifth- century Roman pope.

　　Jared:Oh yeah. He wanted to stop a pagan festival in which young men randomly drew the names of teenage girls to be their sexual companions.

　　Diana:You hit the nail on the head. The pope hoped that worshipping Saint Valentine would replace their desire for sex before marriage.

　　Jared: That plan certainly failed. All he seems to have created is a huge demand for flowers and candy.

　　Diana:And the high prices that accompany it. Maybe we should skip Valentine’s Day this year.

　　Jared: Good idea. I’m always happy to avoid a corporate cash grab.

　　Diana:Besides, our love can’t be measured by just one day.