Summer is a great season (季节 jì jié). It’s a season of vacations, leisure, and entertainment. The warm weather and the light clothes fill people with energy; the shining sun and the long hours of daylight encourage people to be active. But, nothing is perfect. Even summer brings with it some inconvenience (麻烦 má fan).

Sweat, for example. Sweat is our body’s way of cooling down, and although it’s a natural important process, it is not always so pleasant. It soaks our body, it steeps our clothes. It’s sticky and smelly.

The Chinese nouns for sweat is 汗水 (hàn shuǐ), or just 汗 (hàn). For example:

他站在外面, 汗水顺着他的脖子流下。

Tā zhàn zài wài miàn, hàn shuǐ shun zhe tā de bó zǐ liú xià.

He was standing outside, sweat running down his neck.

健身房里，服务员递给人们毛巾，让他们擦擦满脸的汗水。

Jiàn shēn fáng lǐ, fú wù yuán dì jǐ rén men máo jīn, ràng tā men cā mǎn liǎn de hàn shuǐ.

In the gym, the attendant handed people towels to wipe the sweat from their faces.

农民的身上流淌着汗水。

Nóng mín de shēn shang liú tang zhe hàn shuǐ.

Sweat was dripping from the farmer’s body.

天才是百分之九十九的汗水和百分之一的灵感。

Tiān cái shì bǎi fēn zhī jiǔ shí jiǔ de hàn shuǐ hé bǎi fēn zhī yī de líng gǎn.

Genius is ninety-nine percent of sweat and one percent of inspiration.

 

The Chinese verbs to sweat are two-characters-verbs, assembled of a verb plus object. One of them consists of a related liquid verb: 流 (liú), meaning to flow. The other verbs share the meaning of coming out, emitting: 出 (chū, to come out); 冒 (mào, to give off). All of the above three verbs are followed by the object 汗 (hàn, sweat):

For example:

天气炎热,即使把风扇开着,也会不停地出汗。

Tiān qì yán rè, jí shǐ bǎ fēng shàn kāi zhe, yě huì bù tíng dì chū hàn.

The weather is so hot, even when the fan is on, I still keep sweating.

夏天，易出汗的人该穿纯棉衣服。

Xià tiān, yì chū hàn de rén gāi chuān chún mián yī fú.

In summer, people who sweat easily should wear cotton clothes.

昨天中午，在外面打羽毛球，我们都满面出汗。

Zuó tiān zhōng wǔ, zài wài miàn dǎ yǔ máo qiú, wǒ men dōu mǎn miàn chū hàn.

Yesterday noon, we were all sweating while playing badminton outside.

他身体不舒服，整个晚上都在流汗。

Tā shēn tǐ bú shū fú, zhěng gè wǎn shàng dū zài liú hàn.

He doesn’t feel well, he was sweating all night.

平时多流汗，战时少流血。

Píng shí duō liú hàn, zhàn shí shǎo liú xuè.

Sweat more in peacetime and bleed less in wartime.

致辞的时候我焦急得浑身冒汗。

Zhì cí de shí hòu wǒ jiāo jí dé hún shēn mào hàn.

I was sweating with anxiety during the speech.

 

The extreme weather is not only unpleasant, it can also be very harmful. Heat stroke (中暑 zhòng shǔ), also known as sunstroke, is a serious form of heat injury. It results from prolonged exposure to high temperatures.

炎夏时，全国各地无处不在的高温天气， 很多人会中暑。

Yán xià shí, quán guó gè dì wú chù bù zài de gāo wēn tiān qì, hěn duō rén huì zhòng shǔ.

In the hot summer, many people suffer from heatstroke due to the high temperature weather all over the country.

When the sun is scorching it doesn’t require much to get a heatstroke. Even without working, hiking, exercising, or other physical efforts, long exposure to the sun can be harmful.

在炎热的阳光底下待了很容易引起中暑。

Zài yán rè de yang guāng dǐ xia dài le hěn róng yì yǐn qǐ zhòng shǔ.

Staying under the hot sun can easily cause a heat stroke.

One should definitely take precautions (防止 fáng zhǐ, 预防 yù fáng) against sunstroke:

The next video explains all about 中暑 (Chinese subtitles on screen):

 

Mosquitos are another summer inconvenience. They thrive in hot weather. As the temperature begins to rise, the mosquitos come out. They buzz, they bite, they spread diseases; they are tiny but very irritating. 蚊子 (wén zi) is the Chinese noun for mosquito.

夏天蚊子多了。气温逐渐升高，蚊子开始蠢蠢欲动。没有人想被蚊子叮了。蚊子叮咬好痒啊。而且，蚊子可以传播病原体。应该采取一些防蚊措施：蚊帐，蚊香，避蚊剂，等等。

Xià tiān wén zi duō le. Qì wēn zhú jiàn shēng gāo, wén zi kāi shǐ chǔn chǔn yù dòng. Méi yǒu rén xiǎng bèi wén zi ding le. Wén zi ding yǎo hǎo yǎng a. Ér qiě, wén zi kě yǐ chuán bò bìng yuan tǐ. Yīng gāi cǎi qǔ yī xiē fáng wén cuò shī: Wén zhàng, wén xiāng, bì wén jì, děng děng.

There are more mosquitos in the summer. As the temperature gradually increased, the mosquitos are ready to take action. No one wants to be bitten by a mosquito. A mosquito bite is quite itchy. Moreover, mosquitos can transmit pathogens. One should take some anti-mosquito measures: mosquito nets, mosquito coils, mosquito repellent, etc. 

 

In spite of all of these inconveniences, I wish you all Happy Summer! Take care and enjoy your vacation.

好好学习，天天向上！

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