【正文】 to denote “a leader”. Such as: “His brother is the cock of the school.” It is said that during the 12th to 19th century, in middle and primary schools, students usually took part in cockfighting in their Repenting Day. The victor would be uplifted by his acpaniers. Red herring “Red herring” is a kind of fish. It is believed that dragging a red herring through the road that the fox has passed by, the courser will not be able to find out where the fox has gone. In English, people use it to denote “something that diverts people’s attention”. Such as: “Mentioning adult education in a discussion on decolonization is a plete red herring.”3. Factors causing the differencesJust as discussed above, animal words have different cultural connotations in English and in Chinese. What are the main reasons causing such differences in cultural connotations? English and Chinese animal words convey different cultural features and messages of their own nations, and reflect their own culture. The following analysis may help understand cultural connotation differences in animal words. Different geographyChina is an agriculturecultivating country. Since the invention of the farming, the agricultural culture has been on the dominant role in China. Ox is the main farming tool in the agricultural history in China. “Ox” is the symbol of power and hardworking in Chinese culture. For example, “健壯如牛” (as strong as ox), “牛勁” (great strength), “老黃?！?(a person who serves the people wholeheartedly or an honest and industrious worker), “孺子?！?(a willing ox to serve the people wholeheartedly) etc. But in English, the horse has been used for most farming work. And the horse plays an important role in the western culture, which can be seen from the English idioms associated with the horse, for example. work like a horse 辛苦地工作 eat like a horse 狼吞虎咽 lock the stable door after the horse is stolen 亡羊補(bǔ)牢 What is more, Britain is a searounded country, and there is a vast seacoast so its resources in fishery are very rich. Because of this, there are so many idioms about fishery such “ a big fish (大人物)”。 “a poor fish (倒霉的家伙)”。 “have other fish to fry (有另一見更重要的事要做)”。 “make fish of one and flesh of another (偏愛一方；厚此薄彼)”。 “never after to teach fish to swim (不要班門弄斧)”。 “ a whale (聰明的人)”. Different religion Religion, the main ponent of human culture, reflects different attitudes towards admiration and taboo of each nation. Chinese culture is deeply affected by Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism, among which the effect of Buddhism is the most inveterate, while English culture is great influenced by Christianity. There is no question that Chinese expressions reflect the influence of Buddhism, whereas English expressions are closely related to Christianity. In contrast, idioms from Bible and Christianity are abundant , such as “the gold calf (金牛犢—the adoration for money)”。 “beard the lion (揪獅子的胡須)”。 “ a lion in the path (攔路虎)”。 “Cast pearls before swine (明珠暗投)” stems from Matthew in the New Testament。 “a little bird told me (有人私下告訴我)” is from Ecclesiastes in the Bible。 “separate the sheep from the goats (把好人和壞人區(qū)分開)” is from Exodus in the Bible.Different history Different countries possess different history culture, which mainly prises allusion, myths, poems, ancient books and records, etc. Among them, allusion is the most important。 it reflects the national characteristic. The cultural connotation from history is the gems of human cultural heritage. It is worth learning history culture. Knowledge of the historical background of English and Chinese may help prehend what the cultural connotation means. As we know, England is governed by the Pope and the king for a long time, so in English, there are so many idioms to express their outrage, disdain and averseness such as “the king and pope, the lion and wolf (國(guó)王教皇, 獅子豺狼)”。 “kings and bears often worry their keepers (伴君如伴虎)”。 “l(fā)ocust years” es from Exodus, in the Bible, which means “不景氣的年代，災(zāi)難深重的歲月”。 “Balaam’s ass (巴蘭的驢子)” means “平時(shí)沉默馴服, 突然開口抗議的人”。 “worship the golden calf” means “拜金牛犢，崇拜金錢” (adore money very much)。 “one’s ewe lamb” means “最珍愛之物” (the treasure) from Matthew, 。 And “sheep and goat” means “好人與壞人” (good person and villain) from Matthew in the Bible. “the dove of peace (和平鴿)” is from the Old Testament. “the ugly duckling (丑小鴨)” is from Han Anderson’s tales. “亡羊補(bǔ)牢 (It is not too late to mend the fold even after some of the sheep have been lost.)” and “狐假虎威 (As ass in lion’s skin)” are from Zhan guoce (戰(zhàn)國(guó)策)。 “老馬識(shí)途” is from Han Feizi (韓非子)。 “兔死狗烹” is from Shi ji (史記). The Chinese history is longer than the English one, so the Chinese language is deeprooted by the history factor, and has rich meaning with animal words. Different fable and mythology Idioms are usually closely related to distinctive cultural fables and mythologies. The English idioms belong to this kind mainly e from Aesop39。s Fables, as the following animal idioms: “a dog in the manger (占馬槽之狗/占著茅坑不拉屎)” means someone who does not want others to use or enjoy something even though they themselves do not need or want it.。 “to cry wolf (在不需要援助時(shí)求援)” means to keep asking for help that you do not really need, with the result that when you do need people do not believe you. Most of such Chinese idioms are from Chinese historical literature and ancient fables and fairy tales. They are vivid with profound meanings. For example. “守株待兔” means “to stand by a tree stump waiting for a hare—wait for gains without pains” “畫蛇添足” means “to draw a snake and add feet to it—to ruin the effect by adding something” “井底之蛙” means “a frog in a well—a person with a very limited outlook and experience” “精衛(wèi)填?！?means “the mythical bird Jingwei trying to fill up the sea with pebbles—dogged determination to achieve one’s purpose” Different beauty conceptionDue to different living conventions, different nations have obvious cultural differences in the concept of val