播客

描述

词汇提示

1.invincible 不可战胜的

2.evergreen 常青树

3.mistletoe 槲寄生

4.ceiling 天花板

5.dowries 嫁妆

6.chimney 烟囱

7.reindeer 驯鹿

8.carols 圣诞颂歌

原文

Christmas Holidays

In many ways, Christmas is the most important holiday in North America.

It is the most important commercial festival.

Most retail stores do half of their annual business in the six weeks or so before Christmas.

Christmas is an important holiday from work and school.

Many workers take the whole week off between Christmas and New Year's Day.

It is the biggest time of the year for parties gift-giving, home decorations and visiting.

Many homeowners compete to see who can have the best display of lights.

It is also an important time for the entertainment industry.

Many Christmas movies, TV shows, recordings, concerts and plays are produced every year for the Christmas season.

It is also the time of year when the largest number of people attend church, because Christmas is a religious festival too.

It celebrates the birthday of Jesus.

How all these different things came together to become Christmas is a long story.

Why,for example, is Jesus' birthday celebrated on December 25th?

No one knows the exact day that Jesus was born.

But,Jesus was born during the Roman Empire and, for the Romans, December 25th was a very important day.

The Romans had many gods and many religions.

Two religions, both of which had one main god, were the worship of the Invincible Sun and of Mithras.

These gods were both honored on December 25th.

Because December 25th was just after the shortest day of the year, it was a natural time to worship the sun.

December was also a time to celebrate the end of the agriculture year.

The Romans held one of their main festivals, the Saturnalia, beginning on December 17th.

It lasted for a week.

The Romans also began the custom of celebrating New Year's Day on January 1st.

So the last half of December and the beginning of January was a wonderful time for partying and games.

The early Christians didn't know what day Jesus was born.

At first, they celebrated his birthday on January 6th.

However,as most of the people in the Roman Empire were becoming Christians, it was decided to move the date to December 25th.

The celebration lasted twelve days until January 6th, and took the place of all other festivals.

That way, people who were used to celebrating on December 25th would feel more comfortable.

As different peoples became Christian, they brought their own customs to be part of Christmas.

The people of northern Europe used evergreen trees and mistletoe as symbols of spring and eternal life.

The evergreen tree became the Christmas tree.

The mistletoe is hung from the ceiling at Christmas for couples to kiss under it.

It was also in northern Europe where the idea of Santa Claus, or Father Christmas,began.

In Roman times, there was a man who became known as Saint Nicholas.

He is said to have given gifts to the poor and provided dowries for poor girls who wouldn't otherwise be able to marry.

The idea of the gift-giving Saint became joined with the northern idea of Spirit of Christmas festivities.

It was a poem written in 1831 by the American writer, Clement Moore,which popularized Santa Claus throughout the world.

"Twas the night before Christmas..."told the story of how Santa visits every house in the world on Christmas Eve and brings toys for good girls and boys.

Since that time, parents have secretly bought toys for their children at Christmas.

When the children awake on Christmas Day, they find toys by the chimney, or under the Christmas tree.

They are told that Santa Claus and his reindeer brought them.

Adults also give gifts to each other at Christmas time.

No wonder that the stores sell so many things then! It is often said that Christmas is becoming too commercialized.

In the rush to get everything ready--to buy the gifts, decorate the house and tree, give parties, visit family and friends, and attend special Christmas events the original reason for celebrating is sometimes forgotten.

Only when people go to church, or sing Christmas carols, or attend musical performances about Jesus' birth,do they remember that Christmas is the birthday of Christ.

翻译

圣诞假期

在许多方面，圣诞节是北美最重要的节日。
它是最重要的商业节日。
大多数零售商店在圣诞节前的六周左右完成了一半的年度业务。
圣诞节是一个远离工作和学校的重要节日。
许多工人在圣诞节和新年之间休整整一周的假。
这是一年中聚会、赠送礼物、装饰家庭和参观的最大时刻。
许多房主竞相看谁能拥有最好的灯光。
对于娱乐业来说，这也是一个重要的时期。
每年都会为圣诞节制作许多圣诞电影、电视节目、唱片、音乐会和戏剧。
这也是一年中去教堂的人最多的时候，因为圣诞节也是一个宗教节日。
它庆祝耶稣的生日。
所有这些不同的东西是如何结合在一起成为圣诞节的，这是一个很长的故事。
例如，为什么耶稣的生日是在12月25日?
没有人知道耶稣出生的确切日期。
但是，耶稣出生在罗马帝国时期，对罗马人来说，12月25日是一个非常重要的日子。
罗马人有许多神和许多宗教。
两种宗教，都有一个主神，是对无敌太阳和密特拉的崇拜。
这些神都在12月25日受到尊崇。
因为12月25日是一年中白天最短的一天，所以这是一个崇拜太阳的自然时间。
12月也是庆祝农业年结束的时候。
罗马人从12月17日开始举行他们的主要节日之一农神节。
它持续了一个星期。
罗马人还开始了在1月1日庆祝新年的习俗。
因此，12月的下半月和1月初是聚会和游戏的美好时光。
早期的基督徒不知道耶稣是哪一天出生的。
起初，他们在1月6日庆祝他的生日。
然而，由于罗马帝国的大多数人都成为基督徒，于是决定将日期改为12月25日。
庆祝活动持续了12天，直到1月6日，并取代了所有其他节日。
这样，习惯在12月25日庆祝的人们会感觉更舒服。
随着不同的民族成为基督徒，他们带来了自己的习俗，成为圣诞节的一部分。
北欧人用常青树和槲寄生作为春天和永恒生命的象征。
常青树变成了圣诞树。
圣诞节时，人们会把槲寄生挂在天花板上，让情侣们在它下面接吻。
圣诞老人或圣诞老人的想法也是在北欧开始的。
在罗马时代，有一个人被称为圣尼古拉斯。
据说他给穷人送礼物，并为那些无法结婚的贫穷女孩提供嫁妆。
送礼物的圣人的想法与北方的圣诞节庆祝活动的精神结合在一起。
1831年，美国作家克莱门特·摩尔写了一首诗，这首诗使圣诞老人在全世界家喻户晓。
“这是圣诞节的前一夜……”讲述了圣诞老人如何在圣诞夜拜访世界上的每户人家，并为乖孩子们带来玩具的故事。
从那时起，父母们就会在圣诞节偷偷地给孩子们买玩具。
当孩子们在圣诞节醒来时，他们在烟囱旁或圣诞树下找到玩具。
他们被告知是圣诞老人和他的驯鹿带来的。
成年人也会在圣诞节互赠礼物。
难怪商店那时卖这么多东西!人们常说圣诞节变得太商业化了。
在匆忙准备一切的时候——买礼物，装饰房子和圣诞树，举办聚会，拜访家人和朋友，参加特别的圣诞活动——庆祝的最初原因有时被遗忘了。
只有当人们去教堂，或唱圣诞颂歌，或参加有关耶稣诞生的音乐表演时，他们才会记得圣诞节是基督的生日。

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