Christmas 高一（ 1 ）班

Christmas is coming

Merry Christmas The Origin of Christmas Christmas Spirit

Christmas Day-December 25-which celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, the founder of the Christian religion, is the biggest and best-loved holiday in the United States. "Christmas"- meaning "celebration of Christ "- honors the time when Jesus was born to a young Jewish woman Mary. Although the exact date of the birth of Jesus nearly 2,000 years ago is not known, the calendar on the supposed date divides all time into B.C. (Before Christ )and A.D. ( a Latin phrase, Anno Domini, "in the year of our Lord.”)For the first 300 years, Jesus' birthday was celebrated on different dates. Finally, in the year 354, church leaders chose December 25 as his birthday 译文

12 月 25 日的圣诞节是庆祝基督教创始人耶稣基督生日的日子，是 美国最大、人们最喜爱的节日。。 “ 圣诞节 ” 的意思是 “ 庆祝基督 ” ，庆祝一个年轻的犹太妇女玛丽娅生下耶稣的时刻。 尽管耶稣的确切生日并不清楚，大约是在 2000 年前，但是日历按 着假定日期把时间分为公元前（耶稣基督诞生前）和公元后（ A. D. 是拉丁文缩写，意思是 “ 有了我们主 -- 耶稣的年代 ” ）。在公元 后的头三百年间，耶稣的生日是在不同的日子庆祝的。最后，在 公元 354 年，教堂的领导人把 12 月 25 日定为耶稣基督的生日。 返回

Some people say that Christmas is not religious enough, and that the holiday has become such big business that American s forget it was created to honor the birth of Christ. The Christmas spirit, hard to define, but apparent everywhere during the holiday season, is expressed in many charitable ways. Religious, civic and social organizations, as well as ph- ilanthropic individuals, see to it that the poor, the unfortunate, the orphans, the sick, the lonely and the elderly are remem- bered with gifts and festive food. All over America, churches, schools and other groups make their own efforts at Christmas to help the old, the poor, and those without homes or families. It is one of the traditional activities in which all Americans like to take part on Christmas. 译文

有些人说，圣诞节的宗教味儿不够，简直成了一场大生意，弄 得美国人忘了产生这个节日是为了纪念耶稣诞生的。 “ 圣诞节精神 “ 是什么？很难说清。但它在节日期间确实存在着，从许多慈善活 动中可以表现出来。信教的人、民间社会团体和有慈善心肠的个 人都在关心穷人、不幸的人、孤儿、病人、孤独的人和年老的人， 在节日期间给他们送去礼物和食品，没有忘记他们。 在全美国，教堂、学校和其他团体都在圣诞节尽自己的力量去帮 助那些老年人、穷人、无家可归和没有亲人的人。这是许多传统 活动之一，所有美国人都愿参加。 返回

It wasn't until about 200 years after Christ's death that Christians even thought about celebrating his birth. No one knows the exact date of his birth. It is believed that December the 25th was chosen to turn people away from celebrating other holidays in this time of the year.

Many Christmas customs are based on the birth of Christ. But some of the ways people celebrate Christmas have nothing to do with Christ's birthday. Many bits of older holidays have crept into Christmas! In time, Christmas took the place of these holidays. But people kept some of the old customs -- such as burning a Yule log and having feasts and parties. The word Yule is still used as a name for the Christmas season. As time went on, new customs crept into Christmas. One was the Christmas tree, which was started in Germany. As the Germans settled in new lands they brought with them this tradition.

Christmas is a very special time for many children -- the day presents are left by a magical person. In the United States and Canada, his name is Santa Claus. He flies through the sky in a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer. In England his name is Father Christmas. He looks much like Santa Claus, but he has a longer coat and a longer beard.

The History of Santa Claus Santa Claus has been called by several different names throughout the years. The original tradition and legend of Santa Claus may have been based on the early Dutch legend of Sinter Klaas, originating in the 1600's. Santa Claus really started to get famous when American author Washington Irving published stories about Santa Claus, referring to him as Saint Nicholas. Saint Nicholas arrived on Christmas Eve bringing presents for children.

Santa Claus changed and became more famous when writer Clement Clarke Moore wrote a poem in 1823 about a Christmas Eve visit from Saint Nicholas, better known as "The Night Before Christmas" (listed below). Millions of children now could have a consistent description of Santa Claus and his eight flying reindeer.

Santa's Best Ever Xmas Sugar Cookies Christmas Berry Mocha Fudge Mrs. Claus’ Cut-Out Cookies Christmas Sour Cream Potato Salad Eggnog Bread Apple Pecan Cake Baker's One Bowl Chocolate Brownie Cookie Cherry Fluff And so on Christmas Food

People in Christmas On the morning of Christmas Day, many people go to church to celebrate the birth of Christ. In the afternoon, they stay at home and open the gifts that were gathered around the tree.In the evening, the family sits down to a big goose dinner, which is followed by Christmas pudding. On Christmas Eve children usually leave a long stocking by the bed or hanging by the fireplace.They hope that Father Christmas will come down the chimney during the night and bring them small presents.

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