最新15篇文章贯通英语四级词汇MP3 Unit7-Part3

[00:00.00]Christmas carols, or Christmas religious songs,
[00:05.58]began in the Middle Ages
[00:07.42]when people danced and
[00:08.84]sang religious songs on village greens
[00:10.49](central gathering¹ areas
[00:13.77]in small towns and villages)
[00:15.85]in Anglo Saxon England.
[00:18.80]A Christmas carol today
[00:20.44]is a religious tune² without
[00:22.41]the dance associated with it.
[00:24.71]A strong religious tradition today,
[00:29.08]as in other times,
[00:31.16]is to go to church
[00:33.13]at midnight of Christmas eve
[00:35.00]or on Christmas morning.
[00:37.29]A priest may say mass
[00:39.37](in a Catholic Church)
[00:41.89]or preach a sermon about
[00:43.09]the significance of the birth of Christ.
[00:46.80]Another very prominent symbol of Christmas
[00:50.31]is the Christmas tree.
[00:52.72]There are several explanations
[00:55.34]for its origin. One story suggests
[00:59.50]that Martin Luther was walking through
[01:02.34]a wood on a clear winter night
[01:04.53]admiring the beauty of the bright stars
[01:07.16]glowing though the branches of trees.
[01:09.34]He decided³ to cut down
[01:12.38]a small evergreen⁴ tree
[01:13.91]and take it home.
[01:15.99]He put candles in it
[01:18.39]to represent the stars
[01:19.82]he had seen earlier
[01:21.24]because he wanted to
[01:22.77]share that beautiful image
[01:24.30]with his family.
[01:26.16]Another story tells of
[01:28.35]the bringing of an evergreen tree
[01:30.43]inside the home during winter solstice
[01:33.39](December 21st) symbolizing⁵ the renewal⁶
[01:37.11]of life in the dead of winter.
[01:40.17]It became associated with Christmas,
[01:43.67] which occurs only four days later.
[01:46.41]The Christmas tree was firmly
[01:49.36]established as a Christmas symbol
[01:51.55]by the Germans who
[01:53.73]eventually brought it to America.
[01:55.59]In Victorian England, people hung cakes
[02:00.51]and candies on it and later,
[02:02.59]fruit made of paper
[02:04.23]adorned the branches.
[02:06.31]Modern commercial tree decorations
[02:09.60]appeared in the 1880’s
[02:11.68]at Woolworth’s Department Store
[02:13.65]in the United States,
[02:15.73]and electric Christmas tree lights
[02:19.11]made their debut in 1882

1 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

2 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 evergreen   

n.常青树；adj.四季常青的

参考例句：

• Some trees are evergreen;they are called evergreen.有的树是常青的，被叫做常青树。
• There is a small evergreen shrub on the hillside.山腰上有一小块常绿灌木丛。

5 symbolizing   

v.象征，作为…的象征( symbolize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• This symbol later evolved into a common hieroglyphic symbolizing victory. 这幕场景后来逐渐演化为象征胜利的普通象形文字。 来自时文部分
• Mooncakes reunion, is symbolizing the Mid-Autumn festival will feed. 月饼象征着团圆，是中秋佳节必食之品。 来自互联网

6 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。