托福阅读背景：圣诞节的由来

 　　托福阅读考试中的材料内容涉及较广、知识面也非常的宽。多增加一些课外知识，对做题非常有帮助。那么，今天，我们一起看看托福阅读背景材料之圣诞节的由来。

　　本文将为大家介绍圣诞节的由来，中英双语版，希望对大家积累托福阅读背景知识有所帮助。

　　每年12月25日是全世界大多数基督徒纪念耶稣诞生的日子。

　　教会开始并无圣诞节，约在耶稣升天后百余年内才有。据说：第一个圣诞节是在公元138年，由罗马主教圣克里门倡议举行。而教会史载第一个圣诞节则在公元336年。由于圣经未明记耶稣生于何时，故各地圣诞节日期各异。直到公元440年，才由罗马教廷定12月25日为圣诞节。公元1607年，世界各地教会领袖在伯利恒聚会，进一步予以确定，从此世界大多数的基督徒均以12月25日为圣诞节。十九世纪，圣诞卡的流行、圣诞老人的出现，圣诞节也开始流行起来了。

　　由于圣经记载耶稣生于夜间，故传统称12月24日夜为“圣诞夜”或“平安夜”。

　　Every year on December 25 in the world the majority of Christians¹ commemorate² the birth of Jesus day.

　　Christmas did not start the church, about 100 years after Jesus ascended³ to heaven only. It is said: the first Christmas in the year 138, by the Bishop⁴ of Rome, St. Clement⁵ held the initiative. The church contains the history of the first Christmas in the year 336 AD. As the next remember not in the Bible when Jesus was born, it is different all over the Christmas period. 440 years until the year before by the Holy See will be in December25, for Christmas. Year in 1607, church leaders around the world gathered in Bethlehem, to be further identified, from most parts of the world's Christians are on December 25 for Christmas. In the nineteenth century, the popularity of Christmas cards, Santa Claus, Christmas began to pop up.

　　As the Bible records Jesus was born at night, so that the traditional December 24 for the day and night "Christmas" or "Silent Night."

1 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

2 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。

3 ascended   

v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He has ascended into heaven. 他已经升入了天堂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The climbers slowly ascended the mountain. 爬山运动员慢慢地登上了这座山。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。

5 clement   

adj.仁慈的；温和的

参考例句：

• A clement judge reduced his sentence.一位仁慈的法官为他减了刑。
• The planet's history contains many less stable and clement eras than the holocene.地球的历史包含着许多不如全新世稳定与温和的地质时期。