有关圣诞节的英语小短文

 　　有关圣诞节的英语小短文 Christmas

　　The Feast of Christmas

　　It is not easy to pin-point the origins of the Christmas feast, today the more important feast of the Christmas season in most western Christian¹ churches. One can only say for certain that the birth of Jesus Christ was being celebrated² in Rome by the year 336 A.D.; afterwards the feast was celebrated in other Christian churches throughout the world.

　　Why it was celebrated on December 25th is another question. No date for the birth of Jesus can be found in the New Testament³, which is concerned more with the question "Who is Jesus?" than the date of his birth. Early Christian speculation⁴ about his birth date was influenced by the symbolism of the changing seasons, then popular in religious thought, which paid careful attention to the equinoxes and solstices of the sun. Christian scholars speculated that Jesus was conceived at the spring equinox (March 25th) and therefore was born on December 25th, the date of the winter solstice.

　　In many of the Christian churches, March 25th is still the Feast of the Annunciation, when the Angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she was to be the mother of Jesus.

　　Possible impluse for the feast of Christmas may have came too from the establishment of the pagan feast of the "Unconquered Sun-God" by the Emperor Aurelian in 274 A.D. to be celebrated on December 25, the day of the winter solstice in Rome and throughout the empire. In response, Christians⁵ could celebrate the feast of the "Sun of righteousness" (Malachi 4,2), Jesus Christ, who called himself " the light of the world."

　　Father Christmas

　　It is said that in the year of 300 AD, there was a kind old man and his name was Saint Nicholas. He was always ready to help the poor and often gave presents to them.

　　Today, Father Christmas is an imaginary figure, but nearly all young children believe in him. They think he is a happy old man with a long white beard and a long red robe.

　　On the night of the twenty-fourth of December every year, Father Christmas from some cold northern land comes down the chimney of the fireplace to put presents by the beds of children or to fill their stockings. So when children go to bed that night, they hang up their stockings, and on Christmas morning they wake to find them full of presents. Of course, it's really their parents who fill the stockings.

　　Another name for Father Christmas is Santa Claus.

　　For today's Christian, the origin of Christmas is, and should be, the birth of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Bible. Nothing more and nothing less. However, most of what we witness on December 25th each year has absolutely nothing to do with that blessed day, which probably occurred in late summer or early fall about 2,000 years ago. In fact, most of the customs and traditions of Christmas actually pre-date the birth of Jesus, and many of them are downright deceptive⁶ in their meaning and origin. Anyway, who cares when Christ was born?

　　Christmas Day,the 25th of December,is the biggest festival(节日)celebrated in the Christian countries of the world.Although everyone enjoys Christmas Day,it is particularly enjoyed by children,who get very excited because of the presents they know they are going to receive.Small children believe that their presents are brought by Father Christmas(圣诞老人).Father Christmas is a kind of old man who,the children are told,lives at the North Pole.He travels through the sky on a sleigh(雪撬) which is pulled by reindeers(驯鹿) and loaded with(装满) presents.Stopping on the roof of houses,he enters by climbing the chimney(烟囱).When small children go to bed on Christmas Eve,they hang a stocking at the end of their beds.Their parents warn them not to try to look at Father Christmas,or he will not leave them anything.When they wake,they find their stockings filled with presents.Children are very excited on Christmas morning and always wake up early.

　　Christmas is also a family celebration.As any members of the family as possible gather to eat,play party games and watch the special Christmas programmes on TV.

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

3 testament   

n.遗嘱；证明

参考例句：

• This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
• It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明，编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。

4 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

5 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。

6 deceptive   

adj.骗人的，造成假象的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• His appearance was deceptive.他的外表带有欺骗性。
• The storyline is deceptively simple.故事情节看似简单，其实不然。