《高级休闲英语》第2单元辅导

1、高级休闲英语第2单元辅导More practice with the video Video 2ChristmasFocus question for the text Make a note of all the important elements of Christmas.Text DanielAs a believer in god will be able to show my love and appreciation of others by giving to them, so I would say that that Religious aspect is whats mo

2、st important to me about Christmas.CarolineI think one of the most important things about Christmas is Being with family - having time together and taking time off work, taking time to be together, have a nice meal, talk about things that have happened and sing songs, read stories, watch videos and

3、open presents and having special things to eat that we normally dont have time to make during the year, thats a real important time.JannaWhat I like most about Christmas is usually The presents under the tree and then we go outside after a Christmas morning and me and my friends all gather all the p

4、resents that arent that many that our parents at least allow us to take outside - we take them outside and we show them to each other and we Exchange presents for a few minutes and play with each others presents and then we usually have a Christmas dinner and I usually like that the best.DanielOther

5、 important aspects of Christmas would be being able to receive gifts. I can remember when I was a young boy coming down and my mother would always put out the presents on Christmas eve and then on Christmas morning all of the children would wake up early of course to get a good first glimpse as to a

6、ll the presents that we got and so another important aspect of Christmas for me is being able to be the recipient of lots of different gifts and being able to receive the love and appreciation the people that are giving the gifts to me want to express.CarolineI have a husband and a child and so I ne

7、ed to start before Thanksgiving getting ready - usually the first thing I start with is Cards, I have lots of cards I send out each year, maybe 50? 50 cards and I go to the store and I try to find the right cards I want and I usually write a Christmas letter to people and I get that started and send

8、 them the first week in Dec.DanielI would say a lot of it starts with the Decorations and that usually begins a week or so after thanksgiving and you want to get your house prepared for the Christmas season and some people call it The Christmas spirit so youve got to put up the Christmas tree and al

9、l the decorations and ornaments that go with that.CarolineUsually about 2 weeks before Christmas we usually buy a live tree and cut it and bring it in the house and we decorate it and thats something that the family does together and so because Christmas is a family time as a family you decorate the

10、 tree usually you put a Garland Which is a string - some kind of string of either something you buy or you can use popcorn or anything you like and you can wrap that around the tree and then you put Lights Around tree and then you put Ornaments. A lot of people traditionally buy a few each year, and

11、 each year they add a few ornaments to the tree and each ornament can be very special. My husband and I have ornaments, for instance, from when we first got married we have ornaments from that year we have ornaments from the first year we had a child and sometimes those are nice gift ideas and each

12、year we add new ornaments to the tree - sometimes for instance this year I didnt have any of those ornaments with me so I hand-made ornaments and so trees are trees can be a way that you can express yourself because everyone if you go into any home each persons Christmas tree can look entirely diffe

13、rent than someone elses tree so its a good way to express yourself.JannaBecause I like the best part about it you can decorate it with all sorts of different ornaments and I like it even more because usually if it wouldnt be a Christmas tree that youd have theres not many trees that are green all th

14、e year round so there isnt really theres not a tree that youre able to have thats still green on c. CarolineThen I guess the biggest time would be Christmas eve. Christmas eve we usually go to a church service and we sing Christmas carols and thats the time where usually each person gets a candle an

15、d they turn the lights down and everyone lights a candle and they sing Christmas songs and its very special and then we come home, we have a big dinner and sometimes in our home we open up 1 or 2 presents that evening - we sit around in the living room and we drink hot cider and eat Christmas cookie

16、s and open a couple of presents and then we go to bed on Christmas eve.DanielChristmas stockings - maybe I would say that the purpose of those is the little leftover things that youve bought that you forgot that you bought that you still want to give to somebody. For me, the main presents go under t

17、he Christmas tree, and then the other little extra Knick-knacks that you want to give somebody can go in the stockings of course the stockings came from the famous poem by Clement Moore thats called “It was the night before Christmas and thats the story of St Nicholas or Santa Claus as hes called an

18、d when SK comes down the chimney the first thing that he does is put little presents in the stockings for the children - a lot of times its Candy canes or other pieces of candy or food or something like that or little toys and then of course the bigger toys, the bigger gifts that he is bringing go u

19、nder the Christmas tree - at least thats what the poem says, the story of the night before Christmas.CarolineTraditionally SK is supposed to come down the chimney and fill your stocking if youve been good, and if youve been bad he puts a piece of coal in it. So in our home Ive made each of us a stoc

20、king, my husband has a stocking, my daughter has a stocking and I have a stocking, and Im elected to fill them - on Christmas eve I fill the stockings full of little things, of gifts, and we have fun with that.And we wake up on Christmas morning and we all run out early open the presents and we take

21、 most of that morning opening presents and then we have A big meal Christmas day and thats - in my home I prepare that meal - we usually have several meats and vegetables and potatoes and some kind of special Christmas drink, usually its a red fruit juice of some kind and the tables all set in a cer

22、tain way with a table cloth and plates - Christmas plates and all kinds of fun things and then after we eat usually family gathers on that day and so you just spend the whole afternoon talking to family and thats how we spend c.DanielHere in China you dont have a lot of what I would call the Commerc

23、ialism. For businesses in America, for companies that produce products that people want to buy for their friends and their families at Christmas time - a lot of that business and commercialism comes to a height at Christmas time, it comes to a climax, a lot of retail sales take place after thanksgiv

24、ing up until Christmas time or so and in America theres a lot of that commercialism. Here in china with not as many people celebrating Christmas you dont have that aspect and frankly I dont miss it, its nicer to concentrate on Christmas as being a time to being with the family and a time to give som

25、e special gifts to those that you love, so not having that commercialism here in china is no loss for me.CarolineIn the States during . Round about Christmas time there are certain things I always did, one was I usually tried to see Handels Messiah, I usually tried to see A Christmas play of some ki

26、nd, either the Gift of the magi by O Henry or a Dickens Christmas carol - some kind of play Id like to go see or see a Christmas Cantata - Christmas songs - some kind of Christmas programme presented somewhere in the town and coming to china there is none of that available. And so if you didnt make

27、Christmas it didnt happen and so many of us got - especially - our family we got creative we learned to make Christmas tree ornaments we learned to make stockings. If there wasnt a play, we would organize people and we would put on a play. If there wasnt Christmas carols, we would organize a Christm

28、as carol sing and so thats one of the things thats a little bit different.JannaNot that much - though most of my Cs I havent been very old so I didnt really notice except for the presents - in China its easier to have parties in a place that you know - and since I know china so well because Ive been

29、 here for such a long time Its easier, I think its more fun to have Christmas in a place where you have friends. NormanIn Britain we usually eat a Turkey for Christmas - in fact heres the menu for a typical British Christmas lunch or dinner:Roast turkey with chestnut stuffing Roast beef with Horsera

30、dish sauce Ham with apple sauce Roast, boiled and creamed potatoes Brussels sprouts and carrots Gravy and bacon rolls Bread sauce Christmas pudding Brandy butter and double cream Mince pies Mulled wine Christmas cake As you can see, its the richest and largest meal that most people eat in the year -

31、 similar in importance to the Chinese spring festival dinner. In America that menu is more frequently eaten for thanksgiving, though its often repeated for Christmas.Words & expressions: Religious aspect For Christians it is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, though in northern Europe thi

32、s date was a pagan mid-winter festival for thousands of years before, and Jesus Christ was almost certainly not born on the 25Th December; America is a much more actively religious culture than the UK and only a minority of British people would respond as Daniel does. Being with family This would pr

33、obably be the first response by most British people, and it matches with other cultures in this respect, cf Chinese New Year, Ramadan for Moslems, Hanukkah for Jews, etc. Times when the whole family tries to be together. Presents under the tree The tree, normally some kind of pine or fir tree, is a

34、19th century introduction to Britain from Germany, where it has a longer history probably going back to druidical times (druidism is an ancient northern European religion). Exchange presents For most people this would be the single most important aspect. Thanksgiving A national holiday at the end of

35、 November in America to celebrate the survival through their first year of the first group of settlers in America Christmas cardsA 20Th century invention, and an example of the commercialism that Daniel mentions Christmas letterWith the widespread use of email this is becoming more and more common -

36、 a circular letter in which you describe your family抯 past year and which you then send to all of your friends with whom you have not been in contact during the year. Decorations Decorating the tree and the home with special lights and hangings are very important elements of Christmas - all shops an

37、d many main streets also keep dramatic Christmas displays lit up for the whole season which is supposed to finish on 12Th night, ie 6Th January. Christmas spirit Supposedly the season of peace and goodwill to all people Garland A rope of flowers, often worn as a necklace or a head dress Lights Tradi

38、tionally the tree was lit with candles; however, these can be dangerous and nowadays most trees are lit by electricity. Ornaments Decorations Christmas eve For German, for example, this is the most important time, when the family meal is eaten and presents exchanged; for the British it is Christmas

39、day itself. Christmas carols Special Christmas songs, normally religious though some - like jingle Hot cider At Christmas many drinks normally taken cold, such as wine or whisky or beer, will be served “mulled” or heated up, often with spices and fruit added; cider is made from apples Knick-knack Od

40、ds-and-ends, bits and pieces, trinkets, small presents Santa Klaus Dutch version of saint Nicholas, supposedly the patron saint of Christmas Candy cane Sticks of sugar candy A big meal Again, the concept of a rich family meal (usually the most expensive of the whole year) is common to all cultures.

41、Commercialism Since it is the season of gift-buying and increased consumption of food and drink, Christmas is the busiest time of year for most sales outlets which naturally try to maximise the advantage; this is criticised by some. Comes to a climax Reaches a peak, comes to a head, reaches its high

42、est point Cantata A collection of songs, often on a religious themes Handels MessiahThe world-famous Christmas oratorio (a large cantata) by the 18Th century English composer George Handel TurkeyA large, domesticated game-bird of north American origin, eaten on special festive days Horseradish Plant with a fleshy root used to make a hot spicy sauce Brussels sproutsCabbage family, with small compact cabbage heads on a long steam; ori