“叮叮當(dāng),叮叮當(dāng), 鈴兒響叮當(dāng)……”又到了一年一度的圣誕節(jié)啦！大家走在街上有沒有看到各種圣誕節(jié)裝飾和圣誕樹呢？每年的圣誕節(jié)虎虎都很開心呢！西方的圣誕節(jié)究和我們認(rèn)為的有啥不同呢？虎虎特地請教了偶們的美女外教Alison（戳我去看美女外教的主頁 >>）來談?wù)劽绹耸钦^圣誕節(jié)的，下面拿來和大家一起分享！點我進入滬江外教Alison老師的口語節(jié)目>>

The Beginning of Christmas

The origins of Christmas can be found in the name: Christmas is a religious holiday which celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In the Christian religion, Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and is believed to have been born in a cattle stall because there were no open rooms in any of the inns. He was born to a virgin woman named Mary and a man named Joseph, and it is believed that an angel brought shepherds and kings from afar to see the newborn boy, telling them that he was the Son of God. However, nowadays Christmas is not only celebrated by Christians. For many people, celebrating Christ’s birth is only one part of the holiday.

圣誕節(jié)是基督教世界最大的節(jié)日。其實圣誕節(jié)是基督徒慶祝耶穌基督誕生噠。關(guān)于耶穌基督誕生的故事大家了解嗎？虎虎偶來說下吧。耶穌基督是因著圣靈成孕，由童女馬利亞所生的。當(dāng)馬利亞快要臨盆的時候，羅馬政府下了命令，全部人民到伯利恒務(wù)必申報戶籍。約瑟和馬利亞只好遵命。他們到達伯利恒時，天色已昏，無奈兩人未能找到旅館渡宿，只有一個馬棚可以暫住。就在這時，耶穌要出生了！於是馬利亞唯有在馬槽上，生下耶穌。介個就是經(jīng)典的耶穌基督出生故事！（撒花~）

Alison告訴虎虎在很小的時候她就知道了圣誕節(jié)是為了紀(jì)念耶穌誕生。在美國，大家非常重視這個節(jié)日，雖然圣誕節(jié)一開始是為了紀(jì)念耶穌誕生，但是如今這個節(jié)日的意義已經(jīng)不只如此啦，這是一個大家狂歡的日子！
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Celebrating Christmas

Christmas is all about spending time with the people you love. There are far too many Christmas traditions to list in one program, so I will tell you about the ones I grew up with.

At Church

Churches have many events before Christmas, such as Angel Trees and Christmas Pageants. An Angel Tree invites people who may need some extra help during the holidays to hang “wishes” on the tree, telling others what they would like for Christmas, such as clothing or books. Other people can then take that wish off of the tree, buy the present, wrap it up and put it under the tree. A Christmas Pageant is where members of the church get together to rehearse and perform a Christmas play or musical for the church. There are always costumes and songs and usually a few hilarious speaking errors! On Christmas Eve, or the night before Christmas, there is a special church service. All of the lights in the church are turned off, and everyone is given a candle to hold as we listen to the Christmas story and sing our favorite Christmas hymns.

教堂會有非常非常多的圣誕活動，主要是和歌聲聯(lián)系在一起的，它的另一個名字就叫做“圣樂崇拜會”。 會有唱詩班獻唱，禱告、感謝和一些圣誕故事劇。到了圣誕節(jié)虎虎最稀飯去教堂了，大家一起唱歌神馬的很開心的，而且教堂都會裝飾得灰常漂亮！另外呢，一些圣詩班會挨門挨戶地在門口或窗下唱圣誕頌歌（caroling），叫作“報佳音”。那時候大街小巷滿城盡是歌聲。

大家都知道圣誕樹（Christmas tree），Alison告訴虎虎還有Angle tree，沒有錢買的得起圣誕禮物的人們會把自己的愿望寫在紙上，然后掛在樹上。你可以去摘下紙片，根據(jù)上面的愿望給他們買禮物然后掛在樹上。很有愛吧^^

With the Family

After the service, some families head home to open the presents that have been waiting under the tree. In my family, we wait to open our presents until Christmas morning. When Christmas morning comes, we are up at the crack of dawn to open presents, eat breakfast and hop in the car to head to my grandma’s house. All of my extended family gathers at my grandma’s house for a big meal and a couple days of relaxing.

圣誕節(jié)是和家人團聚的重要節(jié)日！大家會守候在圣誕樹下打開送給彼此的禮物。Alison家的習(xí)慣是在圣誕節(jié)早晨打開禮物，一家人圍坐在一起吃早餐然后去奶奶家。所有的親戚這時都會聚在一起。很開心呀~虎虎覺得西方的圣誕節(jié)就像我們的春節(jié)！

At University

One of my favorite memories of university is all of the Christmas parties I had with my friends. Almost every organization, company and social group organizes Christmas parties (that’s why most people gain 10 pounds over the holidays!). Some parties have gift exchanges, where people bring a wrapped present to exchange in some sort of game. “Secret Santa” gift exchanges are also fun; that’s where you put everyone’s name in a box and have people secretly draw out a name. Then, when they bring a present to the party for that person, the person has to “guess” who his Secret Santa is.

虎虎問Alison大學(xué)里有什么活動呢？她表示太多啦！有學(xué)校、院系，社團、朋友間的各種派對！那時候會非常非常忙碌。這些圣誕聚會和舞會都是在圣誕節(jié)前幾周舉行。她告訴虎虎，派對上很重要的一個節(jié)目就是交換禮物哦！除了一般的禮物交換還有“Secret Santa ”gift exchange（大家匿名買禮物交換），“White Elephant“ gift exchange（送搞笑逗樂的禮物）等。