来自世界不同地方的六位学生在美国相遇。他们都是交换学生,到美国大学就读一个学期,学习英语,了解美国文化,同时修专业课程。英语“日常会话” (Everyday Conversations)系列围绕这六位学生在美国的经历展开。这套材料适于中级或中级以上英语水平的学生使用。
在今天对话中,学生Peter 谈他家里的过节传统。
Peter: Lee, what are your plans for the winter break?
Lee: Ajay and I were invited to Alan’s house for the break. How about you? You’re going to volunteer at a school, right?
Peter: That’s right. But first I’m going to go home and spend Christmas with my family. It’s an important holiday for my family. We have lots of Christmas traditions.
Lee: Interesting. Like what?
Peter: Well, one of our traditions is also a tradition for some families in the U.S. — the Advent calendar.
Lee: What’s that?
Peter: It’s like a large card, with a picture on it. There’s also a small opening with a door for each day in December, up until Christmas. And each day, you open one of the doors. The best part is that behind the door is a piece of chocolate.
Lee: It’s a calendar with chocolate? That’s the best kind of calendar.
Peter: Some of them only have pictures, but my family gets the ones with chocolate. Another tradition is the Christmas market. In the local squares, there’s a market that sells food, drinks and local crafts.
Lee: That sounds great. I think there are some places in the U.S. that have Christmas markets too.
Peter: One different tradition is that we open presents on Christmas Eve. In the U.S., people usually open presents on Christmas.
让我们来学习一些词语(也可阅读英文解释):
A winter break:寒假,通常包含一些冬季节假日,如元旦
To volunteer:志愿或义务做事
Christmas (also Christmas Day) :圣诞/圣诞日,源于基督教,美国和世界各地许多人在12月25日庆祝这个节日。圣诞节传统包括装饰圣诞树,相互送礼物,以及与家人好友相聚等。
A tradition:传统
An Advent calendar:降临节日历/圣诞倒数计时日历,包含从12月1日到圣诞节的日期。日历上的每个日子有一个小门装饰,门后放着画像或巧克力糖果。这期间儿童会每天翻日历,打开一扇门。
A Christmas market:圣诞集市,即节日期间在街头开设的餐饮摊和商摊市场,出售节日传统食品饮料以及地方手工制品。
在这个对话中,a square是指市内的小广场或空场。
Local: 地方的,当地的
Crafts:手工制品,手工艺品
Christmas Eve :圣诞夜,即12月24日,圣诞节前夕
有兴趣听更多英语对话吗?请浏览“英语学习”专题网页。
American English 网站提供可供英语学生和教师免费使用的多种英语资源。American English Facebook网页提供每天更新的英语学习资料。
“日常会话”由美国国务院教育与文化事务局英语语言项目处(Office of English Language Programs, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs)资深项目官员海蒂·豪兰(Heidi Howland)编写。