英语日常会话：圣诞传统 [含声频]

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。