阅读理解
Unit 14 Festivals Reading
第14单元 节日 阅读
THE BIRTH OF A FESTIVAL
节日的起源
You probably know that Christmas,
你也知道圣诞节，
the Spring Festival and Ramadan are important holidays in the world.
春节,和斋月是世界上较为重要的节日。
But have you heard about Kwanzaa?
可是你听说过宽扎文化节吗?
Kwanzaa is a seven-day festival
宽扎文化节是个为期7天的节日。
celebrating the culture and history of African Americans.
用以庆祝非裔美国人的文化和历史。
The week following Christmas Day,
在紧随圣诞节之后的一周里，
Many African American families get together to greet the new year and think about the past.
许多非裔美国家庭聚集在一起迎接新年回想过去。
African Americans have a long history and a rich culture,
非美国人历史悠久，文化丰富，
but Kwanzaa is a young holiday.
但是宽扎节是个年轻的节日。
Kwanzaa was born in 1966,
宽扎节起源于1966 年,
when people created a new festivalM.
卡伦加博士为了创立这个新节日。
so that African Americans would be able to celebrate their history and culture.
非裔美国人庆祝他们的历史和文化。
The people who created Kwanzaa used the word for "first fruit" in Swahili,
创立宽扎节的人们选择了斯瓦希里语中初收果实一词。
one of the largest languages in Africa.
非洲最大语言。
They chose the word
他们选择这个词
because there are many festivals in Africa called "first fruit" festivals.
因为在非洲有许多节日叫做果实初收节。
The African first-fruit festivals had many things in common:
非洲的果实初收节有许多共同之处：
people would get together to celebrate their harvest;
人们聚会庆祝丰收；
they used to give thanks for their harvests and for life:
他们感谢丰收,感谢生活：
they used to honour their ancestors,celebrate their past,
他们庆祝他们的祖先,他人们的过去，
and the group or society they lived in.
他们的种族或是他们的生活于其中的社会。
The festivals were a way to celebrate history and culture,
这些节日是礼赞历史和文化的一种方式，
as well as the new year.
也作为新年。
The people who created Kwanzaa
创立宽扎节的人们
liked the characteristics of the African festivals so much
对于非洲节日的特色喜欢之极。
that they used them to write the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa.
他们把这些节日特色写成<<宽扎节七原则>>.
The seven principles are:Unity.
这七个原则是:统一。
We must build unity of family,community and nation.
我们必须建立统一的家庭，社会和国家。
Self-determination.We have to build our own lives,think for ourselves and speak for ourselves.
自治。我们必须建立起自己的生活,为我们自己而创造为自己仗义执言。
Living together. We should build our community and solve our problems together.
一起生活。我们必须建立自己的社区,共同解决我们的问题。
Working together. We should build and support our factories and shops.
一起工作。我们必须建立并支持自己的工厂和商店。
Purpose.We should remember our past and build our future.
目标.我们必须记住我们的过去,建设我们的末来。
We should honour our ancestors.
缅怀祖先，教育后代。
Creativity. We must do as much as we can to make our community better and more beautiful.
创造。我们应当尽最大努力使我们的社区更加美好。
Faith. We should believe in our family,our people,our teachers and our leaders.
信任。我们应当信任我们的家庭，我们的人民，我们的老师，还有我们的领袖。
People celebrate Kwanzaa from December 26 to January1.
人们庆祝宽扎节的时间是从12月26 日至元月1日。
The dates were chosen so that Kwanzaa begins the day after Christmas Day
这个日期的确定使得宽扎节从圣诞节后的第一天开始
and ends on New Year's Day.
到元旦的那一天结束。
This way,people who celebrate Kwanzaa can enjoy the spirit of the holidays
这样，庆祝宽扎节的人们就可以完全。
without all the commercial activities of Christmas.
抛开圣诞节的一切商业活动,尽情领略节日的欢乐。
Since Kwanzaa is a time for learning as well as joy,
因为宽扎节是一个感悟和喜庆的时刻，
people celebrate it by lighting a candle each day
因而人们的庆祝方式是每一天都点燃一支蜡烛
and discussing one of the seven principles of Kwanzaa.
讨论宽扎节七大原则中的一条。
The candle is usually lit by the youngest child in the family.
蜡烛一般由家庭中年龄最小点燃。
On the last day of Kwanzaa,
在宽扎节的最后一天，
family and friends gather to enjoy a large meal
家庭成员和友人要聚集起来吃大餐，
and to celebrate the new year.
以庆祝新年的到来。
Creating a new festival may seem an unusual way to celebrate history and culture,
创造一个新的节日看起来很不一样礼赞我们的历史和文化，
but we are in fact all creating new festivals every year.
但事实上，我们每年都在创造新的节日。
Each time we celebrate a festival it changes a little
每次庆祝节日都有一点点改变
and in that way we keep our culture alive.
就是以这种方式来保持我们的文化新活力。
The Spring Festival,Christmas,Ramadan,Kwanzaa
春节，圣诞节，斋月，宽扎节，
and all the other holidays and festivals
和其它的节日
help us understand who we are,
都在帮助我们弄明白我们是谁，
remember where we come from,and share our hopes for a happy future.
记住我们是从哪里来，并共同希冀幸福的未来。
综合技能
Integrating skills Reading and writing
综合技能 读和写
1.Read about these festivals and discuss the questions below.
1 .读关于这些节日的文章,讨论下面的问题。
Earth day Earth Day is celebrated on March 21,the first day of spring.
地球日 地球日是在三月21日，春天的第一天。
Earth Day is a celebration of life and our planet.
地球日是一个赞颂生命与地球的节日。
It is a reminder that we need to care about the world we live in
它也提醒我们关心我们赖以生存的地球
and that we should learn to respect life and nature.
尊重生命与自然。
Martin Luther King,Jr Day
马丁•路德•金纪念日，
Americans celebrate the memory of Dr King on the third Monday of January.
美国人把每年一月的第三个星期一作为金的纪念日。
The day became a national holiday in 1985.
1985年,这一天成为全国性的假期.
The theme of the 2002 holiday was:
2002年马丁.路德.金纪念日主题是:
"Remember!Celebrate!Act!A Day On,Not A Day Off!"
"纪念!庆祝!行动起来!继续奋斗,不要停息!"
"Day of the Dead"
鬼节
The Day of the Dead is an ancient festival celebrated in Mexico.
鬼节是墨西哥人纪念逝去亲人的古老节日。
The festival honours both the living and the dead.
这一节日既是为死去的人而设的，也是为活着的人而设的。
People give sugar skeletons to each other as gifts.
人们互赠动物骨骼。
It is not a sad day,but rather a time to celebrate the cycle of life.
它不是一个悲伤的日子，而是一个庆祝生命轮回的日子。
April Fool's Day April 1st is a day when strange things may happen.
愚人节 四月一日是会发生怪事的日子。
Our friends will play tricks on us and try to fool us.
我们的朋友跟我们玩恶作剧，试图愚弄我们。
If a person is taken in,he or she is called "April fool!"
一个人只要上当受骗,就会被叫做"四月愚人！"
The best trick is one that makes everyone laugh including the "fool".
逗得每个人都笑是最好的恶作剧包括"愚蠢"。
课后练习
Work book Unit 14
练习本 14单元
Festivals Integrating skills
节日 综合技能
Reading Harvest Festivals
感恩节
It is likely that people have celebrated harvest festivals
人们很有可能庆祝感恩节
ever since they began to plant and gather food.
从那时到现在他们都在种植和收获粮食。
Almost every culture has some kind of harvest festival.
几乎每一种文化都有不同的感恩节。
As early as3,000 BC,
早在公元前3000年，
the ancient Egyptians celebrated the first fruit of the new season.
古埃及人庆祝新季节中的第一批收获的水果。
All across Africa,people in different countries and cultures
横跨非洲，人们住在不同的国家有着不同的文化。
get together for festivals around harvest time.
一起来庆祝这个收获节。
In West Africa,people celebrate a new harvest with days of dancing and
非洲的西部，人们跳舞来庆祝新的收获
offering fruit to their ancestors and gods.
用水果来祭祀祖先和上帝。
Onam is an Indian festival that celebrates nature Onam
是印第安人用来庆祝自然
and a year of good harvest.
和一年中最好收成的一种节日。
In August or September,
在八月或九月，
people keep flowers in their homes for ten days
人们摆些花放在家里十天
before the main day of the festival.
在这个重要的节日前。
On each day,there is a special event:
在每一天，这里有特别的竞赛。
a parade of elephants,fireworks and dances.
大象游行，烟火，跳舞。
One of the most exciting events is the Onam boat race.
最有趣的竞赛是:龙船赛。
The boats used are beautifully painted and decorated with flowers of all colours.
船通常被着色得很漂亮用各种各样的花来装饰。
The festival also celebrates the return of a king of an old story.
这种节日也会庆祝古代故事里的国王凯旋归来。
In the story,the king is a very good king and his people love him.
在故事里，国王是最好的国王，他的人们很爱他。
The king is so popular that the gods become jealous and send him away.
国王如此地受欢迎以至上帝很妒忌他把他打发走了。
To keep the people happy,
为了使人们快乐，
the gods let the king return once a year to celebrate Onam with his people.
上帝曾经有一年让国王回来和他的人们一起庆祝。
In Malaysia,there is a similar festival in May.
在马来群岛的五月里这是个小小的节日。
People arrange races games and dances to give thanks to the rice gods.
人们按排种族比赛和跳舞来感谢上帝。
Chu Suk is a Korean festival that is both a harvest festivalChu Suk
是韩国人的节日也是感恩节
and a time to honour one's ancestors.
也要拜祭尊敬的祖先。
During the festival,
在节日的过程中，
people visit the graves of their ancestors to show their respect.
人们来到他们祖先的坟墓前来表现他们的孝敬。
When the visit to the graves is over,
当拜祭完之后，
families gather and have dinner to give thanks and celebrate life.
一家人聚在一起用餐来感谢和庆祝生活。
The celebrations include singing,dancing and playing games.
庆祝包括唱歌，跳舞，玩游戏。
A very special event takes place the night before Chu Suk.
在Chu Suk之前发生了一件特别的事。
Women and girls form a circle and sing traditional festival songs.
妇女和孩子围成一个圈来唱传统歌。
In China,people celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival,
在中国，人们庆祝中秋节，
or Chinese Moon Festival,
或者是赏月的节日,
on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar.
在阴历第八个月，第十五天。
It is a time to get together with friends and family under the beautiful full moon
在这个时间聚在一起,朋友和家人在皎洁的月光下
and eat mooncakes.
吃月饼。
The moon is a symbol of wealth and luck.
这月亮象征着财富和运气。
The festival is very popular
这节日是受欢迎的
and is celebrated in many other Asian countries too.
它也在其它的亚洲地区庆祝。
Though their meaning may have changed over the years,
虽然他们的用意一年不同一年，
harvest festivals are still popular all over the world.
感恩节对于全世界来说还是受欢迎的。
From Thanksgiving in the West to the Mid-Autumn Festival in the East,
从西方的感恩节到东方的中秋节。
the yearly festivals represent our love for family,friends and life.
每年的节日可以体现出我们有多爱家庭,朋友和生活。
By celebrating the festivals,
通过庆祝节日，
we give thanks to the past and greet the future.
我们祷告过去和将来。
文本来源于在线英语听力室