圣诞节快到了，路旁的一些小店已经布置起来了，漂亮的圣诞树，和蔼的圣诞老人……都让人忍不住要说Merry Christmas了。只是跟风可不行哦，尤其对于那些要出国留学的孩子们，生活在国外怎么可以不彻彻底底地了解这个盛大的节日呢？今天的托福阅读材料就是有关圣诞节由来的哦。
Christmas is a Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. No one knows the exact date of Christ's birth, but most Christians observe Christmas on December 25. On this day, many go to church, where they take part in special religious services. During the Christmas season, they also exchange gifts and decorate their homes with holly, mistletoe, and Christmas trees. The word Christmas comes from Cristes maesse, an early English phrase that means Mass of Christ. The story of Christmas comes chiefly from the Gospels of Saint Luke and Saint Matthew in the New Testament.
圣诞节是基督教庆祝耶稣诞生的节日。没有人知道耶稣诞辰，但大多数基督徒在12月25日过圣诞节。在这一天,许多人去教堂参加特殊的宗教仪式。在圣诞期间,他们交换礼物、用圣诞树装饰房子。圣诞节这个词来自克里斯特maesse,译为“基督弥撒”。圣诞节的故事主要来自圣卢克和圣马太的福音书新约。
The history of Christmas dates back over 4000 years. Many of our Christmas traditions were celebrated centuries before the Christ child was born. The 12 days of Christmas, the bright fires, the yule log, the giving of gifts, carnivals(parades) with floats, carolers who sing while going from house to house, the holiday feasts, and the church processions can all be traced back to the early Mesopotamians.
圣诞节的历史可以追溯到4000年前。我们的许多圣诞传统其实早于耶稣诞生。明亮的炉火、圣诞柴、赠送礼物、嘉年华(游行)、挨家挨户唱颂歌、节日盛宴、教会游行都可以追溯到美索不达米亚的早期。
Many of these traditions began with the Mesopotamian celebration of New Years. The Mesopotamians believed in many gods, and as their chief god-Marduk. Each year as winter arrived it was believed that Marduk would do battle with the monsters of chaos. To assist Marduk in his struggle the Mesopotamians held a festival for the New Year. This was Zagmuk, the New Year's festival that lasted for 12 days.
许多这样的传统来源于美索不达米亚时期的新年庆祝。美索不达米亚人信仰许多神,其中Marduk是他们的主神。人们认为每年冬季到来Marduk会和chaos系怪物战斗。为了帮助他,美索不达米亚人举行新年节日。这就是Zagmuk, 持续12天的新年节日。
The Persians and the Babylonians celebrated a similar festival called the Sacaea. Part of that celebration included the exchanging of places, the slaves would become the masters and the masters were to obey. The ancient Greeks held a festival similar to that of the Zagmuk caea festivals to assist their god Kronos who would battle the god Zeus and his Titans.
波斯人和有巴比伦人庆祝叫作Sacaea的类似节日，庆祝活动中有一部分是身份互换，奴隶将成为主人，主人们就得服从。古希腊的节日类似于Zagmuk，是为了协助他们的神Zeus和他的悍将。
The Roman's celebrated their god Saturn. Their festival was called which began the middle of December and ended January 1st. With cries of "Jo Saturnalia!" the celebration would include masquerades in the streets, big festive meals, visiting friends, and the exchange of good-luck gifts called Strenae (lucky fruits). The Romans decked their halls with garlands of laurel and green trees lit with candles. Again the masters and slaves would exchange places.
罗马人为纪念他们的神Saturn而庆祝。他们的节日被称为Saturnalia，始于12月中旬，1月1日结束。庆祝时大家大声喊着“Jo Saturnalia!”，庆祝活动还包括化装游行,盛大节日餐,拜访朋友,交换寓意好运的礼物Strenae(幸运水果)。罗马人用月桂花环和用蜡烛装点的绿树装饰他们的大厅。同样的，主人和奴隶会互换身份。
"Jo Saturnalia!" was a fun and festive time for the Romans, but the Christians thought it an abomination(厌恶，憎恨) to honor the pagan god. The early Christians wanted to keep the birthday of their Christ child a solemn and religious holiday, not one of cheer and merriment as was the paga(异教徒) Saturnalia.
大呼“Jo Saturnalia! ”对罗马人来说是有趣的节日时光，但是基督徒认为尊崇异教神令人难以接受。早期的基督徒只是想为圣婴保留一个庄严的宗教节日，而不是像在Saturnalia这种异教徒节日欢呼庆祝。
Some legends claim that the Christian "Christmas" celebration was invented to compete against the pagan celebrations of December. The 25th was not only sacred to the Romans but also the Persians whose religion was one of Christianity's main rivals at that time. The Church eventually was successful in taking the merriment, lights, and gifts from the Saturanilia festival and bringing them to the celebration of Christmas.
一些传说称设立基督教“圣诞节”庆祝活动是为了与异教徒十二月的庆祝活动相抗衡。12月25日不仅是罗马人还是波斯人的庆祝日，当时他们的宗教Mithraism教是基督教的主要竞争对手之一。教会最终成功的把欢乐、灯光、Saturanilia节日的礼物引入圣诞节的庆祝。
The exact day of the Christ child's birth has never been pinpointed. Traditions say that it has been celebrated since the year 98 AD. In 137 AD the Bishop of Rome ordered the birthday of the Christ Child celebrated as a solemn feast. In 350 AD another Bishop of Rome, Julius I, choose December 25th as the observance of Christmas.
耶稣确切的出生日期并没有指出。自公元98年就有圣诞庆祝了。公元137年罗马主教下令把圣婴诞辰作为一个庄严的节日来庆祝。公元350年罗马的另一位教主—Julius I，选择12月25日来庆祝圣诞节。
The birth of Jesus had a story: In Nazareth, a city of Galilee. The virgin's name was Mary was betrothed to Joseph. Before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband was minded to put her away secretly. While he thought about these things, Gabriel, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and told him did not be afraid to take Mary as wife. And Mary will bring forth a Son, and he shall call his name, Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
关于耶稣诞生有一个故事：在Galilee的一座城Nazareth，童女玛丽和约瑟订婚了，在这之前她已经孕有圣灵。她丈夫约瑟想秘密的把她休了。在他想到这些事情的时候，耶和华的使者Gabriel在梦中晓谕约瑟，叫他不要因为马利亚未婚怀孕而不要她，反而要与她成亲，把那孩子起名为“耶稣”，意思是要他把百姓从罪恶中救出来。
Before Jesus births, Joseph and Mary came to Quirnius was gove rning Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up out of Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and of the lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped him in swaddling cloths , and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
耶稣出生之前，约瑟和玛丽来到quirnius统治下的叙利亚。全部人民到自己的城市申报户籍。约瑟带着怀孕的妻子玛丽也离开Nazareth去到Judea得一个叫做Bethlehem的城市登记，因为他住在那里以及他的David血统。就在即将到达期限时玛丽生下孩子，并把他用布包起来，放在马槽里，因为当时他们还没有找到地方住。
And that, Christmas is the feast of the nativity of Jesus, is on 25th, December every year. But nobody knows the actual birthday of Jesus. And the Christmas has become popular when Christmas cards appeared in 1846 and the concept of a jolly Santa Claus was first made popular in nineteenth Century.
圣诞节是每年12月25日在耶稣诞生地庆祝的节日，但没有人知道耶稣的真正的生日。圣诞节在1846年圣诞卡片出现的时候开始受欢迎，圣诞老人的概念则最早是在19世纪开始流行。
The custom of giving gifts to relatives and friends on a special day in winter probably began in ancient Rome and northern Europe. In these regions, people gave each other small presents as part of their year-end celebrations.
在冬天里一个特殊的日子向亲朋赠送礼物的习俗可能始于古罗马和北欧。在这些地区，人们互赠小礼物作为年终庆祝活动的一部分。
In the 1800's, two more Christmas customs became popular--decorating Christmas trees and sending Christmas cards to relatives and friends. Many well-known Christmas carols, including "Silent Night" and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," were composed during this period. In the United States and other countries, Santa Claus replaced Saint Nicholas as the symbol of gift giving.
在1800年代，两个圣诞习俗流行起来——装饰圣诞树和寄送圣诞卡片。许多包括“平安夜”和“听！天使在歌唱”在内的圣诞颂歌在此期间创作出来。在美国和其他国家，圣诞老人取代圣尼古拉斯成为送礼的形象人物。
The word Xmas is sometimes used instead of Christmas. This tradition began in the early Christian church. In Greek, X is the first letter of Christ's name. It was frequently used as a holy symbol.
Xmas这个词有时用来代替Christmas。这一传统始于早期基督教教堂。在希腊,“X”是基督名字的第一个字母，经常被作为神圣的符号使用。
以上就是本期百利天下考试为大家带来的有关圣诞节由来的托福阅读材料，希望大家在备考托福的时候也能够享受节日带来的快乐！若您想了解托福考试更多相关信息请关注百利天下出国考试。
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