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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Aren't holiday traditions great! I'm always fascinated by the many ways that people of different cultures celebrate special times. We use symbols, songs, colors, food, actions, religious rituals, and get togethers to express our humanity. And we all do it. When you think of just how different all of the countries on this planet are, how our histories have shaped us, and how we have developed our own traditions, looking at how we celebrate special occasions is similar to looking through a magnifying glass at us. Our celebrations reveal a lot about us. One of the traditions that we have adopted from other cultures is to decorate gingerbread houses around Christmas time. Gingerbread dates back to the early Greeks and Egyptians who used it in ceremonies. Monks2 brought ginger1 to France in 10th century. But it wasn't until around 11th century that crusaders brought ginger back to Europe from the Middle East. An early recipe for gingerbread was ground almonds, dry bread crumbs3, rosewater, sugar, and ginger. This was pressed into wooden molds that depicted4 the news of that time, a bit like small edible5 newspaper. In the 16th century, the English replaced the bread crumbs with flour, and added eggs, making a lighter6 bread. The first gingerbread man is credited to Queen Elizabeth 1, who impressed visitors with gingerbread men made in their images. Gingerbread quickly became more and more popular. It was in 19th century that gingerbread houses appeared in Germany after the brothers Grimm published their stories, especially Hansel and Gretel. They are a common Christmas tradition in Europe and North America. There are even competitions to build the biggest ones, and there is also an annual gingerbread city in Bergen, Norway. So, you see, our tradition of making a gingerbread house didn't originate here at all. It's development has taken a long time, and each time it has reached a different country, it has been slightly changed. And that is the way that traditions evolve.
Grammar notes.
Related vocabulary: a magnifying glass, crusaders, to replace, to originate.
1. At school, the children examined bugs7 under a magnifying glass.
2. Richard the Lionheart was a crusader.
3. That light has gone out. Could you replace the bulb?
4. They originated in Russia, but their family has settled in many different countries.
1 ginger | |
n.姜,精力,淡赤黄色;adj.淡赤黄色的;vt.使活泼,使有生气 | |
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2 monks | |
n.修道士,僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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3 crumbs | |
int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式 | |
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4 depicted | |
描绘,描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 ); 描述 | |
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5 edible | |
n.食品,食物;adj.可食用的 | |
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6 lighter | |
n.打火机,点火器;驳船;v.用驳船运送;light的比较级 | |
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7 bugs | |
adj.疯狂的,发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 );病菌;虫子;[计算机](制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的)错误 | |
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