背诵为王 第 三 册 第 30 课

Lesson30 Birthdays
For British and American people, birthdays are very special days, especiallyfor children. Parents and family members send cards and give presents. Oftenchildren invite their friends, who bring presents to the party. There aregames, and prizes, and a birthday "tea" with sandwiches, biscuits, ice creamand a birthday cake. There are small candles on the cake. When the littleguests leave, they each get a small present and a balloon¹.
Birthdays are special days for older people too. Family members and friendsgive presents, and send birthday cards.
When people meet someone on their birthday sometimes even at work, they say"Happy birthday!" or "Many happy returns of the day!"The most important birthday in the US is the eighteenth. When you areeighteen, you are grown up. You can vote², you can get married³, and you caneven go to prison⁴! People often have a big party on their eighteenthbirthday, and receive a lot of presents. In the UK, the most importantbirthday is the twenty-first, and many Brits throw huge parties for thatevent.
Fortieth and seventieth birthdays are also rather special, and in Britain,if you live to be a hundred, the Queen⁵ sends you her congratulations⁶.

vote 投票
throw ... party举办派对、聚会等活动

生日
对于英国人和美国人来说，生日是很特殊的日子，尤其对小孩来讲。父母和家庭成员送生日卡和礼物。小孩常常邀请他们的朋友，朋友会带着礼物参加生日聚会。聚会上有游戏、奖品，还有三明治、饼干、冰激凌和生日蛋糕等生日“茶点”。蛋糕上有小蜡烛。
小客人们走的时候，每人可得到一份小礼物和一个气球。
生日这天对成人来说也是很特殊的一天。家庭成员和朋友赠送礼物，送来生日贺卡。甚至有时工作的时候碰到过生日的人，他们也会说：“生日快乐！”，或“恭祝快乐无限多！”
美国人最重要的生日是十八岁生日。当你年满十八，你就成人了。你能选举、结婚，甚至去坐牢！十八岁时，人们常会举行盛大的派对，并收到很多礼物。在英国，二十一岁的生日最重要，许多英国人为此安排盛大的聚会。
四十岁和七十岁的生日也相当特殊。在英国，如果你能活到一百岁，女王会对你表示祝贺。

1 balloon   

n.气球

参考例句：

• The balloon rose up slowly in the sky.气球冉冉升上天空。
• This is a hot air balloon.这是一个热气球。

2 vote   

vt./vi.投票；选举；投票决定；n.投票，选票，表决，选举权，得票数

参考例句：

• The chairman asked us to vote on the plan.主席要我们对计划进行表决。
• They vote to choose a president.他们投票选举总统。

3 married   

adj.已婚的；与…结婚的

参考例句：

• I heard John got married.我听说约翰结婚了。
• They got married last autumn.他们在去年秋季结婚。

4 prison   

n.监狱(禁)；拘留所

参考例句：

• They put him in a prison.他们将他逮捕入狱。
• If you go on like this you will be put into prison. 你这样下去会进监狱的。

5 queen   

n.女王，皇后；(纸牌、国际象棋中的)王后

参考例句：

• She sounds like a queen!她听起来像是一个王后！
• The evil queen is very angry.邪恶的皇后非常生气。

6 congratulations   

n.祝贺；贺词；祝词

参考例句：

• I send you my warmest congratulations on your success. 我对你的成功致以最热烈的祝贺。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Please give her my congratulations when you see her. 见到她时请转达我的祝贺。 来自《简明英汉词典》