英语听力精选进阶版 6063

Father's Day is a fairly new celebration in the British calendar compared with Mother's Day, which has been a very popular and well celebrated¹ festival in the UK for a very long time.

The origins of the celebration are American and it was inspired by the actions of a man named William Smart. He was a veteran of the US Civil War and his wife died giving birth to their sixth child. He raised six children alone without remarrying, which was undoubtedly² unusual back in those days.

His daughter, Sonora Dodd, realised when she was an adult what her father had sacrificed for his children. It was in the early 1900s and she was actually at church one day, listening to a sermon³ on Mother's Day. She thought there should also be a Father's Day celebration.

And so the tradition was born, on the third Sunday every June, close to the anniversary of Sonora's father's death. Britain took the idea of Father's Day from the American celebration and it has been celebrated officially since the 1970s.

Father's Day is never quite such the big commercial event that Mother's Day is, probably because it hasn't been in existence for so long. But what do British people do for Father's Day?

Well, most people would buy their fathers a card. The card would probably have a nice message in it saying what a great Dad their father is. Some people do buy presents as well.

Popular gifts for Dads are probably ties, chocolates or socks because these are things that Dads can always use even if they don't want them. In the run-up to Father's Day, or indeed Mother's Day, there will be adverts⁴ on the TV giving us ideas of CDs or gadgets⁵ we can buy. Card shops will be full of mugs or pens and similar merchandise⁶ with 'World's Greatest Dad' written on them.

Some families might do things together to celebrate Father's Day like going for a meal. As a special treat, British people might give their Dad a bit of a rest – make him a cup of tea, or even wash his car and mow⁷ the lawn to make him feel really appreciated.

GLOSSARY 词汇表

celebration 庆祝

origins 起源 

inspired by 受启发

veteran 退役军人 

Civil War 内战

raised 养育了 

remarrying 再婚

undoubtedly 毫无疑问的 

sacrificed 牺牲

sermon 传教 

officially 正式地

commercial 商业性的 

in existence 存在

the run-up …即将到来之际 

adverts 广告

gadgets 小器具，小玩意 

mugs 杯子

treat 款待

merchandise 商品 

mow the lawn 除草

1 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

2 undoubtedly   

adv.确实地，无疑地

参考例句：

• It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
• He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。

3 sermon   

n.布道，讲道，说教，冗长的讲话

参考例句：

• The minister preaches a sermon now and then.牧师不时地讲道。
• Don't preach me a sermon,please.请不要对我讲大道理。

4 adverts   

advertisements 广告，做广告

参考例句：

• the adverts on television 电视广告
• The adverts are not very informative. 这些广告并没有包含太多有用信息。

5 gadgets   

n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置，做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

6 merchandise   

n.商品，货物；v.经营，推销，销售，经商

参考例句：

• There's no use in manufacturing an item unless you can merchandise it.除非能够销售得出，否则生产产品就没有价值。
• Please don't handle the merchandise.请不要摸这些商品。

7 mow   

v.割（草、麦等），扫射，皱眉；n.草堆，谷物堆

参考例句：

• He hired a man to mow the lawn.他雇人割草。
• We shall have to mow down the tall grass in the big field.我们得把大田里的高草割掉。