最新15篇文章贯通英语四级词汇MP3 Unit7-Part1（在线收听）

[00:07.31]UNIT7

[00:12.78]A History of Christmas

[00:15.63]Christmas is the most cheerful 

[00:19.56]and holy of holidays 

[00:21.86]in the Christian world, 

[00:23.29]which boasts of an 

[00:24.93]estimated 1.8 billion people. 

[00:27.23]Although the origin of this holiday

[00:30.62] was purely religious, it 

[00:33.02]has evolved into a highly 

[00:34.99]secular celebration each year. 

[00:37.73]However, strong religious 

[00:40.24]components are still conveyed 

[00:42.10]in various ways each year. 

[00:44.51]The two are intrinsically mixed 

[00:46.80]in the midst of 

[00:48.56]modern commercialism and attached to.

[00:50.31]Christmas day falls on 

[00:55.23]December 25th each year, 

[00:57.09]celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, 

[01:00.48]the son of a carpenter 

[01:02.89]living over, the movement 

[01:04.75]following the teachings of Christ, 

[01:10.11]roused the world over 

[01:12.19]the next many centuries.

[01:13.83] It is said that the first celebration 

[01:16.56]of Christmas took place

[01:18.32] in 336 A.D. in Ancient Rome.

[01:22.69]No one seems to know 

[01:24.99]for sure if December 25th 

[01:26.30]was actually the date

[01:27.94] of Christ’s birth, but it is 

[01:30.35]possible that Christian leaders 

[01:32.43]in Ancient Rome wanted 

[01:34.29]to replace pagan religious holidays 

[01:36.59]that occurred around the same time.

[01:38.88]Many secular symbols of 

[01:42.83]Christmas have emerged 

[01:44.47]over several centuries. 

[01:46.10]Santa Claus, in his present form,

[01:48.40] is a fairly recent development 

[01:52.12]whereas his origin, in part,

[01:54.75] goes back to Roman times.