[00:00.00] CHAPTER 9 HOLIDAYS
[00:12.49]Unit 9 Holidays
[00:18.26]Conversations
[00:21.79]Peter is making a phone call to Jo about the Thanksgiving Day.
[00:30.12]Peter:Hello!This is Peter.May I speak to Jo,please?
[00:36.60]Jo:Speaking.
[00:39.55]Peter:Jo,would you like to come over here and see the Thanksgiving parades?
[00:45.79]Jo:Yes,I'd love to.
[00:49.35]Peter:What time shall we meet?Around 10?
[00:54.39]Jo:I'm afraid it is too early,
[00:58.46]and I was about to make apple pies when the phone rang.
[01:04.42]Shall we put it off till 11?
[01:08.96]Peter:Fine.Where shall I meet you?
[01:13.33]Jo:At the south gate of the railway station,please.
[01:18.58]Peter:Right.I will expect to see you at the south gate of the railway station around 11.
[01:25.66]See you then.
[01:28.82]Jo:See you then.
[01:31.69]Lisa and Fran are talking about their Christmas.
[01:38.95]Lisa:Morning,Fran.Did you have a nice Christmas?
[01:44.10]Fran:Yes.It was very exciting.
[01:48.36]Lisa:What did you do?
[01:51.91]Fran:My friend Yun and I went to Blackpool.
[01:57.08]On the 22nd of December,we failed to rent a car.
[02:03.01]So we had a bus tour in London.
[02:07.45]We hopped on and off,and had a boat-trip along the Thames River.
[02:13.62]Unfortunately,it was freezing sitting on the top of the bus.
[02:19.96]On the 23rd,we got a car and visited Oxford on the way.
[02:26.21]We visited the Lake District after Christmas.And you?
[02:32.76]Lisa:Mine is a really happy one.i went to France for my brother's wedding.
[02:39.71]I met all my relatives and friends.It was really wonderful.
[02:46.19]Fran:I'll have to teach at the first period.
[02:50.95]Please tell me something about France during the coffee break.
[02:56.51]You know,it is hard to apply a visa to other European countries.
[03:02.86]Lisa:Yes.I promise you.Meet you in the staff room.
[03:08.00]Fran:It's very kind of you.See you!
[03:12.16]Lisa:Bye!
[03:15.11]A and B are talking about their May Day holiday plan.
[03:23.36]A:Have you decided how to spend your May Day holiday?
[03:29.53]B:Yes.I'm going to see the sunrise on the top of Mount Huashan with my family.
[03:37.08]Have you been there?
[03:40.55]A:I went there with my friends when I was studying in Xi'an Foreign Language lnstitute.
[03:48.00]Are you going to climb it by the old route or the new route?
[03:53.87]B:What's the difference?
[03:57.32]A:Well.The old route is harder.The steps are narrower and steeper.
[04:05.08]The road is rougher.The newly-built road is wider and flatter.
[04:11.74]Besides,the views are not the same.
[04:16.50]B:Then I'll climb up by the old route at night and walk down by the new route.
[04:23.47]A:It's a good idea.And if you don't want to climb,you may take a cable car.
[04:30.84]B:I hear people say it is cold and windy on the top,especially before daybreak.
[04:38.49]Should I bring soem warm clothes?
[04:42.85]A:You may if you like.There are coats for renting.
[04:48.71]B:I'm arateful to you for the information.Have a nice holiday!
[04:54.58]A:You too.
[04:57.64]Two China exchange teachers are talking about their Christmas holiday in the UK.
[05:06.70]A:What's the hostess'family like?
[05:10.86]B:Very big.Grandparents,parents,uncles and aunts,brothers and sisters,
[05:19.01]cousins,nephews and nieces.I did not feel lonely at all.
[05:25.77]A:That's good.There are only 5 people in my hostess'home.
[05:32.43]The house is near the lrish Sea.I enjoyed staying there for my birthday.
[05:39.38]B:What was your Christmas gift from the family,if I may ask?
[05:45.63]A:Three pairs of nylon socks and three pairs of stocking.
[05:51.66]I gave the family our Chinese paper-cuttings and some rubbings.
[05:57.69]And a bag of Maojian Tea.
[06:01.93]Passage
[06:05.27]Christmas Lost and Found
[06:09.63]Christmas was a quiet affair when I grew up.
[06:15.28]There were just my parents and I.
[06:19.82]I vowed that someday I'd marry and have six children,
[06:25.78]and at Christmas my house would vibrate with energy and love.
[06:32.44]I found the man who shared my dream,
[06:36.80]but we had not reckoned on the possibility of infertility.
[06:42.57]Undaunted,we applied for adoption,and then he arrived.
[06:49.03]We called him Our Christmas Boy because he came to us during that season of joy.
[06:56.89]Then nature surprised us again.
[07:01.46]We added two biological children to the family-not as many as we had hoped for,
[07:09.61]but three made an entirely satisfactory crowd.
[07:15.49]As Our Christmas Boy grew,
[07:19.93]he made it clear that only he had the expertise to select and decorate the Christmas tree.
[07:27.50]He rushed the season,starting his gift list in November.
[07:33.75]He pressed us into singing carols,
[07:38.71]our froglike voices contrasting with his musical gift of perfect pitch.
[07:45.48]Each holiday he stirred us up,leading us through a round of merry chaos.
[07:53.13]Then,on his 26th Christmas,
[07:57.99]he left us in a car accident on his way home to his wife and infant daughter.
[08:04.65]But first he had stopped by the family home to decorate our tree.
[08:11.73]Grief-stricken,his father and I sold our home,where memories clung to every room,
[08:20.69]and moved away.
[08:24.03]Seventeen years later,we grew old enough to return home,
[08:30.41]and settled into a small quiet house,like the house of my childhood.
[08:37.17]Our other son and daughter had married
[08:41.72]and had begun their own Christmas traditions in another part of the country.
[08:48.17]One day,I heard the doorbell ring.
[08:52.85]There stood our granddaughter,
[08:56.89]and in her gray-green eyes I saw the reflection of Our Christmas Boy.
[09:03.74]Behind her,lugging a large pine tree,came her mother and stepfather.
[09:11.11]They swept past us in a flurry of laughter;and then decorated the tree.
[09:17.66]"You'll recognize the ornaments,"said my former daughter-in-law.
[09:24.32]"They were his.I save them for you."
[09:29.47]When I murmured that we hadn't had a tree for 17 years,
[09:35.53]our granddaughter said,"Then it's time to have one!"
[09:41.09]They asked us to join them the next morning for church and for dinner at their home.
[09:48.04]Our granddaughter ordered,"I'm singing the solo and I want you to be there."
[09:54.89]We had long ago given up the poignant Christmas services,
[10:00.82]but now,we sat rigid in the front pew,fighting back tears.
[10:07.69]Our granddaughter's magnificent voice soared,clear and true,in perfect pitch.
[10:15.42]How her father would have relished that momen!
[10:20.67]We had been alerted that there would be a lot of people for dinner-but 35!
[10:28.53]I could not sort out who belonged to whom,but it didn't matter.
[10:35.01]They all belonged to each other.
[10:39.27]It occurred to me that a true family is not always one's flesh and blood.
[10:47.13]It is a climate of the heart.
[10:51.21]Had it not been our adopted son,
[10:55.46]we would not now be surrounded by caring strangers.
[11:01.39]Later,our granddaughter asked us to come along with her to a place she likes to go.
[11:08.53]In the foothills there was his grave.
[11:13.49]As we stood by the headstone in the chilly but somehow comforting silence,
[11:20.72]we were not prepared for our granddaughter's next move.
[11:26.05]Once more that day her voice,so like her father's,lifted in song,
[11:34.23]and the mountainside echoed on and into infinity.
[11:39.87]When the last pure note had faded,I felt a sense of peace,
[11:46.35]of the continuity of life,of ernewed faith and hope.
[11:52.31]The real meaning fo Christmas had been restored to us.
[11:57.95]Words and Expressions
[12:01.71]vow vibrate reckon possibility
[12:05.45]宣誓，立誓 颤动 料想，估计 可能性
[12:09.18]infertility
[12:11.06]不能生育
[12:12.94]apply for undaunted adoption biological
[12:16.88]请求，申请 大无畏的，勇敢的 收养，领养 有血亲关系的
[12:20.81]satisfactory
[12:22.64]满意的
[12:24.46]expertise decorate carol
[12:27.74]专门知识，专门技术 装饰 圣诞节颂歌
[12:31.02]froglike contrast pitch round
[12:35.15]蛙鸣般的 使对照，使对比 音调 一连串
[12:39.28]merry chaos infant grief-stricken
[12:42.96]欢乐的，愉快的 无秩序，混乱 婴儿的 悲痛欲绝的
[12:46.64]cling childhoood tradition doorbell
[12:50.51]粘紧，附着 孩童时期 传统，惯例 门铃
[12:54.37]reflection lug pine flurry
[12:58.11]映象，反射 拖拉 松树，松木 阵风
[13:01.84]ornament murmur solo poignant
[13:05.82]装饰物 低声说，低语 独唱曲 令人痛苦的
[13:09.79]rigid pew magnificent
[13:12.82]僵直的 教堂内的靠背长凳 华丽的;高尚的
[13:15.85]soar relish alert flesh
[13:19.73]高飞;昂扬 爱好，喜欢 警告 亲属
[13:23.60]climate surround caring foothill
[13:27.38]气氛 包围 有同情心的 山麓，小丘
[13:31.15]grave headstone chilly comforting
[13:35.12]墓穴，坟墓 墓石 寒冷的 安慰的
[13:39.10]mountainside echo infinity fade
[13:42.82]山腹，山腰 发回声 无限 减弱下去
[13:46.54]continuity renewed restore
[13:49.71]连续性 更新的;重建的 恢复，使回复
[13:52.89]Exercises
[13:56.05]Section I Listening Comprehension
[14:01.61]Listen to teh record.
[14:06.16]Answer each question by choosing A,B,C or D from the four possible choices.
[14:15.30]A
[14:18.46]1.Thanksgiving Day is celebrated in many countries,but the date is not the same.
[14:27.00]In Canada,it is the Monday of the second week in October,
[14:33.17]while,in the US,it is the Thursday of the fourth week in November.
[14:39.83]2.I heard many Chinese people celebrate Mid-Autumn Day
[14:46.99]and wanted to know more about it,
[14:51.64]so I asked a Chinese visitor who is living in my friends'house.
[14:58.12]She told me it is the 15th day of the 8th month.
[15:04.59]Seeing my puzzled look,she explained that in China people adopt two systems:
[15:12.14]the solar calendar and the lunar calendar.
[15:17.81]Lunar calendar is set according to the movement of the moon.
[15:23.87]Some other festivals like Dragon Festival and Chongyang Festival,
[15:31.24]and the Spring Festival are all dependent on the lunar calendar.
[15:37.90]3.Easter is the spring feast of the Christian church.
[15:44.95]The English name derives from Eostre.
[15:49.50]Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring,who was honoured in April.
[15:55.45]It is for commemorathing the resurrection of Jesus.
[16:00.81]It is a movable feast,
[16:04.34]falling on the first Sunday following the full moon after 21 March;
[16:10.79]that is between 22 March and 25 April.
[16:16.85]4.Yuanxiao Festival falls on the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar.
[16:25.91]It marks the end of the Spring Festival.
[16:30.59]It is called Yuanxiao Festival
[16:35.13]because of the special food we have on this special day.
[16:40.46]Yuanxiao is a small ping-pong size dumpilng
[16:46.52]made of sticky rice with different sweet filling.
[16:51.70]The wore"overnight".
[16:56.35]Yuanxiao Festival is the time for family reunion and party.
[17:04.99]5.Good Friday is the anniversary of Jesus's death on the cross,
[17:12.36]the Friday before Easter.
[17:16.02]Among Christians it is a day of mourning and penitence.
[17:22.49]In the Orthodox,Roman Catholic,and American churches,
[17:28.06]the saying of Mass is suspended.
[17:32.32]In the year 2003,it is on the 18th of April.
[17:38.56]People in Hong Kong and Malaysia take this day off.
[17:44.12]6.All Souls Day,observed in the west on 2nd November,
[17:52.46]is the day on which Christians commemorate the souls of the faithful departed.
[17:59.43]Although officially abolished in Protestant countries at the REFORMATION,
[18:06.48]its tradition has been very widely maintained,and since the 19th century,
[18:14.32]its observance has CHURCH OF ENGLAND and the ANGLICAN COMMUNLON generally.
[18:24.67]7.Hallowe'en is the evening of 31 October,
[18:31.20]immediately poreceding the Christian feast of Hallowmas or All Saints'Day.
[18:38.56]Customs associated with Hallowe'en in the USA and the UK
[18:44.81]include children wearing masks and costumes,
[18:50.08]and"trick or treat"-going from house to house collecting sweets,fruit,or money.
[18:57.84]Hallowe'en is associated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain,
[19:04.69]which marked the end of the year and the beginning of winter.
[19:09.83]It was believed that on the evening of Samhain supernatural creatures were abroad
[19:16.89]and souls of the dead were allowed to revisit their former homes.
[19:22.95]8.Veterans'Day is a day to commemorate the retired soldiers.
[19:30.81]The name was adopted in 1954 for Armistice Day,
[19:38.07]and from 1971 it is observed by most States on Nov.11.
[19:45.65]The equivalent in the UK and Canada is Remembrance Sunday.
[19:52.31]9.The Dragonboat Festival is also called Duanwu Festival.
[19:59.57]It is observed on the 5th day of the fifth month by the lunar calendar
[20:05.92]for commemorating the ancient great poet Quyuan in the Chu kingdom.
[20:12.68]Being slandered,he committed suicide.
[20:17.86]To protect his body from the fish,
[20:22.11]people throw zongzi-a kind of food in a package of rice,
[20:28.36]covered by two or three bamboo leaves.
[20:33.03]People hold dragonboat race and adopt drums to keep pace.
[20:38.99]10.Independence Day is a public holiday in the USA,
[20:45.75]to commemorate the adoption of the"Declaration of Independence"
[20:51.71]on fourth of July 1776.
[20:57.67]Years ago,people celebrated the day with fireworks.
[21:04.12]But now it is celebrated more quietly.
[21:09.19]Occasionally there are parades;people go on picnics or take trips to the country.
[21:16.84]Supplementary Reading
[21:20.71]Some Christian Festivals
[21:24.83]Christmas Day(December 25)
[21:29.48]Christmas Day,which celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ,
[21:35.13]is the biggest and the best-loved holiday in the United States.
[21:40.87]It is a time of warmth and love,hospitality and good will.
[21:47.64]Generally speaking,
[21:51.40]the Christmas season and excitement last from right after Thanksgiving Day
[21:57.43]to New Year's Day on January 1 st.
[22:02.08]As soon as the season comes,the American Christmas"madness"begins.
[22:08.85]In many areas,the Friday after Thanksgiving
[22:14.20]is the biggest shopping day of the year-the first day of Christmas gift shopping.
[22:21.18]Big markets,department stores and shops
[22:26.33]make various advertisements to attract customers.
[22:31.68]The shopping is on all day long.
[22:36.36]Street lights and store windows
[22:40.48]are decorated with the traditional Christmas colours of red and green.
[22:46.34]Families also decorate their homes inside and outside
[22:52.29]after they have a spring cleaning.
[22:56.44]Most people exchange presents and send Christmas cards to their friends,
[23:02.69]relatives and business associates.
[23:06.95]They open their presents either on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning.
[23:13.42]Often they leave the brightly wrapped packages under Christmas trees
[23:19.98]and children have fun for guessing what special surprises are in store for them.
[23:26.43]As the colorful cards arrive,Americans enjoy hanging them on the Christmas trees.
[23:33.80]Many families go to church on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning.
[23:39.73]Then they come home to enjoy a traditional Christmas dinner.
[23:45.58]Their favorite courses are turkey,ham,plum,pudding and mince pie.
[23:54.65]There are a lot of sweets as well.
[23:59.01]Before going to bed,children hang their stockings by the fireplace,
[24:05.38]hoping some sweets and toys will be given by Santa Claus.
[24:10.74]Easter Sunday(A Sunday in March or April)
[24:17.08]Easter Sunday,which comes from the ancient Norwegian festival of Spring sun,
[24:24.84]is the second of the two most important religious holidays for christians.
[24:31.92]It is on the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or after March 21,
[24:40.28]and it is for celebrating the rising of Jesus Christ from his tomb,
[24:46.34]where he had lain for three days following his death.
[24:51.31]Before he died he had promised to rise again as proof of eternal life.
[24:58.57]Americans like this holiday.
[25:02.93]On the Easter morning,millions of people gather on hilltops,
[25:09.77]parks,churches,and open spaces to salute another Easter dawn,
[25:17.43]for there is a rising of hope and joy as the earth reawakens to another spring.
[25:24.59]New life comes out,and days are getting longer.
[25:30.93]Birds are singing everywhere.
[25:35.09]There are several symbols for Easter.
[25:39.76]Of all the symbols,the egg and the hare,
[25:44.91]which are considered to represent fertility and new life,
[25:50.68]are those most frequently assciated with Easter.
[25:56.14]American children are told that the Easter bunny brings the baskets,
[26:02.70]so they carry small baskets to look for colored eggs
[26:08.26]that have been hidden in the grass,the bushes,or even in the branches fo trees.
[26:15.52]Egg rolling,the original Easter tradition by the colonists,
[26:21.87]is held on Easter Monday morning every year on the White House Lawn.
[26:29.11]The Easter Parade is very popular in the United States.
[26:34.86]The most famous one is along the Fifth Avenue in New York City.
[26:40.92]University students usually have a week-long"Spring Break"
[26:47.58]to return home to spend the holiday with their parents.
[26:53.04]The family members often have an Easter dinner,consisting of young lamb,ham,
[27:01.40]Spring peas,small potatoes,and eggs in various forms.
