2016考研英语阅读冲刺精选：圣诞树的由来

　　考研英语阅读真题中的文章，多摘自英美主流外刊，有时候你认识所有单词、搞清全部语法还不够，还需要了解英美文化，掌握他们的表达方式，这就是阅读的潜台词。有时候是一些俗语和俚语，有时候是固定搭配，有时候需要借助历史、风俗、文化才能理解某种现象或表达。总之，这些地道的英语文章背后都有潜台词，一般人不容易读出，但往往是理解文章的关键。

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　　History of the Christmas Tree

　　圣诞树的由来

　　The history of the Christmas tree comes as a shock to many. This famous symbolism of Christmas is displayed in homes in the United States, Europe, and in many countries around the world.

　　说起圣诞树的历史，对很多国家来说都是一个冲击。这一圣诞节的著名象征物，在美国、欧洲和世界许多其他国家的家里都会被陈列出来。

　　The tradition of having an evergreen tree become a symbol of Christmas goes back past recorded written history.

　　圣诞树作为圣诞节的象征，可以追溯到久远的历史。

　　The Druids in ancient England & Gual and the Romans in Europe both used evergreen branches to decorate their homes and public buildings to celebrate the Winter Solstice. Over the years, these traditions were adopted by Christians, who incorporated them as part of their Christmas holiday celebration.

　　德鲁伊在古代英格兰和罗马人在欧洲都用常青树树枝来装饰他们的住宅和公共建筑，以庆祝冬至。这些年来，这些传统是由基督徒，他们把他们作为他们的圣诞假期的一部分。

　　Trees used specifically to celebrate Christmas are mentioned in the early 1600’s in Germany and surrounding countries. The families would set up these trees in a prominent location of their home and decorate them with colored paper, small toys, food, and sometimes candles. As these people moved or immigrated to other countries, they brought this tradition with them.

　　在德国和周边国家，专门用来庆祝圣诞节的树在17世纪初被提到。家庭会在他们家的显眼位置放置这些树，用彩色的纸、小玩具、食物和蜡烛来装饰这些树。当他们要搬迁或移民到其他国家的时候，他们会把这个传统带到那个国家。

　　Through the years many different things were used to decorate Christmas trees. As the world moved into the 1900’s, many trees were decorated with strings of popcorn, homemade cards and pictures, cotton to look like snow, candy in all shapes and sizes, and occasionally, fancy store made glass balls and hand blown glass figurines. Candles were sometimes used, but often caused devastating fires, and many different types of candleholders were devised to try to prevent tree fires. Electric tree lights were first used just 3 years after Thomas Edison has his first mass public demonstration of electric lights back in 1879. The early Christmas tree lights were handmade and quite expensive.

　　经过这些年的发展演化，现在会用很多不同的东西来装饰圣诞树。当世界进入20世纪，许多树都装饰着爆米花、自制的卡片和图片、像雪一样的棉花、各种形状和大小的糖果，偶尔，也会用高档商店的玻璃球和手工吹制的玻璃雕像。有时使用蜡烛，但往往造成毁灭性的火灾，所以会设计很多不同种类的圣诞树来防止火灾。电动树灯是爱迪生托马斯在1879年首次大规模公开演示的电动灯后，历经三年第一次使用。早期的圣诞树灯是手工制作的，而且非常昂贵。

　　Today, Christmas tree ornaments can be found in nearly every size, color, and shape imaginable, and they are used to decorate the millions of Christmas trees used throughout the world.

　　如今，圣诞树上的装饰品几乎有各种型号，各种颜色，而且形状可以想象的到，同时它们会被用来装饰世界上数百万的圣诞树。

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