对于很多想出国留学的同学来说，那么可能需要考托福，那么今天就和出国留学网的小编一起来看看托福阅读背景素材：圣诞节的起源。
We’ve all heard the Biblical origin of Christmas， but societies have been celebrating life and birth in the darkest day in winter centuries before Jesus walked the earth.
大家都听说过圣经版本的圣诞起源，但是早在基督诞生以前，在冬季最黑暗的冬至时刻，人们（译注：society是“社会”的意思，复数形式societies在这里的意思是拥有不同语言和文化的各种早期的人类社会形式。）已经有了庆祝的传统。
In the north country， this winter celebration was known as Yule. Around December 21st， the winter solstice， fathers and sons dragged evergreens indoors as reminders of life and set logs on fire as promise of a good fortune.
在北方的国度（译注：主要指北欧），这种冬日庆祝活动被称为Yule节。在冬至——12月21日左右，父子们将常青树放入室内寓意生命，并将原木点燃象征着好运。
Ancient Rome had its own December festivals. One week before the winter solstice， Romans begins celebrating Saturnalia， an orgy of food and drink in honor of Saturn， the God of agriculture.
古代的罗马人也有自己的12月的庆祝节日。在冬至之前的一周，罗马人开始名为Saturnalia的节日，它是为了纪念农业之神Saturn的狂欢盛宴。
Some Romans particularly soldiers and government officials also worshiped Mithra， the sun god. It is believed that to this small but powerful sect， the birthday of Mithra，December 25th was the holiest day of the year.
一些罗马人，主要是士兵和官员，同时也崇拜太阳之神Mithra。人们相信Mithra的生日——12月25日——对于这个人数不多但力量强大的宗派来说是一年中最神圣的日子。
By the first century AD， pagan traditions were being challenged as Christianity took whole through the empire. But Christ’s birthday remained the mystery since the Bible doesn’t mention exactly when he was born.
公元后1世纪，异教徒（基督教以外）的传统受到了在整个罗马帝国得到传立的基督教的挑战。但是由于圣经并没有准确提及基督的生日是哪天，所以基督的生日仍是个谜。
Since pagan Rome already celebrated the birth of Mithraon December 25th， it is theorized that the church adopt the date as the birth of the Christ child. In the fourth century， the church made it official declaring the December 25th as the feast day of the utility.
由于罗马的异教徒已经在12月25日这天庆祝Mithra的生日，人们建立了一种推理即教会将同一天采纳作为基督的生日。在公元4世纪，教会正式宣布这一天可以用来举行盛宴和庆祝。
The church knew it cannot outlaw the pagan traditions of Christmas， so it came to accept them. The evergreens traditionally brought indoors were decorated with apples symbolizing the Garden of Eden. These apples would eventually become Christmas ornaments.
教会知道他们无法取代异教徒庆祝12月25日的传统，于是他们顺应地接受了它。作为传统会在这一天被带入室内的常青树被挂上了苹果，用来象征伊甸园。这些苹果后来最终成为了现在圣诞树上挂着的各种装饰物。
The story of Santa Claus also begins in the 4thcentury with the death of Nicholas， a beloved Turkish bishop. The anniversary of his death became known as Saint Nicholas Day. On December 6th， good children woke to gifts from the kindly saint， bad children sobbed away with nothing. In Holland he was known as Santa Claus.
Santa Claus（圣诞老人）的故事同样可以追溯至公元4世纪，它与一个备受敬爱的名为尼古拉斯的土耳其主教的死有关。每年这位主教去世的日子被称为“圣人尼古拉斯节”。在12月6日，乖孩子醒来会看到这位好心的圣人给他们的礼物，而坏孩子则会两手空空，哭泣地走开。在荷兰，这位圣人被叫做Santa Claus。
1500 years later in America， a seminary professor named Clement Clarke Moore reimagined the legend of Saint Nicholas.
1500年后的美国，一位名叫克莱门特.克拉克.摩尔的神学院教授重新想象了有关尼古拉斯圣人的传说。
In 1822， Moore wrote a poem called Night Before Chiristmas about a good-natured saint named Santa Claus who was pulled by group of reindeer and came down the chimney on Christmas eve. Like Saint Nicholas， Santa Claus bred good cheer and gave gifts to children. Less clear was exactly what did Santa Claus look like.
1822年，摩尔写了一首名为《圣诞前夜》的诗，这首诗讲述了一个心地善良的名叫Santa Claus的圣人的故事，它坐着由驯鹿拉的车，在圣诞节前的夜里爬下烟囱。和尼古拉斯圣人一样，Santa Claus带来欢笑和礼物给孩子。只是这首诗并没有讲清楚他的样貌。
Then in 1863， Thomas Nast， a cartoonist for Harper’s Weekly， settled the matter once and for all with his version of the Christmas saint. Nast’s Santa was rotund and jolly with full white bear and a sackfull of toys. An American icon was born.
然后在1863年，哈勃周报的卡通插画师托马斯.纳斯特用他的画一次性解决了这个问题。在他笔下的圣诞老人身材浑圆，散发着欢乐的光亮，有白色的大胡子和一个装满玩具的大背包。于是，一个美国偶像就这样诞生了。
托福中可能会出现的单词：
biblical
evergreen
log
orgy
sect
pagan
theorize
declare
outlaw
be decorated with
ornament
bishop
seminary
reimagine
rotund
jolly
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