Easter

湖北孝感市第一高級(jí)中學(xué) 曹文英

背景介紹

復(fù)活節(jié)是基督教的重要節(jié)日之一，定在每年春分月圓之后的第一個(gè)星期日，是為紀(jì)念耶穌基督被釘死在十字架后第三天復(fù)活的日子。在西方，與復(fù)活節(jié)相關(guān)的物品有復(fù)活節(jié)兔子和復(fù)活節(jié)彩蛋，而這些民間風(fēng)俗都不是起源于基督教。

情景對(duì)話

Xiaomei:Three dozen eggs？What do you need so many eggs for？ Are you making omelets （煎蛋卷）for an army？

Hattie:Did you forget Easter is this Sunday？ I bought so many eggs because I want to dye Easter eggs！

Xiaomei:Easter already？ But it's only March...I thought Easter was in April.

Hattie:Easter is a movable holiday.It's not on a fixed date according to our calendar.Easter is always the first Sunday after the full moon following the March equinox （春分）.That means that Easter could fall any time between March 22nd and April 25th.This year it's a bit earlier.Good thing I remembered and bought the eggs！

Xiaomei:You know，we don't really celebrate Easter in China where I'm from...From all the decorations I see，I guess it's mostly about bunnies （兔子）？

Hattie:Ha！ You're hilarious（歡鬧的）.You see a lot of bunnies in Easter decorations； it's true； And we also decorate and hide eggs and candy for the children.Kids take their Easter baskets and rush to find the hidden candy and eggs.We tell them the Easter bunny is the one who hid them.But apart from all these fun traditions，Easter is actually a holiday to remind us of the resurrection（復(fù)活）of Jesus Christ.

Xiaomei:Bunnies remind you of Jesus？

Hattie:In a way they do.All the symbols of Easter have to do with new life and birth.For example，eggs， they are symbols of new birth， a beginning of life.Bunnies，too...They are associated with a very high level of proliferation （繁殖）， new life.As Christians we believe that Jesus Christ brings new life.He died on the cross to atone（贖罪）for the sins（罪行）of the world，but was resurrected three days later.With the atonement，Jesus Christ overcame physical and spiritual death，and we believe that we can overcome our past mistakes and will also be resurrected and live again.When we become Christian，we begin a new life as followers of Jesus Christ.Easter is a reminder of all that.It's a celebration of Christ's triumph（戰(zhàn)勝）over death and our opportunity to overcome our own weaknesses.

Xiaomei:Wow，I guess there's a lot more to Easter than I thought...

小梅：三打雞蛋？你要這么多雞蛋干什么呀？你要給一大群人做煎蛋卷嗎？

哈蒂：這個(gè)星期日是復(fù)活節(jié)，你忘了嗎？我買(mǎi)了這么多雞蛋是要染復(fù)活節(jié)彩蛋！

小梅：就要過(guò)復(fù)活節(jié)了呀？可是現(xiàn)在才三月份呀……我以為復(fù)活節(jié)是四月份呢。

哈蒂：復(fù)活節(jié)的日期不是固定的，根據(jù)每年年歷的不同有所變化。復(fù)活節(jié)一般是三月春分月圓后的第一個(gè)星期日。這就意味著復(fù)活節(jié)可能出現(xiàn)在3月22日至4月25日之間的任何一天。今年的復(fù)活節(jié)來(lái)得有點(diǎn)早。好在我記著這個(gè)節(jié)日呢，所以買(mǎi)了這些雞蛋！

小梅：你知道的，在我的祖國(guó)中國(guó)，我們不怎么慶祝復(fù)活節(jié)……根據(jù)我所看到的所有裝飾物，我猜這個(gè)節(jié)日主要是關(guān)于兔子？

哈蒂：哈！你真逗！你看到復(fù)活節(jié)的裝飾物中有許多兔子，沒(méi)錯(cuò)。此外，我們還要裝飾雞蛋和糖果，并把雞蛋和糖果藏起來(lái)讓小孩子找。孩子們拿著自己的復(fù)活節(jié)籃子跑去尋找被藏起來(lái)的糖果和雞蛋。我們告訴孩子們是復(fù)活節(jié)兔子把雞蛋和糖果給藏起來(lái)的。不過(guò)除了這些有趣的傳統(tǒng)以外，復(fù)活節(jié)實(shí)際上是紀(jì)念耶穌基督復(fù)活的節(jié)日。

小梅：兔子提醒你們紀(jì)念耶穌？

哈蒂：從某種意義上講，是這樣的。復(fù)活節(jié)的所有象征都是關(guān)于“新生命、重生”的。例如，雞蛋象征著新生和生命的開(kāi)始。而兔子讓人們聯(lián)想到很強(qiáng)的繁殖能力，也象征著新生命。我們基督徒相信耶穌帶來(lái)了新生。耶穌被釘在十字架上為這個(gè)世界贖罪。三天以后，耶穌復(fù)活。在替世人贖罪的過(guò)程中，耶穌基督戰(zhàn)勝了肉體和精神的死亡。于是我們相信，我們能克服以往的過(guò)錯(cuò)，獲得重生。當(dāng)我們成了基督教徒，我們就成了耶穌基督的追隨者，開(kāi)始了新的生活。復(fù)活節(jié)就是為了紀(jì)念這些信仰。它慶祝耶穌基督戰(zhàn)勝了死亡，也慶祝人們有機(jī)會(huì)克服自身的弱點(diǎn)。

小梅：哇，我想，復(fù)活節(jié)的意義遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超出我的想象啊……

巧筆妙記

1.apart from除……之外

2.have to do with與……有關(guān)

創(chuàng)新閱讀

Write a composition to introduce Easter according to the conversation.You can introduce the time，the activities，the origin and what it means to the westerners.The following expressions may help you：

關(guān)于時(shí)間的表達(dá)：

fall on（節(jié)日）出現(xiàn)在某一天

關(guān)于活動(dòng)的表達(dá)：

celebrate慶祝

dye Easter eggs染復(fù)活節(jié)彩蛋

celebration（s） 慶祝

decorate and hide eggs and candy裝飾和藏彩蛋與糖果

關(guān)于起源的表達(dá)：

in memory of紀(jì)念

have to do with new life and birth與新的生命和新生有關(guān)

derive from 來(lái)自；起源于

date back to可追溯到

a reminder of a new life as followers of Jesus Christ作為耶穌基督的追隨者的新生命的提醒

a celebration of Christ's triumph over death and our opportunity to overcome our own weaknesses慶祝耶穌基督戰(zhàn)勝了死亡，也慶祝人們有機(jī)會(huì)克服自身的弱點(diǎn)

Also，we can use a topic sentence in each paragraph to make the structure clear.The following can be useful：

Easter is an important festival to westerners.

Easter usually falls on...

People celebrate Easter in various ways.

The origin of Easter has a long history.

Easter is indispensable for westerners because it not only...，but also...