Boxing Day (26 December) is so-called because it‘s a time when tradespeople receive a ―Christmas Box‖---some money in appreciation of the work they have carried out all year. Traditionally a time for visiting family and friends and indulging in more feasting, Boxing Day is a popular day for football matches and other sporting fixtures.
The day is a public holiday, so shops and banks are closed. More recently, some shops have broken with tradition and now open on Boxing Day to encourage shoppers who can‘t wait to spend their Christmas money.
新年New Year
New Year is often launched with a party---either at home with family and friends or at a gathering in the local pubs and clubs. Merrymaking begins on New Year‘s Eve and builds up to midnight. The stroke of midnight is the cue for much cheering, hooting, whistling, kissing and the drinking of toasts.
Tradition has it that the first person over the threshold on New Year‘s Day will dictate the luck brought to the household in the coming year. This is known as ―first-booting.‖ At midnight on 31 December, particularly in Scotland and northern England, ―first-footers‖---traditionally a tall, dark, good-looking man---step over the threshold bring the New Year‘s Luck. The first-footer usually brings a piece of coal ,a loaf of bread and a bottle of whisky.
On entering he must place the fuel on the fire, put the loaf on the table and pour a glass for the head of the house,
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圣诞节次日之四被称作Boxing Day （12月26日）是因为在那天从事商业活动的人会收到一个“圣诞节盒子“---里面有一些钱，用以嘉奖他们全年的工作。
传统上，人们在圣诞节次日探亲访友，大吃大喝。这天还是足球比赛和其他体育比赛的理想时刻。
这天是一个公众假期，因此商店和银行都停止营业。近年来，一些商店打破传统，在圣诞节次日也不休息来促进那些迫不及待要花光圣诞节钱的购物者进行消费。
all normally without speaking or being spoken to until he wishes everyone ―A Happy New Year.‖ He must, of course, enter by the front door and leave by the back.
In Wales the back door is opened to release the Old Year at the first stroke of midnight. It is then locked up to ―keep the luck in‖ and at the last stroke the New Year is let in at the front door.
In Scotland the New Year remains the greatest of all annual festivals. Called ―Hogmany‖( a word whose meaning has never been satisfactorily established), it‘s marked by an evening of drinking and merrymaking , culminating at the stroke of midnight when huge gatherings of people at Edinburgh‘s Tron Kirk and Glasgow‘s George Square greet the New Year by linking arms and singing ―Auld Lang Syne.‖
新年经常始于派对---或者在家与家人朋友一起，或者在当地酒吧和夜总会聚会。欢庆活动在新年前夕开始，
持续到午夜。新年的钟声是欢呼、叫当然，他必须得从前门进，后门出。 嚷、口哨、拥吻和干杯的前奏。 在威尔士，当午夜的钟声一响，人们 国家传统，第一个在新年跨过门槛的就敞开后门，放走旧年。而后把它关人决定了新的一年带给家庭的运气。紧，留住好运。钟声一结束，人们就这被称作“第一步：。在12月31日午从前门迎接新年。
夜，特别是在苏格兰和英格兰北部， 在苏格兰，新年是一年所有节日中最“第一步者”（惯例上是一个高大、皮隆重的，被称作“Hogmanay‘（关于此肤黝黑、好看的男性）跨过门槛，带此的意思，还没有一个令人满意的诠来新年运气。“第一步者”通常会拿着释）。当晚，人们喝酒并尽情狂欢没，一块煤、一条面包和一瓶威士忌。进在午夜的钟声敲响时，庆祝达到高潮，去的时候他必须把煤放进火堆，把面聚集在爱丁堡的丘克教堂和格拉斯哥包放在桌面，给一家之主倒一杯酒，的乔治广场的庞大人群互道新年，臂这期间通常他不说话，别人也不和他挽臂，唱着 “友谊地久天长”。 说话，直到他祝福大家“新年快乐”。
万圣节前夕 Halloween
Halloween (31 October) is the night before ―All Saints‘ Day.‖ Halloween and its associations with witches and ghosts 万圣节（10月31日）是诸圣节的前derive from the Celtic Old Year‘s Night 一天。万圣节及它与女巫、鬼魂的联---the night of all witches, when spirits 系来源于凯尔特的旧年夜---一个属于were said to walk the earth. Witches and 女巫的夜晚，期间据说所有的鬼魂都supernatural beings are still remembered 会来地面行走。女巫和超自然生物至all over Britain, when bands of children 今在整个英国也没有被遗忘，成群的roam the streets in ghoulish costumes, 小孩穿得像鬼魂一样，提着南瓜灯（又carrying Halloween lanterns, named 称杰克灯）---挖空的南瓜一面刻着一Jack-O‘-Lantern-pumpkins hollowed out 张鬼的脸，点上蜡烛时闪闪地在街上with a ghostly face cut into one side, 游荡。 which glows when a candle is placed inside. 近年来“你不款待，我就捣蛋”的风 In recent years the custom of 俗非常流行。尽管我们一般把这个风―trick-or-treating‖ has gained in 俗和美国联系起来，它在英国是作为popularity. Although we commonly “恶作剧夜”出现的，孩子们拥有一associate this practice with America, the 个不会因为恶作剧而受到惩罚的“无custom originated in England as 律之夜”（通常是劳动节前夕或者是在―Mischief Night‖ when children 万圣节）。 declared one lawless night of unpunished pranks, usually May Day ever or Halloween.
What is Guy Fawkes Night? 什么是盖伊.福克斯之夜？ In 1605 Guy Fawkes, a Roman attempted to blow up King James I and Catholic, and his fellow conspirators the House of Parliament, as they
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disagreed with the King‘s Protestant policies. They succeeded in storing some 30 barrels of gunpowder in a cellar under the House of Parliament, but before Parliament opened, on 5 November, the ―Gunpowder Plot,‖ as it has come to be known, was discovered. Guy Fawkes and his colleagues were executed for treason.
Since then, the 5th November has been celebrated in England by the burning of stuffed figures of Guy Fawkes on bonfires, usually accompanied by a firework display. These may be large organized events open to members of the public, or smaller, private gathering of family and friends held in people‘s gardens.
Guy Fawkes Night is also known as ―Bonfire Night‖ or ―Firework Night‖. In the days leading up to 5th November children traditionally take their home-made Guys out onto the streets of
Easter Eggs复活节彩蛋
Easter Day is named after the Saxon goddess of spring, Eostre, whose feast took place at the spring equinox. Easter is now the spring festival of the Christian church, commemorating the resurrection of Jesus. It falls on a Sunday between 22 March and 25April, according to the church calendar.
Traditionally Easter eggs, dyed and decorated or made of chocolate, are given as presents symbolizing new life and the coming of spring.
Egg rolling competitions take place in northern Britain on Easter Monday: hard-boiled eggs are rolled down a slope, with the winner being---according to local preference---the one which rolls the furthest, survives the most rolls, or is
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their town or village and ask passengers-by ―a penny for the Guy.‖ This money is supposedly used as a contribution towards their fireworks. 1605年，一位罗马天主教徒盖伊.福克斯和他的同谋反对国王詹姆士一世的新教徒政策，企图炸死国王和炸毁议会大厦。他们成功地把30桶黑火药运进了一会大厦的递交，安定那时在一会开会前的11月5日，这个后世所知的“黑火药阴谋”被揭发了。盖伊.福克斯和他的同党以叛国罪被处死。 此后，英格兰人在11月5日进行庆祝，生起篝火，焚烧盖伊.福克斯的人像并观看焰火表演。这些可以是对公众开放的大型活动，也可能是小型家人朋友在花园举行的聚会。
“盖伊.福克斯之夜”也叫“篝火之夜”或者“焰火之夜”。在节前，孩子们把按照传统手工制作的盖伊拿到镇上或是村庄的街道上，向行人要“给盖伊的便士”。得到的钱一般是用来买焰火。
successfully aimed between two pegs! The best-published event takes place at Avenham Park in Preston, Lancashire. In some families, the breakfast eggs on Easter Sunday morning are boiled in several pans, each containing a different vegetable dye, so that when they are served the shells are no longer white or pale brown in color, but yellow or pink, blue or green. The dyes do not penetrate the shell of course.
Easter parades are also part of the Easter tradition, with those taking part wearing Easter bonnets, traditionally decorated with spring flowers and ribbons.
复活节的名字来源与撒克逊人的春之女神的名字Eostre，人们在春分时
节为她进行庆祝。今天复活节是基督教在春天的节日，纪念耶稣的复活。根据教堂历，复活节是在3月22日与4月25日之间的某个星期天。
人们习惯互相赠送复活节彩蛋。这些染色的、装饰的或者用巧克力做的鸡蛋象征着新的生命和春天的来临。 英国北部有在复活节后的星期一滚鸡蛋比赛的习俗。人们把煮熟的鸡蛋滚下山坡，赢的人---根据当地习惯---就是把鸡蛋滚得最远，滚到最后最多鸡蛋是完整的，或者是瞄准最佳，
Merry Christmas圣诞快乐
In Britain , Christmas Day is normally spent at home with the family, and it is regarded as a celebration of the family and its continuity. Preparations start well in advance, with the sending of Christmas cars and the setting up a decorated Christmas tree in a prominent place in the hole. Although it is now a firmly established tradition, the Christmas tree was first popularized by Queen Victoria‘s husband, Prince Albert, who introduces the custom from his native Germany in 1840.
Some houses are decorated with evergreens, plants which do not lose their leaves in winter; a wreath of holly on the front door; and garlands of holly, ivy and fir indoors. Branches of mistletoe are often hung above doorways---any couple passing underneath must exchange kisses! The traditional food is prepared: sweet mince pies, a rich Christmas cake and the Christmas pudding. Everyone has their own favorite recipe, but they‘re all packed full of spices, nuts dried fruits and brandy.
Presents are bought and wrapped, and traditionally placed under the Christmas
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成功把鸡蛋滚过两个桩之间的人！最大型的滚鸡蛋比赛在兰开夏郡普雷斯顿的阿文汉公园举行。
某些家庭在复活节早晨用不同的锅煮早餐鸡蛋，每个锅装着不同的植物染料，这样当鸡蛋煮好时，白色的或浅棕色的蛋壳变成了黄色、粉红、蓝色或是绿色的了。而染料当然没有穿透蛋壳。
复活节游行也是复活节的传统之一，游行者头戴复活节无边帽，根据传统，帽子上有春花和丝带的装饰。
tree on Christmas Eve. Christmas is both a secular and a religious holiday, and many families like to attend a midnight service at church on Christmas Eve, or celebrate Christmas in church on Christmas morning.
The excitement begins for children on Christmas Eve, when they hang up their stockings (an old sock, or more ambitiously, pillowcases) around the fireplace or at the foot of the bed for Father Christmas to fill with presents. The English Father Christmas, or Santa Claus, is first recorded in his tradition red and white outfit in a woodcut of 1653, but the story of Santa arriving in his reindeer-drawn sleigh and descending down the chimney to fill children‘s stockings with presents derives form the USA.
Practically everyone sits down to a Christmas dinner in the early afternoon of Christmas Day. Traditionally roast turkey is served, but some families prefer goose or roast beef. The turkey is followed by the Christmas pudding, brought to the table flaming hot. Brandy is poured over the pudding. The day ends with everyone relaxing, watching
television or playing guessing-games 这个习俗。 like charades. 有些家庭用常青树（冬天不落叶的植英国人一般在家里和家人一起过圣诞物）装饰房子；前门挂上冬青树花环，节。圣诞节被认为是一个庆祝家庭及室内摆上冬青树、常春藤和枞树花环。家族的节日。人们老早就做好准备，门口挂上槲寄生树枝---每一对从下寄圣诞贺卡，在家里的显眼位置摆放经过的爱人都要接吻！传统食物有：用来装饰的圣诞树。圣诞树如今是一甜肉末馅饼、圣诞奶油蛋糕和圣诞布个深入人心的传统，此风俗是由维多丁。每个人都有自己最钟爱的菜单，利亚女王的丈夫阿拉伯特亲王推广开但这些食物无一例外都包括香料、坚来的。他在1840年从故乡德国引进了果、干果，白兰地酒。 人们一般在圣诞前夕把买来包装好的塞满礼物的故事则来自美国。 礼物放在圣诞树底下。圣诞节既是世 事实上在圣诞节那天，大家下午很早俗的即日，又是宗教的节日。许多家就开始吃圣诞晚餐了。根据传统，晚庭在圣诞前夕参加教堂的午夜弥撒，餐是烤火鸡，但有些家庭喜欢吃鹅或或者在圣诞节的早晨去教堂庆祝。 烤牛肉。吃过火鸡后就上圣诞布丁， 对小孩子来说，欢乐始于平安夜，那热腾腾的端上餐桌。人们在布丁上面时他们把袜子（一只旧袜子，或者贪倒少白兰地。最后，大家放松地休息、心一点的，一个枕头套）挂在壁炉附看电影或玩看手势猜字谜之类的游近或床脚让圣诞老人往里装礼物。英戏。 国的圣诞老人最早的记载是在1653年 的一张木版画上，画中的他穿着传统的红与白的衣服。而关于他驾着驯鹿拉的雪橇，爬下烟囱给孩子们的袜子
开怀一笑Jokes
圣诞节购物 Christmas Shopping
It was Christmas and the judge was in a merry mood as he asked the prisoner, ―What are you charged with?‖
―Doing my Christmas shopping early,‖ replied the defendant.
―That‘s no offense,‖ said the judge. ―How early were you doing this shopping?‖ ―Before the store opened,‖ countered the prisoner. 圣诞节，法官心情很好，他问被告：“你被指控什么罪？” “提早购买圣诞用品。”被告辩护道。 “这不算什么犯罪，”法官说，“你什么时候去购物的？” “商店开门前。”犯人辩护道。
Chapter4 Travel Around the UK
走遍英伦
出行交通工具Travel Conditions
Most forms of transport in the British Isles generally provide an efficient,
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comfortable means of transportation. Cars are the most popular forms of