The following information is from <a href="http://www.soenglish.com.cn/go.php?cid=0210&amp;aid=2215" target="_blank" >http://www.soenglish.com.cn/go.php?cid=0210&amp;aid=2215</A>
<a href="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/china/assets/wma3/advent/bbc_advent_online_reading.mp3" target="_blank" ><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #00ccff" color=#ff6600><STRONG>在线收听节目</STRONG></FONT></A><br><STRONG><br>reparations for Christmas 圣诞筹备</STRONG>
<DIV class=storytext>“Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat.”</DIV>
Christmas is the biggest festival in Britain and is celebrated on 25th December. The four weeks before Christmas are called Advent, and are <B>traditionally</B> celebrated in churches by lighting a candle each Sunday during Advent.
Nowadays, many people in Britain are not very religious, but they still celebrate Christmas. But watch out - the preparations begin long before Advent. In fact as early as September or October, you start to see signs that Christmas is <B>on the way</B>.
<!-- end_story -->The first places to tell us that we should be thinking about Christmas are the shops. People in Britain spend <B>on average</B> over &pound;600 (around $1000) <B>per person</B> on Christmas every year, and the shops <B>encourage</B> people to spend more and more.
Shops put up Christmas decorations and play <B>cheesy</B> Christmas songs or <B>carols</B>; and some shop workers wear Christmas hats. Some big shops on Regent Street and Oxford Street in London create wonderful displays in their windows with moving characters, falling snow, colourful lights and music.
So what do people buy in preparation for Christmas? Well, <B>Christmas decorations</B>; Christmas cards to send to your friends and relatives; presents for your <B>loved ones</B> and <B>wrapping paper</B> to wrap them up with.
And of course food! <B>Apart from</B> the special Christmas dinner of roast turkey or goose, people buy lots of chocolates, nuts and <B>snacks</B> for everyone to enjoy.
But the children are the most excited that Christmas is coming. They start making lists of presents they would like, and give them to their parents, or send them to <B>Santa Claus</B>. In December, they can also open their Advent <B>calendars</B>.
Advent calendars are a way of counting down to Christmas. They have a window to open for every day from 1st – 24th December (Christmas Eve).
A basic Advent calendar has a <B>Christmassy</B> picture behind each window, but the children’s <B>favourite</B> is usually a chocolate Advent calendar, with a chocolate for every day of the month. It’s a great <B>build up</B> to the <B>overeating</B> that goes on at Christmas!
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<DIV class=storytext><STRONG>GLOSSARY 词汇表 (<FONT color=#ff9900>收听发音, 请单击英语单词</FONT>)</STRONG></DIV><br>
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<TD vAlign=top width=208><a href="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/china/assets/wma3/advent/traditionally.mp3" target="_blank" ><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #00ccff">traditionally<br>传统上的</FONT></A><br><a href="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/china/assets/wma3/advent/on_the_way.mp3" target="_blank" ><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #00ccff">on the way <br>即将来临</FONT></A><br><a href="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/china/assets/wma3/advent/on_average.mp3" target="_blank" ><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #00ccff">on average <br>平均</FONT></A><br><a href="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/china/assets/wma3/advent/per_person.mp3" target="_blank" ><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #00ccff">per person <br>每一个人</FONT></A><br><a href="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/china/assets/wma3/advent/encourage.mp3" target="_blank" ><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #00ccff">encourage <br>鼓励</FONT></A><br><a href="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/china/assets/wma3/advent/cheesy.mp3" target="_blank" ><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #00ccff">cheesy <br>俗套的</FONT></A><br><a href="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/china/assets/wma3/advent/carols.mp3" target="_blank" ><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #00ccff">carols <br>圣诞颂歌</FONT></A><br><a href="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/china/assets/wma3/advent/christmas_decorations.mp3" target="_blank" ><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #00ccff">Christmas decorations <br>圣诞装饰</FONT></A><br><a href="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/china/assets/wma3/advent/loved_ones.mp3" target="_blank" ><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #00ccff">loved ones <br>亲人</FONT></A><br></TD>
<TD vAlign=top width=208><a href="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/china/assets/wma3/advent/wrapping_paper.mp3" target="_blank" ><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #00ccff">wrapping paper <br>（礼品）包装纸</FONT></A><br><a href="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/china/assets/wma3/advent/apart_from.mp3" target="_blank" ><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #00ccff">apart from <br>除…之外</FONT></A><br><a href="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/china/assets/wma3/advent/snacks.mp3" target="_blank" ><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #00ccff">snacks <br>小吃</FONT></A><br><a href="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/china/assets/wma3/advent/santa_claus.mp3" target="_blank" ><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #00ccff">Santa Claus <br>圣诞老人</FONT></A><br><a href="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/china/assets/wma3/advent/calendars.mp3" target="_blank" ><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #00ccff">calendars <br>日历</FONT></A><br><a href="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/china/assets/wma3/advent/christmassy.mp3" target="_blank" ><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #00ccff">Christmassy <br>圣诞的</FONT></A><br><a href="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/china/assets/wma3/advent/favourite.mp3" target="_blank" ><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #00ccff">favourite 最喜欢的<br>最喜欢的</FONT></A><br><a href="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/china/assets/wma3/advent/build_up.mp3" target="_blank" ><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #00ccff">build up <br>累积</FONT></A><br><a href="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/china/assets/wma3/advent/overeating.mp3" target="_blank" ><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #00ccff">overeating <br>大吃大喝；过量吃喝</FONT></A><br></TD></TR></TABLE>

[此贴子已经被作者于2005-12-2 17:47:20编辑过]