时间:2019-01-13 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2011年(十二月)


英语课

'Holiday Season' Includes Secular 1 Kwanzaa


 


When Americans talk about the “holiday season,” it’s understood that this includes the Christian 2 Christmas, the Jewish Hanukkah, and the secular New Year’s Day.



But 45 years ago, a weeklong celebration joined the parade when the African-American holiday of Kwanzaa was observed for the first time.



Kwanzaa begins the day after Christmas, and celebrates African culture. The word "Kwanzaa" comes from a phrase that means "first fruits" in the Swahili language, and the observance is based in part on the harvest celebrations of ancient Africa.



The seven-day festival was developed in its modern form during the black-nationalist movement of the 1960s by Maulana Karenga, an African-American scholar and activist 3. At first he called Kwanzaa an “alternative” to Christmas, which, he said, was a white-people’s holiday.



But it soon became a mainstream 4 celebration of family, community, and black Americans’ African roots.









The seven tenets of Kwanzaa are unity 5, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.




Kwanzaa festivities include stories, poetry, music, feasting and gift-giving. A candle is lit on each of the festival's nights to represent seven traditional values of African culture. Those principles are unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.



Kwanzaa symbols include a decorative 6 mat on which other items are placed. They often include corn, representing the harvest; a candelabra called a “kinara,” holding seven candles; a communal 7 cup; gifts; a poster of the seven principles; and a black, red, and green Pan-African flag.



Kwanzaa begins on Dec. 26, the day after Christmas, and ends on New Year's Day. Many American communities now include it in their recognition of the holidays of the season.



n.牧师,凡人;adj.世俗的,现世的,不朽的
  • We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
  • Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒
  • They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
  • His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。
n.活动分子,积极分子
  • He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
  • He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。
n.(思想或行为的)主流;adj.主流的
  • Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
  • Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。
n.团结,联合,统一;和睦,协调
  • When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结,并非一团和气。
  • We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前,我们必须加强团结。
adj.装饰的,可作装饰的
  • This ware is suitable for decorative purpose but unsuitable for utility.这种器皿中看不中用。
  • The style is ornate and highly decorative.这种风格很华丽,而且装饰效果很好。
adj.公有的,公共的,公社的,公社制的
  • There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
  • The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。
学英语单词
1-naphthyldiphenylcarbinol
5-methoxytryptophol
advance in price
alginate rayon
axerophthol
backup circuit breaker
banner pk.
Bilup
biphenoxide
breadfruit
Burmannia championii
carparks
choke-flow condition
clock-face timetable
clusterised
coalitionism
cryptograined texture
decline of sale
degelatinized bone dust
denwoods
dext
diathermy of choroid
ectocentral
elephantipes
erewhons
ethylic
false diverticulum of bladder
ferrinatrite
fruit dehydrator
gage tap
gases exchange between ocean
geothermobarometers
h.a.
hektograph
helsinkis
herkol
hinesville
Impatiens noli-tangere
in shadow
inactivation center
indeterminancy
interest method of account current
intermediate merchant
inthrallments
isokinetically
judgment debt
kewda
kinetochore microtubule
Kings R.
lather booster
lay in the oars
linear interpolation
logical channel
minus tapping
mullas
multipartisms
muon detector
nonfines concrete
Oligoporus leucospongia
Oppdal
outdevice
parallelism of disease
parenetic
peeces
perioval precipitation rate
peripheal angle
peter
Pharm.D.
Pieter Brueghel the Elder
pitz
positive balance
proton inertia
pull ... weight
Raabs an der Thaya
ramiprilat
rehash strategy
retardation axis
ring-necked pheasant
sarcinae
screaming-yellow
set the watch
short distance transport
situation as a whole
Skepasto
standard hour system
Steeleville
stencil-like
subfeature
talking about
target folder
thymonucleodepolymerase
thyroma
tickle sb's vanity
to trash
tray boot
trial-and-error search
twll
tyre-trueing machine
unloading bay
veneer edge bander
vernoguinoside
zeuxes