英语博客：Gingerbread houses.
时间：2019-01-28 作者：英语课 分类：英语博客 A cup of English
Aren't holiday traditions great! I'm always fascinated by the many ways that people of different cultures celebrate special times. We use symbols, songs, colors, food, actions, religious rituals, and get togethers to express our humanity. And we all do it. When you think of just how different all of the countries on this planet are, how our histories have shaped us, and how we have developed our own traditions, looking at how we celebrate special occasions is similar to looking through a magnifying glass at us. Our celebrations reveal a lot about us. One of the traditions that we have adopted from other cultures is to decorate gingerbread houses around Christmas time. Gingerbread dates back to the early Greeks and Egyptians who used it in ceremonies. Monks 2 brought ginger 1 to France in 10th century. But it wasn't until around 11th century that crusaders brought ginger back to Europe from the Middle East. An early recipe for gingerbread was ground almonds, dry bread crumbs 3, rosewater, sugar, and ginger. This was pressed into wooden molds that depicted 4 the news of that time, a bit like small edible 5 newspaper. In the 16th century, the English replaced the bread crumbs with flour, and added eggs, making a lighter 6 bread. The first gingerbread man is credited to Queen Elizabeth 1, who impressed visitors with gingerbread men made in their images. Gingerbread quickly became more and more popular. It was in 19th century that gingerbread houses appeared in Germany after the brothers Grimm published their stories, especially Hansel and Gretel. They are a common Christmas tradition in Europe and North America. There are even competitions to build the biggest ones, and there is also an annual gingerbread city in Bergen, Norway. So, you see, our tradition of making a gingerbread house didn't originate here at all. It's development has taken a long time, and each time it has reached a different country, it has been slightly changed. And that is the way that traditions evolve.
Grammar notes.
Related vocabulary: a magnifying glass, crusaders, to replace, to originate.
1. At school, the children examined bugs 7 under a magnifying glass.
2. Richard the Lionheart was a crusader.
3. That light has gone out. Could you replace the bulb?
4. They originated in Russia, but their family has settled in many different countries.
- There is no ginger in the young man.这个年轻人没有精神。
- Ginger shall be hot in the mouth.生姜吃到嘴里总是辣的。
- The monks lived a very ascetic life. 僧侣过着很清苦的生活。
- He had been trained rigorously by the monks. 他接受过修道士的严格训练。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
- They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。
- Edible wild herbs kept us from dying of starvation.我们靠着野菜才没被饿死。
- This kind of mushroom is edible,but that kind is not.这种蘑菇吃得，那种吃不得。
- The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
- The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。
