单击此处编辑母版标题样式,单击此处编辑母版文本样式,第二级,第三级,第四级,第五级,*,Holidays and Festivals,Unit 13,Learning Objects,After learning the unit,students should be able to:,Be familiar with the British holidays and festivals.,Retell the traditional celebrations of British holidays and festivals.,Compare the differences between British holidays and that of their own country.,Main Contents,Text A,Text B,Exercises,Text A Holidays and Festivals,Focal Points,Religious Holidays,Christmas,The Boxing Day,Easter,National Holidays,Bonfire Night(Guy Fawkes Night),The battle of the Boyne,St Patricks Day,Hogmanay,The Burns Night,Halloween,The Eisteddfod,Christmas is the biggest and the most,popular British holiday celebrated on December,25,th,each year to commemorate the birth of,Jesus Christ.People usually decorate homes,with evergreen plants Christmas trees and,ornaments.They also exchange gifts and,Christmas cards.,Three typical British traditions on Christmas,are:the Christmas Pantomime,the Queens,speech over the television and radio,and the,Boxing Day.,Christmas,It is a typical British,tradition celebrated on the,day after Christmas.People,used to give Christmas gifts,or money to their staff or,servants on this day.And,now they mostly do shopping,pay visits,enjoy eating or,just relax.,Boxing Day,This festival occurs in the spring,which,commemorates the crucifixion and resurrection of,Jesus Christ.It is the most important Christian,festival for many church-goers.,The Easter egg,originally a Christian symbol of,new life,is the main symbol of Easter for most people.,Rabbits and chicks are also animals traditionally,associated with Easter.,Easter,Bonfire Night(Guy Fawkes Night),It is a truly English holiday celebrated in,November.It originates from the 1605,Gunpowder Plota plan to blow up the British,Parliament,kill the Protestant King and replace,him with a Catholic king.People celebrate it by,having public bonfires and fireworks.A straw,effigy called the“Guy”(one of the conspirators,Guy Fawkes)is thrown on the bonfire.The,biggest Bonfire Night celebration is held in,Lewes.,The battle of the Boyne,The Catholic King James II was forced off the,throne in 1688.William of Orange,affectionately,known as King Billy,was invited to take the throne,and James was driven into exile.With the help of,the French and the Irish-both Catholic,nations-James tried to retake the throne but,his forces were defeated by King Billy on the banks,of the Boyne River in County Kildare,now a part of,Ireland(Eire).,St Patricks Day,It is on March 17 each,year,when northern Irish,Catholics celebrate the,birthday of the patron saint,of Ireland,St Patrick.The,shamrock is a popular symbol,to wear on St Patricks Day,and it is also considered,very lucky to wear something,green.,Hogmanay,While most British people welcome the coming of the New Year,with parties,in Scotland,New Years Eve called,Hogmanay,(31,December)-is the major winter celebration,and,overshadows Christmas(called Yule in Scotland),which is a very,quiet affair.How,Hogmanay,is celebrated varies throughout,Scotland,but one widely practiced custom is first footing.,There is a superstitious belief that the first person to cross the,threshold of a household in the New Year can bring luck and,prosperity:the appearance of a young,preferably dark haired,and handsome man is considered particularly lucky.First footers,often bring a bottle of spirits,alcohol,a lump of coal or a peat,as a gift and are given a dram of whisky as their reward.,The Burns Night,It is a celebration by Scottish,people on the evening of the,birthday(25 January)of Scottish,national poet Robert Burns.People,celebrate it with suppers of,haggis and whisky and Burns,poems are recited throughout the,evening.,Halloween,It is a Scottish festival celebrated on,31 October each year.Communion with,the dead,mischief,fortune-telling and,masquerades are common practices.,Some of the other customs are“turnip,lanterns”for children and girls using,magic spells to see into the future.,The Eisteddfod,It is a popular festival of music-making and,poetry-writing in August each year to celebrate the,Welsh culture and language.During the festival,competitions are held to find the best choirs,translators,essayists and poets.The highlight is the,crowning of the two bards who have written the best,poems of the festival.,Text B Easter Day,Easter is a Christian festival that celebrates the resurrection(rising from the dead)of Jesus Christ,Son of God.,Easter Sunday falls sometime between March 22 and April 25.It falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon following March 21.,Origin,It would have been suicide for the very early Christian converts to celebrate their holy days with observances that did not coincide with celebrations that already existed.,To save lives,the missionaries cleverly decided to spread their religious message slowly throughout the populations by allowing them to continue to celebrate pagan feasts,.,Meaning,F,or Christians,Easter,is a celebration of Chris