高一英语人教版必修三Unit1课文内容

Unit 1 Festivals around the world

FESTIVALS AND CELEBRATIONS

Festivals and celebrations of all kinds have been held everywhere since ancient times. Most ancient festivals would celebrate the end of cold weather, planting in spring and harvest in autumn. Sometimes celebrations would be held after hunters had caught animals. At that time people would starve if food was difficult to find, especially during the cold winter months. Today’s festivals have many origins, some religious, some seasonal, and some for special people or events. Festivals of the dead

Some festivals are held to honour the dead or to satisfy the ancestors, who might return either to help or to do harm. For the Japanese festival Obon, people should go to clean graves and light incense in memory of their ancestors. They also light lamps and play music because they think that will lead the ancestors back to earth. In Mexico, people celebrate the Day of the Dead in early November. On this important feast day, people eat food in the shape of skulls and cakes with “bones” on them. They offer food, flowers and gifts to the dead. The Western holiday Halloween also had its origin in old beliefs about the return of the spirits of dead people. It is now a children’s festival, when they can dress up and go to their neighbours’homes to ask for sweets. If the neighbours do not give any sweets, the children might play a trick on them.

Festivals to Honour People

Festivals can also be held to honour famous people. The Dragon Boat Festival in China honours

the famous ancient poet, Qu Yuan. In the USA, Columbus Day is in memory of the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the New World. India has a national festival on October 2 to honour Mohandas Gandhi, the leader who helped gain India’s independence from Britain.

Harvest Festivals

Harvest and Thanksgiving festivals can be very happy events. People are grateful because their food is gathered for the winter and the agricultural work is over. In European countries, people

will usually decorate churches and town halls with flowers and fruit, and will get together to have meals. Some people might win awards for their farm produce, like the biggest watermelon or the most handsome rooster. China and Japan have mid-autumn festivals when people admire the moon and in China enjoy moon-cakes.

Spring Festivals

The most energetic and important festivals are the ones that look forward to the end of winter and

to the coming of spring. At the Spring Festival in China, people eat dumplings, fish and meat and may give children lucky money in red paper. There are dragon dances and carnivals, and families celebrate the Lunar New Year together. Some Western countries have very exciting carnivals, which take place forty days before Easter, usually in February. These carnivals might include parades, dancing in the streets day and night, loud music and colourful clothing of al kinds. Easter

is an important religious and social festival for Christians around the world. It celebrates the return

of Jesus from the dead and the coming of spring and new life. Japan’s Cherry Blossom Festival happens a little later. The country, covered with cherry tree flowers, looks as though it is covered with pink snow.

People love to get together to eat, drink and have fun with each other. Festivals let us enjoy life, be proud of our customs and forget our work for a little while.

A SAD LOVE STORY

LI Fang was heart-broken. It was Valentine’s Day and Hu Jin had said she would meet him at the coffee shop after work. But she didn’t turn up. She could be with her friends right now laughing at him. She said she would be there at seven o’clock, and he thought she would keep her word. He had looked forward to meeting her all day, and now he was alone with his roses and chocolates,

like a fool. Well, he was not going to hold his breath for her to apologize. He would drown his sadness in coffee.

It was obvious that the manager of the coffee shop was waiting for Li Fang to leave - he wiped

the tables, then sat down and turned on the TV - just what Li Fang needed! A sad Chinese story about lost love.

The granddaughter of the Goddess of Heaven visited the earth. Her name was Zhinü, the weaving girl. While she was on earth she met the herd boy Niulang and they fell in love. (“Just like me and Hu Jin,” thought Li Fang.) They got married secretly, and they were very happy. (“We could be like that,” thought Li Fang.) When the Goddess of Heaven knew that her granddaughter was married to a human, she became very angry and made the weaving girl return to Heaven. Niu Lang tried to follow her, but the river of stars, the Milky Way, stopped him. Finding that Zhin

was heart-broken, her grandmother finally decided to let the couple cross the Milky Way to meet once a year. Magpies make a bridge of their wings so the couple can cross the river to meet on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. People in China hope that the weather will be fine on that

is weeping and the couple won’t be able to meet. day, because if it is raining, it means that Zhinü

The announcer said, “This is the story of Qiqiao Festival. When foreigners hear about the story, they call it a Chinese Valentine’s story. It’s a fine day today, so I hope you can call all meet the one you love.”

As Li Fang set off for home, he thought, “I guess Hu Jin doesn’t love me. I’ll just throw these flowers and chocolates away. I don’t want them to remind me of her.” So he did.

As he sadly passed the tea shop on the corner on his way home, he heard a voice calling him. There was Hu Jin waving at him and calling, “Why are you so late? I’ve been waiting for you for a long time! And I have a gift for you!”

What would he do? He had thrown away her Valentine gifts! She would never forgive him. This would not be a happy Valentine’s Day!

高一英语人教版必修三unit1课文内容

Unit 1 Festivals around the world FESTIVALS AND CELEBRATIONS Festivals and celebrations of all kinds have been held everywhere since ancient times. Most ancient festivals would celebrate the end of cold weather, planting in spring and harvest in autumn. Sometimes celebrations would be held after hunters had caught animals. At that time people would starve if food was difficult to find, especially during the cold winter months. Today’s festivals have many origins, some religious, some seasonal, and some for special people or events. Festivals of the dead Some festivals are held to honour the dead or to satisfy the ancestors, who might return either to help or to do harm. For the Japanese festival Obon, people should go to clean graves and light incense in memory of their ancestors. They also light lamps and play music because they think that will lead the ancestors back to earth. In Mexico, people celebrate the Day of the Dead in early November. On this important feast day, people eat food in the shape of skulls and cakes with “bones” on them. They offer food, flowers and gifts to the dead. The Western holiday Halloween also had its origin in old beliefs about the return of the spirits of dead people. It is now a children’s festival, when they can dress up and go to their neighbours’ homes to ask for sweets. If the neighbours do not give any sweets, the children might play a trick on them. Festivals to Honour People Festivals can also be held to honour famous people. The Dragon Boat Festival in China honours the famous ancient poet, Qu Y uan. In the USA, Columbus Day is in memory of the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the New World. India has a national festival on October 2 to honour Mohandas Gandhi, the leader who helped gain India’s independence from Britain. Harvest Festivals Harvest and Thanksgiving festivals can be very happy events. People are grateful because their food is gathered for the winter and the agricultural work is over. In European countries, people will usually decorate churches and town halls with flowers and fruit, and will get together to have meals. Some people might win awards for their farm produce, like the biggest watermelon or the most handsome rooster. China and Japan have mid-autumn festivals when people admire the moon and in China enjoy moon-cakes. Spring Festivals The most energetic and important festivals are the ones that look forward to the end of winter and to the coming of spring. At the Spring Festival in China, people eat dumplings, fish and meat and may give children lucky money in red paper. There are dragon dances and carnivals, and families celebrate the Lunar New Year together. Some Western countries have very exciting carnivals, which take place forty days before Easter, usually in February. These carnivals might include parades, dancing in the streets day and night, loud music and colourful clothing of al kinds. Easter is an important religious and social festival for Christians around the world. It celebrates the return of Jesus from the dead and the coming of spring and new life. Japan’s Cherry Blossom Festival happens a little later. The country, covered with cherry tree flowers, looks as though it is covered with pink snow. People love to get together to eat, drink and have fun with each other. Festivals let us enjoy life, be proud of our customs and forget our work for a little while.

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普通高中课程标准实验教科书《英语》电子课本 Book 3 Unit 1 Festivals around the world B3U1P1-3 FESTIV ALS AND CELEBRATIONS Ancient Festivals Festivals and celebrations of all kinds are held everywhere. The most ancient festivals would celebrate the end of the cold weather, planting in spring and harvest in autumn. Other celebrations were held when hunters could catch animals. They would starve if food was difficult to find, so they celebrated when they had food. They lit fires and made music because they thought these festivals would bring a year of plenty. Festivals of the Dead Some festivals are held to honour the dead, or satisfy and please the ancestors, who could return either to help or to do harm. In Japan the festival is called Obon, when people should go to clean the graves and light incense in memory of their ancestors. They light lamps and play music because they think that this will lead the ancestors back to earth. In Mexico they have the Day of the Dead in early November. On this important feast day, people might eat food in shape of skulls, and cakes with “bones” on them. They offer food, flowers and gifts to the dead. The festival of Halloween had its origin as an event in memory of the dead. It is now a children’s festival, when they can go to their neighbours’ homes and ask for sweets. They dress up and try to frighten people. If they are not given anything, the children might play a trick. Festivals to Honour People Festivals can be held as an honour to famous people or to the gods. One of these is the Dragon Boat Festival in China, which honours the famous ancient poet, Qu Yuan. Another is Columbus Day in the USA, in memory of the arrival of Christopher Columbus in America. In India there is a national festival on October 2 to honour Mahatma Gandhi, the leader who helped gain India’s independence from Britain. Harvest Festivals Harvest and Thanksgiving festivals can be very happy events. People are grateful because their food is gathered for the winter ,and because a season of agricultural work is over. In European countries it is the custom to decorate churches and town halls with flowers and fruit, and people get together to have meals. Some people might win awards for their animals, flowers, fruits and vegetables, like the biggest watermelon or the most handsome rooster. In China and Japan there are mid-autumn festivals, when people admire the moon and give gift of mooncakes. Spring Festivals The most energetic and important festivals are the ones that look forward to the end of winter and to the coming of spring. At the Spring Festival in China, people eat dumplings, fish and meat, and may give children lucky money in the red paper. There are dragon dances and carnivals, and families celebrate the lunar New Year together. In some Western countries there are very exciting carnivals, which take place forty days before Easter, usually in February. They might include parades, dancing in the streets day and night, loud music and colourful clothing of all kinds. Easter is an important religious and social festival in Christian countries. It celebrates the return of Jesus for Christians and it also celebrates the coming of spring. In Japan, the Cherry Blossom Festival happens a little later. The country is covered with cherry tree flowers so that it looks as though it might be covered with pink snow. People love to get together to eat, drink and have fun with each others. Festivals let us enjoy life, be proud of our customs and forget our daily life for a little while.

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