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Advent is a term from the Latin word “adventus” which means “arrival”. It is a time of waiting for the arrival of Christmas, the coming of Jesus to earth when he was born as a baby at Bethlehem about two thousand years ago. What is Advent? Advent is the new year of the Christian Church and the church season that leads to Christmas Day. Advent is the time when Christians remember that Jesus came into the world in Palestine 2000 years ago and that Jesus also promised one day to return in all His Glory.

Clergy typically wear royal purple or royal blue vestments during Advent. Many churches also include an advent wreath （sometimes called an Advent ring or crown） in their Advent services. The Christian year follows the life of Jesus. It begins with Advent Sunday—which is the Christian church, is “New Year’s Day”. The most important day of the year will be Easter Sunday, the day on which Jesus came back to life—but before that festival, there will be other special days to look forward to. At the end of Advent, there will be Jesus’ birthday （Christmas Day）.

Advent begins on the Sunday nearest to 30th November （St Andrew’s Day） and lasts until midnight on Christmas Eve. Advent Sunday is the first of the four Sundays before the 25thDecember. During the season of Advent, Christians across the world prepare for the celebration of the arrival of the Lord into the world through the birth of his son Jesus Christ. Advent is a time to celebrate light in the midst of darkness. It is also a time to look forward to when Jesus will come a second time. The beginning of Advent is when the preparations for Christmas really begin—the festive menu is planned, gifts are chosen and wrapped, carols sung, cards are written and posted and houses decorated.

Christmas is the time when Christians around the world celebrate the birth of Jesus. The word Christmas （or Christ’s Mass） comes from the Old English name “Cristes Maesse” —Christ’s Mass—and is the celebration of the birth of Jesus. The first recorded observance occurred in Rome in AD 360, but it wasn’t until AD 440 that the Christian Church fixed a celebration date of 25 December. Christmas is a truly magical season, bringing families and friends together to share the much loved customs and traditions which have been around for centuries. Most people are on holiday in the U.K. and stay at home with their family on Christmas day, the main day for Christmas celebrations in Britain. Christmas is celebrated on the 25th December, with a Christmas dinner at midday for the whole family. During the weeks before Christmas Day, people send cards, watch nativity plays and go to carol services. They put up Christmas decorations in homes and churches. Many of Christmas customs began long before Jesus was born. They came from earlier festivals which had nothing to do with the Christian church. Long time ago people had mid-winter festivals when the days were shortest and the sunlight weakest. They believed that their ceremonies would give the sun back its power. The Romans, for example, held the festival of Saturnalia around 25 December. They decorated their homes with evergreens to remind them of Saturn, their harvest god, to return the following spring. Some of these customs and traditions were adopted by early Christians as part of their celebrations of Jesus’ birthday. In Victorian times some new ideas such as Father Christmas, Christmas cards and crackers were added to the celebrations.

In Britain, Boxing Day is usually celebrated on the following day after Christmas Day, which is 26 December. However, strictly speaking, Boxing Day is the first weekday after Christmas. Like Christmas Day, Boxing Day is a public holiday. This means it is typically a non working day in the whole of Britain. When Boxing Day falls on a Saturday or Sunday the following Monday is the public holiday. Why is 26 December called Boxing Day? Traditionally, 26 December was the day to open the Christmas Box to share the contents with

the poor. The Christmas box was a wooden or clay container where people placed gifts.

1. Roman Calendar罗马历，为实行于古代罗马王政时期的历法。罗马历起源于太阴历，把每年分为十个月到十三个月，直到公元前46年被儒略历取代为止。这段时期的历法，亦有称之为儒略前历法。

2. Gregorian calendar格列历，又称阳历。“阳历”又名“太阳历”，系以地球绕行太阳一周为一年，为西方各国所通用，故又名“西历”。公历前身是儒略历，1582年罗马天主教教宗格列高利十三世把全面儒略历1582年10月4日的下一天定为格列历10月15日，中间销去10天，同时修改了儒略历置闰法则。

3. Hogmanay（苏格兰的）除夕；除夕活动，除夕聚会。

4. St Patrick圣帕特里克，爱尔兰守护神，相传公元432年，圣帕特里克受教皇派遣前往爱尔兰劝说爱尔兰人皈依基督教。他从威克洛上岸后，当地愤怒的异教徒企图用石头将他砸死。但圣帕特里克临危不惧，当即摘下一棵三叶酢浆草，形象地阐明了圣父、圣子、圣灵三位一体的教义。他雄辩的演说使爱尔兰人深受感动，接受了圣帕特里克主施的隆重洗礼。公元493年3月17日，圣帕特里克逝世，爱尔兰人为了纪念他，将这一天定为“圣帕特里克节”。

5. St Andrew圣安德鲁，苏格兰的守护神，圣安德鲁与苏格兰之间的联系最早源于两个传说。其一是据说圣徒的遗物在4世纪被圣·雷古勒斯（St Regulus）从佩特雷（Patras）带到 Fife的Kinrymont，后来他的船在东海岸沉毁。之后，Kinrymont的教堂变成了圣安德鲁大教堂，并逐渐发展成为中世纪朝圣的一个重要的中心。另一个版本是，9世纪时由于在Athelstaneford取得战争胜利之前，天空出现了X形十字的图形，因此皮克特的国王 Angus mac Fergus 将圣安德鲁视作守护神。

6. Maypole五月节花柱，传统的英国五一节习俗和庆祝活动包括莫理斯舞、五月女王加冕、月花柱舞等。

7. May Day Bank Holiday和欧洲其他国家相比，英国的公共假日相对较少。通常，这些公共假日也被称为“银行假日”，因为银行在假日中会关闭，暂停所有交易。

8. Boyne博伊奈，爱尔兰东部一河流，流程约113公里（70英里），流入爱尔兰海，在1690年7月1日的博伊奈战役中，国王威廉三世的军队击败了詹姆斯二世的军队，后詹姆斯二世逃往法国，从此爱尔兰完全被征服。

9. St Swithun’s Day圣斯韦辛日，这个节日实际上是预先告诉英国人：雨季到了，看看自己的雨伞备好了没有。

11. Gunpowder Plot火药阴谋，是一群英格兰天主教极端分子试图炸掉英国国会大厦，并杀掉正在其中进行国会开幕典礼（State Opening of Parliament）的英国国王詹姆士一世和他的家人及大部分的新教贵族的一次并未成功的计划。

I. Define the following terms.

II. Fill in the blanks according to the text.

1. January was established as the first month of the year by_____. It was named after__________ which has two faces allowing him to__________ at the same time.

2. On Burns Night, the people of Scotland honour_____. He was born on 25th January approximately 250 years ago （1759）. A traditional Scottish meal is_____ washed down with_____.

3. __________is a traditional Christian festival that commemorates the ritual purification of Mary forty days after the birth of her son Jesus. On this day, Christians remember the presentation of Jesus Christ in the_____.

4. National Days are not celebrated in Britain in the same way as they are in a number of other countries. Only St Patrick’s Day in_____ and_____ in Scotland（from 2007） are taken as an official holiday. St Patrick is Ireland’s patron Saint. All the other national days are normal working days.

5. Good Friday commemorates the saddest day of the Christian Year, when Jesus_____.

6. The 1st Sunday in April is called__________. In Victorian times families picked_____ from their gardens and took them to_____ to give to_____.

7. In the late 19th century, 19 April was celebrated as _____in memoryof British Prime Minister,_____（Lord Beaconsfield）, who died on this day in 1881. People were encouraged to pay tribute to the statesman_____ by wearing as they were supposedly his favourite flower. However, it seems there was a misunderstanding and that the flower was not his favourite after all.

8. The 23rd April is_____. _____ is the Patron Saint of England and also of Scouting. It is said that_____ once saved a village from great danger. The village were frightened of a fierce_____ who lived close by, so St George killed it.

9. Traditional English May Day celebrations include_____, _____.

10. The month of May has many traditions and celebrations. For the convenience of the general public, many May Day activities have now been moved to_____（from 1978） on the_____ Monday of the month. This Monday is a bank holiday, a day off school and work. Many of the May Day celebrations take place at as well as on the “May Day” Monday. The weekend is know as_____ because it comes with the extra day holiday on the Monday.

III. Questions for discussion.

1. Why is it bad luck to leave the decorations up after Twelfth Night?

2. Who is St. Valentine? What happens on Valentines day in Britain?

3. What has Passover got to do with Easter?

4. When did April Fool become popular in England? Can you list some of the April Fool jokes?