unit10 Sports, Holidays and Festivals in Britain

Unit 10 Sports, Holidays and Festivals in Britain

一、本单元重点内容

Sports体育:

1. football (足球), “Football hooligans”(“足球流氓”) and the FA (足球协会)

2. tennis (网球) and Wimbledon (温布尔登)

3. cricket and “fair play”（板球与“公平竞争”思想）

4. golf (高尔夫球)

5. horse racing (赛马): the Grand National {（英国一年一度的）全国越野障碍赛马}

the Royal Ascot (皇家阿斯科特赛马会)

Holidays and Festivals节假日:

1. Christmas (圣诞节) and Three traditions of Christmas (圣诞节的三大传统习俗)

2. The Boxing Day and its traditions (节礼日(圣诞节后的第一个工作日)和其传统习俗)

3. Easter (复活节)

4. Bonfire Night (Guy Fawkes Night) and the traditions

{篝火之夜(盖伊·福克斯之夜)和其传统习俗}

5. The Battle of the Boyne (博茵河战役)

6. Orange Marches (“奥伦治游行”)

7. St Patrick’s Day (圣帕特里克节) and The Christian Trinity (基督教的三位一体)

8. Hogmanay (苏格兰的除夕)

9. Burns Night (彭斯之夜)

10. Halloween (万圣节前夜)

11. The Eisteddfod (威尔士诗歌音乐比赛会)

二、本单元重、难点辅导

Sports

1. football and "football hooligans" in Britain

Football was invented in Britain.（足球运动起源于英国。）It is a rough fast game played in winter and early spring. Legends hold that it derived from the “sport”of ancient warriors celebrating victory by kicking around the decapitated head of an enemy. Today, it is one of the most popular sports in Britain. Millions of people watch the FA Cup games. But in recent years, people are much concerned about football violence.如今，它是英国最受欢迎的体育运动之一，数百万人观看足协杯比赛。但是近几年，人们对足球暴力问题非常担忧。

“Football hooligans”are supporters of rival teams. They sometimes clash before, during and after matches and occasionally run riot through the town, breaking windows and beating each other up. 足球流氓是支持比赛队的球迷们，常常在赛前、赛中和赛后发生冲突，有时骚乱扩展到整个城镇，他们砸窗户，互相殴打。

the FA Cup: the Football Association Cup (足协杯)

2. tennis and Wimbledon

Tennis was invented in Britain and owes its origins to the church. Wimbledon is a suburb in London. In Wimbledon, the wo rld’s best players gather to compete in the annual international tennis championship. It is one of the major events of the British sporting calendar and probably the most famous tennis event in the world. 网球是在英国发明的，它的起源要追溯到教会。温布尔登是伦敦的一个郊区。是世界上最优秀的运动员聚集起来在草地球场上进行网球比赛的地方。温布尔登网球比赛是英国运动日程表上主要的活动之一，而且也许是世界上最著名的网球赛事。Besides actually watching the tennis matches, other activities closely associated with

the "Wimbledon fortnight" are eating strawberries and cream, drinking champagne and hoping that it doesn’t rain.除了观看比赛之外，与“温布尔登两周赛”密切相关的其它活动包括吃草莓冰淇淋、喝香槟、祈祷不要下雨等。

3. Cricket and “fair play”板球与“公平竞争”思想

A most popular sport in summer. It was also one of the very first team sports in Britain to have organized rules and to be played according to the same rules nationally.(板球是英国最早有统一规则, 并且全国遵守同一规则进行比赛的罢休体育运动项目之一) As early as 1787, the rules were fixed. It is a quite distinctive sport in many ways—1) the players wear white trousers and appear quite formally dressed; 2) matches do not last just a few hours and they can go on for days—and has much influence on British people’s life. Cricket is often bel ieved to be associated with a set of English moral values such as “fair play”(光明正大的态度、行为).

In the 19th century, cricket was a sport played mainly by the upper class. It was a kind of a “snob” game played by boys who attended public schools. As generations of public school boys grew up to become the civil servants and rulers of the UK and its colonies, cricket became associated with a set of moral values, in particular the idea of “fair play”which supposedly characterized British government. 在19世纪，板球运动主要是上流阶级的运动。它是一种“势利的”比赛项目，玩板球的都是就读于公学的男孩。当一代一代的公学男孩长大成人，当了公务员或者英国及其殖民地的统治者时，板球与一整套道德价值观产生了联系。具体地说“公平竞争”的思想成为英国政府的特点。

4. golf

A game invented by the Scottish. And there is a world famous golf course in St Andres, near Edinburgh. 高尔夫球运动是苏格兰人发明的，在爱丁堡附近的圣安德鲁斯有一个著名的古老的高尔夫球场。By the 16th C., golf was already very popular in Scotland and royal members like Mary Queen of Scots took great interest in it.

5. horsy sports

1). horse racing

The true royal sport in Britain is horse racing. Organized national horse races have been held throughout Britain for hundreds of years. There are two kinds of horse racing: flat racing(平地赛马) and steeplechasing（越野障碍赛马）. The Grand National (一年一度在英国利物浦举行的越野障碍赛马) is the world’s most famous steeplechase. And there is also the biggest social event associated with horse racing: the Royal Ascot(每年6月在英国伯克郡阿斯科特赛马场举行的为期4天的赛马会，是英国最重要的赛马会之一，王室成员参加)。

2). equestrianism (骑马术): another horsy sport associated with the aristocracy. It can involve riding skills such as jumping and carriage driving, as well as speed. (Princess Anne likes it.) Holidays and Festivals:

1. Religious Holidays

*Most of the world’s religions are practiced in Britain, with sizeable Hindu(印度教), Muslim and Sikh（印度锡克教职工）communities and many smaller groups

1). Christian festivals

Christmas: the biggest and the most popular British holiday celebrated on December 25th 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(圣诞童话剧), the Queen’s speech over the television and radio(女王在广播电视上的讲话), and the Boxing Day（节礼日）.

①the Christmas Pantomime: a typical British Christmas tradition. It is a comical musical play usually based on a popular traditional children’s story. There are two main characters in the play: “the principal boy”, played by a young woman, and “the Dame”（滑稽老太婆角色）, played by a man. It is a play with songs and jokes which can be enjoyed by both adults and children.

?剧目一般都是根据童话改编的，比如说，睡美人、灰姑娘等，其中的男主角(the Principle Boy)一般由一位年轻的女士扮演，而丑陋的滑稽老太婆(the Dame)的角色通常由一位男影星或男球星扮演。

②Boxing Day: 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. 节礼日在圣诞节的次日，如遇星期日则推迟一天。按英国习俗，这天向雇员、仆人、邮递员等赠匣装的礼物.And now they mostly do shopping, pay visits, enjoy eating or just relax.

Easter:the first Sunday following the full moon that occurs on or next after March 21. (复活节3月21日或其后月满之后的第一个星期天). This festival occurs in the spring, which commemorates the crucifixion(钉死在十字架上)and resurrection (复活) of Jesus Christ.(是纪念耶稣受难和复活的节日。) It is the most important Christian festival for many church-goers. The Easter egg(复活节彩蛋), 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 and widely appear in chocolate form around this time.

2). Islamic festival

Ramadan(斋月): a traditional Islamic festival, a fast (禁食) which lasts 29 days during which nothing can be eaten or drunk between dawn and nightfall, and ends with a festival

2. national holidays

The Queen’s birthday (one of Britain’s most impressive and colorful festivals) celebrated officially on the 2nd Saturday in June by “Trooping the Colour”（皇家军队阅兵）Trooping the Colour: an official celebration for the Queen’s Birthday on the 2nd Saturday in June around Buckingham Palace in London. This ceremony of the Queen inspecting her troops derives from old military traditions in which regimental(团的) flags were paraded before the monarch. Early in Victoria’s(英国女王1819-1901) reign, it was decided that this ceremony should be held on the sovereign’s birthday（女王的官方生日）.

3. holidays in England

Bonfire Night /Guy Fawkes Night (篝火之夜/福克斯之夜): a truly English holiday celebrated on November 5. It originates from the 1605 Gunpowder Plot (火药阴谋事件)—a 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 conspirator Guy Fawkes) is thrown on the bonfire. The biggest Bonfire Night celebration is held in Lewes (刘易斯：英格兰东南部城市) .每年11月5日的夜晚称为“盖伊·福克斯之夜”或者“篝火之夜”。那天晚上，英国举国同庆。人们点燃篝火，把英国叛国者盖伊·福克斯的人物模型扔到火中付之一炬。除此之外，烟花表演也是那晚不可缺少的。庆祝“篝火之夜”的历史传统与1605年的一个企图炸毁议会、弑君的阴谋有关。1605年的一天，盖伊·福克斯携带大量火药潜入到伦敦议会大厦下面的一个房间里，企图炸毁议会。他被迅速逮捕，被判了死刑。最大的篝火之夜庆典活动在英格兰南部的刘易斯举行。

4. holidays in Northern Ireland

1) the Orange March: Protestant celebration of their victory(William of Orange) over the exile Catholic king James II at the Battle of the Boyne (博因战役)(12 July) in 1690. This victory

symbolizes the Protestant “right”to be in Ireland and the defeat of Catholicism as the national religion. On this day, the Protestant “Orangemen”(奥伦治会会员，1795年成立) march through the streets, wearing their traditional uniform. They sometimes will clash with the Catholic bystanders.奥伦治大游行是为了纪念新教国王威廉三世（又称奥伦治·威廉）于1690年打败天主教詹姆斯二世党人的博因战役。1688年的光荣革命中，英国国王詹姆斯二世被流放，其女婿奥伦治·威廉取代他当了国王.詹姆斯二世企图夺回王位而发动了战役，结果被打败。7月12日是游行季节的高潮，但由于游行要经过天主教聚居区，因此引起天主教徒的强烈不满，并屡屡引发冲突，导致局势紧张。

2) St Patrick’s Day: it is on March 17 each year, when northern Irish Catholics celebrate the birthday of the patron saint of Ireland, St Patrick who was a Catholic bishop who lived in 5th C （3月17日的圣帕特里克节是为了纪念爱尔兰守护神圣帕特里克，圣帕特里克是公元5世纪的天主教主教)and is thought to have brought Christianity to Ireland; drove snakes out of Ireland, and used shamrock (三叶草，爱尔兰的国花)to explain the Christian Trinity—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (圣父、圣子、圣灵合成一神). So, the shamrock is a popular symbol to wear on St Patrick’s Day, and it is also considered very lucky to wear something green.

5. holidays in Scotland

1) Hogmanay(苏格兰的除夕,12月31日), in which one widely practiced custom is “first footing”

first footing: a custom practiced on Hogmanay in Scotland. 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. First-footers often bring a bottle of spirits (烈酒，火酒), alcohol, a lump of coal or a peat（泥炭块）as a gift and are given a “dram (一杯) of whisky”as their reward.?最流行的风俗是“第一脚”。这是一个迷信，即在新年中第一位来访的客人决定了被拜访人的家庭在新年中的运气和家庭的繁荣。如果是一位年轻的、深色头发的英俊小伙，就会被看作会给家庭带来特别的运气。第一个登门拜访者常常带来一瓶烈性酒，一块煤，或黑泥炭作为礼物，而主人也会以一杯威士忌作为回赠.

2) the Burns Night（彭斯之夜）: a celebration by Scottish people on the evening of the birthday (25 January ) of their most beloved national poet, Robert Burns. People celebrate it with suppers of haggis (肉陷羊肚)and whisky and Burn’s poems are recited throughout the evening.

3) Halloween (万圣节前夜:31 October) and traditionsIt is a Scottish festival celebrated on 31 October each year. Communion(交流)with the dead, mischief(恶作剧), fortune-telling(算命) and masquerades（化妆舞会）are common practices. Some of the other customs are “turnip”lantern for children and girls using magic spells to see into future(用咒语占卜未来).另外还有小孩子们拎着用萝卜雕刻的灯到处恶作剧，后来演变成南瓜灯。另外还有女孩了们用咒语预测未来的丈夫等习俗.

6. holidays in Wales

Eisteddfod (一年一度的威尔士诗歌音乐比赛会)：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.每年8月举行的大型诗歌音乐比赛会，以纪念威尔士的文化和语言。这个诗歌音乐比赛会提醒英国各地的人们威尔士有其独特的文化遗产。在比赛会中评选出最好的合唱团、翻译家、散文家和诗人。比赛会的高潮是本赛会最佳诗歌的两位诗人被授予桂冠。