圣诞节习俗与圣诞音乐


       Millions of Americans will celebrate Christmas on December twenty-fifth. It is the most widely celebrated religious holiday in the United States.
　　People buy gifts to give to family members and friends. They fill homes and stores with evergreen1 trees and bright, colored lights. They go to parties and prepare special Christmas food. Many people think Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year.
　　Many Christians go to church the night before the holiday or on Christmas Day. They celebrate Christmas as the birthday of Jesus Christ. Christian2 ministers3 speak about the need for peace and understanding in the world. This is the spiritual4 message of Christmas. Church services include traditional religious songs for the holiday. One of the most popular is "Silent Night."

　　Many other Americans celebrate Christmas as an important, but non-religious holiday. To all, however, it is a special day of family, food, and exchanging gifts.
　　Christmas is probably the most special day of the year for children. One thing that makes it special is the popular tradition of Santa Claus5.
　　Young children believe that Santa Claus is a fat, kind, old man in a red suit with white fur. They believe that-on the night before Christmas-he travels through the air in a sleigh6 pulled by reindeer7. He enters each house from the top by sliding down the hole in the fireplace8. He leaves gifts for the children under the Christmas tree.
　　Americans spend a lot of time and money buying Christmas presents. The average American family spends about 800 dollars. Stores and shopping centers are crowded at this time of year. More than 20% of goods sold during the year are sold during the weeks before Christmas. This is good for stores and for the American economy.

　　Some people object to spending all this money. They say it is not the real meaning of Christmas. So, they celebrate in other ways. For example, they make Christmas presents, instead of buying them. Or they volunteer to help serve meals to people who have no homes. Or they give money to organizations that help poor people in the United States and around the world.
　　Home and family are the center of the Christmas holiday. For many people, the most enjoyable tradition is buying a Christmas tree and decorating9 it with lights and beautiful objects. On Christmas Eve or Christmas morning, people gather around the tree to open their presents.
　　Another important Christmas tradition involves food. Families prepare many kinds of holiday foods, especially sweets. They eat these foods on the night before Christmas and on Christmas day.

　　For many people, Christmas means traveling long distances to be with their families. Another Christmas tradition is to go "caroling10."A group of people walk along the street. At each house, they stop and sing a Christmas song, called carol. Student groups also sing carols at schools and shopping centers.
　　　Not everyone in the United States celebrates Christmas. Members of the Jewish11 and Muslim12 religions, for example, generally do not. Yet many Americans do take part in some of the traditional performances of the season. One of the most popular is a story told in dance: "The Nutcracker13" ballet14. The music was written by Russian composer15 Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky in 1891.
　　The ballet is about a young girl named Clara. Clara is celebrating Christmas with her family and friends. One of her Christmas presents is a little device16 to open nuts-a nutcracker. It is shaped like a toy soldier. She dreams that the nutcracker comes to life as a good-looking prince.
　　Professional17 dance groups in many American cities perform the ballet at this time of year. They often use students from local ballet schools to dance the part of Clara and the other children in the story. This gives parents a chance to see their children perform.

Tonight I celebrate my love for you


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　　Tonight I celebrate my love for you
　　It seems the natural thing to do
　　Tonight no one's gonna find us
　　We'll leave the world behind us
　　When I make love to you
　　Tonight I celebrate my love for you
　　And hope that deep inside you'll feel it too
　　Tonight our spirits will be climbing
　　To a sky filled up with diamonds
　　When I make love to you, tonight
　　Tonight I celebrate my love for you
　　And that midnight sun is gonna come shining through
　　Tonight there'll be no distance between us
　　What I want most to do, is to get close to you
　　Tonight
　　Tonight I celebrate my love for you
　　And soon this old world will seem brand new
　　Tonight we will both discover how friends turn into lovers
　　When I make love to you
　　Tonight I celebrate my love to you
　　And tha midnight sun is gonna come shining through
　　Tonight there'll be no distance between us
　　What I want most to do, is to get close to you
　　Tonight I celebrate my love for you
　　Tonight

U.S. President Bush and his wife wave standing beside Santa Claus


U.S. President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush wave while standing beside Santa Claus, played by TV personality Willard Scott, at the Christmas Pageant of Peace on the Ellipse next to the White House December 2, 2004. During the pageant, the President and first lady assisted two children in the lighting of the National Christmas Tree

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Floating Christmas Tree Beams Peace in Violent City


The lights are blazing from the world's largest floating Christmas tree -- a gigantic metal structure as tall as a 27-storey tower block set on a lagoon in Rio de Janeiro.
With the mountain-top Christ the Redeemer statue looking down on it, the 82-meter tree stands as a brightly flashing symbol of peace in one of the world's most violent cities.

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"We're competing with all the violent news from Rio to show the world what a marvelous city it is," Roberto Medina, the project's creator, told reporters during a boat tour on the Rodrigo Freitas lagoon on Tuesday night. The tree features moving images of church bells and doves flickering from nearly 3 million lights. The Christmas tree, first erected in 1996, constitutes Rio de Janeiro's third biggest tourist event after the pre-lenten Carnival and New Year's Eve on Copacabana and other beaches. Some 100,000 people came to watch on Saturday night when the lights were switched on and more than a million are expected to view the structure before the lights are turned off on Jan. 6.
"It's beautiful. Rio isn't just shootings and killings," said Sandra Gomes de Faria, a 51-year-old retired telephone operator.

Around 1,300 workers were hired to assemble the tree, constructed from 410 tons of metal scaffolding supported by 11 barges. Bradesco Seguros e Previdencia, Brazil's largest insurance company, spent 2 million reais on the project. The Guinness Book of Records lists it as the world's largest floating Christmas tree. In comparison, the Christmas tree in New York's Rockefeller Center is 71 feet tall and has 30,000 lights, although it is a real Norwegian spruce. Rio, which has one of the world's highest murder rates, was rocked by violence last week as rival drug gangs fought for control of drug distribution points in city slums.

Thank you.The christmas is coming.Marry christmas.

so beautiful the christmas tree
happy new year!
merry christmas!

Merry Christmas! They say it is  the real meaning of Christmas. So, they celebrate in other ways. For example, they make Christmas presents, instead of buying them. Or they volunteer to help serve meals to people who have no homes. Or they give money to organizations that help poor people in the United States and around the world.
　　Home and family are the center of the Christmas holiday. For many people, the most enjoyable tradition is buying a Christmas tree and decorating9 it with lights and beautiful objects. On Christmas Eve or Christmas morning, people gather around the tree to open their presents.
　　Another important Christmas tradition involves food. Families prepare many kinds of holiday foods, especially sweets. They eat these foods on the night before Christmas and on Christmas day.

It is beatiful,isn"t it?