Unit_9___Holidays_and_Special_Days.doc

Unit 9 Holidays and Special Days Part One Preparation: Useful information Holidaysthey are special times of respite (interval of rest or relief) from work and other routines. During legal holidays, stores, businesses and government offices are (officially) closed. During non-legal holidays, people celebrate them in their spare/after-work time. Holidays are often times for celebration, revelry (noisy celebrations，狂欢，midnight ~), eating, drinking, travel and family gatherings; They may also be times of rest and reflection. 2) Lead- in—Talk about Chinese holidays and holidays in western countries ⑴ Chinese holidays: Spring Festival: The first day of the year in lunar calendar; families come together; at the New Year eve each family will have a big dinner. After dinner, family members sit together, talking and playing. At midnight people light up the firecracks to welcome the New Year’s coming. The special food is Jiaozi. The origin of the Spring Festival: a tale about “nian”. Lantern Festival: The fifteenth day of the year in the lunar calendar. Families come together and have another big dinner. After dinner, families go to see lantern show, guess the lantern riddles, walk on stilts and so on to enjoy themselves. The special food is Tang yuan. Ask the students to talk more about some other Chinese holidays and then remind them of some holidays in western countries. ⑵ Holidays in western countries: Christmas: 25th of December. People get together with their family members and have a big dinner. Before Christmas people decorate their homes with Christmas trees. Children are told Santa Claus will give gifts to them during the night as long as they hang socks near the beds. Christmas is the most important holiday (Dec 25) in English-speaking countries, celebrates the birth of Jesus, though it is not actually known whether Jesus was born in the wintertime. Originally, Christmas gifts were given by the Three Wise Men (all pagans，异教徒，非基督徒) to Jesus, a Jewish child bor