加拿大推崇多元文化,節(jié)假日也因民族的眾多,地區(qū)的差異而數(shù)不勝數(shù),全國性的節(jié)假日有下述幾個。

  新年(New Year's Day),每年1月1日。

  愛爾蘭節(jié)(Saint Patrick's Day),3月17日。Saint Patrick是愛爾蘭人尊崇的圣人。他幫助愛爾蘭人將害人的蛇驅(qū)趕進汪洋大海。綠色是這個節(jié)日的象征。人們盡可能地穿綠色服裝,喝綠啤酒。

  復(fù)活節(jié)( Easter Sunday),3月21日后月圓以后的第一個星期日。本來是慶祝耶酥復(fù)活的宗教節(jié)日,但目前宗教氣氛已逐漸淡化;最特征化的物品是象征生命力的彩蛋和兔寶貝。

  維多利亞日(Victoria Day),5月24日是英國女王維多利亞的生日。

  國慶節(jié)(Canada Day),7月1日(國家成立于1867年)。各大中城市組織上街游行狂歡,晚上燃放焰火。

  勞動節(jié)(Labor Day),9月份第一個星期一。在多數(shù)加拿大人的概念中,此節(jié)日標(biāo)志著夏天的結(jié)束。

  感恩節(jié)(Thanksgiving Day),10月份第二個星期一。南瓜餅是常見的感恩節(jié)食物,火雞是感恩節(jié)的標(biāo)志吉祥物。

  停戰(zhàn)紀(jì)念日(Remembrance Day),11月11日。為紀(jì)念死于兩次世界大戰(zhàn)和朝鮮戰(zhàn)爭中的將士,但現(xiàn)在已變成紀(jì)念所有死于戰(zhàn)爭的人的一天,人們照常工作,在當(dāng)天11:00全國默哀片刻。

  圣誕節(jié)(Christmas Day),12月25日,其過法與別的國家無二。

  節(jié)禮日(Boxing Day),過完圣誕的第二天,也就是12月26日(如遇星期天則順延一天),大家余興未消,又進入了節(jié)禮日。本節(jié)日始于英國,傳統(tǒng)上是向郵遞員等送禮的日子。

????? 拓展閱讀:

  My Vacation

  My vacation was very interesting. I did my homework on the first day. Then I played table tennis on the second day. On the third day, I watched TV and went shopping on the fourth day. But I liked my going shopping best.

  On Sunday, I went to a shopping center with my mother. The shopping center wasn't far from my home. It took us about ten minutes to get there on foot. The shopping center was very big. There were all kinds of things. Every day a lot of people go there to buy things. It opens at eight in the morning and closes at nine at night. Now, I was helping my mother buying things. I had a shopping list in my hand. We were looking for things on the shopping list. After staying in the shopping center for about two hours, we got all the things and walked home.

  What did you do when you were on vacation?

  ? 1. What did the writer do on the second day in vacation?
  A. Did her homework. B. Played table tennis.
  C. Played computer games. D. Watched TV.

  2. On Sunday, the writer went to with her mother.
  A. buy some things B. a shopping center far away
  C. a restaurant near her house D. a museum

  3. It took the writer to get the shopping center.
  A. less than 10 minutes on foot B. more than 10 minutes on foot
  C. 10 minutes by bike D. less than 12 minutes on foot

  4. According to this passage, how did the writer felt about her vacation?

  5. Please describe the shopping center with your own words.

  答案:
  1. B
  解析:文中第一段指出,在假期的第一天作者寫了作業(yè),第二天打了乒乓球。B選項正確。
  2. A
  解析:文中第二段指出,在周日的時候他和媽媽一起去了離家不遠的購物中心買東西。B選項錯在far away,不選。所以我們只能選擇A,作者和媽媽去買東西。
  3. D
  解析:文中第二段指出,作者用了大概十分鐘的時間走到購物中心,這里的about并不能使我們知道到底是多于十分鐘還是少于十分鐘。但我們可以知道比十二分鐘要短。
  4、She thought it was very interesting and she liked her vacation very much.
  解析:文章開頭便指出了作者認為自己的假期非常有意思。
  5、It was near the writer's house and was very big. There were all kinds of things in it. Too many people went there to buy things every day.
  解析:我們只要把第二段講述的購物中心的特征摘出來即可。該購物中心大、人多、東西也多。  解析:由最后一段全段可知作者喜歡參加這些活動,并指出了這些活動的好處?

英語擴展閱讀系列>>>