张倩云

People in many ancient cultures believed that the Sun God became pale and frail1 during winter and that is why we had the winter solstice2. Evergreen trees reminded them of the plants that would grow once more， when the Sun God recovered3.

在许多古代文化中，人们相信太阳神在冬天变得苍白和虚弱，这就是为什么我们有冬至节气的原因。常绿的树木会让人们想起太阳神复苏后还会再次生长的植物。

Who got the idea of lighting up a Christmas Tree？

Lights are important in the history of Christmas tree. Martin Luther， a Protestant4， was once walking through a forest of evergreen trees in Germany， when he saw sparkling stars lighting up the trees. Martin recreated this beautiful scene at home by lighting candles on his Christmas tree.

In 1895， Ralph Morris of the USA， got the idea of using electric lights on Christmas trees， changing Christmas celebrations forever. He helped make Christmas lights safer， as the danger of fire reduced5. Earlier， a Chicago hospital had burnt down because of Christmas candles. Insurance6 companies wanted a ban on Christmas candles because they caused many fires.

Can you guess the maximum7 number of lights anyone has put on a Christmas tree？ Its 194，672. This was done in Belgium in 2010.

是谁想到点亮圣诞树这个主意的？

灯光在圣诞树的历史上是很重要的。有一位新教徒马丁·路德，曾经在德国的一片常青树林中散步，他看到闪烁的星星照亮了树木。马丁在家里点燃圣诞树上的蜡烛，重现了这美丽的一幕。

1895年，美国的拉尔夫·莫里斯想出了在圣诞树上使用电灯的主意，这永远改变了圣诞节的庆祝方式。他帮忙使灯更安全，同时火灾的危险减少了。在那之前，芝加哥一家医院因为圣诞蜡烛而烧毁。保险公司希望禁止使用圣诞蜡烛，因为它们引发了许多火灾。

你能猜出人们在一颗圣诞树上放的灯的最大数量吗？194672个。这是2010年人们在比利时做到的。

Early Christmas Trees

Some early Christmas trees were hung upside down from the ceiling. Chandeliers were used sometimes to do this.

What did artificial8 Christmas trees of that time look like？ If people couldnt afford a real tree， they would decorate pyramids9 of wood. They used Christmas tree decorations10 like candles， paper and apples. Some carried these around to show neighbors， instead of keeping the trees in their houses.

早期的圣诞树

一些早期的圣诞树是倒挂在天花板上的。有时人们会用枝形的吊灯来做圣诞树。

那时候的人造圣诞树是什么样子的呢？如果人们买不起一棵真正的树，他们会装饰角锥形的木头。他们用蜡烛、纸和苹果等圣诞树装饰物。有些人把这些带给周围的邻居看，而不是把树放在家里。

Famous Christmas Trees

Every year， Norway sends the United Kingdom a giant Christmas tree as a thank-you gift for the help during World War II. It stands in Trafalgar Square， London.

There are also many famous Christmas trees around the world.

What Christmas decorations do you like？ Do you get your tree from a shop or do you make one？

著名的圣誕树

挪威每年都会送英国一棵巨大的圣诞树，以感谢英国在二战期间的帮助。它矗立在伦敦特拉法加广场。

全世界还有许多有名的圣诞树。

你喜欢什么圣诞装饰物？你的圣诞树是从商店里买来的还是自己做的？

（英语原文选自：mocomi.com）

【Notes】

1. frail   adj. 脆弱的;虚弱的 2. solstice   n. 至，至日;至点

3. recover   v. 恢复 4. Protestant   n. 新教徒

5. reduce   v. 减少;降低 6. insurance   n. 保险

7. maximum   n. 最大限度;最大量 8. artificial   adj. 人造的

9. pyramid   n. 角锥体 10. decoration   n. 装饰