和谐英语

VOA慢速英语:The History of Christmas in America

2014-12-22来源:VOA

短语讲解:
 
1. Washington Irving seemed to express concern about the lack of such unifying Christmas traditions in modern America.

concern about 使(自己)关心…
例句:She showed great concern about you. 
她很为你担心。 

2. This tradition of setting up a Christmas tree soon spread to many American homes.

set up 建立; 准备
例句:The students also set up debating teams.
学生们还成立了辩论队。

3. Americans already knew old Christmas songs that came from England and other areas of Europe.

come from 来自某处; 出生于
例句:Where will all this innovation come from?
这些创新来自哪里?

4. But for most Americans his most popular name would become Santa Claus.

but for 要不是
例句:But for music (=Were it not for music), life would be dull. 
要不是音乐,人生会很无聊。 

5. Saint Nicholas was especially important to New Yorkers because of their history as a Dutch colony.

because of 因为,由于
例句:All the planes were socked in yesterday because of the thick mist. 
由于雾大,昨天所有的飞机都停飞了。