雅思听力材料：An American Christmas

　　Christmas is the time for exchanging presents. Stephen and Niko had been thinking about their Christmas lists (a list of things they wish "Santa"to give them for Christmas) for a long time. I didn't want to ask for anything, but the Stapczynskis were so kind to "force"me make one list as well (Mr. Stapczynski told me if I didn't make one he would chop off my legs). So I wrote down a couple of things that I would like to have, and gave the list to them--sorry, my mistake--to Santa.

　　Finally, Christmas Eve came. There was a special Christmas service at the church at 6 p.m. It was certainly a very interesting experience for me. The priest started the service reading and sang out extractions from a holy book--The Divine Liturgy. For several times, we would stand up and pray. Sometimes, the church choir would start singing. The atmosphere was very quiet and holy. Then there was a ceremony called "The Receiving Communion". People waited in line to "receive"a spoonful of food from the priest. It was a very special Christmas tradition. The food was made from bread and wine. The bread represents the body of Jesus, and the wine represents his blood. After this ceremony, the priest had a speech. He reminded us not to forget the true meaning of Christmas, and let Jesus really live inside us--that is, to love the people around us wholeheartedly. I think that no matter if you are a Christian or not, this principle should be part of our lives. After the priest finished his speech, the part that I enjoyed most came: Christmas carols5. Christmas carols are songs that people sing at Christmas, such as "Jingle Bells", "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", "Silent Night"and so on. Some were very merry, others sounded quite holy, but all of them were beautiful. I closed my eyes, and let all the peacefulness and happiness that were in the songs flow through me. What a feeling it was!

　　We went to sleep earlier that day for we had to get up early on Christmas Day to open our presents. Sure enough, when I was still half-way during a sweet dream, Stephen burst into my room and told me to get up and open presents. There were a huge pile of presents under the Christmas tree, and there was such a mysterious mist shrouding them that made me eager to see what they all were. So one by one, we went through all the presents. Mr. and Mrs. Stapczynski had bought me everything I had written on my Christmas list--and a lot more! I got music CDs, film DVDs, clothes, books… I was very happy, and I didn't know how to express my appreciation for what they had done for me. Stephen and Niko had gotten a lot of presents too, and they had already been trying out their new games!

　　In the afternoon, we went to Mrs. Stapczynski's brother, Uncle Stan's house. They had prepared a marvelous meal for us. A lot of their friends and relatives also came. I saw Stephen and Niko's grandparents, Yiayia and Papou (words of grandma and grandpa in Greek--Mrs. Stapczynski's parents came from Greece, so they like the boys using Greek words to call them). They were very kind to me, and treated me just like one of their family members. We had a very luxurious meal, consisting of turkey, beef, pork, and all sorts of other food.

　　After the meal, when all the stomachs were full and everyone was feeling drowsy6 from all the food, we just sat around the table and chatted, just like what we Chinese people do at the Spring Festival. After all, Christmas, like the Spring Festival, is a time for us to get away from our busy lives, a time for family gathering, and a time to have some fun.

　　Notes:

　　1. host family: 寄住家庭或接待家庭。学校安排那些圣诞节仍留在美国的国际学生住在当地的寄住家庭中。

　　2. Santa Claus: 圣诞老人。

　　3. Rudolph:　每到圣诞节，圣诞老人乘坐驯鹿雪撬给孩子们送礼物，其中指路的驯鹿的名字叫Rudolph，它的鼻子是红色的，所以称其为"red-nose reindeer"。

　　4. 街上的景象使车中响起一片惊奇的声音。set off: 激起，引起。

　　5. carol: (圣诞)颂歌。

　　6. drowsy: 困倦的。