Easter in the UK ! 英國的復活節!
This year, Easter Sunday falls on the 17th April. If you live in the UK, however, you'd be forgiven for thinking it happens earlier on in the year because our shop shelves have been filled with chocolate Easter eggs for months! The date of Easter Sunday changes year to year as it always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the Spring equinox in March.
今年的復活節是在4月17日。然而，如果你住在英國，你或許會以為復活節來得更早。這是情有可原的，因為商店的架上已經擺滿了復活節巧克力彩蛋好幾個月了！復活節的日期每年都不一樣，因為它總是落在3月份春分後，第一個滿月後的第一個星期天。
For practising Christians, Easter is one of the most important holidays of the year. 'Practising' means actively following the rules of a particular religion and observing its traditions e.g. going to church on Sundays. Religious people will go to church frequently over the Easter period, the most important days being Good Friday (the Friday before Easter) and Easter Sunday.
對於信奉基督教的人來說，復活節是一年中最重要的節日之一。這裡所謂的“信奉（practising）”是指積極遵循特定宗教的規則，遵守其傳統，例如在星期天上教堂。在復活節期間，虔誠的教徒會經常上教堂，而最重要的日子是耶穌受難日（復活節前的星期五）和復活節。
But you don't have to be religious to celebrate Easter. Many Brits who aren't practising Christians will still take some time to relax and enjoy Easter traditions. Good Friday and Easter Monday are both public holidays in the UK, so most workers will have a long weekend regardless of their faith. Many people try to take some of their annual leave (holiday time) either side of the weekend in order to extend their time off.
但不一定是虔誠的教徒才能慶祝復活節。許多不信奉基督教的英國人仍然會在這個時候放鬆一下，享受復活節的傳統。耶穌受難日和復活節星期一都是英國的公共假期，所以無論是什麼信仰的員工，他們大多數人都會有一個長的週末假期。許多人會嘗試在週末前後休一些年假，以延長休假時間，好好去度假一番。
Now, onto some Easter traditions. For children, we have the 'Easter Bunny', who is a bit like the 'Father Christmas' of Easter. This fictional bunny leaves out chocolate eggs for children after they've gone to bed on the Saturday before Easter Sunday. Eggs symbolise new life and fertility, but I believe the traditional eggs (like you'd have for breakfast) were replaced with chocolate eggs after a clever marketing move from the chocolate company Cadbury's! If you do have children, the activities on Easter Sunday usually involve an Easter egg hunt, where small chocolate eggs are hidden all over a garden or a local park and kids set out to find and collect them. The winner is the one who finds the most eggs, and the prize is self-evident!
讓我們開始來聊聊復活節的一些傳統。對於孩子們，我們有“復活節兔子”，牠有點像復活節的“聖誕老人”。這隻虛構的兔子會在復活節前的星期六晚上，在孩子們上床睡覺後給他們留下巧克力蛋。蛋象徵新的生命和生育能力，但我相信在巧克力公司Cadbury(吉百利)的巧妙行銷下，傳統的雞蛋（就像你早餐吃的那種）被巧克力蛋取代了！如果你家裡有孩子，復活節的活動通常包括尋找復活節彩蛋。巧克力蛋會被藏在花園或當地公園的各處，孩子們會去尋找和收集它們，找到最多彩蛋的人就是贏家。獎品會是什麼呢？我想大家也能猜到！
Two other foods spring to mind when thinking about Easter. First, roast lamb, which we'd usually eat with mint sauce for Easter Sunday lunch. And secondly, hot cross buns. These are sweet buns marked with an icing cross (to represent the cross that Jesus was nailed to - nice!) containing dried fruit such as raisins and currants. These buns can be eaten hot or cold, regardless of their name, and are traditionally eaten on Good Friday, the day Jesus was crucified.
一想到復活節，腦海中會浮現兩種食物。首先是烤羊肉，我們通常會在復活節午餐時吃這種羊肉搭配薄荷醬。第二，十字麵包。這是一種甜麵包，人們會用糖霜在麵包上畫出十字（代表耶穌被釘在十字架上 – Nice 🤔！），裡面還有葡萄乾、黑醋栗等果乾。這些麵包可以吃熱的，也可以冷的吃（儘管我們叫它hot cross bun）。傳統上，人們會在耶穌受難日時，即耶穌被釘在十字架上的那一天，吃這種麵包。
This year, I'm hoping to spend Easter with my two little nieces. We're planning a traditional roast lamb meal for Sunday lunch, and we're going to hide Easter eggs around my sister's garden for my older niece to find. Unfortunately, the younger one is too young to join in the egg hunt, but I'm sure there'll be some greedy adults milling around ready to snatch a few of her chocolate eggs!
今年，我打算和兩個侄女一起過復活節。我們計劃在週日午餐時吃一頓傳統的烤羊肉，並準備把復活節彩蛋藏在姐姐的花園裡，讓我的大侄女去找。很可惜的是，小侄女的年紀還很小，不能參加尋找復活節彩蛋遊戲，但我相信一定會有一些貪吃的大人在周圍閒晃，準備搶走她的幾顆巧克力蛋！🤤
文章作者：Nicola Hardwick 小組課程師資
大家好！我是Nicola，是一名住在英格蘭南邊海岸的英語母語者。在過去近兩年中，我一直都是一名英文老師。我擁有艾希特大學的英文一等學位。我也擁有在不同辦公室工作和作為自由校對員的專業經驗。在我的空閒時間，我喜歡看書、寫故事，以及帶我的狗去海灘散步。我對語言學習的興趣源自於我自己學習法文的經歷。我一直都在探索各種新的創意教學方法。期待與大家見面！
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