Письмо своему другу о том, как люди празднуют рождество на языке

the word "christmas" is derived from the words "christ's mass" - the celebration of the birth of jesus christ. but although christmas is undoubtedly a christian celebration, it is also true to say that it is an unusual combination of pagan and christian festivities.

a christmas tree stands in everybody's living room at christmas, shining its good cheer around the room. sitting on the very top of the tree is a silver star surrounded by tiny lights. all the branches are hung with silver bells, tinsel and sparkling lights. around the base of the tree lie the gifts and toys wrapped up in bright colourful paper.

the christmas tree has spread its influence around the world. in fact america adopted it before it found its way to england early in queen victoria's reign. now every christmas british people are sent a huge fir tree from norway which stands in trafalgar square, in the centre of london, shining down on all the people who gather on christmas eve.

in pre-christian times evergreens, trees that remain green throughout the year. were worshiped in northern europe as symbols of eternal life. mistletoe, hung up as a christmas decoration is a symbol of love and reconciliation.

holly, a well-known christmas decoration today, has christian associations. in norwegian, swedish and danish, holly is known as "christ's thorns", the legend being that christ wore a crown of holly thorns before his death. some people have seen associations between the word "holly" and "holy".

giving presents goes back to roman saturnalia when good luck gifts of fruit, pastry or gold were given to friends on new year's day. in britain the traditional day to give presents until relatively recently was december 26th and not as it is today, christmas day. december 26th is now known as boxing day, for it was then that the priests of the middle ages opened alms boxes to give to the poor.

not all christian customs and traditions are of ancient origin. although various people have claimed to have designed the first christmas card. william egley, an english artist, seems to have the best claim. in 1842 he designed his own card and sent it to one hundred of his friends. today three billion are sent annually in the united states alone.

Место действия - средневековый уэльс. был принц по имени ллевеллин. он жил в долине. у него был сын младенец. у него также был пес по имени гелерт. однажды принц пошел на охоту. он оставил собаку наблюдать за младенцем. из леса вышло несколько волков. они побежали к дому. он убил двоих, но был ранен. он был уставший и лег чтобы поспать. когда принц вернулся, он увидел пса, покрытого кровью. он нигде не видел своего сына. он убил пса так как думал, что пес не смог защитить младенца. затем он услышал крик младенца и нашел его. через окно он увидел двух мертвых волков и все понял. затем он похоронил собаку и собрал камни чтобы отметить могилу. ее можно увидить и по сей день. правильные утверждения 2 и 3

Live in one of the most beautiful and ancient russian cities - in the city of vladimir. vladimir is more than 1,000 years old. it was founded by the prince vladimir svyatoslavovich in 990. it is located in the heart of the historic vladimir region (vladimirskaya oblast) in 180 kilometers northeast of moscow on the bank of the klyazma river. now vladimir is one of the cities of the golden ring, which attracts a lot of tourists from all over the world by its historic sights and museums. the main of them are the magnificent five-domed assumption cathedral, dmitrievsky cathedral, the golden gate. all of them date to the 12th century, and they are inscribed by unesco on the world heritage list. the state vladimir-suzdalsky museum is world-wide famous for its monuments and exhibitions. in my free time i also enjoy walking in its old streets and wondering the city's architecture. vladimir is a modern city at a time. it is a political, economic, scientific and cultural city of the vladimirskaya oblast and russia as well. vladimir is home to several electrical and chemical factories, several food processing plants, two large thermal power stations. a lot of institutes, academies and the university are located here.