Part 1 The History of Father's Day 父親節(jié)的來歷

The United States is one of the few countries in the world that has an official day on which fathers are honored by their children. On the third Sunday in June, fathers all across the United States are given presents, treated to dinner or otherwise made to feel special. .

The origin of Father's Day is not clear. Some say that it began with a church service in West Virginia in 1908. Others say the first Father's Day ceremony was held in Vancouver, Washington.

Regardless of when the first true Father's Day occurred, the strongest promoter of the holiday was Mrs. Bruce John Dodd of Spokane, Washington. She thought of the idea for Father's Day while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909.

Sonora wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart. Smart, who was a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife died while giving birth to their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington state.

After Sonora became an adult she realized the selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a courageous, selfless, and loving man. In 1909, Mrs. Dodd approached her own minister and others in Spokane about having a church service dedicated to fathers on June 5, her father's birthday.

That date was too soon for her minister to prepare the service, so he spoke a few weeks later on June 19th. From then on, the state of Washington celebrated the third Sunday in June as Father's Day. Children made special desserts, or visited their fathers if they lived apart.

In early times, wearing flowers was a traditional way of celebrating Father's Day. Mrs. Dodd favored the red rose to honor a father still living, while a white flower honored a deceased dad. J.H. Berringer, who also held Father's Day celebrations in Washington State as early as 1912, chose a white lilac as the Father's Day Flower.

States and organizations began lobbying Congress to declare an annual Father's Day. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson approved of this idea, but it was not until 1924 when President Calvin Coolidge made it a national event to "establish more intimate relations between fathers and their children and to impress upon fathers the full measure of their obligations."

Since then, fathers had been honored and recognized by their families throughout the country on the third Sunday in June. In 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father's Day and put the official stamp on a celebration that was going on for almost half a century.

When children can't visit their fathers or take them out to dinner, they send a greeting card. Traditionally, fathers prefer greeting cards that are not too sentimental. Most greeting cards are whimsical（奇形怪狀的，異想天開的）so fathers laugh when they open them. Some give heartfelt thanks for being there whenever the child needed Dad.

專門用一天向母親表示敬意的想法是1907年在美國首先提出來的。2年以后華盛頓州的一位婦女Mrs. Bruce John Dodd提出應有類似母親節(jié)的一天來向一家之長的父親表示敬意。多德夫人年幼喪母，由父親把她帶大。她非常愛自己的父親。

在多德夫人提出她的想法的同一年－－1909年，華盛頓州州長作出反應，宣布六月的第三個星期日為父親節(jié)。這個想法在1916年被伍德·威爾遜總統(tǒng)正式批準。1924年，卡爾文·柯立芝總統(tǒng)建議把父親節(jié)作為一個全國性的節(jié)日以便“在父親和子女之間建立更親密的關系，并且使父親銘記自己應盡的全部責任”。紅色或白色玫瑰是公認的父親節(jié)的節(jié)花。

父親節(jié)在全美國作為節(jié)日確定下來，比母親節(jié)經(jīng)過的時間要長一些。因為建立父親節(jié)的想法很得人心，所以商人和制造商開始看到商機。他們不僅鼓勵做兒女的給父親寄賀卡，而且鼓動他們買領帶、襪子之類的小禮品送給父親，以表達對父親的敬重。

第二次世界大戰(zhàn)期間，駐扎在英國的美國軍人要求得到父親節(jié)的賀卡寄回國內。美國軍人的要求得到英國賀卡出版商的回應，因而印制了賀卡。雖然英國公眾對這個節(jié)日接受得要緩慢一些，但今天英國在六月里第三個星期日也熱烈慶祝父親節(jié)，和美國的慶祝方式差不多。

父親節(jié)似乎遠不如母親節(jié)那么重要，沒有孩子給父親送禮物。但是，美國的父親仍然認為他們的命運比許多其它國家的父親強得多，因為那些國家的父親們連個名義上的節(jié)日都沒有。

Part 2 Jenny's Birthday Present Jenny的生日禮物

Dialogue Script 1 對話原文 1

Jenny: Yippee! Today's my seventh birthday!
Dad: Congratulations, honey! We are so happy for you!
Jenny: What do I get for my birthday?
Dad: Well, we had a big surprise for you.
Jenny: I hope it's that pretty Barbie doll I saw in the store!
Dad: No, I'm sorry. Go on out to the park. There you can check out your present.

講解：

1. 今天是 Jenny7歲的生日，她很開心，Yippee! 在口語當中是一個很常用的感嘆詞，用來表示愉快或者興奮。Jenny的父母也為她感到高興。Congratulations!大家應該很熟悉了，對某人表示祝賀的時候就可以用。如果要表示“因為某件事情向某人祝賀”的時候就用Congratulations on something! 這個用法。

2. 過生日當然要有生日禮物，那么今年Jenny會得到什么禮物呢？What do I get for my birthday? 爸爸說為Jenny準備了一份大驚喜。surprise，這里表示“驚喜，驚訝”，比如說，What a surprise! 多么令人驚訝啊！Imagine our surprise on seeing her here. 我們在那看見她，吃了一驚。The gift came as a complete surprise to me. 這件禮物完全出乎我的意料。

3. 還有一個短語是to one's surprise，意思是“讓某人感到驚奇的是...”，比如說，To my surprise, they succeeded at last. 讓我吃驚的是，他們最后竟然成功了。Jenny希望自己的生日禮物是她在商店里看過的那個漂亮的芭比娃娃。可是爸爸告訴她，這次的生日禮物不是芭比娃娃，而是另外的驚喜。

4. 爸爸讓Jenny去公園一看就知道了。go on 在這里不是表示“繼續(xù)做某事”，而是表示“快點去做某事，用來鼓勵某人試著去做某事”。check out 表示“調查、發(fā)現(xiàn)某物”，有發(fā)現(xiàn)“驚訝”的感覺在里面，比如說，Check it out! That's the best house I've ever seen. 快來看啊！這是我見過的最棒的房子！

Dialogue Script 2 對話原文 2

Dad: Happy birthday, Jenny!
Jenny: Wow! A bicycle! I can't believe my eyes!
Dad: I hope you like it!
Jenny: I love it! My own bike! So wicked!
Dad: But there's only one problem, Jenny. You don't know how to ride a bike.
Jenny: Oh yeah. I have to learn! I have to learn! Can you teach me, Dad? Can you?
Dad: Of course I can.

講解：

1. 原來Jenny的生日禮物是一臺漂亮的自行車，這確實是一個驚喜，Jenny簡直不敢相信自己的眼睛。wicked 這里是一個俚語，表示“非常棒的，非常好的”。

2. 但是這里有一個問題，Jenny根本就不會騎自行車，有了自行車也不能用啊。Jenny很興奮地說，不會我可以學啊！并且讓爸爸教她騎。

3. 騎自行車用ride這個詞，可以表示“騎馬，騎自行車”等等一些“騎”的動作，比如說，He rode off into the distance. 他騎馬奔向遠方。She's riding on her father's shoulders. 她騎在父親的肩上。

4. ride 這個詞還可以表示“搭乘交通工具”，比如說，ride in a bus，坐公共汽車，ride on a train 坐火車等等。還有，You ride in the back of the car with your mother. 你跟媽媽坐到車后座去。ride還可以表示“飄浮于...之上”，我們可以用ride造一個很美的句子，The moon was riding high in the sky. 月亮高高地掛在天空上。

Dialogue Script 3 對話原文 3

Dad: Maybe it'll be best if you try training wheels first.
Jenny: Training wheels? No way. That's for little kids.
Dad: But you need to work on your balance first, Jenny.
Jenny: I don't want training wheels. They look stupid.
Dad: Well, OK. We can try without training wheels to start. You'll have to be cautious.
Jenny: I'll be very careful, and I'll ride really slowly.

講解：

1.對話中爸爸在教Jenny騎自行車。爸爸建議Jenny先用training wheels來學騎自行車，training wheels，就是兒童自行車后輪加裝的輔助輪。

2. Jenny可不想這么做，因為training wheels是為小朋友準備的。No way. 意思就相當于漢語的“沒門”。

3. 但是爸爸說Jenny首先要解決的問題是平衡問題，而training wheels會幫Jenny更好的掌握平衡。可Jenny還是不想用training wheels，因為它們看起來傻傻的。

4. 沒辦法，爸爸只好同意不用training wheels，誰讓今天是Jenny的生日呢！但是Jenny一定要小心。cautious表示“小心的，謹慎的”，用法是be cautious about/of sb/sth。比如說，You should be cautious of the strangers. 你應該小心提防陌生人。She is very cautious about spending money. 她用錢很仔細。

Dialogue Script 4 對話原文 4

Dad: Well, it is your birthday. I'll hold the back of the bike while you pedal.
Jenny: But what if I fall?
Dad: You won't fall because I'll run behind you. Just don't pedal too fast.
Jenny: OK. Should I start to pedal now?
Dad: Go for it. Keep pedaling, you'll get the hang of it.
Jenny: Whoa! This feels weird! I'm gonna fall! I'm really gonna go down!
Dad: No, you're not. You're doing great! Just keep pedaling.
Jenny: Hey, Dad! Look! I'm almost riding by myself!
Dad: Thatta girl! Keep your hands on the brakes to stop.
Jenny: Got it, Dad! Hey! This is pretty easy. Look at me ride a bike!
Dad: I'm gonna let go of you for a second, OK?
Jenny: OK! I can do it!
Dad: I'm letting go…go, Jenny! Don't lose your balance!
Jenny: Weeee! I can really...(CRASH)

講解：

1. 對話中，爸爸繼續(xù)教Jenny騎自行車，Jenny蹬腳踏板的時候，爸爸會在后面扶著。這里pedal用作動詞，意思是“踩踏板；騎車”，比如說，He pedaled down the hill. 他騎車下了山。

2. Jenny很擔心，如果摔下來怎么辦？爸爸告訴她不用擔心，因為爸爸就會在后面扶著車跑，就是不要蹬得太快。get the hang of it 指“找到訣竅，學會使用方法”。hang在口語中表示“處理方法，訣竅”，而it就泛指任何事物。我們來舉幾個例子，---How's your new job going? ---Not good. I can't seem to get the hang of bossing people around. ---你的新工作還好嗎？---不好，我似乎不太會差遣人。 還有，---Are you getting the hang of it yet? ---Not yet. Swimming the breaststroke is no problem, but freestyle is hard. ---你到底學會了沒有？---還沒，游蛙泳不是問題，但是自由泳真難學。---Do you need any help? ---No, thanks. I'm getting the hang of it. ---用幫忙嗎？---不用了，謝謝，我已經(jīng)逐漸上手了。

3. Jenny學的還挺快，幾乎可以自己騎了。爸爸夸獎她，說Thatta girl!是That's the girl! 的縮寫，這句話用來激勵或者贊賞別人。爸爸還提醒Jenny把手放到剎車上來控制停車。brake，表示“制動器，剎車”，put on 或者apply the brakes，就可以表示“剎車，拉閘”。

4. 爸爸看Jenny已經(jīng)騎的不錯了，就放開了手，讓她自己練習，誰知道Jenny一緊張，就失去了平衡，摔倒了。

Dialogue Script 5 對話原文 5

Dad: Are you OK, honey? Are you alright?
Jenny: My knee hurts! It's bleeding!
Dad: OK. Let's go get you a Band-aid.
Jenny: But I want to ride my bike some more.
Dad: First we have to get your cut cleaned up.
Jenny: Then can we come back out?
Dad: We'll see. Your knee is pretty banged up.
(A Week Later)
Jenny: It's been a week, Dad! I can ride my bike today, right?
Dad: Yes, but with training wheels.
Jenny: OK. But when I get really good at riding, can I take the training wheel off?
Dad: Yes, if you practice a lot. Remember Practice makes perfect!
Jenny: I'm gonna practice every day of my life!
Dad: Ha! If you practice that much, you can join the Tour de France!
Jenny: What's that?

講解：

1. 爸爸檢查了一下Jenny的傷勢，膝蓋破了一個口，還在流血。爸爸去拿了一個Band-aid，就是“創(chuàng)可貼”，我們平常也叫“邦迪”。

2. Jenny覺得自己沒有什么，還想再多騎一會兒。但是爸爸不同意，當務之急是把Jenny的傷口清理一下。

3. Jenny問那一會還能再來騎自行車嗎？爸爸說We'll see. 意思就是“再說吧，看看情況再定。”因為Jenny膝蓋的傷口看起來挺糟糕的。bang up 這個詞組表示“凄慘，狼狽”。

4. 說道這個We'll see. 還有You'll see.這個句子，表示“你到時候就知道了。”一周過去了，Jenny的傷也好的差不多了，所以又開始嚷嚷著到外面去騎自行車。

5. 爸爸同意了，但是這一次一定要裝上training wheels，來維持平衡。Jenny只好同意了，不過她還討價還價，等自己騎的很好了，就一定要把training wheels拿掉，要不然別人會笑話她的。這里有一個習語，大家應該知道，Practice makes perfect! 就是“熟能生巧” 。

6. Jenny下定決心，要每天都勤加練習。爸爸開玩笑地說，如果Jenny練得那么勤，就可以參加環(huán)法自行車公開賽了。就是Tour de France。