英语博客：Gingerbread houses.

　　Aren't holiday traditions great! I'm always fascinated by the many ways that people of different cultures celebrate special times. We use symbols, songs, colors, food, actions, religious rituals, and get togethers to express our humanity. And we all do it. When you think of just how different all of the countries on this planet are, how our histories have shaped us, and how we have developed our own traditions, looking at how we celebrate special occasions is similar to looking through a magnifying glass at us. Our celebrations reveal a lot about us. One of the traditions that we have adopted from other cultures is to decorate gingerbread houses around Christmas time. Gingerbread dates back to the early Greeks and Egyptians who used it in ceremonies. Monks² brought ginger¹ to France in 10th century. But it wasn't until around 11th century that crusaders brought ginger back to Europe from the Middle East. An early recipe for gingerbread was ground almonds, dry bread crumbs³, rosewater, sugar, and ginger. This was pressed into wooden molds that depicted⁴ the news of that time, a bit like small edible⁵ newspaper. In the 16th century, the English replaced the bread crumbs with flour, and added eggs, making a lighter⁶ bread. The first gingerbread man is credited to Queen Elizabeth 1, who impressed visitors with gingerbread men made in their images. Gingerbread quickly became more and more popular. It was in 19th century that gingerbread houses appeared in Germany after the brothers Grimm published their stories, especially Hansel and Gretel. They are a common Christmas tradition in Europe and North America. There are even competitions to build the biggest ones, and there is also an annual gingerbread city in Bergen, Norway. So, you see, our tradition of making a gingerbread house didn't originate here at all. It's development has taken a long time, and each time it has reached a different country, it has been slightly changed. And that is the way that traditions evolve.
Grammar notes.
Related vocabulary: a magnifying glass, crusaders, to replace, to originate.
1. At school, the children examined bugs⁷ under a magnifying glass.
2. Richard the Lionheart was a crusader.
3. That light has gone out. Could you replace the bulb?
4. They originated in Russia, but their family has settled in many different countries.

1 ginger   

n.姜，精力，淡赤黄色；adj.淡赤黄色的；vt.使活泼，使有生气

参考例句：

• There is no ginger in the young man.这个年轻人没有精神。
• Ginger shall be hot in the mouth.生姜吃到嘴里总是辣的。

2 monks   

n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The monks lived a very ascetic life. 僧侣过着很清苦的生活。
• He had been trained rigorously by the monks. 他接受过修道士的严格训练。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 crumbs   

int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式

参考例句：

• She stood up and brushed the crumbs from her sweater. 她站起身掸掉了毛衣上的面包屑。
• Oh crumbs! Is that the time? 啊，天哪！都这会儿啦？

4 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

5 edible   

n.食品，食物；adj.可食用的

参考例句：

• Edible wild herbs kept us from dying of starvation.我们靠着野菜才没被饿死。
• This kind of mushroom is edible,but that kind is not.这种蘑菇吃得，那种吃不得。

6 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

7 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》