对于很多想出国留学的同学来说，那么可能需要考托福，那么今天就和留学群的小编一起来看看托福阅读背景素材：圣诞节的起源。
We’ve all heard the Biblical origin of Christmas， but societies have been celebrating life and birth in the darkest day in winter centuries before Jesus walked the earth.
大家都听说过圣经版本的圣诞起源，但是早在基督诞生以前，在冬季最黑暗的冬至时刻，人们（译注：society是“社会”的意思，复数形式societies在这里的意思是拥有不同语言和文化的各种早期的人类社会形式。）已经有了庆祝的传统。
In the north country， this winter celebration was known as Yule. Around December 21st， the winter solstice， fathers and sons dragged evergreens indoors as reminders of life and set logs on fire as promise of a good fortune.
在北方的国度（译注：主要指北欧），这种冬日庆祝活动被称为Yule节。在冬至——12月21日左右，父子们将常青树放入室内寓意生命，并将原木点燃象征着好运。
Ancient Rome had its own December festivals. One week before the winter solstice， Romans begins celebrating Saturnalia， an orgy of food and drink in honor of Saturn， the God of agriculture.
古代的罗马人也有自己的12月的庆祝节日。在冬至之前的一周，罗马人开始名为Saturnalia的节日，它是为了纪念农业之神Saturn的狂欢盛宴。
Some Romans particularly soldiers and government officials also worshiped Mithra， the sun god. It is believed that to this small but powerful sect， the birthday of Mithra，December 25th was the holiest day of the year.
一些罗马人，主要是士兵和官员，同时也崇拜太阳之神Mithra。人们相信Mithra的生日——12月25日——对于这个人数不多但力量强大的宗派来说是一年中最神圣的日子。
By the first century AD， pagan traditions were being challenged as Christianity took whole through the empire. But Christ’s birthday remained the mystery since the Bible doesn’t mention exactly when he was born...