2018年翻译资格考试英语笔译初级模拟题：母亲节的来历
英译汉
The Story of Mother’s day
The earliest Mother’s Day celebrations can be traced back to the spring celebrations of ancient Greece in honor of Rhea, the Mother of the Gods. During the 1600’s, England celebrated a day called“Mothering Sunday”. Celebrated on the 4th Sunday of lent,“ Mothering Sunday”honored the mothers of England.
During this time many of the England’s poor worked as servants for the wealthy. As most jobs were located far from their homes, the servants would live at the houses of their employees. On Mothering Sunday the servants would have the day off and were encouraged to return home and spend the day with their mothers. A special cake, called the mothering cake, was often brought along to provide a festive touch.
As Christianity spread throughout Europe the celebration changed to honor the “Mother Church”— the spiritual power that gave them life and protected them from harm. Over time the church festival blended with the Mothering Sunday celebration. People began honoring their mothers as well as the church.
In the Unite States Mother’s Day was first suggested in 1872 by Julia Ward Howe as a day dedicated to peace. Ms. Howe would hold organized Mother’s Day meetings in Boston every year.
In 1907 Ana Jarvis, from Philadelphia, began a campaign to establish a national Mother’s day. Ms. Jarvis persuaded her mother’s church in Grafton, West Virginia to celebrate Mother’s Day on the second anniversary of her mother’s death, the second Sunday of May. By the next year Mother’s Day was also celebrated in Philadelphia.
Ms. Jarvis and her supporters began to write to ministers, businessman, and politicians in their quest to establish a national Mother’s Day. It was successful as by 1911 Mother’s Day was celebrated in almost every state. President Woodrow Wilson, in 1914, made the official announcement proclaiming Mother’s Day as a national holiday that was to be held each year on the second Sunday of May.
While many countries of the world celebrate their own Mother’s Day at different times throughout the year, there are some countries such as Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, and Belgium which also celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of May.
参考译文:
母亲节的来历
母亲节最早可追溯到古希腊，人们为了表示对众神之母瑞亚的敬重，每年春天都会举行重大的庆祝活动。在十七世纪，英国开始庆祝拜望双亲日。拜望双亲日定于复活节前四旬斋的第四个星期日，表达对英国母亲们的敬意。
此时，英国有许多穷人都在有钱人家里当奴仆。因为许多工作都离自家非常远，所以奴仆们都不得不寄宿在主人家里。在拜望双亲日这天，主人们会放他们假，并鼓励他们返回家园与母亲团聚。为了增加节日气氛，他们总是带一种特殊的蛋糕“母亲蛋糕”回家。
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