登陆21世纪教育 助您教考全无忧 Something about Birthday A birthday is the date on which a person is born, marking the day a life outside the womb begins. It is customary in many cultures to celebrate the anniversary of one's birthday, for example by having a birthday party with family and/or friends. Gifts are often given to the person celebrating the birthday. It is also customary to treat people specially on their birthday, either generally acceding to their wishes, or subjecting them to a rite of transition.21cnjy.com Western private birthday traditions History of celebration of birthdays in the West It is thought tha t the large-scale celebration of birthdays in Europe began with the cult of Mithras, which originated in Persia but was spread by soldiers troughout the Roman Empire. Before this, such celebrations were not common; and, hence, practices from other contexts such as the Saturnalia were adapted for birthdays. Because many Roman soldiers took up Mithraism, it had a wide distribution and influence throughout the empire until it was supplanted by Christianity. Birthday celebrati ons were rare during the Middle Ages but saw a resurgence with the advent of the Reformation. During this period, they were seen as a good way to transfer customs from the saint's days to other dates not linked to the newly repudiated veneration of saints.21·世纪*教育网 Even today, the c elebration of birthdays is not universal in the West; in addition to those people preferring name day celebrations, Jehovah's Witnesses do not celebrate either, considering them to be pagan festivals along with Christmas and Easter. Festive Birthday cak e in most English-speaking countries it is traditional to sing the song Happy Birthday to You to the honored person celebrating his birthday. Similar songs exist in other languages such as "Lang zal hij/zij leven" in Dutch, "Zum Geburstag Viel Glück" in German, "Cumplea os Feliz" in Spanish, or "Sto lat" in Polish. This happens traditionally at a birthday party while someone brings a birthday cake into the (often darkened) room. The birthday cake is traditionally highly decorated, and typically covered with lit candles when presented; the number of candles often equals the age of the person. The person whose birthday it is makes a silent wish and then blows out the candles; if done in one breath, the wish is supposed to come true. It is also common for the "birthday boy" or "birthday girl" to cut the initial piece of the cake like as a newlywed couple might with a wedding cake. Typical birthday party decorations include balloons, streamers and confetti. For special birth days and for when the number of candles might be considered impractical or a fire hazard, special candles might be substituted for the many individual candles. These candles are in the shape of a numeral; for example, on the fifth birthday there may be one candle on the cake in the shape of the numeral 5, and on the fiftieth birthday there may be two candles ... ...
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