You may know your mother, but how well do you really know Mother’s Day? Cards, flowers, sales, TV specials, and a day off for someone who really deserves it —those are what probably come to mind for many people when they think of Mother’s Day. But there’s more about the story.
The earliest Mother’s Day celebrations were held during spring in Ancient Greece. The celebrations honored Rhea, the Mother of the gods. During the 1600s, England celebrated a day called Mothering Sunday. On this day even servants (仆人) were given the day off to spend with their families. A mothering cake was even served with the family meal.
In the U.S., Mother’s Day began in 1872 when Julia Ward Howe, who wrote the words of the famous song The Battle Hymn of the Republic, suggested it as a day devoted to peace. But it didn’t really become popular until 1907 when Anna Jarvis started a campaign (运动) to honor her own mother. She believed that mothers could help people get over the pain they experienced during the Civil War. The U.S. isn’t alone in devoting a day to its mothers. Many other countries including Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, Japan, and Belgium also celebrate their Mother’s Day in May. Other countries honor their mothers at different times of the year.
Learning more about Mother’s Day and celebrating Mother’s Day is important, but probably not as important as understanding what your own mother, or grandmother, or aunt has really done for you. And that should certainly be appreciated more than one day in a year.
小题1:What is the passage mainly about?A．The reason why people celebrate Mother’s Day.B．How people honor mothers.C．The history of Mother’s Day.D．Mother’s Day in different countries.小题2:Where was the earliest Mother’s Day celebrated?A．In Ancient Greece.B．In the U.S.C．In England.D．In Italy.小题3:According to the third paragraph, we know that _____.A．Julia Ward Howe composed a song about Mother’s DayB．American people started to celebrate Mother’s Day in 1907C．Anna Jarvis attached great importance to mothersD．Mother’s Day celebrations are held in different times in the U.S. every year小题4:The last paragraph tells us that ______.A．all the people should celebrate Mother’s DayB．only mothers are honored on Mother’s DayC．understanding mothers’work is more important than just celebrating Mother’s DayD．people should make every day a Mother’s Day