英語四級：獻給母親的康乃馨

　　Fragrant and beautiful, Carnation flowers have become symbolic of mother' s love and also Mother' s Day. Mother' s Day and carnations have had an association for a very long time because according to a Christian legend, this is the plant that sprung up when Jesus Christ' s mother Mary shed tears of distress seeing her son enduring sufferings on the cross.

　　The tradition of gifting carnations to mothers on Mother' s Day was initiated by Miss Anna Jarvis and began on the first official Mother' s Day in America on May 10, 1908. Miss Anna Jarvis sent 500 white carnations to the Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church, in Grafton, West Virginia. The flowers were meant to be distributed amongst the mothers. Others present in the mass were also asked to wear flowers. White carnations were a favourite of Anna' s deceased mother. Anna explained the reason for her selection of the flower.

　　“The white carnation is preferred because I think it typifies some of the virtues of motherhood; ... whiteness stands for purity; its lasting quality, faithfulness; its fragrance, love; its wide field of growth, charity; its form, beauty...”

　　Miss Anna Jarvis continued with the practice of sending carnations to the Andrews Church. She sent over 10,000 carnations in the subsequent years as a personal gift to the church on Mother' s Day. This gradually led to a custom of gifting carnations to mothers. Today carnations are worn or gifted worldwide on Mother' s Day and have become symbolic of purity, strength and endurance of motherhood. As a custom red carnations are worn to honor living mothers and white carnations for the deceased mothers.

　　芬芳美麗的康乃馨已成為母愛以及母親節(jié)的象征，母親節(jié)與康乃馨之間有著悠久的聯(lián)系。根據(jù)基督教的一個傳說，耶穌基督的母親馬利亞看到自己的兒子在十字架上受難時，流下了悲痛的眼淚，此時，康乃馨也綻放而出。

　　在母親節(jié)給母親送康乃馨的傳統(tǒng)是安娜?賈維斯小姐開創(chuàng)的，始于1908年5月10日美國第一個正式的母親節(jié)。那天，安娜給西弗吉尼亞格拉夫頓的安德魯斯循道宗圣公會教堂送去500朵白色康乃馨。她打算將這些花分發(fā)給母親們，后來也請在場做彌撒的其他人戴上了這種花。白色康乃馨是安娜已故的母親最喜歡的花。安娜這樣解釋她為何選擇這種花：

　　“選擇白色康乃馨是因為我認為它象征著母親的一些美德;……白色象征純潔;持久象征忠貞;芳香象征愛;廣袤的生長區(qū)域象征慈悲;花形象征美……”

　　此后，安娜?賈維斯小姐繼續(xù)給安德魯斯教堂送康乃馨。在后來的幾年里，她給教堂送去了一萬多朵康乃馨，作為她個人送給教堂的母親節(jié)禮物。她的這一做法逐漸使人們形成了在母親節(jié)給母親送康乃馨的習俗。如今，全世界的人都在母親節(jié)這天佩戴或贈送康乃馨，康乃馨已成為母親純潔、堅強和忍耐的象征。習慣上，人們佩戴紅色康乃馨向健在的母親表示敬意，佩戴白色康乃馨紀念已故的母親。