El conejito de pascua

Ya están aquí las fiestas de pascua y, como todos sabemos estas fiestas marcaan la recta final del curso y dentro de nada tendremos que enfrentarnos a los exámenes. A partir de ahora dejaré iré poniendo algunas entradas dedicadas ayudaros a preparar vuestros exámenes de certificación y aquí esta la primera. 

Hoy empezaremos con un reading de nivel pre-intermediate:

Easter Bunny History

As children look forward to a visit from the Easter Bunny, it's interesting to learn a little Easter bunny history about how this legendary rabbit first got its start and how it has evolved into today's beloved character.

Long a symbol of spring as well as fertility, the rabbit was first a part of early Anglo-Saxon pagan mythology. As one of the most fertile animals, the rabbit was the perfect creature to represent new life and rebirth. It was also the animal representative of a Northern European fertility goddess. When early Christian converts continued to celebrate their spring rituals, the story of the rabbit, which represented replenishment, renewal, birth and new life, merged with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

German writings from the 1500s mention the rabbit as an Easter symbol, and German immigrants brought the tradition of edible rabbits with them to America. The first Easter bunnies were made of pastries, with chocolate bunnies not making an appearance until the 1800s. In the eighteenth century, German immigrants to the Pennsylvania Dutch area told tales about an egg-laying bunny to their children.

According to the early legends, the Easter bunny would visit good children and lay colored eggs for them in nests that the children would make out of their hats. As the story of the Easter bunny spread throughout the country, Easter baskets became the tradition. The bunny would also expand its edible Easter gifts to children as the decades went by, with candies, chocolates and even small toys becoming popular deliveries.

The Easter bunny is closely associated with eggs, another early fertility and rebirth symbol used from ancient times. Also, eggs were plentiful in nature during the spring, so they were a perfect item to pair with the celebrations of the end of winter and the beginning of warmth, flowers and new baby animals. Today, the Easter bunny and its eggs remind children and adults everywhere that a new season is starting, and the cold gray days are over.

By: Jennifer Maughan

En azul he subrayado las estructuras que gramaticalmente pueden llamar la atención a un hispanohablante. Esta es una buena costumbre siempre que leáis  de esta forma, conseguiréis que esa estructura se fije en vuestra mente:

"FIRST GOT" ya hablamos de esta estructura en un post anterior. Básicamente significa lo mismo que "the first time this legendary rabbit got its start...". Esta opción no es incorrecta, pero es más corto y mas anglosajón utilizar directamente el numeral entre el sujeto y el verbo, por ejemplo:
La primera vex que fuí a París : I first went to Paris
La primera vez que hice un huevo de chocolate : I first made a chocolate egg.

"AS ONE OF THE MOST FERTILE ANIMALS". "Al ser uno de los animales más fértiles", aquí nos llama la atención el uso de AS al principio de frase para introducir la causa. Hay que tener en cuenta que en español lo normal sería construir la frase alrevés, lo que literalmente quedaría: the rabbit was the perfect creature to represent new life and rebirth, as(because)it is one of the most fertile animals. En inglés en cambio, suele adelantarse la oración causal.

"MAKING AN APPEARANCE" Hacer su aparición, aparecer. NUNCA podemos decir "do an appearance".

En verde está el vocabulario:

LOOK FORWARD - Phrasal verb. Sinónimos: Anticipate with enthusiasm.
Estar deseando.

EVOLVE - Sinón.: develop, progress.
evolucionar

GODDESS - femenino de God.
Diosa

REPLENISHMENT - Sinón.: Refilling
Reabastecimiento

RENEWAL - Sinón.: renovation, restarting.
Renovación

MERGED WITH - Sinón.: mix, become one
fusionarse con

EDIBLE - Sinón.: can be eaten
comestible

PASTRY.
hojaldre

DELIVERY.
Entrega

PLENTIFUL - Adjetivo que proviene del advervio PLENTY (lleno)
Abundante

WARMTH - ustantivo que porvieme del adjetivo WARM (cálido, caliente)
Calor.



http://www.facebook.com/ingles.away