母亲节的来历Mother's Day

    一枝康乃馨，一句“妈妈，您辛苦了！”请别忘了在这一天，让母亲昔日失去光泽的脸上绽开幸福的笑容。 

　　Mother"s Day was first suggested in the United States in 1872 by Julia Ward Howe as a day dedicated to peace. A campaign to establish a National Mother"s Day was begun in 1907. It was successful, by 1911 Mother"s Day was celebrated in almost every state in recognition of[1] the influence mothers have in the making of better citizens.

　　In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed that the birthday of Mrs. Anna Reeves Jarvis, the "mother of Mother"s Day[2] ", would become the National Mother"s Day of the United States. And that from then on, the second Sunday in May would be Mother"s Day in memory of the work Mrs. Jarvis had done to bring families together after the Civil war, her work to bring the whole North and South together, her work to honor all the mothers of America throughout history and on into the future, but most of all to honor Mrs. Anna Reeves Jarvis as America"s National Mother. President Wilson asked that the American people fly the United States flag from public buildings and homes on that day as he said, as a public expression of our love and reverence[3] for the mothers of our country.

　　Well, what value is Mother"s Day now? As the Congress said in 1914, it reminds people of[4] the influence mothers have had in the making of better citizens. Jarvis was one such mother. On Mother"s Day much attention is given to the important part that each mother plays in giving her children a sense of what is right and what is wrong, what is good behavior and what is bad.

　　If the observances[5] of Mother"s Day can even in a small way remind mothers of this, then this day will help both the families and the whole country. 

　　1872年，美国的朱丽娅·伍德·霍夫提出设立母亲节的建议，用以纪念和平。继而1907年，人们掀起了一场设立国家母亲节的运动。这项运动取得了成功，到1911年的时候，美国几乎每个州都开始庆祝母亲节，以表达对母亲们在塑造良好公民方面所做出努力的肯定。

　　1914年，伍德罗·威尔逊总统宣布"母亲节之母"安娜·瑞斯文·杰文斯夫人的生日为"美国国家母亲节"。从那时起每年五月的第二个星期天都是母亲节，以纪念在内战结束后杰文斯夫人在使家庭团聚方面所做出的种种努力，她的工作使美国南北得以统一，她的工作给历史上所有美国母亲都带来荣誉，这种荣誉会一直继续下去。但是这个节日最主要的还是为了感谢被人们尊称为"国母"的--安娜·瑞斯文·杰文斯夫人。威尔逊总统要求，在母亲节那一天，各个公众建筑和每家每户都要挂美国国旗，他说，这是对全国所有的母亲公开表示我们的尊敬和爱戴。

　　那么，现在母亲节的价值是什么呢？首先，就像在一九一四年国会所宣称的一样，他提醒人们母亲在塑造良好公民方面所做出的努力。杰文斯夫人就是这样一位母亲。在母亲节人们更加关注每个母亲是否真的扮演好自己的角色，教会孩子什么是对，什么是错，什么是好，什么是坏。

　　如果庆祝母亲节能在提醒母亲们自身责任重大方面起到哪怕一点点作用的话，那么这一天也是有助于家庭和整个社会的。 　 

注释： 

1. in recognition of：对……的认可、褒扬。例如：Please accept this cheque in recognition of your services.请收下这张支票作为酬劳。

2. mother of Mother"s Day：母亲节之母。Mrs. Anna Reeves Jarvis早在1907年就发起设母亲节的运动，所以她被称为为"母亲节之母"。 

3. reverence：尊敬、爱戴。有时还可以在前面加冠词a，例如：show (a) deep respect to someone向某人表达深挚的崇敬之意。 

4. remind...of:提醒、使……想起。如：You remind me of your father.你使我想起了你的父亲。 

5. observance:这里是"纪念、庆祝"的意思。它还有"遵守"的意思，如：strict observance of the rules规则的严守。