记者 李晓慧

7月18日上午10点，九游会平台邀请到来自美国代表团的Mr. Barrett Bowden在励耘楼A202举行了一场别开生面的学术讲座，主题是美国文化和节日。

风趣幽默的Mr. Barrett Bowden用地图的形式给同学们讲述了美国的地理位置以及相关的人口分布情况。他介绍说，人口的分布情况决定了该地区的经济发展状况，人口稠密且经济发达的地区多数都是沿海地区🔈🧻，例如纽约🧒🏻、波士顿等。而精神动力推动国家的发展，美国人有大概70%都信仰宗教，美国的教育水平在世界名列前茅，源于从小开始素质与学前教育。他还提及音乐，电影🙇🏼‍♂️，运动和美食是美国人生活必不可少的娱乐方式，寄工作于娱乐是可以减少压力的。之后，Mr. Barrett Bowden重点给同学们介绍了美国节日的时间、庆祝的目的和方式。例如元旦节时，美国人会在纽约城一起倒计时、放烟花👩🏿‍🎨；而纳税日作为美国人将自己全年获得的收入根据税率上缴给国家的节日👇🏻，通常不受美国人欢迎；10月31日的万圣节是孩子们玩乐的好时机🧑🏻‍🌾；而圣诞节则是庆祝天主教中心人物耶稣诞生的重要日子🕵🏿‍♂️🚵。最后，Mr. Barrett Bowden将学生分成6组，让他们向代表团提出问题🧝‍♀️🏊🏻‍♂️。

讲座伴随着同学们与代表团的激烈讨论渐渐走向尾声。相信通过Mr. Barrett Bowden幽默生动的演讲，同学们对美国文化将会有进一步的了解👦🏿。

A Lecture: U.S. Culture and Holidays

By Li Xiaohui

At 10 am, on July 18th, the fourth lecture of the trimester was held in Liyun A202. The SFL invited Mr. Barrett Bowden, one of the member of the American delegation, to give a lecture entailed U.S. Culture and Holidays.

Mr. Barrett Bowden illustrated different geographic locations in the U.S. as well as their population by using a map. The distribution of population determines the region''s economic development. Densely populated and most economically developed areas are usually close to the coast, such as New York and Boston. Spiritual power helps America to promote the development of the country. Almost 70% of the Americans have their own religions. Its level of the education is one of the highest in the world, due to its quality and pre-school education. He also mentioned that music, movies, sports and food play an important role in their daily life. Mixing the work and entertainment together can reduce the pressure. Mr. Barrett Bowden also introduced American holidays, their purposes and the way to celebrate them. For instance, on the eve of New Year''s Day, Americans get together in the city to welcome the arrive of a new year; Most Americans don’t like Tax Day, as their full-year revenues based on taxes will be turned over to the state; On Halloween, which is October 31st, dozens of children are dressed in costumes and knock on their neighbors'' doors and says "Trick or Treat"; Christmas was the biggest holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus, the central figure of Christianity.

Finally, Mr. Barrett Bowden divided the students into six groups to have a discussion and ask questions.