口语Festival素材:Father's Day（父亲节）

　　Fathers DayThird Sunday in June

　　The United States is one of the few countries in the world that has an official day on which fathers are honored by their children. On the third Sunday in June, fathers all across the United States are given presents, treated to dinner or otherwise made to feel special.

　　The origin of Fathers Day is not clear. Some say that it began with a church service in West Virginia in 1908. Others say the first Fathers Day ceremony was held in Vancouver, Washington.

　　The president of the Chicago branchof the Lions Club, Harry Meek, is said to have celebrated the first Fathers Day with his organization in 1915; and the day that they chose was the third Sunday in June, the closest date to Meeks own birthday!

　　Regardless of when the first true Fathers Day occurred, the strongest promoter of the holiday was Mrs. Bruce John Dodd of Spokane, Washington. Mrs. Dodd felt that she had an outstanding father. He was a veteran of the Civil War. His wife had died young, and he had raised six children without their mother.

　　In 1909, Mrs. Dodd approached her own minister and others in Spokane about having a church service dedicated to fathers on June 5, her fathers birthday. That date was too soon for her minister to prepare the service, so he spoke a few weeks later on June 19th. From then on, the state of Washington celebrated the third Sunday in June as Fathers Day. Children made special desserts, or visited their fathers if they lived apart.

　　States and organizations began lobbyingCongress to declare an annual Fathers Day. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson approved of this idea, but it was not until 1924 when President Calvin Coolidge made it a national event to establish more intimate relations between fathers and their children and to impress upon fathers the full measure of their obligations. Since then, fathers had been honored and recognized by their families throughout the country on the third Sunday in June.

　　When children cant visit their fathers or take them out to dinner, they send a greeting card. Traditionally, fathers prefer greeting cards that are not too sentimental. Most greeting cards are whimsicalso fathers laugh when they open them. Some give heartfelt thanks for being there whenever the child needed Dad.