This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。
An evergreen tree is a Christmas tradition in many American homes. The tree is unusually a pine or fir dressed with lights and other colorful decorations.
一棵常青树是许多美国家庭的圣诞传统，通常是松树或杉树，用彩灯和其它各式饰品打扮装饰。
Families might buy a cut tree or go to a tree farm and cut one down themselves. Some people bring a live tree in a pot into their home for the holidays and then put it back outdoors.
人们可以购买一棵砍下来的树，或自己去林场砍一棵。有些人会在圣诞期间在家里摆放一棵盆栽的活树，圣诞过后再将其搬回户外。
Some people rent a Christmas tree. Companies might bring the same live tree to the same family year after year. Or the tree might get planted in a park or someplace else where it could help the environment.
还有些人会去租一棵圣诞树。圣诞树租赁公司会每年给他们送去同一棵活树。这种树平时种在公园，或种在其他对环境有利的地方。
There are some trees that can be reused year after year because they are made of plastic or metal. Or, instead of a tree, some people have a small, sweet-smelling rosemary plant, cut to look like a little Christmas tree.
还有些树是用塑料或金属做成，可以年复一年的重复使用。或者，有些人会用一棵小却很香的迷迭香，剪成一颗小圣诞树的形状。
Another popular evergreen this time of year is the mistletoe plant. It has small white berries and leaves that feel like leather. The traditional Christmas mistletoe is native to Europe.
每年这个时候的另一种流行的常绿植物是槲寄生（mistletoe）植物。它有白色的小浆果和革质的叶子。传统圣诞槲寄生源自欧洲。
Ancient Druids believed mistletoe had magical powers. The plant can be found growing on apple trees, lindens, maples and poplars. Mistletoe is a parasitic plant. It connects itself to a tree and steals nutrients and water.
古人德鲁伊认为槲寄生具有神奇魔力。苹果树、菩提树、枫树和杨树上都能找到槲寄生植物。槲寄生是一种寄生植物，寄生在其他树上并摄取其营养和水分。
Today mistletoe is best known as an excuse to steal a kiss at a Christmas party. Kissing is a tradition if two people stand under mistletoe hung in a doorway.
今天，槲寄生更多因圣诞晚会上的接吻借口而知名。如果两个人站在门口挂着的槲寄生下，这两人接吻便是一项传统。
Another plant that many people connect with Christmas is the poinsettia. Poinsettias are native to Mexico. They can be white or pink, but most are bright red. They are named after the first American ambassador to Mexico. Joel Poinsett liked them enough to send some back to the United States.
一说到圣诞，人们就联系起的另一种植物是圣诞红（poinsettia，又名一品红）。圣诞红源于墨西哥，这种植物有白或粉红色，但大部分是鲜红色。它得名于首位美国驻墨西哥大使乔尔·波因塞特（Joel Poinsett）。波因塞特特别喜欢这种植物将一些圣诞红送回了美国。
Babies or pets that chew on poinsettias might get sick. But experts say the plant is not as poisonous as some people think.
婴儿或宠物吃了圣诞红后可能会生病。但专家们表示，这种植物并非人们想象的那么毒性大。
Like millions of other houses, the home of America's first president is decorated for Christmas. George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate is in Virginia.
像数百万其他房子一样，美国首任总统（乔治·华盛顿）的故居也披上了圣诞盛装。华盛顿故居弗农山庄位于弗吉尼亚州。
Visitors can hear stories about what Christmas was like at Mount Vernon in the eighteenth century. The museum where visitors begin their tour is decorated with Christmas trees.
游客们可以听到18世纪弗农山庄圣诞相关情形的故事。游客们从披着圣诞盛装的故居开始参观。
Yet Mount Vernon would not have had Christmas trees during the late seventeen hundreds, when Washington led the country. They did not become popular in the United States until the eighteen hundreds.
然而弗农山庄在18世纪晚期华盛顿领导美国时可能并没有圣诞树。直到19世纪圣诞树才开始在美国流行。
Visitors learn that in Washington's time, there was greenery inside the mansion, but that was probably the extent of the decorations.
参观者了解到，在华盛顿时候，房子里会放上绿色植物，但这可能才是真正的装饰程度。