Edition 3

The AP Times

December Issue

History of Christmas Christmas is an annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ and a widely observed holiday, celebrated generally on December 25 by billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, it closes the Advent season and initiates the twelve days of Christmastide.

Christmas is a civil holiday in many of the world's nations, is celebrated by an increasing number of non-Christians, and is an integral part of the Christmas and holiday season.

The earliest evidence of the celebration on December 25 of a Christian liturgical feast of the birth of Jesus is from the .

This was in Rome, while in the birth of Jesus was already celebrated in connection with the on January 6. The December 25 celebration was imported into the East later: in Antioch by towards the end of the 4th century probably in 388, and in Alexandria only in the following century.

Even in the West, the January 6 celebration of the nativity of Jesus seems to have continued until after 380.

Many popular customs associated with Christmas developed independently of the commemoration of Jesus' birth, with certain elements having origins in pre-Christian festivals that were celebrated around the winter solstice by pagan populations who were later .

These elements, including the from Yule and gift giving from , became into Christmas over the centuries. The prevailing atmosphere of Christmas has also continually evolved since the holiday's inception, ranging from a sometimes raucous, drunken, -like state in the , to a tamer familyoriented and childrencentered theme introduced in a . Additionally, the celebration of Christmas was banned on more than one occasion within due to concerns that it was too pagan or unbiblical.

Editors: Edward Sheng, Wendy Xu, Tommy Zhou

Trevor Fearnley, who is our new Pre-Calculus and Calculus teacher, is from Hamilton, New Zealand. It is his first time to be in China. He likes people in Suzhou because they are very friendly. He also likes food because it differs from western food. He thinks there are so many people and so many buildings in Suzhou but he is getting used to it. However, since he is new in Suzhou, there are lots of attractive, pretty place for him to explore. Which he is interested in is parks and silk industry. He has been to Chengdu and spent a week there. He was teaching civil engineering and mathematics in Hamilton for 16 years before coming to China. Also, he spent 5 years before that in the industry as a civil engineer.

Trevor Fearnley He has many hobbies like reading, listening to music and sports. He likes to run and play tennis. His favorite sport to watch is soccer. He enjoys watching English Premier League and European matches. He supports Liverpool Football Club all his life because he originally comes from a place very near Liverpool in England. And the favorite sport to play is tennis, which he plays very much. He says that he is just average in playing these two sports. He is going to know Chinese food and he really enjoys hot pot. He spent some time in Thailand so he likes Thai food like Tom Yum and some noodles.

Interestingly, because his knowledge of food is ever expanding, his taste of food changes monthly.

He is married and his wife is a teacher. She teaches food. He has three sons and a daughter. They are all grown up. His oldest son (Aged 31) is a civil engineer and. His middle son (Aged 25) is a green keeper on a golf court in New Zealand.

His youngest son (Aged 22) is still studying civil engineering.

His daughter (Aged 29) is a ~~ in Australia. He has two dogs and six cows.

His dogs’ names are Ike and Jet.

New Year's Day The origin of New Year’s Day is that about B.C 5000, Egyptians lived near the Nile and they found the flood is regular, each 356 days, there was a flood, so they decided the beginning of the flood as the first day of one year. And B.C 46, Cesar also decided the day as the first day of Western calendar. Also, New Year’s Day is to commemorate Jesus.

The New Year’s Day of China is really different from that in Western especially the traditions. In Denmark, people prepare some fragments of bowls and they will put them in front of their friends’ doors, next day, who has most fragments means he has the most friends. In Spain, people eat grapes. They eat a grape each toll, so they will eat twelve grapes, it means they will succeed in the following year.

Many famous Chinese poets wrote poems, for example, “爆竹声中一岁 除，春风送暖入屠苏。千门万户瞳瞳 日，总把新桃换旧符”, this poem is created by Wang Anshi.

All about the SAT Your SAT score is a pivotal component of your college applications. Most colleges use these scores to help decide whether to admit students or not.

What is the SAT and why is it important?

Created by The College Board, the SAT is an entrance exam used by most colleges and universities to make admissions decisions. The idea (in theory, at least) is to provide colleges with one common criterion that can be used to compare all applicants.

However, it is just one factor in the admissions decision.

Schools also consider your high school GPA, academic transcript, letters of recommendation, interviews and personal essays. The weight placed on SAT scores varies from school to school. For more specific information on the importance of SAT scores at the schools you're interested in, contact the admissions offices directly.

The SAT is offered nationally every year in October, November, December, January, March, May and June.

For more specific information on the importance of SAT scores at the schools you're interested in, contact the admissions offices directly.

What specifically does the SAT test?

There are three SAT sections: Math, Critical Reading and Writing. The Writing section requires test takers to complete an essay that is factored into the final score. Start to finish, the test will take you three hours and 45 minutes.

Christian Students' Christmas in America Recently, we emailed some Christian students from America about how they celebrate Christmas. Here's their response.

Elizabeth Sims As a Christian celebrating Christmas in America I attend a Christmas Eve service at my church every year where we talk about the birth of Jesus Christ and read about it in the Bible (Luke 2:1-20 to be exact), sing carols and hymns, and light candles as a symbol of the light that Jesus brought into the world. My family also decorates our house with Christmas trees, nativity scenes, stockings over our fireplace, and a lot of red and green, but we prefer not to put lights and decorations in front of our house like many of our neighbors do. On Christmas Day, we get up early and take an annual picture in front of the tree before we open presents and eat a nice breakfast of eggs, sausage, and waffles that my parents make. Afterwards, we go to my grandparents' house and have dinner with them and open presents with them.

Michelle Larva My family and I celebrate a more European (Finnish specifically) Christmas. This means that we open presents on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day. During Christmas Eve, my family and I play lots of games, cook for our Christmas dinner, and the younger children impatiently wait for Santa Clause to come. After we have gone to church for the Christmas Eve service, where they tell the story of Christmas and how Jesus was born, we go home and eat our Christmas dinner. Then, an older male family member, usually my dad, will go outside and "look for Santa Clause". While he is out, "Santa", who is really just my dad dressed up as Santa, comes knocking on our door, the kids run to let him in, Santa passes out the presents, and then he hurries off to the rest of the children around the world. On Christmas Day, we enjoy our new presents, pray thanks for our savior Jesus, and reflect on how He came into this world.

Club Star

Basketball Club

Our AP Basketball Team “Phoenix� is a rising star in our center just like its name described---powerful energy. In the last few months, they played one official game and one scrimmage which look a little bit terrible.

Mr. Trebatch, our basketball team coach, supposes that basketball is precisely a team game. The other teams just play more and longer and Phoenix only needs more time and practice, Mr. Trebatch also mentions that the best player does not exist because each member has their own roles in a team, like Charles who is a very good defense or Johnson who is really energetic.

The two goals of Basketball Club are both for fun and to learn how to work in a team and develop their interpersonal skills.

Consequently, we ask some of the basketball members about their willing, they want more time to practice, a better organized plan and they want to play with stronger rivals.

Hope Phoenix keep working hard and rise from the ashes!