初中英语课外阅读系列---感恩节

初中英语课外补充阅读系列

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初二（ 上）

Unit 8 How do you make banana milk shake?

Thanksgiving Day

Now I would like to give you some details

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about Thanksgiving Day

in the United States. Thanksgiving Day is the most truly American of the

national Holidays in the United States and is most closely connected

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with the earliest history of the country.

In 1620, the settlers

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, or Pilgrims

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, they sailed to America on the May

Flower, seeking a place where they could have freedom of worship

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.

After a two-month voyage they landed at in icy November, what is now

Plymouth, Massachusetts.

During their first winter, over half of the settlers died of starvation

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or

epidemics

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. Those who survived

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began sowing in the first spring.

All summer long they waited for the harvests with great anxiety

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,

knowing that their lives and the future existence of the colony depended

on the coming harvest. Finally the fields produced a yield rich beyond

expectations. And therefore it was decided that a day of thanksgiving to

the Lord be fixed. Years later, President of the United States proclaimed

the fourth Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day every year. The

celebration of Thanksgiving Day has been observed on that date until

today.

The pattern of the Thanksgiving celebration has never changed through

the years. The big family dinner is planned months ahead. On the dinner

table, people will find apples, oranges, chestnuts, walnuts

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and

will be plum pudding, mince pie, other varieties of food and

cranberry juice and squash. The best and most attractive among them are

roast turkey and pumpkin pie. They have been the most traditional and

favorite food on Thanksgiving Day throughout the years.

Thanksgiving today is, in every sense, a national annual holiday on

which Americans of all faiths and backgrounds join in to express their

thanks for the year' s bounty and reverently ask for continued blessings.

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现在我想给你们详细谈谈美国的感

恩节。感恩节是美国国定假日中最地

道、

最美国式的节日，

而且它和早期美

国历史最为密切相关。

1620

年，一些朝圣者（或称为清 教

徒）

乘坐

五 月花

号船去美国寻求宗教

自由。

他们在海上两个月之后，

终于在

酷寒的十一月 里，

在现在的马萨诸塞州

的普里茅斯登陆。

在第一个冬天，

半数以上的移 民都死

于饥饿和传染病，

活下来的人们在第一

< br>个春季开始播种。

整个夏天他们都热切

地盼望着丰收的到 来，

他们深知自己的

生存以及殖民地的存在与否都将取决

于即将到来的收成。

后来，

庄稼获得了

意外的丰收，

所以大家决定要选一个日

子来感 谢上帝的恩典。

多年以后，

美国

总统宣 布每年十一月的第四个星期四

为感恩节。

感恩节庆祝活动便定在 这一

天，直到如今。

感恩节庆祝模式许多年来从未改

变。

丰盛的家宴早在几个月之前就开始

着手准备。人们在餐桌上可以 吃到苹

果、桔子、栗子、胡桃和葡萄，还有葡

萄干布丁、

碎肉馅饼、

各种其它食物以

及红莓苔汁和鲜果 汁，

其中最妙和最吸

引人的大菜是烤火鸡和番瓜馅饼，