走出牛津1第四版 Unit 8-喜庆连连

ThanksgivingDayThanksgivingDayisaveryimporta...



Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day is a very importanttraditional holiday inAmerica.On the fourth Thursday of each November, families and friends gather togetherfor the occasion to celebrate with a traditional turkey dinner, usually in themid-afternoon. Thanksgiving Day originated as a celebration of the year'sharvest and is similar to the Mid-Autumn Festival inChina.

感恩节是一个很重要的美国传统节日。每年11月的第四个星期四，人们都会与家人、朋友欢聚一堂，下午3时左右吃传统的火鸡大餐。该节日最初主要是为了庆祝一年的丰收，与中国的中秋节有些相似。



This American tradition started in 1621before theUnited States of  Americawas established. It was a hugecelebration for a hard-earned harvest in the first year after the first groupof immigrants arriving in the New World.

这个美国传统节日始于1621年，美国成立以前。来源于美洲新大陆第一批移民为庆祝到达新大陆之后第一年的辛苦劳作获得的丰收而举行的盛大宴会。

On September 6, 1620, the Mayflower shipset sail from Plymouth, Devon,England, taking all theEnglish Pilgrims to the New World. The EnglishPilgrims numbered about a hundred people, and leftEnglandto escape religiouspersecution.

1620年9月6日，一批不堪忍受国内宗教迫害的英国清教徒乘坐“五月花”号从英格兰德文郡普利茅斯出发，开始了到美洲新大陆的航行。这批清教徒大约有100人。

The Pilgrims sailed sixty-six days, arrivedin the New World in November of the same year.They first settled in a cornfield abandoned by Native Indians and named itPlymouth Plantation.

清教徒们在海上航行了66天，终于在当年的11月到达美洲新大陆。他们最初在当地印第安人废弃的一个玉米地安顿下来，并把它命名为普利茅斯种植园。

They worked on the land with muchdifficulty and were beset by a devastating plague in which half of the Pilgrimdied in the long winter of 1620. In the spring of 1621，an Indian brave named Squanto and her Wampanoag tribe came to theirhelp.The tribe taught the Pilgrims how to work the earth and plant corn，beans，pumpkins，squash and other crops.

1620年那个寒冷而漫长的冬天，他们在这块土地上费尽千辛万苦地劳作着，困难重重，还遭遇了一场灾难性的瘟疫，一半人在这场瘟疫中死去。到了1621年的春天，一个名叫Squanto的印第安英雄率其瓦帕浓部落开始主动帮助他们。部落里的人们教这些清教徒怎样耕种土地，怎样种植玉米、大豆、南瓜以及其他农作物。

In late September 1621, the Pilgrims werepleased with their great harvest. To celebrate their first harvest, thePilgrims wanted to thank God and the Native Indian. They invited Squanto andthe entire Wampanoag tribe to celebrate together in a shared feast.

1621年9月底，他们的辛勤劳作终于获得大丰收，清教徒们欢欣鼓舞。为了庆祝这第一次来之不易的大丰收，他们想要好好感谢一下上帝和当地的印第安人，便邀请Squanto及其瓦帕浓部落参加他们的庆祝盛宴。

The first Thanksgiving dinner is said tohave lasted from three days to one week.It was indeed a time of happiness,fellowship and rejoicing for the Pilgrims. They arranged a friendly treaty withthe Native American Indians, built houses in the wilderness, and raisedsufficient crops to feed themselves for the upcoming long winter. The Pilgrimshad become the first generation of settlers in this new land holding so muchpromise.

这第一次的丰收庆祝盛宴据说从三天一直延长到一个星期。对于清教徒们来说，这的确是一段享受高兴、愉悦、友谊的时间。他们和善良的当地印第安人一起准备了庆祝盛宴，在荒野中盖了房子，并为即将来临的漫长冬天储存了充足的食物。于是，在这块充满希望、憧憬和向往的新大陆上，清教徒们便成了第一代移民定居者。

Fromthen on, Thanksgiving became a holidayfor celebrating the harvest in the New World,dates varied from October to November each year over the next 150 years.

从那以后的150多年里，感恩节便成为一个庆祝新大陆丰收的固定节日，在每年的10月或11月举行庆祝活动。

The first National Thanksgiving wasdeclared by the Continental Congress in 1777. On October 3, 1789, PresidentGeorge Washington declared that the people of theUnited Statesshould observe"a day of public thanksgiving and prayer" on Thursday, 26 November.In 1941, a Congressional Joint Resolution set the fourth Thursday of Novemberas a national holiday for Thanksgiving.

1777年，美国大陆会议第一次宣布感恩节为全国性节日。1789年10月3日，美国总统乔治·华盛顿号召美国人民把当年的11月26日(星期四)看作“一个感恩、祈祷的公开纪念日”。1941年，一项国会联合决议把感恩节定为全国性节日，时间定在每年11月的第四个星期四。

How to Keep from Crying at a Wedding

视频文字材料Emotions are bound to play a role at awedding. Whether you are happy or sad, prevent the tears from falling withthese tear-free tips.

You Will Need

Deep breaths

Imagination

Steps

STEP 1 Stop from crying

Stop your lip from quivering（颤抖）, and the tears from falling, by taking a deep breath and countingto 10. Repeat the process until you feel relaxed and calm.

STEP 2 Blink your eyes

Blink your eyes faster and faster toprevent the tears from falling.

STEP 3 Imagine yourself

Imagine yourself in a calm, relaxing place,such as a beach. Picture sitting there, smelling salty air and watching theocean waves.

STEP 4 Impede your tears

Impede your tears by pinching the skinbetween your thumb and your pointer finger.

STEP 5 Say a mantra

Repeat calming words or phrases, such as"relax" or "stay calm." Breathe and close your eyes torelax even more.

STEP 6 Distract your emotions

Distract yourself from your emotions byreciting the alphabet backwards, singing your favorite song in your head, orcounting the number of guests. You can enjoy the flood of emotions without theflood of tears.

Over 1 billion people around the worldwatched the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana on July 29, 1981.

新年

音频文字材料New Year’s Day is, of course, the first dayof the year. It is a national holiday in most countries around the world. It isa time when families get together and celebrate with a meal. Many people make newplansfor the rest of the year. These plans are called New Year resolutions.People decide to lose weight, get fit, stop smoking, study English every day orsave lots of money. I think most people are serious about these plans onJanuary 1st, but then forget about them before the end of the week. Then oneyear later, it’sNew Year’s Day all over again and people make the sameresolutions again. I guess people all around the world make the same kinds ofplans. I guess they also break their resolutions at the same time.

One thing I like about New Year’s Day arethe TV programmes that look back at the previous year. They arelike highlightsshows of the news. These always remind me how lucky I am because a lot of thenews is about wars, famines, natural disasters, plane crashes and otherterrible things. The shows also look back at the lives of people who died thatyear. Hmmm… That all sounds a bit depressing really. But then there are happierthings, like the top sports and music stories. Another thing that happens onNew Year’s Day is lists. The top ten movies of the year, the ten best sportingachievements of the year, etc. There is even a list for the top ten new Englishwords of the year. Previous winners of this are the words ‘blog’ and ‘podcast’.

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