1.        Most of her holds contained thousands of cartons of canned or dried foods.The other holds were loaded with five-hundred-pound bombs packed delicately inpadded racks. Our destination was a big base on the island of Tulagi in theSouth Pacific.
Why was it necessary for the writer to offer so many details of his voyage?
(=The details indicate that this Thanksgiving was unusual, explaining why thewriter felt the need to celebrate it in an unusual way.)

2.        ... this Thanksgiving morning had seen us busily preparing a traditionaldinner featuring roast turkey.
Paraphrase this part.
(=… on this Thanksgiving morning we were busy preparing a traditional dinnerwhich included mainly roast turkey.
“Feature” here means “to include as a special part”. )

3.        I made my way out there, breathing in great, deep draughts while walkingslowly about, still wearing my white cook’s hat.
Analyze the structure of the sentence.
(=在这个长句中有三个 -ing 分词：breathing、walking 和 wearing。breathing 为 made my way out 的伴随状语，walking 与 while 连用表示与 breathing 这一动作同时发生，wearing 为 walking 的伴随状语。)
Translate the sentence into Chinese.
(=我信步走去，一边深深呼吸着空气，一边慢慢地踱着步，头上仍戴着那顶白色的厨师帽。)

4.        It must have taken me a half hour to sense that maybe some key to ananswer could result from reversing the word “Thanksgiving” — at least thatsuggested a verbal direction, “Giving thanks.”
Translate this sentence into Chinese.
(=大概过了半个小时我才意识到，问题的关键也许在于把Thanksgiving 这个词前后颠倒一下，那样一来至少文字好懂了：Givingthanks。)

5.        Not one time had I ever bothered to express to any of them so much as asimple, sincere “Thank you”.
What can we infer from this sentence?
(=The author took all for granted and never expressed any appreciation. Thesentence is in inverted order.)

6.        I told him that whatever positive things I had done since had beeninfluenced at least in part by his morning school prayers.
Analyze the structure of the sentence.
(=whatever positive … morning school prayer 是宾语从句。I haddone since 是定语从句，修饰 whatever positive things; since为副词，修饰 had done; in part 在这里意为 partly。)

7.        and my reading of their letters left me not only astonished but morehumbled than before.
Analyze the structure of this part.
(=leave 常用于结构：leavesb. + adj./past participle，adj./past participle（此处为 not only astonished but morehumbled than before）为宾语补足语。)
Translate this sentence into Chinese.
(=我读了信，既觉得震惊，又深感卑微。)

8.        Rather than saying they would forgive that I hadn’t previously thankedthem, instead, for Pete’s sake, they were thanking me — for having remembered,for having considered they had done anything so exceptional.
Paraphrase the sentence.
(=They didn’t say they would forgive me for not thanking them, but instead, forGod’s sake, they thanked me for having remembered what they had done and forhaving thought they had done something special to me.)

9.        A glance at Grandma’s familiar handwriting brought back in a flashmemories of standing alongside her white rocking chair, watching her “settingdown” some letter to relatives.
What does thesentence mean?
(=His grandma’s handwriting reminded the writer of many sweet memories of hischildhood with her. “Setting down” here means “writing”.)

10.    I wept over the page representing my Grandma’s recent hours invested inexpressing her loving gratefulness to me.
Paraphrase the sentence.
(=I was moved to tears that my grandma had spent hours recently in expressingher loving gratefulness to me.)

认真思考                                   giveserious thought to

真挚的文字                              genuinestatements

由衷的感激                               heartfelt appreciation

渐渐变成一种…的习惯        graduate into a habit of …

电子媒体                                    electronic media

很少了解                                    have little awareness of

给…撒下美妙的遐想             sprinkle … with stardust

按常规                                         in the routine

个人经历                                    personal experience

最重要的事                               topmost priority

冲上甲板                                    pound up on deck

围聚在…周围                           cluster about …

一把把                                         fistfuls of

发生迅猛的变化                      undergo swift changes

自我怀疑地                               in self-doubt

摇椅                                             a rocking chair

一个字母一个字母地           characterby character

向…表达充满慈爱的谢意   express one’s loving gratefulness to …

靠当…为生                               make a living as a

使某人意识到                           give sb. an insight into

有着相似的需求                      with similar needs

简单的常识                               simple common sense

实现世界和平                           achieve world peace

对…至关重要                           be paramount for …

1. Yet my mind seemed to be in quest ofsomething else — some way that I could personally apply to the close ofThanksgiving. It must have taken me a half hour to sense that maybe some key toan answer could result from reversing the word “Thanksgiving” — at least thatsuggested a verbal direction, “Giving thanks.”

(=可我脑子里似乎还在搜索着别的什么——某种我能够赋予整个节日以个人意义的方式。大概过了半个小时左右我才意识到，问题的关键也许在于把 Thanksgiving 这个词前后颠倒一下——那样一来至少字面意义好懂了：Giving thanks。)

2. Yet my mind continued turning the ideaover. After a while, like a dawn’s brightening, a further answer did come —that there were people to thank, people who had done so much for me that Icould never possibly repay them.

(=可我脑子里仍一直翻腾着这事。过了片刻，如同晨曦初现，一个更清晰的念头终于涌现脑际——要感谢他人，那些赐我以诸多恩惠，我根本无以回报的人们。)

3. At least seven people had beenparticularly and lastingly helpful to me. I realized, swallowing hard, thatabout half of them had since died — so they were forever beyond any possibleexpression of gratitude from me.

(=至少有七个人对我有过不同寻常、影响深远的帮助。令人万分难受的是，我意识到，他们中有一半已经谢世了——因此他们永远也无法接受我的谢意了。)

4. A glance at Grandma’s familiarhandwriting brought back in a flash memories of standing alongside her whiterocking chair, watching her “settin’ down” some letter to relatives.

(=一看到外祖母那熟悉的笔迹，我顿时回想起往日站在她的白色摇椅旁看她给亲戚写信的情景。)

5.      那些注意力集中于感恩的人明显感觉更加幸福。他们积极乐观地看待生活。他们鲜有诉说有头疼感冒之类的身体不适症状，他们还积极参加健康有益的活动。

(=The people who focused on gratitude werejust flat-out happier. They saw their lives in favorable terms. They reportedfewer negative physical symptoms such as headaches or colds, and they wereactive in ways that were good for them.)

6. 每天花上片刻——一般最好是临睡之前——扼要记下三件当日发生的让你心存感激的事情。任何使你精神振奋的事，使你绽露笑容、心情愉悦的事，或为你的将来带来幸福感的事，都行。

(=Take a moment during the day — rightbefore bedtime is usually best — to jot down three things that happened thatday for which you are grateful. Anything that made you feel uplifted, thatbrought a smile to your face or your heart, or will contribute toward yourfuture happiness, works.)

7. 过一段时间，你会发现在令你感激的条目列表中有着某种一致性。许多条目显示他人在你生活中所起的重要作用。其它条目突出一些有意义的经历。还有一些则涉及由你引发的事情，你能满怀豪情地指着说，“我促成了此事。”

(=Over time, you’ll notice a consistencywithin the list of items you’re grateful for. Many entries will underscore theimportance of people in your life. Others will highlight meaningfulexperiences. Still other items will be things that began with you, things youcreated that you can point to with pride and say, I made that happen.)

8. 感激之情，在向别人表示之后，几乎总能辗转返回。被感激的人更加愿意为那些使他们觉得自己有价值的人作出回报。

(=Gratitude, when expressed to others,almost always comes back around. People who feel appreciated are more willingto make an effort for those who make them feel valued.)