嫦娥托福

American Thanksgiving（感恩节）

The American Thanksgiving holiday began as a feast of thanksgiving in the

early days of the American colonies almost four hundred years ago. In 1620,

a boat filled with more than one hundred people sailed across the Atlantic

Ocean to settle in the New World. This religious group had begun to question

the beliefs of the Church of England and they wanted to separate from it. The

Pilgrims settled in what is now the state of Massachusetts. Their first winter

in the New World was difficult. They had arrived too late to grow many crops,

and without fresh food, half the colony died from disease. The following spring

Indians taught them how to grow corn and showed them how to hunt and fish.

In the autumn of 1621, bountiful crops of corn and barley were harvested. The

colonists had much to be thankful, so a feast was planned. They invited the local

Indian chief and 90 Indians. The Indians brought deer to roast with the turkeys.

In following years, many of the original colonists celebrated the autumn harvest

with a feast of thanks.

After the United States became an independent country, Congress recommended

one yearly day of thanksgiving for the whole nation to celebrate. In 1863, Abraham

Lincoln asked all Americans to set aside the last Thursday in November as a day of

thanksgiving.

美国的感恩节要追溯到近400年前美国移民早期的感恩宴。1620年，一艘载有100多人的船只横渡大西洋抵达新大陆。这个宗教团体质疑英国教会的信仰，想与之脱离。这些教徒在现在的马萨诸塞州定居下来。他们在新大陆的第一个冬天过得很艰难。由于来得太晚，他们错过了种植农作物的时机，有一半的移民因没有新鲜食物死于疾病。第二年春天，印第安人教他们如何种植玉米，还教他们捕鱼和狩猎。

1621年秋天，玉米、大麦等作物获得大丰收。移民对此十分感激，计划设宴答谢。他们邀请了当地印第安人首领和90名印第安人。这些印第安人带来鹿和火鸡一起烤制。随后若干年，许多原来的移民都以答谢盛宴庆祝秋收。

美国独立后，国会建议每年择一个感恩日举国庆祝。1863年，亚伯拉罕•林肯要求所有的美国人将11月的最后一个星期四作为感恩日。

摘自《环球时报》英语加油站