Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving DayThanksgiving DayThanksgiving DayIt is one of America's most popular holidays.It is a day for expressing thanks for the good things in life, especially family and friends. Thanksgiving DayI'm Shirley Griffith. and I'm Sarah Long. The story of Thanksgiving is our report today on the VOA special English program, This is America.This Thursday is Th-g day. The writer O. Henry called it the one day that is purely American. Th-g is not a religious holiday. But it has spiritual meaning.Some Americans attend church ceremonies on Th-g morning. Others travel long distances to be with their families. They have a large dinner, which is the main part of the celebration. Thanksgiving DayFor many Americans, Th-g is the only time of year when all members of a family gather together. So, the holiday is considered a time of family reunion. About thirty-million Americans are expected to travel this week to be with their families. It is the busiest travel time of the year in the United States.More than any other holiday, Th-g is a celebration of family and home. Here is part of a traditional Th-g song. It is called "Bless This House." It is sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Thanksgiving DayOn Th-g, family and friends enjoy a long day of cooking, eating, and talking.The Th-g meal almost always includes turkey meat with a bread mixture cooked inside. Other traditional foods are sweet potatoes, cranberries, and pumpkin pie.Stores sell more food at Th-g than at any other time of the year. And many people eat more food Th-g than at any other time of the year.Thanksgiving DayTh-g is celebrated every year on the ____. (The month of Nov. is autumn in the United States.) Autumn is the season when crops are gathered.When the first European settlers in America gathered their crops, they celebrated. They thanked their God for the success of the harvest.Thanksgiving DayTradition says the first Th-g was celebrated in ____ by Pilgrim settlers from England. There is evidence that settlers in other parts of America held earlier Th-g celebrations. But the Pilgrims' Th-g story is the most popular.The Pilgrims were religious dissidents (持不同政见者) who fled oppression in England. They went first to the Netherlands. Then they left that country to ________ a colony in north America. The Pilgrims landed in 1620 in what later became known as Plymouth, Massachusetts. Thanksgiving DayTheir voyage across the Atlantic Ocean was difficult. Their first months in America were difficult, too. About 100 Pilgrims landed just as autumn was turning to winter. During the cold months that followed, about half of them died.When spring came, the Pilgrims began planting crops. A native American Indian named Squanto helped them. When summer ended, the Pilgrims had a good harvest of corn and barley. Some vegetables had grown poorly, yet there was enough food to last through the winter. Thanksgiving DayThe Pilgrims decided to hold a celebration to give thanks for their harvest. Writings from that time say that Pilgrim leader William Bradford set a date late in the year. He invited members of a nearby Indian tribe to take part.That Th-g celebration lasted three days. There were many kinds of foods to eat. The meal included wild birds such as ducks, geese, and -- possibly -- turkeys.Thanksgiving DayThe declaration of a national Thanksgiving holiday resulted from the efforts of one woman, Sarah Josepha Hale.She began her campaign in the 1820’s. Mrs. Hale was a writer. She wrote stories about a national day of Th-g in a publication for women.She also wrote many letters to Presidents and other public officials. She _____ them to support the idea.Thanksgiving DaySupport grew slowly. Finally, in ____, President Abraham Lincoln declared the 4th… as a national holiday of Th-g.At that time, the United States was fighting a civil war. President Lincoln liked the idea of a Th-g holiday that would also celebrate national unity.Since then, the United States has always celebrated the Th-g holiday.Thanksgiving DayAmerican writer Diana Karter Appelbaum wrote a book about Th-g. She said Th-g became important partly because the United States was a new nation. She said the U.S. needed traditions that would help hold the new nation together.Over the years, some new traditions were added to America's Th-g celebration. For example, a number of professional and university football games are played on Th-g Day. Some of the games are broadcast on national television.Thanksgiving DaySeveral Th-g Day parades are broadcast on television, too. These parades are organized by big stores in several American cities. The parade organized by the Macy's store in New York is the biggest.Giant balloons 20 meters high float above the street. The balloons are in the shape of creatures from popular cartoons and television programs. People on the ground hold heavy ropes so theballoons do not fly away.Thanksgiving DayTh-g also is a time when Americans share what they have with those who do not have much. Churches and other groups provide free Th-g meals for old people, the homeless, and the poor. Many Americans give turkeys or other food to these groups. Some spend part of the day helping to prepare and serve the meals.Thanksgiving DayReligious ceremonies are an important part of Th-g Day for many Americans. People join in prayers and songs Th-g. One of the most famous songs is called "Prayer of Th-g."The words and music tell of the traditional meaning of Th-g. We gather with our family. We share what we have, and we give thanks for the good things of the past year.Here is the Boston Pops Orchestra and Chorus singing "Prayer of Th-g."赦免的传统每年一度的总统放生火鸡仪式始于1947年杜鲁门总统当政时期，但实际上这个传统仪式可以追溯到美国内战林肯总统当政的时期. 1863年的一天，林肯的儿子泰德突然闯入内阁会议请求赦免一只名叫杰克的宠物火鸡，因为这只被送进白宫的火鸡，即将成为人们的圣诞节大餐。