雅思口語話題節日素材：美國傳統節日感恩節

　　Thanksgiving Day is a very important traditional holiday in America. On the fourth Thursday of each November, families and friends gather together for the occasion to celebrate with a traditional turkey dinner, usually in the mid-afternoon. Thanksgiving Day originated as a celebration of the year's harvest and is similar to the Mid-Autumn Festival in China.

　　感恩節是一個很重要的美國傳統節日。每年11月的第四個星期四，人們都會與家人、朋友歡聚一堂，下午3時左右吃傳統的火雞大餐。該節日最初主要是為了慶祝一年的豐收，與中國的中秋節有些相似。

　　This American tradition started in 1621 before the United States of America was established. It was a huge celebration for a hard-earned harvest in the first year after the first group of immigrants arriving in the New World.

　　這個美國傳統節日始于1621年，美國成立以前。來源于美洲新大陸第一批移民為慶祝到達新大陸之后第一年的辛苦勞作獲得的豐收而舉行的盛大宴會。

　　On September 6, 1620, the Mayflower ship set sail from Plymouth, Devon, England, taking all the English Pilgrims to the New World. The English Pilgrims numbered about a hundred people, and left England to escape religious persecution.

　　1620年9月6日，一批不堪忍受國內宗教迫害的英國清教徒乘坐“五月花”號從英格蘭德文郡普利茅斯出發，開始了到美洲新大陸的航行。這批清教徒大約有100人。

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

　　清教徒們在海上航行了66天，終于在當年的11月到達美洲新大陸。他們最初在當地印第安人廢棄的一個玉米地z安頓下來，并把它命名為普利茅斯種植園。

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

　　1620年那個寒冷而漫長的冬天，他們在這塊土地上費盡千辛萬苦地勞作著，困難重重，還遭遇了一場災難性的瘟疫，一半人在這場瘟疫中死去。到了1621年的春天，一個名叫Squanto的印第安英雄率其瓦帕濃部落開始主動幫助他們。部落里的人們教這些清教徒怎樣耕種土地，怎樣種植玉米、大豆、南瓜以及其他農作物。

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

　　1621年9月底，他們的辛勤勞作終于獲得大豐收，清教徒們歡欣鼓舞。為了慶祝這第一次來之不易的大豐收，他們想要好好感謝一下上帝和當地的印第安人，便邀請Squanto及其瓦帕濃部落參加他們的慶祝盛宴。

　　The first Thanksgiving dinner is said to have 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 with the Native American Indians, built houses in the wilderness, and raised sufficient crops to feed themselves for the upcoming long winter. The Pilgrims had become the first generation of settlers in this new land holding so much promise.

　　這第一次的豐收慶祝盛宴據說從三天一直延長到一個星期。對于清教徒們來說，這的確是一段享受高興、愉悅、友誼的時間。他們和善良的當地印第安人一起準備了慶祝盛宴，在荒野中蓋了房子，并為即將來臨的漫長冬天儲存了充足的食物。于是，在這塊充滿希望、憧憬和向往的新大陸上，清教徒們便成了第一代移民定居者。

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

　　從那以后的150多年里，感恩節便成為一個慶祝新大陸豐收的固定節日，在每年的10月或11月舉行慶祝活動。

　　The first National Thanksgiving was declared by the Continental Congress in 1777. On October 3, 1789, President George Washington declared that the people of the United States should observe "a day of public thanksgiving and prayer" on Thursday, 26 November. In 1941, a Congressional Joint Resolution set the fourth Thursday of November as a national holiday for Thanksgiving.

　　1777年，美國大陸會議第一次宣布感恩節為全國性節日。1789年10月3日，美國總統喬治·華盛頓號召美國人民把當年的11月26日(星期四)看作“一個感恩、祈禱的公開紀念日”。1941年，一項國會聯合決議把感恩節定為全國性節日，時間定在每年11月的第四個星期四。