大家说英语 第461期:感恩节快乐!(2)

 Both the United States and Canada celebrate a Thanksgiving holiday. 美国和加拿大都会庆祝感恩节。

The holiday began as a harvest festival. 这个节日一开始是一个庆祝丰收的节日。

People were thankful for a good harvest and for the blessings¹ of the year. 当时人们是对丰收以及一整年的赐福表示感恩。

Today, thanksgiving is celebrated² on the second Monday of October in Canada 现如今，在加拿大，感恩节是在十月的第二个周一来庆祝，

and the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. 而美国则是在十一月的第四个周四。

Families gather to talk and eat. 家人会聚在一起聊天，吃饭。

They also share things that they are thankful for. 他们还会分享自己所感谢的事情。

Traditional foods are a large part of the Thanksgiving celebration. 传统食物是感恩节庆祝的重要部分。

It takes one or two days to prepare all the food for the meal! 准备所有的食物要花一到两天的时间。

Favorite Thanksgiving foods for Americans and Canadians include turkey, stuffing, gravy³, sweet potatoes, corn, mashed⁴ potatoes and cranberry⁵ sauce. 美国人和加拿大人最喜欢的感恩节食物包括：火鸡、填料、白薯、玉米、土豆泥以及蔓越莓酱。

Many people serve pie for dessert at the end of the meal. 许多人会在餐后端上派来当作甜点。

Pumpkin⁶ is the most popular pie flavor, but pecan and apple are also common. 南瓜口味的派是最受欢迎的，不过胡桃和苹果口味的也很常见。

Another tradition on Thanksgiving Day is watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV. 感恩节的另外一个传统是在电视上看梅西百货的感恩节大游行。

This parade is famous for its big balloons in the shape of popular characters like Snoopy. 这个游行以大气球而闻名，这些气球都是一些像史努比这样深受欢迎的形象。

Bands and many other things are also in the parade. 游行中还会有乐队和其它东西。

After the Thanksgiving meal, people talk, watch football or play games. 在感恩节大餐之后，人们会聊天、看足球赛或是做游戏。

It's a day to be thankful for family and friends. 这是一个为了家人和朋友而心怀感恩的节日。

1 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

3 gravy   

n.肉汁；轻易得来的钱，外快

参考例句：

• You have spilled gravy on the tablecloth.你把肉汁泼到台布上了。
• The meat was swimming in gravy.肉泡在浓汁之中。

4 mashed   

a.捣烂的

参考例句：

• two scoops of mashed potato 两勺土豆泥
• Just one scoop of mashed potato for me, please. 请给我盛一勺土豆泥。

5 cranberry   

n.梅果

参考例句：

• Turkey reminds me of cranberry sauce.火鸡让我想起梅果酱。
• Actually I prefer canned cranberry sauce.事实上我更喜欢罐装的梅果酱。

6 pumpkin   

n.南瓜

参考例句：

• They ate turkey and pumpkin pie.他们吃了火鸡和南瓜馅饼。
• It looks like there is a person looking out of the pumpkin!看起来就像南瓜里有人在看着你！