Thanksgiving Day is a special holiday in the United States and Canada. Families and friends gather to eat and give thanks for their blessing.
Thanksgiving Day is really a harvest festival. This is why it is celebrated in late fall, after the crops are in. But one of the first thanksgivings in America had nothing to do with a good harvest. On December 4, 1619, the Pilgrims (朝圣者) from England landed near what is now Charles City, Virginia. They knelt down and thanked God for their safe journey across the Atlantic.
The first New England Thangksgiving did celebrate a rich harvest. The Pilgrims landed at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. They had a difficult time and the first winter was cruel. Many of the Pilgrims died. But the next year, they had a good harvest. So Governor Bradford declared a three-day feast. The Pilgrims invited Indian friends to join them for their special feast. Everyone brought food.
In time, other colonies (殖民地) began to celebrate a day of thanksgiving. But it took years before there was a national Thanksgiving Day. During the Civil War, Sarah Josepha Hale persuaded Abraham Lincoln to do something about it. He proclaimed (宣布) the last Thursday of November 1863 as a day of thanksgiving. Today, Americans celebrate this happy harvest festival on the fourth Thursday in November, Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving Day in much the same way as their American neighbors. But the Canadian Thanksgiving Day falls on the second Monday in October.
The passage mainly tells us _______
A.how Thanksgiving Day came into being and the different ways it is celebrated |
B.how to celebrate Thanksgiving Day |
C.how Thanksgiving Day changed with the time and places |
D.why Thanksgiving Day is a harvest holiday |
Thanksgiving Day is celebrated _______.
A.in spring |
B.in summer |
C.in autumn |
D.in winter |
The first to celebrate thanksgiving were _______ .
A.people in Canada |
B.Governor Bradford |
C.some people from England |
D.the American Indians |
We can infer from the passage that New England must be ______ .
A.in England |
B.in Canada |
C.on some island off the Atlantic |
D.in America |
Which of the following statements is NOT ture?
A.There’s little difference between the American way and the Canadian way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. |
B.Abraham Lincoln was not the first to decide on thanksgiving celebrations. |
C.Thanksgiving Day used to be a holiday to celebrate a good harvest. |
D.Thanksgiving Day is celebrated to express the American and Indian people’s thanks to God. |