萬聖節文章：5篇(A~E)

感恩節文章：2篇(F~G)

感恩節影片：2片

(A)

We celebrate Halloween every year on October 31st. Where does the

holiday come from?

The holiday originally comes from a people called the Celts. The Celts

lived in Europe more than 2000 years ago. On November 1st they

celebrated the end of summer. They thought ghosts visited the living on

October 31st. They dressed up like ghosts so the spirits would not harm

them.

Today, many countries still remember the dead onNovember 1st. It is

called All Saints Day. Another name for it is All Hallow’s Day. The day

before, October 31st, is called All Hallow’s Eve, or Halloween for short.

Halloween is an old tradition in Ireland and Scotland. In those

countries, people dressed up and carried lanterns made of turnips. When

people moved from Ireland and Scotland to the United States, they started

using pumpkins. This is where the jack-o’-lantern comes from.

They also had a tradition of giving food to the spirits. Later, they gave

the food to poor people. This is where trick-or-treating comes from.

Halloween has changed a lot since its origins. New people have

brought new traditions, and changed the old ones. What do you think

Halloween will be like in another two thousand years?

(B)

Halloween is a celebration that happens on the 31st of October. It

originally came from a Christian religious day. The 1st of November is

All Saints Day, so Halloween is the eve or night before this. Nowadays it

is mainly just an excuse for people to have fun.

The holiday was mainly celebrated in America and from there has

spread to many other countries. It is meant to be the day, and mainly the

night, when monsters come out of hiding. This means that people

associate scary and frightening things with Halloween.

There are three main traditions linked to Halloween. The first is

carving pumpkins, the second is decorating your house and the third is

trick-or-treating.

Pumpkins are big vegetables that go an orange color when they are ripe

and ready to eat. When someone carves a pumpkin they cut the top off it

and scoop out all the seeds and flesh from the inside. Then they carve a

pattern into the outside of the pumpkin. Often they cut the pattern so that

there are holes into the center of the pumpkin. It is traditional to carve

your pumpkin into a scary face. Then when it is dark you put a candle or

light inside the pumpkin so the light shines out of the frightening face that

was carved.

Then the pumpkins would be used to decorate your house. You would

put them in a window or on the front porch so people in the street can see

them. However, the decorations have become much better over the years.

Now people try to make their houses look as if they are a haunted house

by making skeletons to hang in the garden or putting tombstones outside

the house. They might also make it look as if there are lots of spider webs.

The people from the house try to make it look as scary as possible.

Finally, children will get dressed up in costumes and go out

trick-or-treating. This is where they go to people’s houses and ask for

sweets or candy, their treat. If the house refused to give them anything

then they would play a trick on the house. Adults do not go

trick-or-treating, unless that are looking after children, but do often have

their own parties at night. At these parties people would also be dressed

up as monsters or anything else that is scary.

(C)

Like many other holidays, Halloween has evolved and changed

throughout history. Over 2,000 years ago people called the Celts lived in

what is now Ireland, the UK, and parts of Northern France. November 1

was their New Year's Day. They believed that the night before the New

Year (October 31) was a time when the living and the dead came together.

More than a thousand years ago the Christian church named November

1 All Saints Day (also called All Hallows.) This was a special holy day to

honor the saints and other people who died for their religion. The night

before All Hallows was called Hallows Eve. Later the name was changed

to Halloween.

Like the Celts, the Europeans of that time also believed that the spirits

of the dead would visit the earth on Halloween. They worried that evil

spirits would cause problems or hurt them. So on that night people wore

costumes that looked like ghosts or other evil creatures. They thought if

they dressed like that, the spirits would think they were also dead and not

harm them.

The tradition of Halloween was carried to America by the immigrating

Europeans. Some of the traditions changed a little, though. For example,

on Halloween in Europe some people would carry lanterns made from

turnips. In America, pumpkins were more common. So people began

putting candles inside them and using them as lanterns. That is why you

see Jack 'o lanterns today.

These days Halloween is not usually considered a religious holiday. It

is primarily a fun day for children. Children dress up in costumes like

people did a thousand years ago. But instead of worrying about evil

spirits, they go from house to house. They knock on doors and say "trick

or treat." The owner of each house gives candy or something special to

each trick or treater.

(D)

Halloween is a great day for parties. Children dress up as witches,

ghosts or vampires, and they go from house to house playing TRICK OR

TREAT. But what’s the origin of this custom?

Halloween means Hallows’ Evening. It is the evening before All

Hallows’ Day (now called All Saints Day), a Christian holiday, celebrated

on the 1st of November. But that day was important already in ancient

times. On the 1st of November, Celtic peoples celebrated the festival of

Shamhuinn, which marked the beginning of winter and the Celtic New

Year.

“How come a Christian and a pagan holiday are celebrated on the same

day?” you might ask, “Is it just a coincident?” – No, it isn’t. When

Christianity spread, the Church tried to disturb the pagan customs as little

as possible, and so they merged their festivals with pagan ones.

It was widely believed that on Hallows’ Evening the dead would rise

from their graves to roam the earth. Afraid of evil spirits, people therefore

either wore ugly masks to frighten those spirits away, or they stayed at

home saying prayers. Some would also go from house to house, begging

for ‘soul cakes’, square pieces of bread with currants. In return they

promised to pray for dead members of the donors’ families.

Going from house to house, begging for sweets – doesn’t that sound

familiar? Indeed, that’s the origin of TRICK OR TREAT. Be aware,

however, as the custom has changed! Nobody is going to pray for you

nowadays. Instead, if you don’t have a TREAT for the children in front of

your door (some sweets for example), they will most likely play a TRICK

on you – that’s what TRICK OR TREAT is all about.

(E)

Legend has it that an Irish blacksmith called Jack shared drinks with

the Devil on a Halloween night. Jack was an evil and stingy man, but he

was also very clever, and he knew that the Devil had come to claim his

soul. So, he quickly devised a plan. When it came to paying the bartender,

Jack told the Devil, “You can take any form you wish; just change

yourself into a silver coin, let me use you to pay for the drinks, and then

you can change yourself back and take my soul.”

The Devil agreed and changed himself into a silver coin. Jack, however,

quickly put the coin in his pocket where he also kept a little silver Cross.

The Devil wasn’t able to change back to his original form, so Jack offered

him a deal, “If you leave me alone for 10 years, I’ll set you free.” The

Devil had no choice but to agree.

Ten years later, the Devil came back to claim Jack’s soul. “Okay, you

can have my soul now,” Jack said, “Could you just climb that apple tree

first and give me an apple?” The Devil thought he had nothing to lose and

climbed the apple tree, but Jack quickly pulled out his knife and carved a

Cross in the trunk of the tree. Thus the Devil wasn’t able to come back

down again, and Jack offered him another deal, “If you promise never to

come back to claim my soul, I’ll set you free.” Again, the Devil had no

choice but to agree, and he never came back to claim Jack’s soul.

Many years later, Jack finally died. When he went to Heaven, he was

denied entrance, because he had been so evil and stingy all his life. Then

Jack went to Hell, but, as he had tricked the Devil, he wasn’t allowed to

stay there either. Instead, the Devil sent Jack back to earth and gave him a

burning coal as a light to guide him. Jack placed the piece of coal inside a

turnip, and went back to earth, where, ever since, he has been wandering

alone in the darkness.

Jack and his lantern became the symbol of a lost or damned soul. To

scare these souls away on Halloween, people in Ireland carved or painted

faces on turnips and placed them in windows or doorways. In America,

Irish immigrants discovered that turnips were hard to get. So they started

to make their lanterns out of pumpkins, a fruit native to America.

(F)、10 Traditional Foods for a True

Thanksgiving Meal

1. Turkey

Thanksgiving wouldn’t be the same without the turkey. The turkey is

usually prepared whole, filled with fruit, vegetables or other stuffing

(more on stuffing in #2!). It’s also usually seasoned, which means

covered in herbs for flavor and smell.

The turkey is then roasted, meaning cooked in an oven or over an open

fire. The best roasted turkeys are juicy and delicious, but roasting a turkey

takes skill. The turkey is notorious (well known for something negative)

for being dry.

You can learn how to roast a mouth-watering turkey—and some English

vocabulary—with this FluentU video!

2. Stuffing/Dressing

“Stuff” is another way to say “things.” But the verb to stuff means that

you fill something until it’s full. Thanksgiving stuffing (also

called dressing) is the food that goes inside the roasted turkey.

But it’s also become a side dish, a dish of food that’s served next to the

main course. Traditionally, Thanksgiving stuffing is made of bread and

herbs, and sometimes sausage (a kind of hot dog) or other additional

ingredients. Check out some stuffing/dressing recipes here!

3. Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes are potatoes that have been boiled and peeled, and then

crushed (mashed) into a soft and creamy dish. Add butter, milk and some

garlic, and you have a perfect dish!

4. Gravy

While you’re cooking the turkey (or many other meats), it will create

juices. These juices can be turned into gravy, a thick sauce. This sauce is

usually poured onto the mashed potatoes to give them more flavor.

5. Cranberry Sauce

There is something about the sweet but tangy (slightly sour) flavor of

cranberry sauce that makes it the perfect side dish for turkey. There are

plenty of places that sell cranberry sauce, but it’s very easy to make on

your own as well.

To make cranberry sauce, boil cranberries, sugar, lemon zest (grated

lemon peel) and water, and then simmer it (cook on a small flame).

That’s all you need to do!

6. Corn

Bread rolls are another staple (an important part) of the Thanksgiving

meal. Many times, these rolls are cornbread, which is made with

cornmeal, a powder from dried and ground corn.

Corn is served in other ways at Thanksgiving, too. You might eat corn on

the cob, which is grilled whole corn, or creamed corn, which is mashed

corn soup or sauce.

7. Green Bean Casserole

A casserole is a stew that’s cooked slowly in the oven. Green bean

casserole has cream of mushroom soup, fried onions and— of

course—green beans!

8. Candied Yams

Sweet potatoes are yellow, creamy types of potatoes that are also

calledyams. The sweet flavor and soft texture of these potatoes make

them a versatile (easy to use in many situations) side dish for the main

course.

You can bake them, make a casserole with them or mash them like

regular potatoes. Or you can add spices, brown sugar and butter, place

marshmallows on top and bake them into candied yams—a deliciously

sweet dish which might remind you of (make you think of) candy, like

the name suggests.

9. Pumpkin Pie

The pumpkin spice flavor in America now means that autumn is here.

Almost everything has a pumpkin spice version! There’s pumpkin spice

coffee, pumpkin spice cookies… there are even pumpkin spice sausages

and bagels!

Surprisingly, the flavor doesn’t even have actual pumpkin in it.

Butpumpkin pie does have pumpkin. A delicious warm spice and

pumpkin filling inside a flaky crust will always warm you up. No wonder

we love pumpkin spice so much in fall!

10. Pecan Pie

Complete the meal with a delectable (delicious) pecan pie, a pie that

usespecans (a type of nut) with spices and maple syrup. Pecan pie

is irresistible (hard to say no to). Even if guests are too full to eat any

more, they’ll make room for pecan pie!

Vocabulary After the Thanksgiving Meal

Now that you’re done eating, you can forget about the holiday, right? Not

quite!

The Thanksgiving meal is so large that for many days after the dinner,

people have leftovers—extra food that is left (remains) after the dinner is

done.

Even though there are leftovers, a lot of food is also eaten on the holiday.

Many people eat so much on Thanksgiving that they feel the need

todetox afterwards—to remove toxins or bad substances from the body.

The day after Thanksgiving is another famous day, known as Black

Friday. On Black Friday, stores across the country have huge sales where

people wait in line for hours to buy cheap products (usually for Christmas

gifts).

Are you too full to go out the day after Thanksgiving? Just wait until the

Monday after, which is now known as Cyber Monday, when stores

move their sales to the internet.

You don’t have to live in America or Canada to enjoy Thanksgiving. All

you need is a lot of food, an empty belly (stomach) and some family

and/or friends. Remember to give thanks for all that you have!

http://www.fluentu.com/english/blog/thanksgiving-list-of-foods/

(G)、Thanksgiving Day there are three traditional activities

1. Parades

Thanksgiving Day Parades, though not specifically documented, probably

got their start when President Lincoln proclaimed an official day of

Thanksgiving. Given the Union achievements of the summer of 1863, it

would have been logical that any official event declared by the President

would have been accompanied by a show of military strength and

discipline such as a full-dress parade. Elaborate floats, musical shows and

entertainment celebrities have replaced the parades of armed and

uniformed men marching in cadence or to a military band, but the desired

effect, to lift the spirits of the spectators, remains the goal.

The NYC Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade tradition began in 1924, and

has grown into an annual event of balloons, bands, and floats, enjoyed by

more than 46 million people each year in person and on TV.

2. Football

Throughout the United States, football on Thanksgiving Day is as big a

part of the celebration as turkey and pumpkin pie. Dating back to the first

intercollegiate football championship held on Thanksgiving Day in 1876,

traditional holiday football rivalries have become so popular that a

reporter once called Thanksgiving "a holiday granted by the State and the

Nation to see a game of football."Micronesia

For years, the principal game was a tradition between the Detroit Lions

and the Green Bay Packers. Yet, as this modern day ritual became more

and more popular, more games were added with more teams.

3. Heralding the Christmas Rush

The day after Thanksgiving, often an additional day off has become

"Black Friday" the day when the Christmas shopping frenzy first starts.

Like football, this has become a cultural symbol of the holiday and the

season.

http://www.onepiecetravel.com/CULTURE/Thanksgiving-Day-there-are-t

hree-traditional-activities_756.html