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Talking Turkey 你不知道的感恩节

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繁體中文譯本

On the last Thursday of this month, people all over America will sit down at the dinner table with family and friends to partake of Thanksgiving dinner. Many believe that the idea originated in the seventeenth-century New England colonies; however, the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Hebrews, Chinese, and even Native Americans celebrated their own form of giving thanks for bountiful harvests long before Americana adopted the practice.

本月的最后一个星期四，全美国的人会与家人、朋友坐在餐桌前分享感恩节晚餐。许多人相信，这个点子起源于十七世纪的新英格兰殖民地；然而，希腊人、罗马人、埃及人、犹太人、中国人甚至是美国的原住民，远在美国人实行这项习俗以前，就以他们自己的形式庆祝丰收了。

Another reputed “fact” is that the first thanksgiving feasts were also gestures of goodwill toward American natives; however, according to many Native American historians, this idealistic notion of cultural harmony is far from the truth. What is not reported in U.S. history book, they say, is that thanksgiving feasts were most often held in celebration of “victories” over American Indians — such as when whole villages were massacred in the bitter struggle for control of the land.

另一个广为流传的「事实」是，头几次的感恩盛宴也是对美国原住民的一种友好表示；然而，根据许多美国原住民史学家表示，这种文化和谐的理想化概念，与事实有很大出入。他们说，没有在美国史书中披露的是，感恩盛宴最常举行的时机就是庆祝「战胜」美国印地安人时──例如在争夺土地控制权的艰苦奋战中，屠杀全村印地安人之时。

Thankfully, the bloody side to the holiday is now a thing of the past, and the global meaning of that thanksgiving has prevailed. Today, Americans still celebrate Thanksgiving as their forefathers did, with feasting and drinking. But now they only do so as an act of reverence, or to express gratitude for sustenance, family and friendships, and material bounty.

所幸，此刻这个节日血腥的一面已成过往云烟，而感恩一词全球通用的意义盛行。今天，美国人仍如他们的祖先一般大吃大喝地庆祝感恩节。但他们现在之所以这么做，不过是用行动表示敬意，或是对生计、家庭，友谊和物质丰腴表达感激。

Vocabulary

单词发音

partake [pɑrˋtek] v.【书】参加，参与[（+in）]; 分享

originate [əˋrɪdʒə͵net] v. 发源；来自；产生[Q][（+in/from/with）]

bountiful [ˋbaʊntəfəl] adj. 充足的，丰富的

adopt [əˋdɑpt] v. 采取；采纳

reputed [rɪˋpjutɪd] adj. 驰名的，出名的；享有声望的

gesture [ˋdʒɛstʃɚ] n.（表明态度或意图的）姿态; 表示

goodwill [ˋgʊdˋwɪl] n. 善意，好心；友好，亲善

idealistic [aɪ͵dɪəlˋɪstɪk] adj. 理想主义的；空想的

massacre [ˋmæsəkɚ] n. 大屠杀，残杀

bitter [ˋbɪtɚ] adj. 痛苦的；难堪的

prevail [prɪˋvel] v. 流行，盛行；普遍

forefather [ˋfor͵fɑðɚ] n. 祖先，祖宗；前辈

reverence [ˋrɛvərəns] n. 敬爱，崇敬；敬畏

gratitude [ˋgrætə͵tjud] n. 感激之情，感恩，感谢

sustenance [ˋsʌstənəns] n. 生计; 【正式】〔使人健康强壮的〕食物; 营养

bounty [ˋbaʊntɪ] n. 收成；物产; 大量提供的东西；慷慨的赠予

Sentence of the Day

No thanks to you.

你帮不上甚么忙。

no thanks to  并非由于

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课文讲解

Sue, an American, is visiting her Canadian friend, Glen, at his Rocky Mountain home:  美国人苏正造访她的加拿大朋友葛林位于落矶山脉的家：

S: So how come you Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving in October? Is it because your growing season is shorter and you have an earlier harvest?

你们加拿大人干嘛在十月庆祝感恩节呢？是不是因为你们作物的生长季节比较短而收获得早呢？

G: Maybe, but I think the real reason is because you Americans have Thanksgiving in November.

或许是，但我认为真正的原因是因为你们美国人在十一月过感恩节。

S: So, just to be different, huh?

所以，只是要互别苗头啰？

G: Pretty much, eh. But you may be interested to know what you guys didn’t invent the “uniquely American” holiday.

差不多啦。但你或许有兴趣知道，你们可不是发明这个「美国人专属」节日的人。

S: I know Native Americans celebrated harvests with the Green Corn Ceremony, but I suppose now you’ll tell me the first non-native thanksgiving was in the Canadian Arctic or something.

我知道美国原住民以青玉米祭庆丰收，但我猜你现在要告诉我的是，第一个非原住民的感恩节是在加拿大的北极地区或什么地方举行的。

G: That’s right! In 1578, English explorer Martin Frobisher was up there looking for the Northwest Passage; he and his crew celebrated the first North American thanksgiving right there in the middle of the tundra.

你说对了！在1578年，英国的探险家马丁．佛洛比谢尔上那儿找西北航道。他和他的组员们就在冻土地带之中庆祝北美第一个感恩节。

S: Huh?! That was forty-three years before the Plymouth Pilgrims! But what on earth could they possibly have been celebrating? A harvest of ice and snow?

啥？！那比从普里茅斯上岸的清教徒还早四十三年！但是他们到底在庆祝什么玩意儿？冰雪的丰收？

G: No, they were just thankful they’d survived the hostile Canadian climate.

不，他们只是对自己能在严峻的加拿大气候下存活表示感谢。

S: Then maybe you guys should have Thanksgiving in April or May instead.

这么说来，或许你们该在四月或五月过感恩节才对。

G: How do you figure?

怎么说呢？

S: Because then every spring you could truly say, “Thank God winter’s over!”

因为这样一来，每年春天你们就可以由衷地说「谢天谢地，冬天结束了！」

－by Stephen A. Nelson

Vocabulary

单词发音

Arctic [ˋɑrktɪk]  n. 北极地带；北极圈

crew [kru] n. 一组（或一队等）工作人员

tundra [ˋtʌndrə] n.【地】苔原；冻土地带，冻原

pilgrim [ˋpɪlgrɪm] n.（大写）1620年搭乘五月花号（Mayflower）移居美国的英国清教徒

hostile [ˋhɑstɪl] adj.（情况、形势等）不利的，恶劣的，造成阻碍的

figure [ˋfɪgjɚ] v. 认为，以为；估计[Y][+（that）]；料到

Sentence of the Day

They did it cold turkey.

他们毫无准备就做了。

cold turkey: 直截了当的话（或方式）without planning or preparation; also immediate,complete withdrawal from something, especially an addictive substance