雅思口语素材：Thanksgiving Day(感恩节)_雅思英语口语

雅思口语素材：Thanksgiving Day(感恩节)

　　After the United States became an independent country, Congress recommended one yearly day of thanksgiving for the whole nation to celebrate. George Washington suggested the date November 26 as Thanksgiving Day. Then in 1863, at the end of a long and bloody civil war, Abraham Lincoln asked all Americans to set aside the last Thursday in November as a day of thanksgiving.

　　Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November, a different date every year. The President must proclaim that date as the official celebration.

　　Thanksgiving is a time for tradition and sharing. Even if they live far away, family members gather for a reunion at the house of an older relative. All give thanks together for the good things that they have.

　　In this spirit of sharing, civic groups and charitable organizations offer a traditional meal to those in need, particularly the homeless. On most tables throughout the United States, foods eaten at the first thanksgiving have become traditional.

　　Symbols of Thanksgiving

　　Turkey, corn, pumpkins and cranberry sauceare symbols which represent the first Thanksgiving. Now all of these symbols are drawn on holiday decorations and greeting cards. The use of corn meant the survival of the colonies. Indian corn as a table or door decoration represents the harvest and the fall season.

　　Sweet-sour cranberry sauce, or cranberry jelly, was on the first Thanksgiving table and is still served today. The cranberry is a small, sour berry. It grows in bogs, or muddy areas, in Massachusetts and other New England states. The Indians used the fruit to treat infections. They used the juice to dye their rugs and blankets. They taught the colonists how to cook the berries with sweetenerand water to make a sauce. The Indians called it ibimi which means bitter berry. When the colonists saw it, they named it crane-berry because the flowers of the berry bent the stalk over, and it resembled the long-necked bird called a crane. The berries are still grown in New England.