第六十一讲
Section II Maintaining a Sharp Eye
Passage I Thanksgiving Day and Christmas
Text-Related Information
1. Apart from Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, these are the commonly celebrated holidays in the West:
a. Carnival: early in the new year. The main content is to hold a parade, a party, and other joyful activities.
b. Valentine’s Day: February 14, for lovers to express their love to each other.
c. April Fool’s Day: the first day of April. People can make and tell white jokes to one another.
d. Easter: usually in early April. This is a religious festival. On the very Sunday morning, children are busy looking for the color eggs assumed to be given by the Easter rabbit.
e. Independence Day: July 4. it began from1776. the celebration activities are mainly made up of a parade and making patriotic speeches.
f. Halloween: the evening of October 31. Dancing parties are held with people wearing fancy masks.
g. Boxing Day: the first weekday after Christmas. Presents are given to those who deliver newspaper, milk or do other kinds of service to the family to express the thanks for their good service and help.
2. Silent Night, Holy Night
The title of the song may be translated as “圣诞节” or “平安夜”. It is a very sweet Christmas carol.
3. Santa Claus:
Patron saint of children. The legend first came from Holland and was brought to the US by Dutch immigrants. In America, Santa Claus id fat and jolly, with white hair and beard, and rides in the sky in a reindeer-drawn sleigh, delivering gifts to children at Christmas Eve.
Text Explanation
Para. 1
Thanksgiving Day on the fourth Thursday of November is uniquely an American holiday which dates back to the arrival of some of the first European settlers in the New World. America has been blessed with rich land and rich natural resources. However, those early settlers would not have survived their first cold winter without the help of their native Indian neighbors, who taught them how to plant corns, and how to hunt wild deer. The first Thanksgiving Day was observed after the fall harvest, and people gave thanks to God and to their friends. A traditional Thanksgiving dinner usually includes turkey, corn, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie --- all foods that early settlers and the Indians ate on the first Thanksgiving Day in 1621.
Language Points:
4.Explanation of Difficult Sentences
1) Thanksgiving Day
Analysis: In this sentence, unique means “specially, solely”. Which introduces a relative clause, modifying an American holiday, Thanksgiving Day in this case.
Translation: 每年11月的第四个星期四的感恩节是唯有美国才有的节日。它可以追溯到第一批欧洲人移居到新大陆的时期。
Example: English is one of the most important courses for the Chinese students which is compulsory in almost all the colleges and universities.
2) However ... .. , and how to hunt wild deer.
Analysis: Subjunctive mood is used in this sentence to emphasize the important and necessity of the help given by the Indian neighbors. The word who introduces an unrestricticted relative clause, modifying Indian neighbors.
Translation: 然而，如果没有当地印第安人的帮助，那些早期的移民是无法度过他们在那里的第一个凛冽寒冬的。这些土著印第安邻居教他们如何种植玉米及如何狩猎野鹿。
Example: I would like to say that without your help, I could not have completed the project on time.
3) The first …… to their friends.
Analysis: The verb observe means “spend or celebrate” here. The conjunction and is used here to introduce a coordinate clause which further illustrates the meaning of Thanksgiving Day.
Translation: 第一个感恩节是在秋收后庆祝的，人们借此对上帝和朋友们表示感谢。
Example: The most important part of the Spring Festival is a big family reunion, and many people will also be busy with preparing all kinds of delicious traditional food.
2. Important Words
1) bless: v. to ask God’s favour for 祈福,有福气,保佑
e.g. May God bless you.
This country is blessed with mild climate and rich land.
Bless me! (啊呀，我的天哪。)
I’m blessed if I know. (反语，咒语：我一点也不知道呀！)
2) survive: v. continue to live or exist, remain alive after, live or exist longer than
幸免于；比…长命
e.g. Very few people in this area survived the earthquake.
The old lady was so lucky that she survived the accident.
It’s difficult for these plants to survive the cold climate in the north.
3) hunt: v. go after wild animals; look for, try to find 打猎；寻觅， 设法找到
e.g. Nobody is allowed to hunt here.
All the people are helping hunt for a missing child.
These students are hunting for a part-time job at the market.
4)observe: v. celebrate; obey 庆祝；遵守
e.g. Do they observe Thanksgiving Day in that country?
We always observe birthdays at home.
All drivers should observe traffic laws strictly.
5) include v. bring in, reckon, as part of the whole 包括，包括在内
e.g. Don’t you think we should include some examples in this paragraph?
This book includes 20 chapters.
Her duties include putting the children to bed.