"День благодарения"

             thanksgiving  day

Thanksgiving is one of the most important and popular holidays in the USA and Canada. It is a public holiday that most people spend with their families. As the name of the holiday implies, Thanksgiving is a special day when people give thanks. In the United States it is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. Canadians celebrate it earlier — on the second Monday of October.

The first Thanksgiving was celebrated by the pilgrims after their first successful harvest in America in 1621. The pilgrims, settlers from England, hardly managed to survive after they had arrived in America on the Mayflower ship. They landed in November and many people were not able to survive the cold winter. Since the pilgrims were running out of supplies, the native people helped them and gave them corn so that it could be planted in the settlements. The first thanksgiving was a feast held in order to celebrate the first successful harvest. The native people were invited to the feast and thanked by the settlers.

Although the origin of Thanksgiving is religious, nowadays it is just a family holiday. For most people it is the day when they come together with family and friends for a special meal. Traditionally, the meal includes a roast turkey and cranberry sauce.

For Americans and Canadians, Thanksgiving is a very important day that they spend with their families and friends. Since it is an official holiday, most people do not work on that day. They spend a lot of time making the meals and decorating their houses preparing for the celebration.

In the United States, there is also a relatively new tradition of pardoning a turkey by the President. The President of the US grants an official pardon to a turkey, saving it from being cooked.

Task 1. Read this text  AND TRANSLATE  IN RUSSIAN

Task 2. Find the English  equivalents of these phrases in the text

1.   Это государственный праздник, который люди проводят с семьей.

2.   В США его празднуют в четвертый четверг ноября

3.   Канадцы отмечают его раньше-во второй понедельник октября

4.   Традиционно трапеза включает жареную индейку и клюквенный соус.

TASK 3.  TELL THE TEXT TO  THE TEACHER