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  3. Thanksgiving Day is an annual holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November, and it is most closely

Thanksgiving Day is an annual holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November, and it is most closely

admin2010-01-13  68
问题    Thanksgiving Day is an annual holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November, and it is most closely connected with the earliest history of the country.
    In 1620, the settlers, or pilgrims, sailed to America on the Mayflower seeking a place where they could have freedom of worship. After a tempestuous two-month voyage they landed at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts on an icy November morning. During their first winter over half of the settlers died of starvation, cold or epidemics.
    The following spring, the pilgrims were befriended by some native American Indians who taught them which of the wild vegetation was safe to eat. The Indians also showed them how to plant corn and other vegetables.
    All summer long the colony people waited for the harvests with great anxiety, knowing that their lives and the future existence of the colony depend on the coming harvest. Finally the fields produced a yield rich beyond expectations. And therefore it was decided that a day of thanksgiving be fixed, to thank the Lord as well as the Native Americans.
    The first national Thanksgiving Day was proclaimed by President George Washington and was celebrated on the 26th day of November in 1789. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln revived the custom and made Thanksgiving an annual (moveable) holiday to be celebrated on the fourth/last Thursday of November. For three years (1939-1941), under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the day was celebrated on the third Thursday in November. In 1941, Congress returned Thanksgiving to its original day, and the celebration of it has been observed on that date until today.
    The pattern of the thanksgiving celebration has never changed through the years. The big family dinner is planned months ahead. On the dinner table, people will find apples, oranges, chestnuts, walnuts and grapes. There will be plums, pudding, mince pie, cranberry juice, squash and other varieties of food. The best and most attractive among them are roast turkey and pumpkin pie. Everyone agrees the dinner must be built around roast turkey stuffed with a bread dressing to absorb the tasty juices as it roasts. But as cooking varies with families and with the regions where one lives, it is not easy to get a consensus on the precise kind of stuffing for the royal bird.
   Thanksgiving today is in every sense a national holiday on which Americans of all faiths and backgrounds join in to express their thanks for the year’s bounty and reverently ask for continued blessings.
Why did the pilgrims sail away from their native land?
选项 A、To avoid racial discrimination.
B、To escape religious persecution.
C、To keep up the British seafaring tradition.
D、To start a adventurous journey.
答案B
解析 由第二段第一句可知，“朝圣者们乘坐‘五月花’号航行到美国，寻求一个(宗教)信仰自由的地方”，因此可以推论，在他们的祖国没有信仰的自由，或可以说存在着“宗教迫害”，因此B项为正确选项。A、C、D三项的意思分别为“逃避种族歧视”、“发扬大英帝国的远洋传统”和“开始冒险旅行”。
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