楼主改写英语并翻译为汉语，英语汉语对照，发帖子于此，供网友参考。

Thanksgiving Day in America is a time to offer thanks, of family gatherings and holiday meals. A time of turkeys and pumpkin pie. (1) A time for Indian corn, holiday parades and giant balloons Thanksgiving Day is most closely connected with the earliest history of the country. 美国的感恩节是表达感谢、家人团聚和节日盛宴的时间，是享受火鸡和南瓜馅饼的时间，是玉米丰收的时间，是节日游行和放大气球的时间。感恩节和早期的美国历史有着最密切的关系。

Thanksgiving Day is a legacy of the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims, who celebrated the first thanksgiving in America, were fleeing religious persecution in their native England. In 1609 a group of Pilgrims left England for the religious freedom in Holland where they lived and prospered. After a few years their children were speaking Dutch and had become attached to the Dutch way of life. (2) They considered the Dutch frivolous and their ideas a threat to their children's education and morality. 感恩节是清教徒的传统。在美国过第一个感恩节的清教徒，是逃避英国本土宗教迫害的教徒。1609年，一群清教徒离开英国前往荷兰寻求宗教自由。他们在荷兰定居，而且兴旺发达起来。几年后，他们的孩子讲荷兰语，迷恋荷兰的生活方式。这些清教徒认为荷兰人很轻浮，他们的观念给自己的孩子们的教育和道德构成了威胁。

So they decided to leave Holland and travel to the New World. On Sept. 6, 1620 the Pilgrims, 110 in all, set sail for the New World on a ship called the Mayflower. 于是，他们决定离开荷兰，前往新大陆。1620年9月6日，这些清教徒总计110人，乘坐“五月花号”轮船，航行到新大陆去。

The long trip was cold and damp and took 65 days. Many passengers became sick and one person died by the time land was sighted on November 10th. 漫长的旅程花了65天，途中又冷又潮湿。许多人都病了。11月10日，当新大陆在望时，一人不幸死去。

They finally landed the New World and settled at Plymouth. The first winter was devastating to the Pilgrims. The cold and snow was exceptionally heavy. March brought warmer weather and the health of the Pilgrims improved, but many had died during the long winter. Of the 110 Pilgrims less than 50 survived the first winter. (3) 他们最终登上了新大陆，并在普利茅斯定居。第一个冬天给清教徒致命打击。那年天特别冷，雪特别大。3月，天气转暖，清教徒们的健康有所好转，但是，不少人在漫长的冬天里死去了。110个清教徒中，活过第一个冬天的不到50人。

On March 16, 1621, two Indian braves walked into the Plymouth settlement. It was these two Indians who taught the Pilgrims how to plant the Indian corn. The harvest in October was very successful and the Pilgrims found themselves with enough food to put away for the winter. 1621年3月16日，两个勇敢的印第安人走进普利茅斯清教徒居留地。正是这两个印第安人教会清教徒种植玉米。10月，他们获得大丰收，清教徒们发现他们有足够的食物过冬。

    The Pilgrims had much to celebrate, they had built homes in the wilderness, they had raised enough crops to keep them alive during the long coming winter, and they were at peace with their Indian neighbors. (4) 清教徒们有许多东西值得庆祝：他们在荒野中修建了家园，他们种植了足够的粮食可以度过即将来临的漫长冬天，他们与比邻的印第安人和平相处。

The Pilgrim Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving to be shared by all the colonists and the neighboring Native Americans. They played games, ran races and played drums. Exactly when the festival took place is uncertain, but it is believed the celebration took place in mid-October. 清教徒总督威廉· 布雷德福宣布感恩节，让所有殖民地居民和附近的土著美国人都来庆祝。他们做游戏、赛跑和打鼓。举行这个活动的准确时间并不清楚，但是，人们相信庆祝活动发生在10月中旬。

The following year the Pilgrims harvest was not as bountiful, as they were still unused to growing the corn. During the year they had also shared their stored food with newcomers and the Pilgrims ran short of food. 第二年，清教徒的收获不如头年，因为他们还不习惯种植玉米。这一年中，他们还得与新来的人分享他们储备的食物，于是，清教徒们食物短缺。

The 3rd year brought a spring and summer that was hot and dry with the crops dying in the fields. Governor Bradford ordered a day of fasting and prayer, and it was soon thereafter that the rain came. To celebrate - November 29th of that year was proclaimed a day of thanksgiving. This date is believed to be the real true beginning of the present day Thanksgiving Day. 第三年的春天和夏天，炎热而干燥，庄稼枯死在地里。总督布雷德福命令斋戒和祈祷一天。很快，天降甘露。为了庆祝，那年的11月29日被宣布为感恩节。据信，这一天是现在的感恩节节日的真正开始。

     In 1817 New York State had adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom. By the middle of the 19th century many other states also celebrated a Thanksgiving Day. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of thanksgiving. Since then each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation, usually designating the fourth Thursday of each November as the holiday. 1817年，纽约州将感恩节作为一年一度的节日。到了19世纪中期，其他许多州也庆祝感恩节。1863年，美国总统林肯指定了全国的感恩节节日。从此以后，每一届总统都要宣布感恩节，通常是将每年11月的第4个星期4定为感恩节节日。

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注释：

1.       A time of turkeys and pumpkin pie.

        这是一个省略了主语和联系动词的句子，因为它们和上一个句子的主语和联系动词相同：Thanksgiving Day （主语）… is （联系动词）a time …of family gatherings…。

2.       …their children … had become attached to the Dutch way of life.

        句子中的习惯用语attached to表示“依恋，；怜爱”。再比如：She has become deeply attached to her husband. (她深深地爱着自己的丈夫。)

3.       Of the 110 Pilgrims less than 50 survived the first winter.

        句子最前面的短语Of the 110 Pilgrims是定语，修饰后面的less than 50。如果重写这个主语，就可能是：Less than 50 of the 110 Pilgrims (110个清教徒中的不到50个)。再比如：Of ten famous lawyers nine were men. (10个著名律师中，有9个都是男人。)

4.       The Pilgrims had much to celebrate, they had built homes in the wilderness, they had raised enough crops to keep them alive during the long coming winter, and they were at peace with their Indian neighbors.

        在这个长句中，第一个是主句，用的一般过去时（had much to celebrate）。第二个是分句，用过去完成时（had built），说明“修建家园”发生在“有许多东西值得庆祝”之前。第三个分句也用过去完成时（had raised），理由同上。第四个分句用一般过去时（were），因为“与印第安人和平相处”和主句的动作同时。

中考、高考题：

1. What do American enjoy during the Thanksgiving Day according to the text?

A.      They enjoy better education.

B.      They enjoy religious freedom.

C.      They enjoy turkeys and pumpkins.

D.     They enjoy thanks from their relatives.

2.  Why did the pilgrims left England for the New World according to the text? 

A.      To make as much money as possible.

B.      To escape religious persecution.

C.      To become attached to the Dutch way of life.

D.     To let their children have a better education.

3. How many days did the pilgrims’ trip to the New World take ?

A.      110 days.

B.      less than 50 days.

C.      65 days. 

  D.  around 65 days.

5.       The underlined word “designating” in the last paragraph of the text means ______.

A.      marking out clearly

B.      sighing deeply

C.      desiring anxiously

D.     appointing officially

参考答案：