Improve your English Thanksgiving

Cool exercises to improve your English

The idea of Thanksgiving can be traced back to the time of the Pilgrims. In 1620, the Pilgrims arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts, escaping from religious persecution in Europe. Not knowing how to survive in the wilderness and having to face an extremely cold winter, the Pilgrim colony lost about half of its members. But new hope arose in the summer of 1621. The Indians had taught the Pilgrims how to hunt, fish, and grow food; and for the first time there would be a good corn harvest. Thus, in early autumn, Governor William Brandford arranged a harvest festival to give thanks to God for the progress the colony had made. The first Thanksgiving days in New England were, therefore, harvest festivals, or days for thanking God for plentiful crops.

Nowadays Thanksgiving is an annual legal holiday, celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. It is usually a family day, celebrated with American football games and big family dinners which include roast turkey and pumpkin pie.

Going home for Thanksgiving is a national custom. Many Americans travel long distances to spend the holiday at home.

New York City is famous for its Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Click here to watch the video of the Parade.

Some Thanksgiving facts:

An estimated 91% of Americans eat turkey that day! Some people buy turkeys so big they do not fit in their ovens.

An estimated 270 million turkeys are sold in the US for Thanksgiving.

Turkeys are usually served with stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy, and sweet potatoes.

For dessert: several types of pie. Pumpkin pie is the most popular.

The Christmas shopping season in the US traditionally starts the day after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday. Stores offer huge discounts and some of the largest stores like Wal-Mart, Sears, & Target open as early as 1 am!