1.感恩節(jié)和冰凍簡餐

關(guān)鍵詞：TV dinner （冰凍簡餐）

In 1953, someone at Swanson severely overestimated the amount of turkey Americans would consume that Thanksgiving. With 260 tons of frozen birds to get rid of, a company salesman named Gerry Thomas ordered 5,000 aluminum trays, recruited an assembly line of women armed with spatulas and ice-cream scoops and began creating mini-feasts of turkey, corn-bread dressing, peas and sweet potatoes — creating the first-ever TV dinner.Thomas later said he got the idea from neatly packaged airplane food.
1953年，在美國斯萬森的某公司嚴(yán)重錯(cuò)誤地估計(jì)了美國人民在感恩節(jié)消耗火雞的數(shù)量。面對(duì)賣不掉的260噸冰凍火雞，該公司的銷售員蓋瑞湯瑪斯定來5000個(gè)鋁質(zhì)餐盒和一個(gè)生產(chǎn)線的婦女，幫忙把火雞肉切碎、分裝，再配上甜玉米、青豆和土豆——就此創(chuàng)造了全世界第一盒冰凍簡餐。湯瑪斯說他的靈感來源于飛機(jī)餐。

2.感恩節(jié)和橄欖球賽

關(guān)鍵詞：Football 橄欖球賽

Thanksgiving is ruled by two very powerful f-words: "food" and "football." Nearly as old as the sport itself, the tradition of watching football on Thanksgiving began in 1876, when the newly formed American Intercollegiate Football Association held its first championship game. Less than a decade later, more than 5,000 club, college and high school football teams held games on Thanksgiving, with match-ups between Princeton and Yale drawing more than 40,000 fans out from their dining rooms. 1934 marked the first NFL game held on Thanksgiving when the Detroit Lions took on the Chicago Bears. The Lions have played on Thanksgiving ever since — except, of course, when the team was called away to serve during World War II.
感恩節(jié)是由兩個(gè)F開頭的字組成的：食物food和橄欖球football。從1876年、美國橄欖球聯(lián)盟開始舉辦首屆聯(lián)賽開始，在感恩節(jié)就有看橄欖球賽的傳統(tǒng)——幾乎和這項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)本身的歷史一樣長。其后不到十年的時(shí)間內(nèi)，更有超過5000所俱樂部、大學(xué)和高中的橄欖球隊(duì)在這一天舉行比賽。其中普林斯頓和耶魯?shù)谋荣惛俏顺^4萬名球迷到場(chǎng)觀看。1934年，超級(jí)碗首次在伽嫩屆當(dāng)天舉行比賽，那天是由底特律雄獅對(duì)陣芝加哥熊。雄獅隊(duì)自此每遇感恩節(jié)都有比賽——除了二戰(zhàn)期間隊(duì)員們服役才中斷過。

3.感恩節(jié)和羅斯?？偨y(tǒng)

關(guān)鍵詞：Franklin D. Roosevelt 福蘭克林·D·羅斯福

FDR learned the hard way not to mess with some traditions. In 1939, the President declared that Americans should celebrate the annual feast one week early, hoping the decision would spur retail sales during the Great Depression. But Americans did not react kindly to the New Deal meal. Some took to the streets while others took to name-calling; the mayor of Atlantic City solved the controversy by declaring his residents would simply enjoy two meals — Thanksgiving and "Franksgiving." After two years of squabbling (or gobbling, as it were), Congress adopted a resolution in 1941 setting the fourth Thursday of November as the legal holiday.
福蘭克林·羅斯?？偨y(tǒng)可是吃了點(diǎn)兒虧才學(xué)會(huì)有些傳統(tǒng)改不得。1939年，這位總統(tǒng)閣下宣布美國應(yīng)該提前一周過感恩節(jié)，希望此舉能夠刺激大蕭條中的美國經(jīng)濟(jì)。哪知美國人民不買他的賬：有的上街游行抗議、有的玩起了文字游戲。大西洋城的市長就宣稱，他家會(huì)過兩個(gè)節(jié)：“感恩節(jié)”和“福蘭克恩節(jié)”。在經(jīng)過整整兩年的爭論（或者根本就是斗嘴）之后，國會(huì)終于妥協(xié)，在1941年將感恩節(jié)法定假日定在了11月的第四個(gè)星期四。

4.感恩節(jié)和著名女詩人

關(guān)鍵詞："Mary Had a Little Lamb"? 瑪麗有只小羊羔

The woman who wrote the classic nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb" also played an integral role in making Thanksgiving a national holiday. After a 17-year letter-writing campaign, magazine editor Sarah Josepha Hale finally convinced President Abraham Lincoln to issue an 1863 decree recognizing the historic tradition.
Sarah Josepha Hale，這位寫下傳世詩句《瑪麗有只小羊羔》的女性在為感恩節(jié)爭取法定中也扮演了重要一角兒。1863年，當(dāng)時(shí)作為雜志編輯的她在經(jīng)過了長達(dá)17年的寫信呼吁之后，總統(tǒng)林肯終于頒發(fā)文件承認(rèn)了感恩節(jié)這一傳統(tǒng)假日。

5.感恩節(jié)和倫敦西敏寺

關(guān)鍵詞：Westminster Abbey 西敏寺

In 1942, London's Westminster Abbey held Thanksgiving services for U.S. troops stationed in England. More than 3,500 soldiers filled the church's pews to sing America, the Beautiful and The Star-Spangled Banner — the first time in the church's 900-year history that a foreign army was invited to take over the grounds. It was an ironic gesture given the holiday's origins as a festival for pilgrims fleeing religious tyranny in Britain.
1942年，為表彰美國軍隊(duì)保護(hù)英國，倫敦西敏寺為美國軍人舉行了感恩節(jié)宴會(huì)。當(dāng)時(shí)有超過3500人到場(chǎng)，齊唱“美麗的美國和星條旗”——這是這座教堂900年來第一次邀請(qǐng)外國軍隊(duì)駐足。諷刺的是，這個(gè)節(jié)日的緣由正是因?yàn)楫?dāng)年遷徙到美國的清教徒們?cè)谟艿阶诮唐群Α?/div>

6.感恩節(jié)和釋放火雞

關(guān)鍵詞：Pardon 赦免

The annual White House tradition of pardoning a turkey before Thanksgiving began in 1947, when President Harry Truman took pity on one lucky fowl. Other historians say the practice began during the 1860s, when Abraham Lincoln granted a pardon to a pet turkey belonging to his son, Tad. The tradition may alleviate some of America's guilt, but it doesn't stop us from slaughtering more than 46 million turkeys for the holiday. Even so, as Alaska Governor Sarah Palin proved during a recent interview in her hometown, Americans prefer public acts of mercy to massacres.
感恩節(jié)前，由總統(tǒng)在白宮“赦免”一只火雞的傳統(tǒng)始于1947年，當(dāng)時(shí)是由杜魯門總統(tǒng)放生了一只幸運(yùn)的火雞。還有一些歷史學(xué)家認(rèn)為這一傳統(tǒng)起源于1860年，林肯總統(tǒng)釋放了一只由他兒子養(yǎng)的寵物火雞。這一傳統(tǒng)也許減輕了某些美國人的負(fù)罪感，但仍舊無法湮滅我們一年吃掉460萬只火雞的事實(shí)。即便如此，就如阿拉斯加議員Sarah Palin在最近一次采訪中提到的那樣：相對(duì)于大屠殺，美國人還是更喜歡公眾場(chǎng)合的慈善行為。

7.感恩節(jié)和大人物的批判

關(guān)鍵詞：hail 批判

While the first Thanksgiving was held in 1621, it would take more than 150 years before all 13 colonies celebrated Thanksgiving at once, in October 1777. In 1789, George Washington hailed the holiday, while President Thomas Jefferson scoffed at the notion, calling Thanksgiving "the most ridiculous idea" ever conceived. For his part, Benjamin Franklin had such an affinity for turkey that he lobbied to make it the national bird (to no avail).
雖然歷史上的第一個(gè)感恩節(jié)在1621年就誕生了，但直到150年后的1777年這一節(jié)日才得到全美13個(gè)殖民地的一致認(rèn)同。1789年，喬治華盛頓批判了這一節(jié)日，而湯馬斯杰弗森總統(tǒng)也嘲笑了感恩節(jié)這個(gè)概念是有史以來“最荒謬的點(diǎn)子”。對(duì)于他而言，本杰明富蘭克林顯然是因?yàn)樘珶釔刍痣u才要求把它定為國鳥（而這一點(diǎn)益處都沒有?。?/div>

8.感恩節(jié)和火雞鴨

關(guān)鍵詞：Turduckens 火雞鴨

Thanks to the culinary genius of Louisiana (or Wyoming or South Carolina — each region has staked its claim), more and more Americans are forsaking Butterballs for Turduckens. A what? Picture this: a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken. It's like a Russian nesting doll only with poultry. One store in Louisiania claims to ship more than 5,000 turduckens the week before the feast. Though this may seem like sacrilege to some, the original Thanksgiving meal featured fish, oysters, eel and lobster as well as wild turkey. Other modern pilgrims settle for a tofu version ("tofurkey") or the wildly dangerous "deep-fried turkey."
得益于路易斯安那的烹飪天才（或是懷俄明、或是南卡羅來納——每個(gè)地區(qū)都聲稱是自己的創(chuàng)造），越來越多的美國人需要鴨子來烹飪“火雞鴨”了。什么？火雞鴨！是的，一只雞套在鴨子里、再套進(jìn)火雞——就像俄羅斯套娃那樣！路易斯安那的一家店聲稱他們?cè)诠?jié)前一周賣出了5000分火雞鴨?？赡軐?duì)有的人來說是種褻瀆，但事實(shí)上，最原始的感恩節(jié)大餐是由魚、生蠔、鰻、龍蝦和野生火雞組成的。其他現(xiàn)代人也吃用豆腐做的火雞（豆火雞），或是很危險(xiǎn)的“炸火雞”。

9.感恩節(jié)和印第安人

關(guān)鍵詞：Indians 印第安人

Thanksgiving was initially meant to be a fast, not a feast. The devout settlers at Plymouth Rock mostly recognized "giving of thanks" in the form of prayer and abstaining from food. But the Wampanoag Indians, who joined the pilgrims for their 3-day celebration, contributed their own harvest traditions — dancing, games and feasting — from their ancient festival, Nickommoh, meaning "to give away" or "exchange."
感恩節(jié)最初的設(shè)定是一場(chǎng)“齋戒”，而不是“盛宴”。在普利茅斯的殖民者們一開始對(duì)感恩的理解是祈禱、并克制對(duì)食物的需求。而后來Wampanoag的印第安人加入了進(jìn)來開始三天的慶祝，并帶來他們豐收節(jié)的傳統(tǒng)——跳舞、游戲和盛宴。這是古代印第安人的傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日Nickommoh，意味著“付出”或“交換”。

10.感恩節(jié)和地名

關(guān)鍵詞：name 名字

Three towns have been named after the holiday's starring player — Turkey, Texas, Turkey Creek, La. and Turkey, N.C. — each with less than 500 residents. Legend has it that the pheasant's name came from the wayward traveler Christopher Columbus, who thought he was in India when he arrived in "The New World" and, hence, dubbed the pheasant a "tuka," an Indian term for peacock. The name stuck.
全美有三個(gè)不到500人的小鎮(zhèn)是由“火雞”命名的：德克薩斯的火雞鎮(zhèn)；洛杉磯的火雞灣和北卡羅來納的火雞鎮(zhèn)。據(jù)傳說，探險(xiǎn)家哥倫比亞到新大陸的時(shí)候一位自己到了印度，于是把這種鳥（就是火雞）命名為“tuka”——印度語里的孔雀。于是火雞的名字就這么延續(xù)下來了。