Recording 71, page 100
Exercise 1 Listen and read.
The First Thanksgiving
In November 1620, a small ship from England – called the Mayflower – landed in North America.
The people on board were the first British settlers in the New World.
In September 1620, the ship had sailed from Plymouth, England, with 102 passengers and crew.
The sea voyage was stormy and dangerous, but after two months the Mayflower had crossed the Atlantic Ocean safely.
In December 1620, the immigrants from England settled where Plymouth, Massachusetts, now stands.
The first months in the new continent were difficult. The winter was very cold.
Half of the settlers died during the first winter. But the colony survived.
Spring came and the settlers met some friendly “Indians”. They helped them grow corn and taught them to catch animals and fish.
The summer came and then autumn. The settlers planned a special meal to celebrate their first harvest in New England in November 1621.
About fifty colonists arrived for the Thanksgiving meal. The local “Indian” Chief came too, with ninety of his men.
The Thanksgiving lasted for three days.
There was a lot of food: turkey, ducks, geese, deer, fish, and lots of Native and English fruits and vegetables.
In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving a national holiday in the USA.
Thanksgiving is always on the fourth Thursday in November.
Families get together and have a special meal. The traditional Thanksgiving meal includes roast turkey and pumpkin pie.
The pumpkin was an important vegetable for the Native American Indians and one which they shared with the English settlers.
