Unit 1  Festivals around the world

some language points:
1. turn up: appear
2.keep her word: keep her promise
3.hold his breath: wait without much hope
4.drown one’s sadness/sorrow in coffee: drink coffee in order to forget the sadness/ sorrow
5.remind sb of sth: make sb think of sth

step ⅲ discussion and writing
t: that’s for the reading part of the passage. please think about the ending of the story. are you satisfied with the ending? different people have different opinions to a matter. now any one of you have an opportunity to make up an ending to the story. please engage imaginatively in the story and use your own ideas. try to use the vocabulary and structures you have learned of you like.

step ⅳ reading(2)
t: let’s come to another passage about carnival in quebec. please turn to page 44, read it quickly and answer the questions in page 45. five minutes for you.

added material:
  thanksgiving day
fourth thursday in november is celebrated as ‘thanksgiving day’ people thank god for his blessings. people can ‘thank’ friends, foes and anyone for the experiences, happiness and sunshine they bring into their lives. pilgrims celebrated the first thanksgiving day in america during the second winter in the new world. the first winter had been bad as nearly half of the people had perished due to lack of food and bad weather. but the following year, with the help of indians who showed them how to plant indian corn, the pilgrims had successful harvest. governor william bradford decided that december 13, 1621 be set aside for feasting and prayer. the indians were invited to share the festival. since than, thanksgiving day is been celebrated in america. however, it was only in 1941, the congress in a joint resolution named the fourth sunday in november as the official thanksgiving day.

dating back, it is known that the council thought to appoint and set apart the 29th day of june, as a day of solemn thanksgiving and praise to god for his goodness and favour. the first thanksgiving proclamation was however on june 20, 1676. the governing council of charlestown, massachusetts, held a meeting to determine how best to express thanks for the good fortune that had seen their community securely established. by unanimous vote they instructed edward rawson, the clerk, to proclaim june 29 as a day of thanksgiving, it is also known that the pilgrims set ground at plymouth rock on december 11, 1620. their first winter was devastating. at the beginning of the following fall, they had lost 46 of the original 102 who sailed on the mayflower. but the harvest of 1621 was a bountiful one. and the remaining colonists decided to celebrate with a feast -- including 91 indians who had helped the pilgrims survive their first year. it is believed that the pilgrims would not have made it through the year without the help of the natives the feast was more of a traditional english harvest festival than a true "thanksgiving" observance. it lasted three days.