Exercise 1. Read, translate and get ready to discuss the text

The winter holiday season is the most festive time of the year in the United States. Pupils from elementary school through college have about two weeks’ vacation, beginning shortly before Christmas and ending soon after New Year’s Day. Many families go away for the holidays, but those who stay home have fun, too. There are many parties to celebrate the birth of Christ and the arrival of the New Year.

Christianity, the major religious faith in the United States, the Western Hemisphere, and the world, is based on the teachings and life of Jesus Christ. American people start celebrating Christmas Day on December 25. In the United States the spirit of Christmas arrives about a month before the holiday itself. Late in November street lights and store windows are decorated with the traditional Christmas colours of red and green. Santa Claus, shepherds, angels appear in shop windows. Winter scenes with snow man, skaters and skiers decorate cards and windows. To earn extra money for gifts in December many Americans get part-time jobs delivering mail of selling gifts, trees, ornaments, or greeting cards. Many families go to church on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. After services, they gather around the tree and open their gifts. Then they sit down to enjoy a traditional Christmas dinner – turkey or ham, potatoes, vegetables and cranberry sauce. Dessert is usually fruit cake, plum pudding or mince pie.

Many American children believe that on Christmas Eve Santa Claus (a fat, jolly man who wears a red suit, red hat and long white beard) slides down their chimney to bring them gifts. As in Great Britain, American children hang stockings by the fireplace, hoping that Santa Claus will fill them with candy and toys.

The winter custom of decorating homes and churches with evergreens began in ancient times. Branches of fir or spruce were thought to bring good luck and guarantee the return of spring. The modern American tree is usually covered with coloured balls and strings of coloured lights. The star on top represents the star in the East which guided the three Wise Men to Bethlehem. In ancient times a branch of mistletoe was hung over doorways for good luck. Today the custom continues, bit now it is for fun. Anyone standing under the mistletoe is likely to be kissed. On Christmas Day everyone sings Christmas Carols and sends Christmas Cards with greetings to fiends and relatives.

Happy New Year! “Ring out the old, ring in the new”, wrote Alfred Lord Tennyson, the 19-th century English poet. And that’s exactly what Americans do every December 31. New Year’s Eve is a time for noise and fun. At home or in restaurants most Americans spend the holiday drinking and dining with friends. One popular New Year’s Eve drink is eggnog made of eggs, milk or cream, nutmeg and sugar. Champagne – the drink that symbolizes celebration – is often served for the midnight toast on New Year’s Eve. New Year’s Eve Festivals often continue until two or three o’clock in the morning.

New Year’s Day has traditionally been the occasion for starting new programmes and giving up bad habits. Many Americans make New Year resolutions, promising to improve their behaviour. Typical New Year resolutions are to spend less money, give up smoking, begin a diet or control one’s temper. From the ancient times to the present New Year’s customs have been connected with saying good-bye to the past and lookind forward to a better future.

Independence Day. Fourth of July is the American nation’s birthday. It honours the day in 1776 when the Declaration of Independence, which cut the tie with England and established the United States of America, was adopted.

On that memorable day the Liberty Bell called the people of Philadelphia (the capital) to the State House to hear the Declaration of Independence read out. Communities, large and small, celebrated the day with speeches, parades and fireworks.

Each city and town now organizes its own ceremony – a parade, speeches by public officials, guided tours through historic monuments, outdoor stage shows, boat-races and evening fireworks displays. Families, clubs and civic organizations, all hold daylong picnics. There are baseball games, water-melon eating contests, folk dancing, and a lot of lively music.

Labour Day. Labour Day was first celebrated in 1882. On September 5^th of that year the first Labour Day parade was held in New York City. After a mass meeting in Union Square 200,000 cheering and singing workers marched up Broadway with banners that read: “Eight hours for work; eight hours for rest; eight hours for recreation!” “Labour creates all wealth”.

In 1894 the Congress of the United States made it a national holiday. Labour Day is observed on the first Monday in September.

Memorial Day. Memorial Day is observed on May 30^th. It is also known as Decoration Day. Its origins go back to 1868 when the Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic issued an order to decorate the graves of soldiers who fell in the Civil War. Now it is also the day for honouring the memory of members of the armed forces killed in war. Memorial Day is a legal holiday in most of the states and in territories and is also observed by the Armed Forces.

Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving Day is celebrated only in the USA on the last Thursday in November. The day’s most important event is the traditional midday meal. Favourite thanksgiving food is turkey, pumpkin pie and other home-cooked specialities.

Thanksgiving was first celebrated in 1621 by English settlers of the Plymouth colony. The Plymouth colony was founded in 1620 by English settlers who have come to be called Pilgrims. They left their native England and sailed to America on the “Mayflower”. After a two-month voyage they landed at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts. During their first winter over half of the settlers died of hunger or from epidemics. But when April came the survivors began their planting, struggling with the rocky soil as they had struggled with the bitter climate. When, finally, the fields produced a rich harvest they decided to celebrate it. But it didn’t become an official holiday until 1863 when President Lincoln made his “Thanksgiving Proclamation”.

On Thanksgiving families always try to be together, especially for the wonderful meal.