生活英语听力文章：用一颗感恩的心感谢
用一颗感恩的心感谢
This week we will observe Thanksgiving Day in the United States of America—a day when family and friends gather for a time of celebration and feasting. Soon your turkey and stuffing will be in the oven and pleasant aromas will fill the kitchen. Before we begin our celebration, let’s take a peak back four centuries ago when Americans celebrated their first Thanksgiving.
本周我们将迎来美国的感恩节，这一天，家人和朋友聚集在一起，大家共同庆祝节日，举行家宴，共度一段美好时光。很快，加了各种填充料的感恩节火鸡会放入烤箱，宜人的香气一会儿将充满整个厨房。在我们开始庆祝之前,让我们将时光倒退四百年,看看那时候美国人庆祝的第一个感恩节。
Thanksgiving Day Long Ago
很久以前的感恩节
For 66 days a sailing vessel called the Mayflower carried 102 pilgrims across the stormy Atlantic Ocean and landed at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts on December 11, 1620. During that first cold winter, 46 pilgrims died. In the spring of 1621, the Wampanoag Indians taught the pilgrims how to cultivate the land—growing corn, beans, and pumpkins which helped them survive. At harvest time the colonists were so grateful for their bountiful crops that Governor William Bradford organized the first Thanksgiving feast, inviting their neighbors—Wampanoag Indians. With joy and thanksgiving, they expressed their gratitude and appreciation to God for their bountiful harvest.
一艘叫五月花号的帆船载着102名清教徒，经历狂风暴雨，在波涛汹涌的大西洋中航行了整整66天,于1620年12月11日,在马萨诸塞州的普利茅斯岩石登岸。到来的第一个寒冷的冬天,46名清教徒死亡。在1621年的春天,万帕诺亚格印第安人教清教徒如何耕种土地--教他们种植玉米、豆子、南瓜,正是这些东西让他们耐以生存。到收获的时候，这些殖民者因为农作物大丰收而非常感谢当地印第安人,总督威廉·布莱福特，组织了第一个感恩节盛宴,邀请他们的邻居--万帕诺亚格印第安人。用欢乐和感恩,他们表达了感激之情,为丰富的收成而感谢上帝。
Many years later, in 1789, President George Washington wrote a proclamation, recommending to the “people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God . . . Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November . . . that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country . .
许多年以后,1789年,乔治·华盛顿总统发布了一个宣言 ,建议“美国人要用一天的时间，做公开的感恩，祈祷,用一颗感恩的心来感恩，感谢万能的上帝。因此，现在,我推荐,并指定,11月26日的那天，周四···在这一天，我们可以团结起来，用我们的真诚和谦逊，感谢万能的主，感谢他的悉心照料，保护这个国家的人民···”
Thanksgiving Day Today
现在的感恩节
So it has been that for over two centuries. Thanksgiving Day has become a joyous festival celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm. People have gathered together to thank God for His past blessings and to enjoy the warm fellowship of family and friends.
所以感恩节的存在已经超过了两个世纪。感恩节已经成为一个欢乐的，热情洋溢的节日。人们聚集在一起,为过往得到的祝福，为家人和朋友的温暖友谊，感谢上帝。
However, over the last 50 years Thanksgiving Day has lost its original significance. For many people, it has simply become a time when families come together to eat turkey and watch football.
然而,在过去的50年里，感恩节已经失去了原来的意义。对许多人来说,它只是成为了一家人聚在一起，吃火鸡,看足球的一段日子。
As we prepare to celebrate this Thanksgiving with our family and friends, I encourage you, regardless of where you live in the world, to stop and reflect on the things for which you are grateful.
当我们准备与家人和朋友庆祝感恩节时,我鼓励你,无论你住在世界上哪个角落,停下来反思一下，你要感恩的事情。
In our busy and demanding lives, it’s easy to focus on our challenges and overlook the things we are truly blessed to enjoy. It’s easy to lament what we don’t have, rather than appreciate what we do have. We would all benefit from the words of Epictetus, a stoic Greek philosopher, who said, “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”
在我们忙碌而严苛的生活中,我们很容易专注于挑战，而忽略我们真正有福享受的事情。很容易抱怨我们没有的东西,而不是欣赏我们所有的。我们都受益于埃皮克提图的至理名言,一位希腊斯多葛派哲学家,他说,“聪明人不为他没有的东西而悲伤苦恼,而为现实的拥有欢欣鼓舞。”
When we focus on all the positive things in our lives, we will find more joy, satisfaction, and happiness. Our lives will take on greater meaning and our hearts will be filled with love and gratitude.
当我们关注生活中积极的事情,我们会发现更多的快乐,满足和幸福。我们的生活将承担更大的意义，我们的心中将充满爱和感激。
My Challenge to You
我向你提出挑战
1. Make a list of all the things for which you are thankful. Stretch yourself to make a list of 50 people, things, or events. This can include the names of family, friends, co-workers and others whose relationships you value. Include your religious affiliations, your pastor or priest. Include our country and the servicemen who are protecting our land and our rights. It can also include your physical being, material possessions, and conveniences we so often take for granted. Parents, let me encourage you to have your children participate in this exercise.
1。将所有你心怀感恩的事情列一个清单。竭尽全力列出50条相关的人,事物,或事件。这可以包括家人的名字,朋友、同事和其他你看重关系的人。包括你的宗教信仰,你的牧师或神父。包括我们的国家，保护我们土地和权利的军人。它还可以包括你的身体,物质财富,我们经常认为理所当然的便利。做父母的,我鼓励你，让你的孩子参与这个练习。
2. After making this list take some quiet time and reflect on everything you have listed. In the words of Thornton Wilder, “We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”
2。做完这个列表后，你需要一些安静的时间，来思考你已经列入其中的一切。桑顿·怀尔德说,“只有当我们意识到了心中的宝藏，我们才能说，在那一刻，我活着。”
3. Express your gratitude to the people you’ve listed. It could be a hand-written note, a personalized email, a text message, or a phone call. Whatever method you choose to use, make it personal and heartfelt. Let these people know how you feel about them and how special they are to you.
3。向你表中列出的人，表达你的感激之情。这可能是一个手写的便条,一封个性化的电子邮件、一条短信或一个电话。无论你选择使用哪种方法,使其个性化，并发自内心。让这些人知道，你对他们的感觉,他们对你来说是多么的特别。
If the weight of your challenges makes it difficult to give thanks, reflect back how the pilgrims must have felt. “The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than those who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.” H. U. Westermayer.
如果挑战成了你过重的负担，说出感激的话很难,那么回顾一下，清教徒那时心里必然会有的感受。 H. U..Westermayer说 “清教徒的坟墓比居住的小屋多7倍。没有美国人会比那些清教徒更贫穷潦倒,然而,清教徒们还是留出了一天做感恩节。”
Don’t take anything you have for granted. Instead express your gratitude for all your many blessings—great and small.
不要把你的所有，当作理所当然的。要为你所有的福气--无论大小，表达你的感激之情。
We’d like to hear from you. Please share your comments below. What are some hidden blessings that you have recently become aware of? Have you come to appreciate something that you took for granted in the past? Have you come to appreciate a person whom you took for granted in the past?
我们想收到你的来信。请在下面分享你的评论。最近你意识到有哪些隐藏的福气?你是否开始感激，过去认为理所当然的事物?你是否开始感激，过去你认为理所应当的一个人?
