I Read the text and answer your teacher’s questions.

THANKSGIVING DAY Internet Public Library

The story of America’s Thanksgiving begins with the Pilgrims. Early in the 17-th century, the Pilgrims left England in search of religious freedom. In 1608, they sailed to Holland. Then, in 1620, they crossed the Atlantic by ship called the Mayflower.

After sailing for many weeks, the Pilgrims landed at a place now called Massachusetts. They planted the seeds they had brought from England. But the seeds didn’t grow well, and there was so little food for the Pilgrims that many of them starved to death.

Luckily for the Pilgrims, some nearby Indians came to rescue. They taught the Pilgrims to grow native food such as corn. Without this help, the Pilgrims would not have survived.

After the first harvest, the governor of Plymouth Colony - William Bradford - suggested that the Pilgrims hold a feast of thanksgiving. And to their thanksgiving feast the Pilgrims invited the Indians. The Pilgrims were grateful to the Indians for helping the Colony survive. In addition, they hoped that the celebration would strengthen their friendship with the Indians.

Nobody knows the date of the first Thanksgiving feast. But we do know that the Pilgrims and Indians enjoyed a huge feast of deer, goose, duck, oyster, eel, bread, fruit, and corn meal pudding.

In 1789 George Washington declared that Thanksgiving would be a national celebration. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. (1163)

II Read the text and comment on the situation described in the text. Say if you like watching TV, what programmes you and the members of your family prefer, why.

Television ESL reading

My mother used to tell me how she and her family got their first television when she was a teenager. Of course it was black and white. When I was young we had only about 3 or 4 different channels. My bothers and sisters and I would sometimes fight about which channel to watch. Nowadays we can get hundreds of channels on TV. There are channels with only old movies, and channels with only cooking, and channels with only fishing. It's amazing! There is a channel for everything. I wonder how much my brothers and sisters and I would fight if we had hundreds of channels when I was a child. Of course we had only one television set. These days I notice families with 2 or 3 or more television sets in their homes. I guess it stops people from arguing over which channel to choose from.

III Speak to your teacher. You begin the conversation.

You and your foreign friend, who is on a short visit in Moscow, are going on an excursion.  Discuss when and where it would be better to go; who you’d invite to go with you.