ACADEMIC LISTENING TEST PRACTICE
THANKSGIVING
THANKSGIVING
For Students Preparing for Academic Tests / IELTS and TOEFL
Listen as you read the script.
Playing Time: 2 minutes
Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a special holiday that is celebrated both in Canada and in the U.S.A. It has been a holiday in many provinces in Canada since 1957 and in all of the American states since 1863. In Canada it is celebrated on the second Monday in October, while in the U.S. it is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November.
No one is sure exactly when the first Thanksgiving was celebrated, but many Americans think it was in 1621 in a small town called Plymouth on the northeast coast of the United States. There, it was celebrated by a small group of people from England called ‘Pilgrims’. It was celebrated because one of the Native American people, the original inhabitants of North America, taught them how to catch fish and how to grow corn. This man’s name was Squanto. The Pilgrims were very thankful for this help because, without it, perhaps most of the Pilgrims might have died from hunger.
The first Thanksgiving celebration lasted for three days, and it included fifty English men, women, and children, and about ninety Native Americans. Afterwards, Thanksgiving became more and more popular in the United States, until it finally became a national holiday. In both Canada and the U.S., turkey is the main part of the traditional Thanksgiving meal. Other foods commonly eaten include stuffing and mashed potatoes with gravy, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. According to Wikipedia, “Americans eat more food on Thanksgiving than on any other day of the year.” Along with Christmas and New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving is one of the three major holiday celebrations of the year. According to usnews.com, at least 46 million Americans travel fifty miles or more to be with friends and family to eat Thanksgiving dinner.
No one is sure exactly when the first Thanksgiving was celebrated, but many Americans think it was in 1621 in a small town called Plymouth on the northeast coast of the United States. There, it was celebrated by a small group of people from England called ‘Pilgrims’. It was celebrated because one of the Native American people, the original inhabitants of North America, taught them how to catch fish and how to grow corn. This man’s name was Squanto. The Pilgrims were very thankful for this help because, without it, perhaps most of the Pilgrims might have died from hunger.
The first Thanksgiving celebration lasted for three days, and it included fifty English men, women, and children, and about ninety Native Americans. Afterwards, Thanksgiving became more and more popular in the United States, until it finally became a national holiday. In both Canada and the U.S., turkey is the main part of the traditional Thanksgiving meal. Other foods commonly eaten include stuffing and mashed potatoes with gravy, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. According to Wikipedia, “Americans eat more food on Thanksgiving than on any other day of the year.” Along with Christmas and New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving is one of the three major holiday celebrations of the year. According to usnews.com, at least 46 million Americans travel fifty miles or more to be with friends and family to eat Thanksgiving dinner.
Note: For more cool ESL resources about Thanksgiving, visit my All Things Topics site.
