英语专业晨读美文励志篇：感恩的日子(美音)

[00:06.22]The Thanks We Give[00:10.71]It's not the turkey alone we're grateful for.[00:14.25]Not the cranberry sauce or the stuffing or even the pumpkin pie.[00:18.52]Some

of

the

people

seated

at

the

table[00:21.30]are

strangers—friends of friends,[00:23.59]cousins of in-laws—and some are almost desperately familiar,[00:27.46]faces we live and work with every day.[00:30.11]In any other week, today would merely be Thursday[00:34.21]and the gathering of all these

people—the

cooking[00:37.86]and

serving

and

cleaning—a

chore.[00:39.78]But today it doesn't feel that way.[00:41.86]The host—perhaps it's you—stands up and asks that we give thanks,[00:47.23]and we do, each in our own way.[00:49.79]And what we're thankful for is simply this, the food, the shelter,[00:.47]the company and, above all, the sense of belonging.[00:58.63]As holidays go, Thanksgiving is in some ways the most philosophical.[01:03.72]Today we try not to take for granted the things[01:07.12]we almost always take for granted. We try,[01:10.08]if only in that brief pause before the eating begins,[01:13.63]to see through the well-worn patterns of our lives to[01:16.95]what lies behind them. In other words,[01:19.74]we try to understand how very rich we are,[01:22.76]whether we feel very rich or not.[01:25.52]Today is one of the few times most Americans consciously set desire aside,[01:31.48]if only because desire is incompatible with the gratitude—[01:35.23]not to mention the abundance—that Thanksgiving summons.[01:38.66]It's tempting to think that one Thanksgiving[01:41.70]is pretty much like another,[01:43.48]except for differences in the guest list and the recipes.[01:46.95]But it isn't true. This is always a feast about where we are now.[01:51.94]Thanksgiving reflects the complexion of the

year we're in.[01:55.80]Some years it feels buoyant, almost jubilant in nature.[02:00.40]Other

years

it

seems

marked

by

a

conspicuous

humility[02:05.11]uncommon in the calendar of American emotions.[02:08.68]And this year? We will probably remember this Thanksgiving[02:13.04]as a banquet of mixed

emotions.

This

is,

after

all,[02:16.61]a

profoundly

American

holiday.[02:18.]The undertow of business as usual seems especially strong this year.[02:23.76]The shadow of a war and misgivings over the future[02:27.00]loom in the minds of many of us.[02:29.34]Most years we enjoy the privacy of Thanksgiving, but this year,[02:34.18]somehow, the holiday feels like part of a public effort to remember[02:38.44]and reclaim for ourselves what it means to be American.[02:42.30]That

means

giving

thanks

for

some

fundamental

principles[02:46.09]that should be honored every day of the year[02:49.36]in the life of this nation—principles of generosity,[02:53.20]tolerance and inclusion. This is a feast[02:56.02]that no one should be turned away from.[02:58.16]The abundance of the food piled on the table should signify[03:02.07]that there is plenty for all, plenty to be shared.[03:05.12]The welcome we feel makes sense only if we also extend it to others.