THANKSGIVING / Black Friday

Thanksgiving is a very American holiday. It is also called Thanksgiving Day. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November every year. It used to be a religious holiday to give thanks to God.
 
There are two versions of the origins of this holiday.

One is thanks for the early settlers arriving in America safely. On December the 4th, 1619, a group of English pioneers arrived at a place called Berkeley Hundred, in Virginia. The group made a promise that the day of their arrival should be a "day of thanksgiving" to God.

 
The second version is the thanks given to Native Americans for teaching the pilgrims how to catch eels and grow corn in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
In 1941, President Roosevelt made Thanksgiving a federal holiday.

The main event of any Thanksgiving is the Thanksgiving dinner. It is traditional to have baked or roasted turkey. This is usually accompanied with mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, fall vegetables, cranberry sauce, and gravy. Pumpkin pie is the most commonly eaten dessert.

The Thanksgiving holiday weekend is one of the busiest times of the year for traveling. It is a four-day or five-day weekend vacation for most schools and colleges, and many businesses and government workers get three or four days off.

Thanksgiving is also the unofficial signal for Christmas preparations to begin. Once Thanksgiving finishes, stores fill their shelves with Christmas goods. It is also a bad time to be a turkey!!!

Black Friday is the Friday following  Thanksgiving day in the United States (the fourth Thursday of November), often regarded as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season.
In recent years, most major retailers have opened very early and offered promotional sales to kick off the holiday shopping season.
Black Friday is not a holiday, but California and some other states observe "The Day After Thanksgiving" as a holiday for state government employees.

American Football is one of the many traditions in American culture that is associated with Thanksgiving Day.
Virtually every level of football, from amateur and high school to college and the NFL, plays football on Thanksgiving Day (Thursday) or the immediately following holiday weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday).

BONUS TRACK:                                Cyber Monday is a marketing term for the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States.
The term was created by marketing companies to encourage people to shop online. It started in 2005 and it has become one of the biggest online shopping days of the Year.

The Reason of the Season...

STAN "THE MAN" LEE (In Memoriam)

Stanley Martin Lieber (December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer and former president of Marvel Comics. 

Some of the comics he helped create are SPIDERMAN, X-MEN, and THE FANTASTIC FOUR.

He has also done cameos in many of the movies based on Marvel characters. 

Fantastic Four #1 (1961)

The Amazing Spiderman #1 (1962)

The Incredible Hulk #1 (1962)

Iron Man #1 (1962)



MOST FAMOUS QUOTES:

“With great power comes great responsibilty.”

“Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.”

“Excelsior!”

“HULK SMASH!”

“Coming from your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man”

“Nuff said!

"It's Clobberin' Time"
 

Thor #1 (1962)

The X-Men #1 (1963)

Daredevil #1 (1964)


BONUS TRACK:

 

"The Anomaly of the Year"

Check this out!!!

WORLD CUP SONG?? - "We are the Champions" - QUEEN

       

                                                                    -Short Biography-

Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971 and are one of the most commercially successful musical acts of all time.

The group originally consisted of Freddie Mercury (lead vocals), Brian May (lead guitar, vocals), John Deacon (bass guitar), and Roger Taylor (drums, vocals).

Freddie Mercury is one of the most dynamic and charismatic frontmen in rock history. Through his legendary theatrical performances, Queen became one of the most popular bands in the world in the mid-'70s; in England, they remained second only to The Beatles in popularity and collectibility in the '90s.

Queen are widely recognised as pioneers of heavy metal, glam rock, and stadium rock; and they are also well known for their sports anthems and classic rock radio singles, particularly the hits “We are the champions”, “We will rock you” and “Bohemian Rhapsody”. The band promoted the latter, first released in 1975, with one of the earliest successful music videos.

The band has released a total of 18 number one albums, 18 number one singles, and 10 number one DVDs worldwide making them one of the world's best-selling music artists.

In the late 80’s, after fans noticed Mercury's increasingly gaunt appearance in 1988, rumours began to spread that Mercury was suffering from AIDS. Mercury denied these, insisting he was merely "exhausted" and too busy to provide interviews.

On November 1991, Freddie announced to the world that he had AIDS. Just the next day, his fight was over, and he died peacefully at his home surrounded by friends and family. The world was in shock. Freddie had kept his illness very private, and only those closest to him had been aware of just how close to the end he really was.

Alter that, the legend had just begun…

SONG:

Listen and fill in the gaps with the words in bold:

Queen-We are the champions

face / all / lose / crime / end / time / cruise / few / call / friend / through / time / dues / thank / champions

                                        I’ve paid my ……………, ......................... after ……………;

I’ve done my sentence, but committed no ……………

And bad mistakes, I’ve made a ……………

                              I’ve had my share of sand kicked in my ......................, 

                                                     But I’ve come ……………

We are the .............., my ……………

And we’ll keep on fighting 'til the ……………

We are the champions (x2)

             No time for losers ‘cos we are the champions of the world.

I’ve taken my bows and my curtain ……………

You’ve brought me fame and fortune and everything that goes with it;  

I ............ you ……………,

But it’s been no bed of roses, no pleasure …………….

             I consider it a challenge. Before the whole human race - 

And I ain't gonna …………….

                                                 (Repeat Chorus x3)

"BRITISH & AMERICAN ENGLISH"

      British and American       

                           English          

 

 

Match the underlined words in sentences 1-6 to the American words.

(vacation    -     candies   -   mail   -   fall   -   elevator    -    apartment  -   cookies   -    freeway)  


1 The motorway is always busy in the rush hour.

2 Sarah never eats biscuits and sweets because she is on a diet.

3 Our flat is on the 11th floor, so you should take the lift.

4 Mr. Brown’s going to Europe tomorrow on a two-week holiday.

5 The trees look absolutely beautiful in the autumn.

6 Has the evening post arrived yet?

 

                                                                                                        

 Choose the British English word in brackets which means the same as the American word         

1 bathrobe              (towel, dressing gown, pyjamas)                        

2 eraser                    (pen, pencil, rubber)                                                

3 truck                       (lorry, car, van)                                                         

4 gas                           (oil, petrol, air)                                                          

5 check                      (bank note, bill, cash desk)                                   

6 line                          (rope, crowd, queue)                                               

7 flashlight               (light bulb, torch, traffic light)                           

8 sidewalk                (pavement, road, underpass)                              

 

Decide which of these words are spelled in the American or British way

 

1 labor ____________________

 

2 theatre__________________

 

3 thru______________________

 

4 honor____________________

 

5 travelled_________________

 

6 colour____________________

 

7 center___________________

 

8 hospitalized_____________   

 

 

 

Change the following into British English.

 

1 My suit is in the closet. ________________________________________________________________________________

2 Pass me the candies, please.__________________________________________________________________________

3 They’ve run out of gas._________________________________________________________________________________

4 It’s very dark here. Open the drapes.________________________________________________________________

5 My favourite season of the year is fall.______________________________________________________________

6 One-way or round trip? ________________________________________________________________________________

7 Frank left the faucet on in the kitchen.______________________________________________________________

8 Suddenly the motorcycle went up on the sidewalk.________________________________________________   




 

(7) STEPHEN HAWKING - In Memoriam

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT STEPHEN HAWKING:

- Hawking says his disease made him work harder. He realized he had things to do in life and he better get going.
 
- He married Jane Wilde after his diagnosis.
 
- Hawking was born on January 8, 1942, 300 years after the death of Galileo.

- He was born during World War II. His parents moved from London to Oxford to keep him safe during the war.
 
- Hawking’s condition continued to get worse. He couldn't speak or walk. However, he kept writing and learning. He used a special computer program to talk for him.
 
- His work on the universe and black holes has changed the way scientists think about the universe.
 
- Hawking dreams big. He believes time travel is possible and people may someday live on other planets.

FILL THE GAPS:    

Stephen Hawking is a ………………… British scientist. He is often on TV and in ……………………… .
He lives in Cambridge. He is married and has got three ……………………......

Stephen has got a neurouscular …………………………..: he can`t move and he can`t talk. A nurse helps him to dress, eat and wash. She is with him 24 hours …………… day.
He can communicate with other people with a special computer. He uses this computer to teach …………… the University of Cambridge, where he is a professor of mathematics. He has got a special …………………………… with a portable computer. 

You can sometimes see him in the streets and shops of Cambridge. He loves ……………………………….. – especially buying clothes for his daughter.

Stephen is an ambitious and determined man. He can`t write so ……………………. his ideas to a secretary. He is the author of a best-selling book …………….. "A Brief History of Time".
It is ………………. the beginning of the world and other cosmic mysteries. 


- children      - dictates      - at      - called      

- shopping       - about      - famous      - wheelchair      

- magazines      - a      - disease



BONUS TRACK: