On Thanksgiving Day, most of us will sit down to enjoy a turkey dinner. The bird also shows up on the table at Christmas. How did we start with the tradition of savoring turkeys during the holidays?

They were fresh, cheap, and big enough to feed a group of people. Americans like having large poultry(家禽) for celebrations because they don’t need to pay a lot for the birds. Cows were more useful alive than dead, and beef wasn’t widely offered until the late 19^th century. Chicken was more highly regarded than it is today. Venison(鹿肉) would have been another choice, especially during the 17^th and 18^th centuries. Eating turkey was also a British holiday custom people brought to the New World.

Among the big birds, turkey is the most suitable for Thanksgiving. Turkeys were born in the spring. They spend about seven months eating insects on the farm. By Thanksgiving, they have grown to about 10 pounds. Turkeys are cheaper than geese, which are more difficult to raise, and cheaper by the pound than chickens. Cost is an important factor for holiday shoppers, because people will not prepare just one meal. Thanksgiving Day is the time to bake meal and other types of pies. The foods can last through the winter.

【小题1】In ancient times, most festivals would celebrate the end of cold weather, planting in spring and harvesting in autumn. Today's festivals have many origins, some religious, some seasonal, and some for special people or events.

Some festivals are held to honor the dead or to satisfy the ancestors, who might return either to help or to do harm. For the Japanese festival Obon, for example, people should go to clean graves, light incense and lamps, and play music.【小题2】

【小题3】The Dragon Boat Festival in China honours the famous ancient poet, Qu Yuan while in the USA, Columbus Day is in memory of the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the New World.

Harvest and Thanksgiving festivals can be very happy events. People are grateful because their food is gathered for the winter and the agricultural work is over.【小题4】

The most energetic and important festivals are the ones that look forward to the end of winter and to the coming of spring. In China there are dragon dances and carnivals and families celebrate the Lunar New Year together. Some Western countries have very exciting carnivals such as Easter.【小题5】

People love to get together to eat, drink, and have fun with each other. Festivals let us enjoy life, be proud of our customs and forget our work for a little while.

It felt as if we had been climbing for hours. I stopped to catch my breath as a wave of dizziness swept over me in the thin mountain air. I was on an amazing trip with my family to experience the festival of Qoyllur Riti, which takes place at 4,300 meters high in the southern Andes of Peru.

As I looked back down the trail we had climbed, and up towards where we had to go, the colorful sight struck me a lot. Entire families wearing local costumes were travelling to this unique festival from all over Peru. Among them were old men, mothers with small babies and children all following the same route. Many of them had horses and donkeys carry their food, blankets, cooking pots and tents. Others had made their way on foot through the mountains for days to attend this remarkable event.

We continued climbing upward for another hour and a half before reaching the Sinakara Valley. Right across this flat piece of ground people were putting up shelters and tents to protect themselves from the freezing mist and rain. It was clear, however, from the sound of the drums and singing rising from the campsite that the weather was not going to weaken the festival spirit. The air of excitement, even from our place more than a mile away, was palpable.

After dinner, we went to bed fully clothed inside our sleeping bags. We were up early the next morning, the main day of the festival, despite having slept badly on the frozen ground. The ukukus, men wearing black masks and costumes, had left the campsite in the early hours to climb the nearest mountain by the light of the full moon.

From time to time during the procession, they stopped to dance on the glaciers, believing this would bring luck to their villages for the year to come. In the dawn light, we watched them winding their way back down like a large black snake. As they descended, they were joined by groups of dancers in bright traditional costumes. They performed wherever there was space. Although there did not seem to be anyone organizing them or any timetable, the whole festival had become a huge harmonious celebration.