Топик: USA holidays
The first Earth Day was held in the U.S. twenty two years ago, in April 1970. At that time, Americans were just beginning to learn about the problems facing the planet.
TAKE YOUR DAUGHTER TO WORK DAY
This holiday is celebrated on April 28th . Schools are closed this day and girls go to work to their mothers. It is very important holiday, because girls know that can become anything they want when they grow up. If the mothers don’t work the girls stayed at home and mothers teach them to cook, to work at home and to hold the house.
EASTER
Easter is a Christian religious holiday. Ibis memory of Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon between March, 22, and April, 25. The 40 days before Easter are called Lent. Just before Easter, schools and colleges usually close. The students have a week or ten days of spring holidays.
Easter is a church holiday, and many churches have an outdoor sunrise service. On the night before Easter, an imaginary creature known as the Easter Bunny comes to visit children and leaves a basket filled with candy in the shape of eggs, bunnies and baby chicks. Another tradition is painting hard – boiled eggs different colors and designs on them. It is common to hide these eggs, as well as candy eggs, for children to look for an Easter Sunday as part of an Easter egg hunt.
MAY DAY
It’s May! It’s May! The lusty month of May,
That lovely month when everyone goes
Blissfully astray !
The roots of the May Day celebration go back to very ancient time and are evident in many civilizations, where basically the idea was to express gratitude to the gods for the renewal of spring. May Day was not widely celebrated in the United States during its early years, because the Puritans disapproved of frivolous festivities.
Some American parents and teachers use this holiday as a chance to encourage their children and students to bring some surprise and joy into the life of the lonely or aged. They make May baskets filled with flowers and candy and hang them on doorknobs throughout their neighborhoods, sometimes ringing the bell, hiding, and watching smiles replace frowns and unexpected joy light up the wrinkled faces of their neighbors.
MOTHER’S DAY
“M” is for the million things she gave me.
“O” means only that she’s growing old.
“T” is for the tears she shed to save me.
“H” is for her heart of purest gold.
“E” is for her eyes, with lovelights shining.
“R” means right she’ll always
Put them all together; they spell “mother”,
A word that means the world to me.
In the United States Americans honor their mothers and grandmothers, on the second Sunday in May. This day is set aside to show love and respect for mother. On Mother’s Day children give thanks for the support, love, care, and guidance. Giving cards and gifts is also tradition. Children often make Mother’s Day gifts in school. Pin cushions, sachets, tie clasps, decorated boxes and picture frames, recipe holders, and plaster – cast hand prints are all popular favorites. Another common gift for mothers is the “mother ring,” a ring set with the birthstones of each of the members of the family.
Mother’s Day was first proclaimed a national holiday by President Woodrow Wilson in 1915. The idea of honoring mothers on a special day started with Ann Jarvis, from Grafton, West Virginia, who chose the second Sunday in May and began the custom of wearing a red carnation if one’s mother was still living and a white carnation if one’s mother was deceased. If the latter is the case, many people visit their mother’s grave side and dedicate the day to their mother’s memory.
MEMORIAL DAY
The last Monday in May is Memorial Day. This is a national holiday to remember the dead. The first Memorial Day was many years ago after the Civil War (1861 –1865). After the war, people wanted to remember the dead. So around 1866, people began to decorate the graves of Civil War soldiers. People called this day Decoration Day or Poppy Day (Poppies are small red flowers).
On the Memorial Day, Americans honour the servicemen who gave their lives in past wars. Schools, clubs and churches decorate the cemeteries. They put up the flags on the graves of the army, navy and airmen. They hold memorial services in churches, halls, parks and cemeteries.
In addition to solemn services Memorial Day is often marked by other, more joyful ceremonies: colorful parades, sports competitions.
FLAG DAY
Then hurrah for the flag, our country’s flag,
Its stripes and white stars, too.
There is no flag in any land
Like our own Red, White and Blue.
On June 14th , 1777, the United States adopted its first flag. Today Americans honor the US flag each year on June 14th . Flag Day is a national commemorative day. It is not a holiday from work. Many people fly the flag outside their homes and businesses on this day.
The American flag has different names. One name is “The Red, White, and Blue.” This name is for the colors of the flag. Another name is “The Stars and Stripes.” This name is for the 50 stars and 13 stripes.
The flag did not always have 50 stars and 13 stripes. In 1777, the original flag had 13stars and 13stripes for the 13 colonies. The 13 colonies became the first 13 states. Then more states joined the United States. In 1794, the flag had 15 stars and 15 stripes. Then more states joined. This created a problem for the flag makers. The flag was getting too big! So in 1818, Congress decided to have only 13 stripes on the flag. They decided to add one star for each new state. So now there are 50 stars and 13stripes on the flag.
INDEPENDENCE DAY
America, America,