第1页:I.第2页:II.第3页:III.第4页:IV.

　　1. Pilgrims Thanksgiving Day

　　　 　　 　　In 1620, 201 of the Pilgrims sailed to the New World in a ship called Mayflower. The first winter after their arrival was very cold and when spring came, half of them were dead.

　　Then the Indians came to their help and taught them how to grow corn. They had a good harvest that year. So they invited the Indians and held the first Thanksgiving celebration in America to give thanks to God.

　　　　［解析］感恩节

　　　　感恩节，11月的第四个星期四，是一个历史的、国家的、宗教的节日，源于朝圣上帝。美国第一个正式的感恩节是在1621年12月13日，马萨诸塞州的普里茅斯殖民地开始的。定居者或清教徒头一年来到美国，生活非常艰辛。第二年，当地印第安人成为他们的朋友并开始教他们种植玉米和其他食物。移民们秋天获得了好收成，他们邀请印第安人共进丰盛的食品来感谢上帝的仁慈和热爱，吃、喝、玩乐了整整3天。从那以后，感恩节总不定期地举行。

　　2. McCarthyism

　　　 　　 　　Senator Joseph R. McCarthy started a campaign of wild accusation and arrests in 1950. His full-scale anti-communist hysteria was called McCarthyism. In 1954 he was condemned by the Senate and McCarthyism ended.

　　　　［解析］麦卡锡主义的实质是反共和冷战在美国国内的表现。违反权利法案和大规模迫害共产党人和进步人士的浪潮源于美国总统杜鲁门。约瑟夫·麦卡锡和美国全面的反共高潮，吓倒了许多普通美国人，人们感到与大多数人保持一致比独特异议更安全。

　　3. The Glorious Revolution of 1688

　　　 　　 　　In 1685 Charles II died and was succeeded by his brother James II. James was brought up in exile in Europe, was a Catholic.

　　　　He hoped to rule without giving up his personal religious vies. But England was no more tolerant of a Catholic king in 1688 than 40 years ago. So the English politicians rejected James II, and appealed to a Protestant king, William of Orange, to invade and take the English throne. William landed in England in 1688. The takeover was relatively smooth, with no bloodshed, nor any execution of the king. This was known as the Glorious Revolution. On their acceptance of the Bill of Rights in 1689, William and Mary were crowned jointly in Westminster Abbey. The age of constitution monarchy, of a monarchy with powers limited by Parliament began.

　　　　［解析］光荣革命——查理二世于1685年去世，詹姆斯二世继位。宗教分歧达到极端。英格兰的政客们废黜了詹姆斯二世，吁请威廉入侵英国，继承英国王位。这次政权更替相对平静，没有大规模的流血冲突，没有处死国王，人们称之为“光荣革命”。后来，威廉和玛丽共同接受“权利法案”，该法案规定任何天主教徒不能继承英国王位，确认了议会至上的原则，保证上、下议院内言论自由。王权受到议会的制约，君主立宪时代于是开始了。

　　4. They are FIanna Fail and Fine Gael.

　　　 　　 　 In 1789, James Madison introduced in the House of Representatives a series of amendments which later were drafted into twelve proposed amendments and sent to the states for ratification. Ten of them were ratified in 1791 and the first ten amendments to the constitution were called the Bills of Rights because they were to insure individual liberties. By then, the foundation of the American constitutional system was completed.

　　［解析］1789年，詹姆斯·麦迪逊向众议院提交一系列修正案，1791年批准宪法的前10条修正案——总称权利法案，美国宪法系统的创建工作完成。