Thanksgiving
①Iʼll start with my second-favorite holiday: Thanksgiving! Itʼs a day when various factions of human clans unite and have a feast. ②This is to remember when some old Caucasian men had a feast with the people who were already on this land, whom they subsequently slaughtered. ③Thanksgiving is only my second favorite because of all the slaughtering.
段落解析：感恩节来源和争议比较多，原文给的最初的解释：北美殖民者和印第安人度过的第一个丰收时节，象征友谊和感恩。第二句把作者想强调的信息——感恩的对象被slaughtered放到最后突出了讽刺效果。第一句中的factions of human clans unite and have a feast也隐含了感恩节只是异见者表面的和谐，为第二句转折做铺垫。
感恩节来源可参考：
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving_(United_States)
词句积累：
①faction: a group of persons forming a cohesive, usually contentious minority within a large group. 小集团，宗派，派系/别
clan(谑): a large group of relatives, friends, or associates
a division of a tribe tracing descent from a common ancestor
②Caucasian: 高加索人，白种人
③all: 此处隐含了“这就是全部，再多就没有了”的负面限制意义，意味着是因为屠杀，感恩节才排第二的含义。
Fourth of July
①This day commemorates when a bunch of Caucasian men in wigs told some other, fancier Caucasian men in fancier wigs that they wanted to do their own thing from now on. ②People eat processed meat while wearing the colors of this new thingʼs flag, which, coincidentally, are the same as the colors of the old thingʼs flag. ③But watch out—there are bombs!
段落解析：美国的国庆节来源用了wigs来暗示北美殖民者本身也是中上层阶级，fancier wigs体现了北美殖民者在英国面前内心自卑的情绪（inferiority complex），因为大多数英国人认为当时的北美殖民地是“a howling wilderness”北美殖民者也认为英国本土社会更加sophisticated。第二句提到美国国旗coincidentally（戏谑幽默）和英国国旗很像，同样是“红白蓝”三色，刚好也解释了国庆节的一个庆祝方式就是：decorations（e.g. streamers, balloons, and clothing）are genrerally colored red, white, and blue, the color of the American flag. 同样照应了前一句美国和英国的渊源。第三句的“bombs”指美国国旗上的50颗星星（代表美国50个州），同样用词幽默，突出了美国人的蛮野。
词句积累：
Fourth of July or Independence Day: commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
①wigs: signs of status and affluence in 1700-1800s. It all has to do with syphilis, head lice, the shame of male-pattern baldness, and the fashion tastes of Louis XIV and Charles II. 假发的起源历史也超级有趣，大家可以去搜搜。
②People eat processed meat：Families often celebrate the Fourth of July by hosting or attending a picnic or barbecue. 吃加工过的肉类可能和这个有关。
②③美国国旗与英国国旗的渊源：都是由“红白蓝”三种颜色组成，最后的bombs指美国国旗上的星星。
图一左上角为英国国旗
美国国旗发展历史
Christmas
①Iʼll end here, on the holiday that I enjoy the most. ②To prepare our homes for this day, we put small, colorful offerings underneath a large tree not native to this region. ③We tell children that an old man who has been watching us all year is responsible for these packages. ④The day is ostensibly to honor a baby with superpowers, but itʼs rude to ask too many follow-up questions about the baby, because he died.
段落解析：讲解圣诞节，大家都熟悉的节日没什么好说的了，注意第四句中最后说Jesus Christ died.挺令人寻味的，对应前面的ostensibly和superpowers感觉有偶像崇拜和宗教黑暗时刻已经结束，取之是自由平等的现代社会；另一层可能有耶稣已死，现代人的精神信仰不复存在，对应现代出现的高频精神迷失：如feeling of loneliness, aimlessness, isolation and alienation......；当然更有可能的是对应前半句不要问太多问题，因为耶稣以死，无从溯源，有点像在对外星人说：“不要再问啦，臣妾也不知道”的感觉，体现宗教的神秘性（或经不起理性的推敲）。
词句积累：
Christmas, a shortened form of "Christ's mass", is a festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, obseved primarily on Dec. 25.
offering: a contribution or gift, esp. one made at a religious service.
underneath/beneath/below/under：
under与over相对，有垂直下方的意思，使用最普遍，实质精神、职务地位上的上下都可以用；those under him指“受他管理的人们”。
below与above相对，低于或下方，不一定在正下方，范围较宽；those below him指“职位比他低的人们”。
beneath书面用词，紧挨……之下，反义词为on 这一词义基本很少用；更多用于指身份地位低下，或 beneath contempt/his notice 不值得轻视，极可鄙/不值得被他注意。
underneath只指实质上的上下，语气比under重，如 under the bed“在床下”，underneath the bed“被压/覆在床下”的意思。
ostensibly: apparently, seemingly 表面上，貌似真实的。
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