We have special river birthday parties in the summer.

special ^{adj.特殊的,专门的，特设的}

• You're very special to me, darling. ^{你对我来说很特别，亲爱的。}
• So you didn't notice anything special about him? ^{这么说你没有注意到他的特别之处？}
• Due to his wife's illness, he returned to the State Department as special adviser to the president. ^{由于妻子的病，他返回国务院做了总统的特派顾问。}
• Every anxious person will have his or her own special problems or fears. ^{每个焦虑的人都将有他/她自己特有的问题或担心。}

Sometimes we go upstream to a favourite backwater, sometimes we have our party at the boathouse, which a predecessor of ours at the farm built in the meadow hard by the deepest pool for swimming and diving.

go / row / sail upstream ^逆流而上

• Learning is like rowing upstream: not to advance is to drop back. 
• We need to go upstream to find the source of the river. ^{我们需要顺流而上找到河流的源头。}
• The team had to row upstream against the current to reach the dock. ^{队员们不得不逆流划船才能到达码头。}
• They decided to sail upstream to explore the hidden waterfalls. ^{他们决定顺流而上探索隐藏的瀑布。}

a predecessor of ours ^{我们的一个前辈（工作上的、事物的前身）}

• The doughboy was a predecessor of the doughnut. ^{油炸面团是甜甜圈的前身。}
• This is the predecessor of Chinese drama. ^{这是中国戏剧的前身。}
• This is the Royal Belgium, the predecessor of the coffee pot. ^{而这，就是比利时皇家咖啡壶的前身。}

hard by … ^{(fml.) adv.  very near to …离得非常近}

• The cafeteria stands hard by our dormitory. 
• There is a little city hard by in which there is a garden of tulip - trees. ^{附近有一座小城，里头有一处郁金香树的花园。}

In a heat wave we choose a midnight birthday party and that is the most exciting of all.

heat wave  ^酷暑时期

• Finally, on the fourth day, the heat wave broke. ^{最后，在第四天，热浪爆发了。}
• Did you forget the heat wave of last summer? ^{你忘记了去年的酷暑了吗？}
• This summer, people flocked to the swimming pool to keep cool during the heat wave. ^{今年夏天，人们成群结队来到泳池纳凉，躲避热浪。}

天气热、冷 ^地道表达

• It’s a boiling / scorching / sizzling hot day.  ^特別热
• It’s a bitterly / biting / freezing cold day. ^特別冷

We welcome the seasons by the riverside, crowning the youngest girl with flowers in the spring, holding a summer festival on Midsummer Eve, giving thanks for the harvest in the autumn, and throwing a holly wreath into the current in the winter.

We welcome the seasons… ^{庆祝四季到来}

• We celebrate the arrival of the seasons. ^{课文写法替换}
• Christmas is a Western festival. Visit fireworks to celebrate the arrival of the New Year!^{圣诞节是西方的节日。回访礼花来庆祝新的一年的到来！}
• Welcome back to the second season of The Walking Dead. ^{欢迎大家回到🧟‍♀️《行尸走肉》🧟‍♂️第二季。}

Thanksgiving Day ^{the fourth Thursday in November 感恩节}

The holidays were to be replaced by specially called Days of Fasting and Days of Thanksgiving, in response to events that the Puritans viewed as acts of special providence. Unexpected disasters or threats of judgement from on high called for Days of Fasting.

• the Puritans ^清教徒
• the Mayflower ^五月花号
• Columbus ^哥伦布
• American Indians / Native Americans  ^印第安人
• the Pilgrims ^{新移民；朝圣者；朝圣客}
• the Pilgrim Fathers ^{清教徒前辈移民；清教徒们；移民先驱}
• roast turkey 🦃
• apple pie 🥧

表达“感谢”

I give thanks to my mother for supporting me all the time.
I give thanks to my math teacher for not flunking me.