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    Learn English > English lessons and exercises > English test #130347: Civilisation: Thanksgiving and Black Friday





    > Other English exercises on the same topics: Geography, history, politics, literature... | United Kingdom | USA [Change theme]
    > Similar tests: - British English/American English - Geography-Vocabulary - Wanna Gotta Gonna - New Year in the USA - Kate, Kensington Palace and Queen Elizabeth II - History of the USA - Wedding-Kate & William - William and Kate's Love Story
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    Civilisation: Thanksgiving and Black Friday


    It has come from the United States, and for a few years, its fast breakthrough surprised us a little

     

     

    more every time... Black Friday is a phenomenon! Let's see how it became so 'inevitable'...

     

    I) A QUESTION OF DATES: a brief HISTORY.

    THANKSGIVING Thanking the Natives and God: it's undoubtedly the most popular American

    festivity, the one that the majority of Americans choose to gather and celebrate with their families.  

    Let's remember: 

    Originally, the first settlers (the Pilgrims) established this tradition in order to thank 'Natives'

    for the help they had given them (ie: how to fertilise the land with rotten fish). The first harvest

    was plentiful and the Pilgrims thanked God  and the Natives for it.

     

                                            

    Now it is a huge meal of a roasted turkey, potatoes, all sorts of vegetables, sweet potatoes, green

    beans with sour sauce, cranberry sauce,... apple pies, pumpkin pies, etc.) [between 2,000 end 5,000

    calories. It is said that the weight gained on Thanksgiving is still here on the following one!] 

     

    This festivity went on and transformed itself into a family gathering. The different relatives

    of the extended family scattered over several States met to share the traditional meal, and

    thank God and everyone for all the blessings of the year.

                                  

     

     

    Formerly, Thanksgiving used to be celebrated on the last Thursday of November. As early

    as the following day, the population started shopping for the Christmas Season.  Yet, in 1939,

    November had five Thursdays, which,  according to the retailers, started the shopping season

    too late.  That's why Thanksgiving was moved to the fourth Thursday of November. 

     

    BLACK FRIDAY: (The Friday following  THANKSGIVING): Why was it given this name? 

    Several explanations were suggested...

    a) At the end of the year, and before the end-of-the year festivities, business was calm and the  

    retailers' accounts were often 'in the red' traditionally indicating an overdraft and a deficit in business.

    After Thanksgiving, business was back on track and the accounts went back 'into the black', which

    means that the sales were taking off again. It was Black Friday  which pushed retailers back 'into

    the black'!  

     


    b) - Less flattering, is the explanation reporting a true chaos, brawls, scuffles, and even casualties,

    caused by people looking for bargains and by looters in the shops of Philadelphia, in the 1950s and

    1960s...

    - Not flattering either, but less surprising in Philadelphia, the experience of the football match

    opposing The Army and the Navy on the Saturday following Thanksgiving 1963. A hord of 

    supporters coming from the surrounding area wreaked havoc, violence and chaos; once again,

    the words Black Friday were used!

     

                                                  

     

    So, is the origin of the name due to one explanation or the others? It doesn't matter, really.  

    Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving, for one reason or another, it sees the  new

    start of the sales of the Christmas Season, and the New Year Festivities, provided prices

    are given a little help. 

    Gradually, the event became 'contagious', many countries adopted this commercial 'discovery'. 

    (Costa Rica is one of the few exceptions.)

     

    II) WHEN? WHERE? and WHAT to buy and WHAT to skip? 

    This year, BLACK FRIDAY is on Nov. 29  and thanks to many important discounts, it marks

    the beginning of the long commercial period till the end of the year. 

    - When go shopping for Christmas and the Season?  This year, the best period is between 22 Nov and 2 Dec. (Cyber Monday). Presents can be bought online and delivered, or purchased online and picked up by the consumer outside the store (click and collect).

     

    1) LES BONNES AFFAIRES DU BLACK FRIDAY: (GOOD DEALS)

    - electronic appliances (electronics) (including laptops, smartphones, tablets, smart home

    devices and TVs.) 

    - guitars and musical instruments bought in second-hand shops and online.

    - Toys and sporting goods

    - Headphones

    - Les aspirateurs et robots (Vacuums)

    -  gros éléctroménager (major home appliances and small ones)

     

    2) BAD DEALS OF  BLACK FRIDAY ( Bad deals - articles carrying credit card debt)

    - Less bulky items, and less expensive ones have much smaller discounts...  

    - Small kitchen gadgets

    - Linens and towels

    The worst day to do your Christmas Season Shopping is the Saturday before Christmas (called

    Super Saturday) The stores will be crowded, the items you want may be out of sale, and the prices

    are sure to be very very high!  Yet, that day is still very popular ans les magasins, and late-shoppers

    are more and more numerous, trying to catch the best deals... 

     

                                  

    Very long lines to enter the stores...                                   and longer ones to cash out your purchases...

     

    Waiting time (waiting lines) last thirty-five minutes on average. Yet, some people wait more than an hour, 

    and even up to two hours. Therefore, it's not surprising that tempers should flare up... Since 2006,

    11 people have died and more than 100 have been injured in Black Friday-related incidents. More people

    die while shopping on Black Friday  than in shark attacks.


    BLACK FRIDAY is the biggest shopping day in the United States. Now, it has turned into more than a month-long event. Yet, let's not forget the late-shoppers of Super Saturday (the Saturday before Xmas) when prices are skyrocketting, but when lots of laptops, smartphones, tablets, smart home devices and TVs are sold anyway... 

     

    There is better and worse in the phenomenon... Knowing it, simply to choose the better... and avoid the worse!...  Let's go for the test!     



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    1. Thanksgiving used to be celebrated on Thursday of November.



    2. Thanksgiving is now celebrated on Thursday of November.



    3. 'Black Friday' takes place in Thanksgiving; it has great consequences on the retailers' sales.



    4. Super Saturday is , one of the busiest days to do your shopping.



    5. Nowadays, the discounts for Black Friday last and enable shoppers to buy more.



    6. If Thanksgiving and Black Friday changed dates in the 1930s, it is because . President F.D. Roosevelt helped move the date to boost the retailers' sales.



    7. is the festivity when families gather and eat roasted turkey with cranberry sauce.



    8. The average time to stand in line is but it's much longer at the check out!



    9. More people run away from in-store shopping and tend to shop for Black Friday.



    10. The wonderful bargains of Black Friday have been the cause of since 2006. How could that be?












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