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香港人有句舊俚語︰「冬大過年」，即是冬至（winter solstice）比過農曆新年（Lunar New Year）重要，因為冬至是農業秋天收割（autumn harvest）後的休息日，順道成為家庭團聚的日子（an occasion of family reunion）。
在過去百多年，對於大部分美國及加拿大人來看，感恩節由一個慶祝宗教的節日（festival）變成一個世俗化（secularized）的回家（coming home）日，感恩節也是源於秋收（a fall gathering of crops），同樣在他們心中感恩節凌駕聖誕。以下是一章關於感恩節的新聞。
"H&M Joins Move to Close on Thanksgiving"
《H&M加入在感恩節的休息行動》
H&M has announced it will close its U.S. branches on Thanksgiving Day. The announcement from the Sweden-based clothing retailer follows similar moves by REI and Staples, which are both also closing in honor of the holiday. In fact, in October REI said it will pay its employees to spend time outdoors on the day: "While the rest of the world is fighting it out in the aisles, we hope to see you in the great outdoors," the retailer said in an e-mail sent to staff.
H&M作出宣佈，全美的分店將會在感恩節休息。這宣佈是來自以瑞典作基地的衣服零售店，這是跟隨零售店REI及Staples的行動，這兩店均是以休息來表達對這假期的尊敬。其實，REI在10月時曾說，它會向僱員付薪水，好叫他們在當天享受戶外，這零售店在一個傳給員工的電郵中說︰「 正當全世界的人在購物通道中爭鬥，我們希望見到你留在在偉大的戶外。」
Regarding H&M's plan, Daniel Kulle, president of H&M's North American operations, told Bloomberg："In the tradition of Thanksgiving, H&M will close our U.S. stores on Thanksgiving Day, allowing our store teams to enjoy this time with their families and friends."
對於這個計劃，H&M北美營運總監Daniel Kulle告訴彭博︰「順應感恩節的傳統，H&M的美國店將會在感恩節休息，好讓我們店中隊員與家人朋友共享這個時刻。」
Meanwhile, Target recently announced its plan to remain open for Thanksgiving, saying it's become a tradition to shop at its stores on the day.
同一時間，零售店Target近日也宣佈，他們計劃在感恩節保持營業，根據他們宣稱，在當天往他們店中購物已經成為一個傳統。
以下是一些與這文章有關的語彙︰
put the cart before the horse︰本末倒置；
material world︰物質世界；
shopaholic︰購物狂；
oven-roasted turkey︰烤火雞；
Mother Nature （孕育萬物的）大自然；
而美國人可能認為秋天是落葉的季節，所以他們常用fall來代autumn。■林健根 會計師
隔星期五見報
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