International Labor Day，also known as May Day，is 1）celebrated on the first day on May. There are ___1___ eighty countries celebrate this festival since 1 889. People may know thatMay Day is about having a rest on that day，but most of them don't know how this day ___2___ and the story behind it.

In the late of 18 century，the 2）cruel3）capitalists ___3___ make more money，they demanded their employers to work all day，but only paid them with low salaries. In America，the workers had to work at least 14 hours a

day，___4___，they even worked as long as 18 hours. Due to the unfair payment，the works knew that they had to stand up and ___5___ their rights，or all of them will die young. Then the workers started to go on 4）strike，demanded that the reasonable working hours should be 8 hours a day. However，the capitalists did not pay attention to the workers' demand. The workers had to fight for their rightsfor themselves. On May 1st，1886，theUnited States and Canada's worker unions got together to start ___6___ strike.After that day，the law had passed the rules that the workers' working hours would be 8 hours per day. This strike had made a difference. The worker did not need to 7 the long working hours with low payment.

Labor Day ___8___ 5）memorize the spirit of brave and show our honor to the former workers. Because they had make great contribution to today’s happiness.

1）celebrate ['sellbret] V.慶祝;祝贺;举行宗教庆典;歌颂

2）cruel [kru：al] adj.残酷的，残忍的;使人痛苦的，让人受难的;无情的，严酷的

3）capitalist ['kaepitalst] n.资本家;资本主义者; [口]有钱人，财主

4）strike [stralk]vi.罢工;打击

5）memorize ['memaralz]vt.记住，熟记; [计算机科学]存储，记忆

词组加油站：

1. pay attention to的意思为“注意做……;重视做……”。后面可以直接加名词、代词或者动名词，但是值得注意的是，这里的to是一个介词，所以可以加动词的ing形式。

如：I have to pay attention to doing my homework.

我必须重视做我的作业。

2.dueto意思是“由于，因为”。dueto只能用以引导形容词短语，不可引导副词短语。

如：Unfortunately，due to unforeseen circumstances，this year's shoW has been cancelled

遗憾的是，由于一些意外情况，今年的演出被取消了。

答案

1.more than 2. comes from 3. in order to 4. sometimes5. fight for 6. the biggest 7. suffer from 8. aims to