Unit 6 Holidays  Section A Happy New Year

 

                                                      Happy New Year

 New Year's Eve is the world's oldest celebration. In fact, ancient people celebrated the New Year even before they had ways of measuring time. New Year's Eve is celebrated in many countries all over the world. In some countries, it is the most important celebration of the year, but this is not true of the United States or Europe. 

1. Eve 除夕

2. celebration 庆祝

3. ancient people 古代的人，古人

4. celebrated 庆祝

5. measuring 衡量，测量

One reason may be that Christmas comes just one week before the New Year, and it is the Western World's biggest holiday. Many people give this celebration even more importance than people in East Asia give the Spring Festival. 

1.Christmas 圣诞

2.Western 西方的

3.give importance to 重视

4.Spring Festival 春节

 The most popular way to bring in the New Year in the United States is with a big party. Some parties are at private homes. In recent years, though, it has become more and more common for Americans to go to a hotel or restaurant on the night of December 31st. There, they can eat, drink, and dance until the early hours. 

1.private 私人的

2.recent years 近年来

3.more common 更常见

 

Most New Year's parties have some things in common: first of all, they are usually noisy; this tradition of noise-making is believed to be centuries old. People thought that loud sounds would drive away the evil spirits of the old year before the New Year began. 

1.tradition 传统

2.centuries 世纪

3.drive away the evil spirits of the old year 驱除旧年的邪气

In the USA, the biggest and noisiest party takes place in Times Square in New York City. Thousands of people gather there every year. Some of them ring bells or let off fireworks. At midnight, they begin to cheer as an electric sign in the shape of a red apple lights up on top of a tall building.   

1.gather 聚集

2.let off fireworks 燃放烟花

3.cheer 欢呼

4. an electric sign in the shape of a red apple 红色苹果状的电子灯

 For more than twenty years, millions of Americans have been able to watch the New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square on television. It has become so popular that many American hotels and restaurants put up big screens so that their guests can watch it, too. At midnight, everyone stops talking and dancing to join in the television broadcast from New York. 

1. put up big screens 搭建大屏幕

2. television broadcast 电视直播

3.millions of 数百万的

You can imagine that after all that celebrating, many Americans begin the first day of the New Year a little tired. They are usually quite happy to spend a quiet day at home, watching the most popular New Year's Day activities on television. 

Last but not least, have you ever heard the term "to make a New Year's resolution"? It is something that Americans and Europeans promise to do in the coming year, usually involving giving up bad habits (e.g. giving up smoking or sleeping too much). Experts say that the most common New Year's resolution in America is to eat less! Sadly, experts have also found that fewer than ten percent of Americans carry out their New Year's resolutions. 

1.resolution 励志

2.involving giving up bad habits 包括改掉坏习惯

3.carry out 执行，实施