节庆英语秀holidayEnglish.doc

节庆英语秀 holiday English 1 New Year History and Traditions Happy New Year! That greeting will be said and heard for at least the first couple of weeks as a new year gets under way. But the day celebrated as New Years Day in the modern world was not always January 1st . It was first celebrated in Babylon 4000 years ago, when the first new moon appeared in the sky. It was the beginning of spring, when things start to grow. In 153 BC, the Romans declared January 1st to be the beginning of the new year. After Christianity appeared in Europe, New Year celebrations disappeared for a while. They soon reappeared, though, and Western nations have celebrated January 1st as a holiday for about the past 400 years. Dialogue A: Happy New Year! Did you make a New Years resolution? B: Yes, I promised myself that I would stop smoking, and you? A: Im going to lose 5 kg this year. Dont break your resolution! B: I know. Are you going to the park for the New Years countdown? A: Yeah, my friends and I will sing Auld Lang Syne and see some fireworks there. Want to come? B: Sure! See you there. Dont forget to bring the champagne! Vocabulary Declare 宣告To make known publicly or officially according to rules, custom, etc. New Years resolutions 新年矢志A promise you make to improve your life in the coming year Promise 承诺A statement, which someone else has a right to believe and depend on, that one will or will not do something, give something, etc. Countdown 倒数The act of counting backwards from 5,10, or some higher number down to to zero. Champagne 香檳酒A French white wine containing a lot of bubbles, usually drunk at special occasions. 2 Chinese New Year History and Traditions The origin of the Chinese New Year Festival can be traced back thousands of years through a continually evolving series of colorful legends and traditions. One of the most famous legends is that of Nian, an extremely cruel and ferocious beast, which the Chinese believe, eats people on New Years Eve. To keep N