初级 西方节日

Chapter Seven: New Year's Day "Happy New Year!"

"The same to you and many more."

This familiar greeting is heard throughout Britain and the United States on 1 January.

People have always celebrated the New Year. In ancient civilizations the calendar was based on the seasons. The Egyptian New Year began when the Nile River overflowed . For the early Britons and the Romans the New Year began on the first day of spring.

In 45 BC the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar created a calendar with 1 January as the first day of the new year. This calendar is still used today.

January comes from "Janus," the Roman god of beginnings and endings.

New Year's traditions come from different cultures. Many people give presents and send cards on New Year's Day. This was part of a Roman and old English tradition. Shops and offices give calendars and small presents to their clients.

In Britain most families have a big lunch and spend a quiet day at home. In the United States many families have "Open House" on New Year's Day. It is a custom introduced by George Washington, the first president of the United States. During "Open House" the front door of your home is open all day long. Friends and relatives come to say "Happy New Year!" They eat and drink something and then leave. Many clubs and organisations have "Open House" too.

On New Year's Day most of the United States is covered with snow.

However, in California and in the southern states it is warm and sunny. In these sunny places there are parades and football games. These football games are called Bowl Games.

Each region has its parade and football game.

The Pasadena "Tournament of Roses" parade is the biggest and oldest New Year's Day event. In Pasadena more than three million people go to watch the parade. More than 70 million Americans watch it on television.

Every year there are about 60 spectacular floats made of fresh flowers.

The floats show favourite storybook characters and animals. The queen of the parade is called the Citrus Queen, because so many citrus fruits grow in southern California.

It takes about a year to organise the Pasadena "Tournament of Roses'"

parade! The entire city participates in this extraordinary event. When the parade ends everyone goes to the football stadium to watch the Rose Bowl game, the biggest sports event of the year.

Another famous New Year's Day parade is the Macy's Day Parade in New FOOTBALL GAME PLACE

Rose Bowl Pasadena, California Orange Bowl Miami, Florida Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas Sugar Bowl New Orleans, Louisiana York City. Many Americans watch this parade on television in the morning and in the afternoon they watch a football game.

Chapter Eight: Chinese New Year 

Chinese New Year is the most important festivity for the Chinese people in America and Great Britain. It is also called the Spring Festival or the Lunar New Year.

The exact date on the Western calendar changes from year to year.

However, Chinese New Year takes place between 1 January and 19 February. On the Chinese lunar calendar every month begins with the new moon. Every year has an animal's name. These animals are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon , snake, horse, ram , monkey, rooster , dog and pig.

A Chinese legend says that these twelve animals had a race. The first year was named after the rat, the winner. The other eleven years were named after the order , in which the animals arrived in the race. The clever rat jumped onto the ox's back then at the end jumped over the ox's head to arrive first!

The Chinese believe that a person born in a particular year has some of the characteristics of that animal.

Celebrations in Chinese families last for about two weeks. The celebration begin with traditional house cleaning. The Chinese get rid of old and useless things. They do this to throw away the misfortunes of the past year.

On Chinese New Year's Eve all family members enjoy a big, delicious meal. It is very important for the Chinese to be with their families on this occasion. Fish is always part of the dinner because it represents abundance .

On New Year's Day all Chinese children wear new clothes with bright colours. Red is considered a lucky colour. Parents and relatives give children the traditional New Year's gift called "Lai see" (lucky money). This money is put into bright red and gold envelopes. Red is a traditional colour for festivals, celebrations, weddings and birthdays.

In Britain a parade takes place in Soho, London. This is one of the biggest parades in an English-speaking country. Dragon or lion dancers often lead the parade. In Chinatown, Soho there are many Chinese restaurants. It is possible to stop and eat typical Chinese food.

Chinese New Year was celebrated on 21 February, 1851 for the first time in San Francisco! This was during the California Gold Rush. A lot of Chinese immigrants worked in California during the Gold Rush .

In big American cities such as San Francisco, New York, Honolulu and Houston, Chinese New Year is a major event with wonderful parades.

San Francisco, California, has the biggest Oriental community outside of Asia. This area of San Francisco is called Chinatown. There are many Chinese shops, restaurants and libraries in Chinatown. All street and shop signs are written in Chinese! During the Chinese New Year, Chinatown is decorated with beautiful ornaments.

Most of the costumes and masks come from Hong Kong. Every year there is a Miss Chinatown USA beauty and talent contest .

The lion dancers are always part of the festivities. The lion has a big head and long body made of cloth. The lion dance is accompanied by drums,

cymbals and noisy firecrackers. According to ancient traditions the great noise frightens away evil spirits.

The dragon is the most important figure of the Chinese New Year festivities and parades. The dragon is considered a lucky figure. A parade dragon can be 20 to 30 metres long! Sixty or more men move under a long cloth that represents the dragon's tail.

During the parade children represent the animals of the Chinese calendar.

There are also acrobats and musicians in beautiful costumes.

Every year the San Francisco parade attracts thousands of spectators . It is a magnificent event.

中级  王尔德故事

Part Four: The Professor's Daughter 

The next day, at lunchtime, the Student woke up and looked out of his window. "That's lucky," he said, "here is a red rose. It is an extremely beautiful red rose. I'm sure it has a long Latin name." He took the rose from the tree. He put on his hat and ran to the Professor's house. The Professor's daughter was sitting near the color.

"Look, here is a red rose for you. Tonight you must dance with me as you promised. You will wear it next to your heart and I will say 'I love you'.”

The girl didn't smile but she looked at him. "I'm sorry," she said, "I don't like the color. My dress is blue and the rose is red. And another thing, the Chamberlain's son gave me jewels. Everybody knows that jewels are more expensive than flowers. I don't want your rose."

"You are very ungrateful ," said the Student angrily, and he threw the rose into the street. At that moment a cart passed and the wheels crushed the flower.

"You are very rude," said the girl. "I will dance with the Chamberlain's son,

not with you." Then she stood up and went into her house.

The Student started to walk home. "Love is a stupid thing," he said. "I

prefer to study books. They are much more interesting and useful. Yes,

logic is much more useful than love. I will go home and study philosophy and metaphysics ." And that's what he did.