双语有声阅读：新年

New Year

新年

Every country in the world celebrates the New Year

世界上每个国家都欢度新年，

but not everyone does it the same way.

但是形式各不相同。

The countries of the America and Europe welcome the New Year on January first.

欧美国家是在每年的 1月1日喜迎新年，

This practice began with the Romans. Julius Caesar,a Roman ruler,

这一习俗始于罗马人.罗马统治者儒略凯撒

changed the date of the New Year

将新年的日期

from the first day of March to the first day of January.

由原来的3月1日改为 1月1日。

In the Middle East, the New Year is when spring begins.

在中东地区,新年是在春天到来之际。

People in China celebrate it on Spring Festival,

中国人是在春节欢度新年，

which is the first day of their calendar based on the moon.

即阴历年的第一天。

The Spring Festival usually comes between January 21 and February 19.

春节通常是在1月21日和2月19日之间来临。

Rosh Hashana,which is the Jewish¹ New Year,comes at the end of summer.

岁首节,即犹太人的新年,是在每年夏季末。

The Hindus in India celebrate the first day of each season,

印度人庆祝每一个季度的第一天，

so they have four New Years.

因此他们又四个新年。

In all of these cultures, there is a practice of making noise.

在这些不同文化背景中都有一个制造声响的习俗。

People made noise in ancient times

人们在古时发出声响

to drive away the evil² spirits from the home.

目的是将恶魔赶出家门

Many people did it and still do it with fireworks.

许多人过去用,现在仍然用放鞭炮的方式来驱赶恶魔。

In Japan,

在日本，

people go from house to house making noise with drums and bamboo sticks.

人们走街串巷,用击鼓即敲竹的方式制造声响

Young people in Denmark

丹麦的年轻人，

throw broken pieces of jars or pots against the sides of friends' houses.

则用朝朋友家投掷瓮坛瓦罐碎片的方式发出各种声响。

In the United³ States many people stay up until midnight on New Year's Eve

在美国,许多人熬到午夜，

to watch the clock pass from one year to the next.

等待新年钟声的到来。

Friends often gather together at a party on New Year's Eve,

朋友们经常在除夕夜聚集在一起，

and when the New Year comes,

当新年到来时，

all ring bells,blow horns⁴ and whistles⁵, sing and kiss each other.

人们敲钟鸣号，吹口哨，唱歌，接吻拥抱。

1 Jewish   

adj.犹太人的，犹太民族的

参考例句：

• The coin bears a Jewish symbol.硬币上有犹太标记。
• They were two Jewish kids;I was friendly with both of them.他们是两个犹太小孩；我同他们都很要好。

2 evil   

n.邪恶，不幸，罪恶；adj.邪恶的，不幸的，有害的，诽谤的

参考例句：

• We pray to God to deliver us from evil.我们祈求上帝把我们从罪恶中拯救出来。
• Love of money is the root of all evil.爱钱是邪恶的根源。

3 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

4 horns   

n.角( horn的名词复数 )；号；角质；（蜗牛等的）触角

参考例句：

• The young goat was just beginning to grow horns. 这只小山羊刚开始长角。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The blare of horns could be heard in the distance. 可以听到远处传来的号角声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 whistles   

n.哨子( whistle的名词复数 )；汽笛；口哨声；汽笛声v.吹口哨( whistle的第三人称单数 )；鸣笛；呼啸着前进；空指望

参考例句：

• She was fed up with the builders' wolf whistles each morning. 每天早上都有建筑工人冲她挑逗地吹口哨，她烦都烦死了。
• Round one ends, to a tumult of whistles, screams and shouts. 第一局比赛结束了，口哨声、尖叫声与呼喊声一片喧哗。 来自辞典例句