Take Away English-Happy New Year 新年快乐

celebrated1 in London with a grand parade" src="/upimg/allimg/071026/1650321.jpg" width="203" /> Chinese New Year is celebrated in London with a grand parade

‘Kung Hei Fat Choi!’ That’s a phrase that has been heard many times in London’s Chinatown over the last few days. Why? Because it’s Chinese New Year, and the UK’s Chinese community are celebrating the Year of the Dog.

This year the celebrations have been more spectacular than ever with more than 200,000 people congregating² to watch a huge parade of lions, dragons, drums, and ribbon and fan dancers. The procession made its way from Chinatown to Trafalgar Square, the very heart of London.

London has a proud history of multiculturalism³, and the Chinese community is one of the oldest in the city. Chinese immigrants first came to London in the mid⁴ 19th Century, consisting mainly of seamen⁵ involved in the tea trade via Canton. For that reason Cantonese is still spoken more widely in the UK than Mandarin⁷.

A more recent wave of immigration took place in the 1960s when many workers came from Hong Kong to find work in the flourishing restaurant business. One part of the central London neighbourhood of Soho became synonymous with Chinese restaurants and began to be known as Chinatown.

Today more than 60,000 people of Chinese descent live in London which means that there are plenty of people to conduct the New Year festivities.

This year’s celebrations include more than 100 events from lion-dancing to elephant chess, whilst London’s museums, art galleries and theatres are running special China-themed seasons.

Much of this has been organised through partnerships⁸ between Chinese community groups and the Mayor of London’s office. Indeed, London’s Mayor, Ken⁶ Livingstone, has been an outspoken⁹ advocate of strengthening ties between the UK and China. In his Chinese New Year speech he said, “To everyone in China, think of London as your second home.”

So whether you are in London, Beijing or Hong Kong, have a happy Chinese New Year.

GLOSSARY 词汇表
Kung Hei Fat Choi 恭喜发财 spectacular 壮观的 huge parade 大游行 procession 游行 immigrants 移民 tea trade 茶叶贸易 flourishing 繁荣兴旺 Chinese descent 华裔 mayor 市长 strengthening ties 增强关系;纽带	Chinatown 中国城 congregating 聚集;汇集 ribbon and fan dancers 秧歌舞表演者 multiculturalism 多元文化 seamen 海员 wave of immigration 移民潮 synonymous 同义语的 elephant chess 象棋 outspoken advocate 直率的激进派 second home 第二故乡

 

1 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

2 congregating   

（使）集合，聚集( congregate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The spatial distribution patterns of larvae and pupae are congregating distribution. 幼虫和蛹的空间分布均为聚集分布。
• He says victims of violence are congregating there because they feel safer. 他说暴力的受害者聚集在这里因为他们觉得更安全。

3 multiculturalism   

n.多元文化

参考例句：

• Switzerland is well known for cheese fondue, penguin parades and its multiculturalism. 瑞士一向以芝士火锅，企鹅游行和多元文化等特色闻名于世。
• That may be one reason why multiculturalism came easily to it. 这也是多元文化容易适应发展的原因之一。

4 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

5 seamen   

n.海员

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather. 有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• In the storm, many seamen wished they were on shore. 在暴风雨中，许多海员想，要是他们在陆地上就好了。

6 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

7 Mandarin   

n.中国官话，国语，满清官吏；adj.华丽辞藻的

参考例句：

• Just over one billion people speak Mandarin as their native tongue.大约有十亿以上的人口以华语为母语。
• Mandarin will be the new official language of the European Union.普通话会变成欧盟新的官方语言。

8 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

9 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。