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下面新东方网雅思频道为大家整理了雅思口语素材：New Year's Day(新年)，供考生们参考，以下是详细内容。
New Year's Day
January 1
10...9...8... The lighted ball in New York's Times Square(时代广场)startspicking up speed(加快速度). 7...6...5... It's almost time. 4...3...2... Everyoneholds their breath for the last few seconds. We're about to jump that seeminglylarge but invisible gap that separates the years. 1...0... Happy New Year!
We made it. The old year, for better or worse, is gone for good. The newyear has begun with fresh promise. Here's our chance to start again, to do itright this time, to have another shot at success...at glory...at justaccomplishing what we resolve to. It's time to shed that baggage from the yearlong gone and celebrate what can be in the 365 untouched days to come. Happy NewYear!
We can trace the origins of a new year's celebration back to the ancientEgyptians and Babylonians, at least 4,000 years ago. In Egypt, the Nile riversignaled a new beginning for the farmers of the Nile as it flooded their landand enriched it with the silt(淤泥)needed to grow crops for the next year. Thishappened near the end of September.
The Babylonians held their festival in the spring, on March 23, to kick offthe next cycle of planting and harvest. Symbolically, the king was stripped ofhis robes and sent away for a few days while the people whooped it up(庆祝). Hethen returned in all his finery(华丽的服饰)for a grand parade, and the normalactivities of life would return for the new year.
So how did we get to January 1 as the start of the year? That date waspicked by the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar when he established his own calendarin 46 BC. The Roman Senate had actually tried to make January 1 New Year's Dayin 153 BC, but it wasn't until Caesa
r stretched out 47 BC for 445 days that thedate we're familiar with was synchronized(同步)with the sun. We've been on theJulian calendar ever since.
There must be something inside of us that needs to unload the accumulatedresults of fate and our own decisions and start anew. The Romans knew this. Themonth of January was named for their god, Janus, who is pictured with two heads.One looks forward, the other back, symbolizing a break between the old and new.The Greeks paraded a baby in a basket to represent the spirit of fertility.Christians adopted this symbol as the birth of the baby Jesus and continued whatstarted as a pagan ritual. Today our New Year's symbols are a newborn babystarting the next year and an old man winding up the last year.
Around the world, different cultures have their own traditions forwelcoming the new year. The Japanese hang a rope of straw across the front oftheir houses to keep out evil spirits and bring happiness and good luck. Theyalso have a good laugh as the year begins to get things started on a luckynote.
In West Bengal, in northern India, the people like to wear pink, red,purple and white flowers. Women favor yellow, the color of spring.Hindus(印度人)also leave shrines next to their beds so they can see beautifulobjects when they wake up to the new year.
In Vancouver, British Columbia, Canadians enjoy the traditional polar bearswim. People of all ages don their swim suits and take the plunge, an event thatis sure to get you started in the new year with eyes wide open.
A fairly new tradition that is starting to spread worldwide is a communitycelebration of the visual and performing arts on New Year's Eve. Started inBoston in 1976, an organization called First Night promotes alcohol-freefestivals in 186 American cities, 16 in Canada, plus Hastings, New Zealand andGreenwich, England. Typical experiences include ice sculptures, dancing,storytelling, theater, poetry, films and, at the stroke of midnight, anelaborate fireworks display.
Best wishes to you and your loved ones for a happy and prosperous NewYear!
以上就是新东方网雅思频道为大家整理的雅思口语素材：New Year's Day(新年)，非常实用。更多资讯、资料尽在新东方网雅思频道。最后，新东方网雅思频道预祝大家在雅思考试中取得好成绩!
