美国新年（American New Year）简介

美国新年（American New Year）

Like many people all over the world, Americans enjoy celebrating the arrival of each New year. Almost everyone makes an occasion of New Year's Eve in order to see the old year out and welcome the new one. In New York, a favorite gathering place on December 31 is New York City's Times Square. Thousands of Americans and international tourists crowd this famous spot (at the intersection of Broadway and Seventh Avenue ) and crane their necks to watch for "Happy New Year" to flash across the electronically controlled sign that moves around. When the moment arrives bedlam breaks forth. Bells ring, whistles blow, people cheer with their happy excitement.

The custom of visiting friends, relatives and neighbors is one of the popular activities on New Year's Day. This activity is called Open House. The custom of Open House was inaugurated by George Washington during his first term as President. On January 1, now, families hold "Open House" so that their friends can visit them throughout the day to express good wishes for the new year.

Many championship football games are scheduled for New Year's Day, and there is usually an elaborate parade before each football game. Often, much of the day is spent watching these games on television.

同全世界人民一样，美国人也喜欢庆祝每个新年的到来。几乎人人都把除夕作为送旧迎新的时刻来庆祝。十二月三十一日在纽约，人们最喜欢聚会的地方是纽约的时代广场。成千上万的美国人和国际游客拥挤在这块胜地（百老汇和第七街的交叉处），翘首观望来回移动的电子控制牌，上面不时闪现着 "新年好" 的字幕。当新的一年的一刹那到来时，喧闹声骤然四起。钟声响了，汽笛响了，人们热情欢呼，沉浸在幸福的激情之中。

看望朋友、亲戚和邻居的风俗是新年最常见活动之一。这一活动叫做 "开放门户" 。"开放门户" 的风俗是由乔治·华盛顿在其第一届总统期间开创的。现在，到 1 月 1 日那一天，各家各户都 "开放门户"，以便朋友们随时都可去看望，表达对新的一年的美好祝愿。

新年那天安排有多场橄榄球锦标赛，赛前常精心组织游行。人们常常把那一天的大部分时间花在电视上看球赛。

Notes：

1. makes an occasion of…：把 … 这一时刻作为 … 。 Occasion 是 “ 时机、时刻 ” 的意思，美语中的用法很灵活，这并不是个固定词组，只是动词 make 的一个灵活的用法。

2. crane their necks：伸长脖子。 Crane 这个词很有意思，它的原意是 “ 鹤 ” 的意思。大家都知道鹤的脖子很长。 Crane 在此是动词，它的表达是不是很生动呢？

3. are scheduled for： 为...安排。