Happy New Years!

　　Today is March 17^th．About two and a half months ago, I said“Happy New Year!”to many of my friends．About fifty days ago, I said the same thing to some other friends．In about four days, I’ll say the same wishes to yet another group of friends．I’ll do the same thing in July and also in September．“How can that be?”you might ask(if you ‘re from Western Europe or the Americas)．“Everyone knows that New Year’s Day is in Januare!”

　　In fact, the date of New Year’s Day depends on the calendar(日历)－and I have friends who use one or more of five different calendars to keep track of at least part of their lives：

　　●January 1^st：New Year’s Day on the Western/international calendar

　　●In January or February(in 2006, January 29 th)：New Year’s Day on the Chinese calendar(China, Korea, and a few other places)

　　●March 21^st：New Year’s Day on the traditional Persian(波斯)calendar

　　●Mid-July(usually the 16 th)：New Year’s Day on the Isamic(穆斯林)calendar

　　●September：New Year’s Day on most Eastern Orthodox Church(东正教)calendars(Central and Eastern Europe)and, usually, on the Jewish calendar

　　And these are just the New Year’s Days that I know about!As a matter of fact, there are probably even more!

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阅读理解

　　The Spring Festival is China's biggest traditional(传统的)　holiday．It usually comes in January or February．It is also called“New Year”because it makes the beginning of a lunar(农历)　New Year and the coming of spring．It is celebrated by a big family-reunion dinner．People are very excited and happy．Many people travel hundreds of kilometres to get home for the holiday．And railway stations，bus stations and airports are filled with people hurrying home．Shops and supermarkets are crowded with holiday shoppers．Children are especially happy．They are having their winter vacation；they have many delicious things to eat；they wear new clothes；they fire crackers(爆竹)　and fireworks(烟花)．Besides they get some pocket money from their parents as gifts．

　　The Chinese living in foreign countries also celebrate this big holiday with lion dances，dragon(龙)　dances and other colourful performances．Today even many foreigners have come to like our Spring Festival．

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