Welcome the New Year

小来

除夕之夜，孩子们穿着新衣服手舞足蹈，声声爆竹划破天际，烟火映红了孩子们的笑脸。家人团坐吃着热腾腾的年夜饭，欣赏着电视节目，崭新的一年就这样走进家家户户。相信这些大家都耳熟能详，但你知道西方国家是怎样迎接新年的吗？一起走进本文简要了解一下美国和英国是以何种方式迎接新年的，一起来看吧！

In the United States

In the United States， New Years Eve is a major holiday. For most of the past 100 years， the “ball dropping” in Times Square in New York City was broadcast live to all of America. It is a major part of the New Year celebration.

The 1，070-pound， 6-foot crystal ball placed high above Times Square is lowered， starting at 23：59：00 and reaching the bottom of its tower at the stroke of midnight （00：00：00）. It is sometimes called “the big apple” like the city itself; the custom comes from the time signal that used to be given at noon in harbors. The song Auld Lang Syne （《友誼地久天长》） has become a popular song to sing at midnight on New Years Eve. Often， there is a massive fireworks show in Central Park after midnight.

In the United Kingdom

England welcomes the New Year by either waiting for Big Ben， or another clock to strike midnight while enjoying the party. Usually， people will countdown the last ten seconds， by shouting out the numbers from “Ten！” and then at the same time， as Big Ben strikes and zero is reached， they shout “Happy New Year！” instead of zero. Then Auld Lang Syne and fireworks go with the strikes. The countdown sometimes makes a mistake and “One！” is shouted again until Big Ben strikes.

The London Eye is now the center of a huge ten-minute firework and lights show each year. At the start of 2021， fireworks were set off from the wheel for the first time.