Michael: Merry Xmas Billy!

    Billy: You can't say Merry Xmas now! Christmas has long gone.

    Michael: So what should I say now?

    Billy: Well, you could try Happy New Year!

    Michael: Do people really celebrate the fact that the new-year has begun?

    Billy: They sure do! In fact many people don't celebrate Xmas but they have a humungous party for the New Year.

    Michael: Are New Year parties the same as Xmas parties?

    Billy: No way. They are very different.

    Michael: You need to teach me all you know about New Year.

    迈克尔：圣诞快乐，比利！
    比利：你现在不能说圣诞快乐了！圣诞节已经过去了。
    迈克尔：那么我现在应该说什么？
    比利：唔，你可以试试“新年快乐”！
    迈克尔：新年已经开始了，人们真的在庆祝吗？
    比利：他们当然庆祝了！实际上很多人不庆祝圣诞节不过他们有一个盛大的新年派对。
    迈克尔：新年派对和圣诞派对一样吗？
    比利：不一样。它们有很大的区别。
    迈克尔：你得教教我所有你知道的有关新年的知识。

    New Words（生词）

    1) Long gone: something that has happened already
    已经过去：已经发生的事情
    My parents are hopeless - they always say Happy Birthday after the day is long gone.
    我的父母真是没治－他们总是在生日过后说生日快乐。

    2) Celebrate: to mark a special day or event with festivities or a holiday
    庆祝：用活动来纪念某个日子、事件或者节日
    Most people celebrate their birthday, Christmas and New Year no matter what their culture.
    无论什么样的文化，大多数人都庆祝他们的生日、圣诞节和新年。

    3) Humungous: very large, massive
    巨大的：很大的，大而重的
    I went out drinking on Saturday night and woke up with a humungous hangover.
    星期六晚上我去喝酒了，醒来的时候感到很不适。

    4) Arbitrary: decided by someone, without any obvious logic
    武断的，专断的：由某人作出决定，没有任何明显的逻辑
    At university, I often argued with my professors and said that their marking of my papers was arbitrary.
    上大学的时候，我经常和我的教授们争论，还说他们对我论文的批注很武断。

    Dialogue（对话）

    Jeff: Happy New Year Joan!

    Joan: Why are you wishing me a happy new year?

    Jeff: Because new year's eve is nearly here.

    Joan: You should know that not everyone celebrates new year at the same time, Jeff.

    Jeff: So when do you celebrate new year?

    Joan: I follow the lunar, or moon, calendar so I celebrate it much later than you.

    Jeff: If you were smart you would celebrate both new years so you could double up on the number of parties.

    Joan: No! The hangover I get from one new year is bad enough for me, thank you!

    杰夫：新年快乐，琼！
    琼：你为什么祝我新年快乐？
    杰夫：因为新年除夕就快到了。
    琼：你应该知道并不是每个人都在同一时间里庆祝新年，杰夫。
    杰夫：那你什么时候庆祝新年？
    琼：我依照阴历，也就是农历，因此我庆祝新年比你晚多了。
    杰夫：如果你聪明你就会庆祝两个新年，这样你就可以参加双倍的派对！
    琼：不！一个新年（派对）给我带来的后遗症就已经够我受的了，谢谢你了！