Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is the most important festivity for the Chinese people. It is also called the Spring Festival or the Lunar New Year.
Every year has an animal’s name. These animals are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. A Chinese legend says that these twelve animals had a race. The first year was named after the rat, the winner. The other eleven years were named after the order in which the animals arrived in the race. The clever rat jumped onto the ox’s back then at the end jumped over the ox’s head to arrive first!
The Chinese believe that a person born in a particular year has some of the characteristics of animal.
On Chinese New Year’s Eve all family members enjoy a big, delicious meal. It is very important for the Chinese to be with their families on this occasion. Fish is always part of the dinner because it represents abundance.
On New Year’s Day all Chinese children wear new clothes with bright colors. Red is considered a lucky color. Parents and relatives give children the traditional New Year’s gift called lucky money. This money is put into bright red and gold envelopes. Fill under the pillow. in the morning of new year , the kid wakes up to see the “lucky money”, exprethat oneself become one year older. Red is a traditional color for festivals, celebrations, weddings and birthdays.
The lion dancers are always part of the festivities. The lion has a big head and long body made of cloth. The lion dance is accompanied by drums, cymbals and noisy firecrackers. According to ancient traditions the great noise frightens away evil spirits.
Ladies and gentlemen,
女士们，先生们：
The new year is around the corner, I would like to extend my new year’s greetings to all my guests and wish everyone good health and happiness.
新年来临了，我谨向各位来宾致以节日的问候，并祝各位在新的一年里，身体健康，万事如意!
The new year is a time of new beginnings and new hopes for the future. I hope that every one of you find yourself more prosperous and more content with each passing day this year. I know that this night will be fantastic celebration of the good friendship and good spirits that can last not only a year, but a life time.
新年是新的开始，是对未来充满新的憧憬的时候。我祝愿大家在新的一年里一天比一天成功、快乐、富足。我知道今晚我们将为友谊和热情而欢呼庆祝。这种友谊和热情将留存在我们心中，不是一年，而是一辈子。
Have a wonderful evening everybody, thank you.
Good afternoon ，ladies and gentlemen!
I’m very honored to stand here and give you a short speech! my topic is Opportunities and Challenges.
First, I would like to know, what does your destiny offer you? Happiness, wisdom, a strong body or something else. If I had asked this question to president Nixon, he would probably had said,”Our destiny offers not the cup of despair, but the chalice of opportunity.”
Needless to say, one of the biggest opportunities given to China is the 20xx Olympic Games. Till now, we have used two sevenths of the preparation time. How much changes have you seen? New roads, new subway lines, public-exercising equipments with beautiful colors, large blocks of grass fields, and also lots of modern gyms which are under construction.
Other than those, there are even more good effects brought to us by the Olympic Games that cannot be seen directly. For example, more and more people will get to know China. I’m sure the mysterious Chinese culture will attract them strongly. And the games will also do good to the economy and environment, for it is gaining the attention of foreign investors and the awareness of environmental protection is being strengthened. What is more, Olympic Games give a unique opportunity to inspire and educate a new generation of Chinese youth with the Olympic values and the Olympic spirit. Now that we have seen so many advances, could you even imagine us losing the holding rights?
I’ve already said a lot about the Olympics and China. But I think everyone should use some time to think of this question, ”Does the Olympic Games have any special meaning to you?”
For us, I mean the Chinese youth, 20xx Olympic Games is a tremendous gift. Because what we are waiting for is to do something significant as repaying the love given to us .The society is just like a ship, and in our dreams the captain is waving his hand and saying ”Hey! Come here and take the helm! ”How charming his voice is, but we have never heard of it in our true life. This morning, however, when we wake up, we will see the Olympic Games waving its hand. After chewing, most of us will have at least one plan about what to do for the Olympic Games. And mine is to be a “comforter” ----that is someone who will give comfort to others.
At the end of my speech, I hope all the preparation will go well, and everyone will show their ability to the world. Let us seize opportunities and give a big smile to challenges.