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Happy New Year! 新年快樂！

Fireworks light up the sky over St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle to celebrate the New Year in the Czech Republic, Jan. 1, 2007. 二００七年元旦，捷克布拉格城堡區的聖維塔大教堂上空施放煙火歡慶新年。　照片：美聯社 PHOTO: AP

Many people around the world celebrate New Year's Day on Jan. 1. But it hasn't always been that way.

Many cultures used to celebrate New Year on the spring equinox. The spring equinox falls around March 20. Spring was a natural time for people to celebrate the start of the year.

However in 46BC the Roman emperor, Julius Caesar, changed the date to Jan. 1. The month of January is named after Janus, a Roman god. Janus has two faces. One on the front of his head and one on the back. The Romans believed that he looked back at the old year and forward to the new year. The Romans gave out gifts for good luck at New Year.

One of the oldest records of New Year's resolutions comes from the Babylonians. They were celebrating New Year (at the spring equinox) as early as 4000BC. A common resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment.

Nowadays people in many countries make resolutions to change bad habits or to develop good ones.

(CATHERINE THOMAS, STAFF WRITER)

 世界各地有許多人在一月一日慶祝新年，但這並非向來如此。

從前，許多文化在春分慶祝新年，春分約在每年的三月二十日，春天是人們慶祝一年開始的自然時機。

但在西元前四十六年，羅馬的凱撒大帝把元旦改為一月一日，一月─January就是以羅馬天神Janus命名，Janus是一位雙面神，祂的腦袋前後各有一張臉孔，羅馬人認為祂一面看顧過去的一年，一面又眺望新的一年。羅馬人會在新年送禮以換來好運。

新年新希望最早是源於巴比倫人，他們在西元前四千年前就開始慶祝新年（在春分），當時民眾的新希望普遍是歸還向人借用的農耕用具。

現今，在許多國家，民眾的新年新希望是要改掉壞習慣或養成好習慣。（翻譯：袁星塵）

TODAY'S WORDS 今日單字 1. culture n. 文化 (wen2 hua4) 例: There are some similarities between Japanese culture and Taiwanese culture. (日本文化和台灣文化間存在著一些共通點。) 2. spring equinox n. phr. 春分 (chun1 fen1) 例: Spring equinox falls on March 21 this year. (今年春分是三月二十一日。) 3. resolution n. 決心 (jue2 xin1) 例: My resolution is to be nice to my little sister. (我決定要善待我妹妹。) 4. farm equipment n. phr. 農耕用具 (nong2 geng1 yong4 ju4) 例: Hoes, tractors and scythes are examples of farm equipment. (鋤頭、牽引機和長炳鐮刀都屬於農耕用具。)

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