In the US, the most popular way to welcome the new year is with a big party. Some parties are at private homes. But in recent years, it has become more and more common for Americans to go to a hotel or eating-place on the night of December 31st. There, they can eat a big dinner, drink champagne, and dance to orchestra music.
Most New Year’s parties are usually noisy. People shout and sing. And often, guests blow on small noisemakers when the new year arrives at midnight. This tradition of noise making is believed to start centuries ago. People thought that loud sounds would drive away the bad spirits of the old year.
The biggest, noisiest New Year’s party in the US takes place in Times Square in New York. Thousands of people gather(聚集) there. Some of them ring bells and set fireworks. Others blow whistles of car horns(喇叭). And at twelve o’clock, they begin to cheer as an electric sign in the shape of a red apple lights up on top of a tall building.
The Times Square celebration includes another well-known American tradition. Since 1929, the band of musician Guy Lombardo has given a concert on New Year’s Eve. Guy Lombardo died in 1977. But, Bill Lombardo, has kept the tradition alive with a band concert at a New York city hotel. When the crowds in Times Square start cheering the arrival of the new year, television cameras show the band playing the song Auld Lang Syne.
【小题1】 The most usual way to welcome the new year in the US is ________.

The night of graduation, I was afraid. Two hundred people were sitting out there. I felt tense and I wanted to run away,   1  I couldn’t! After all, my own children were sitting in front of me with many other persons. I couldn’t be a coward(懦夫) before   2 .
When I ended the speech, I was   3  at the cheering. And I never forget the first time I received the cheering in my life.
Flowers arrived   4  my brothers and sister. My husband gave me silk roses. The reporters came with   5  and recorders and lots of questions. There were tears and hugs and congratulations.
Sometimes, I sit down and   6  the tape of my graduation speech. I hear myself say to the audience, “Don’t’ give up your   7  in life. Anything can happen if you believe. It means hard work, but   8  sure that you can do it, with God’s help.”
And then, I remember mother’s   9  to me , a young girl: “Hurry, Gin, you’ll be late for school.”
Yes, Mom, I was late   10  school, but it was sweeter for waiting. I only wish you and Dad could have been there to see your daughter and granddaughter in all their show and speech.

In the United States, sixteen, eighteen, and twenty-one are important ages in a person’s life. There are no special celebrations for these birthdays, but each is a time when a person can do new things to mark their transition(转变) into adulthood.
After turning sixteen a person can work, get a driver’s license and leave home. Many high school students learn to drive and get part-time jobs soon after celebrating their sixteenth birthday.
At the age of eighteen a person in the United States can vote and smoke, but they are prohibited from going into nightclubs, buying wine or gambling(赌博) until they are twenty-one.
In many Latin(拉丁的) cultures, a young woman’s fifteenth birthday is important. At this age, she is regarded as an adult. To mark this special day, families with teenage daughters have a celebration called a Quinceanera. The day begins with the young woman and her family going to church. Later, there is a party and many guests are invited.
In Japan, young people became adults at twenty. At this age, they can legally(合法地) vote, drink wine and smoke. The second Monday in January is a national holiday called “Coming of Age Day”. On this day, twenty-year-old celebrates by first going to church to pray with their families. Later, they listen to speeches given by city and school leaders. Afterward, they may celebrate with family or friends late into the night.
In some countries, birthday celebrations continue through adulthood. Some people celebrate their fortieth and fiftieth birthdays, or their retirement(退休) year, with a huge party.
【小题1】 In the United States, age sixteen marks the time when you can ___________.