English Essay by Brian Southwick

31 The New Year ＲＥＡＤＩＮＧ (slow) (fast)　

　　Today is Friday, December 22.  It is the last day of school before the winter holidays.  Today’s essay is also the last for the year 2006.  A week ago I wrote about spending Christmas with my grandparents.  In today’s essay, I will tell you about the New Year in America.
　　　In America, Christmas is the most important holiday in winter.  But, celebrating New Year’s Day is enjoyable for many people.  On December 31, New Year’s Eve, we have parties with our friends and family.  On television that night, we can watch New York City’s Times Square “Countdown to 12:00” party.  We can enjoy shooting fireworks, too.
　　　On New Year’s Day, there is the famous Tournament of Roses Parade to watch on TV.  There are also many college football games on TV, and football fans have parties and cheer for their favorite teams.  In Japan we have traditional food on New Year’s Day, but in America we don’t have a special dinner.  Some people have a barbecue, and others order pizza.  At my house we sometimes had sandwiches made from left-over Christmas ham.
　　　New Year’s is a time for us to think about the past and to plan for the future.  Many Americans decide to change something in their life. They may choose to go on a diet to lose weight, or they may decide to learn to play an instrument or speak a foreign language.  We call this a New Year’s resolution.  Changing daily habits and lifestyles is a difficult thing to do, and many people give up.  Why don’t you make a simple New Year’s resolution and try hard to keep it next year?


<注>　
essay（随筆，エッセイ），spend（「時間を」過ごす），grandparents（祖父母），New Year（元日，新年），
celebrating＜celebrate（祝う），enjoyable（楽しい），eve（前日，前夜），New York City（ニューヨーク市），
Times Square（タイムズ・スクエア），countdown（秒読み，カウントダウン），shoot fireworks
（花火を打ち上げる），Roses Parade（ローズパレード），college（単科大学），football
（アメリカンフットボール），cheer for〜（〜を応援する），special（特別な），barbecue（バーベキュー），
pizza（ピザ），sandwich（サンドイッチ），left-over（食べ残しの），ham（ハム），past（過去），future
（将来，未来），go on a diet（ダイエットをする），lose weight（体重を減らす），instrument（楽器），
resolution（抱負，決意），daily habits（日常習慣），lifestyle（生活様式），give up（あきらめる）




Question and Answers:  Please answer the following questions
in English in a complete sentence, with a subject and　a verb.

Q1: What is the most important winter holiday in America?

A1.

Q2. Where does the “Countdown to 12:00” party take place?
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　起こる，行われる
A2.

Q3. On New Year’s Day, can football fans watch many games
　　 on TV?

A3.

Q4. Why do some people give up on their resolutions?  
           　　　　　　　〜をあきらめる
A4.           　　　　　　　

Q5. What is your New Year’s resolution?

A5.



＜解答例＞

A1. Christmas (holiday) is.  または　It is Christmas (holiday).

A2. It takes place at New York City’s Times Square.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　=Times Square in New York City.
A3. Yes, they can.

A4. Because changing daily habits and lifestyles is a difficult thing to do,
　　(some people give up on their resolutions).

A5. I will get up early and walk a dog every morning.
　　 I will study more than two hours at home every day.
　　 I won’t be late for school.
　　 I will sleep more than seven hours.
　　 I will clean my room on weekends.
　　 I will help my mother cook meals.
    　　　など，意味の通る英文であれば可。