Almost all cultures celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of another in some way. Different cultures celebrate the beginning oi a new year in different ways, and at different times on the calendar.

    In Western countries, people usually celebrate the New Year at midnight on December 31st--January 1st. People may go to parties, sometimes dressed in formal clothes, and they may drink champagne (香槟) at midnight. During the first minutes of the New Year, people cheer and wish each other happiness for the year ahead.  But some cultures prefer to celebrate the New Year by waking up early to watch the sunrise. They welcome the New Year with the first light of the sunrise.

Many cultures also do special things to get rid of (摆脱) bad luck at the beginning of a new year. For example, In Ecuador, families make a big doll from old clothes. The doll is filled with old newspapers and firecrackers. At midnight, these dolls are burned to show the bad things from the past year are gone and the new year can start afresh (重新). Other common traditions to keep away bad luck in a new year include throwing things into rivers or the ocean, or saying special things on the first day of the New Year.

    Other New Year traditions are followed to bring good luck in the new year.  One widespread Spanish tradition for good tuck is to eat grapes on New Year's Day. The more grapes a person eats, the more good luck the person will have in the year. In France, people eat pancakes for good luck at the New Year. In the United States, some people eat black-eyed peas for good luck--but to get good luck for a whole year you have to eat 365 of them!

The most interesting festivals around the world

    A village in Thailand has a very special holiday. Each year, on the last weekend of November, the people have a big dinner for the monkeys in their village. The monkeys of this village live together with people. But they are always a problem because they like to take away food from people. So the villagers decided to have a very special big dinner for the monkeys. The big dinner has bananas, apples and other delicious fruits and vegetables. In all, the people give more than 2,000 kilograms of food to about 1,000 monkeys living in the village.

    The monkey festival started in 1989. It is good for the village because every year thousands of visitors from all over the world come to see the monkeys playing and eating. There are also music and dances with young people dressed like monkeys. You can see monkeys anywhere you go. But you may be scared-they may climb on you at any time and the away the food or things in your hands.

    The festival is also a way for people to thank the monkeys for the money they bring to the village.

    The bamboo flute is widely used in solo(独奏)and ensemble(合奏) performances. The flute is called dizi in Chinese. The first known flute appeared in China about 7,000 years ago. It was made from the wing bone(翼骨)of a crane(鹤).

    The bamboo flute is one of the most important musical instruments in traditional Chinese music. Many flute melodies are touching and smooth, such as Partridges Fly, one of the best-known flute pieces in China.

    Partridges Fly was created in 1926 by Yan Gufan, a folk musician in central Hunan Province. The melody was soon played both in solo and ensemble performances. It paints a picture of plenty of partridges flying across the sky, making people have a deep sense of hoping for freedom and good life. Many flute artists played Partridges Fly. Wei Zhongle was the first artist to play it in flute solo in the United States in 1938. His performance was recorded and preserved (保存).

    There are three versions (改编本) of Partridge's Fly revised by Lu Chunling, Zhao Songting and Cai Jingmin. And Lu's version is the most popular. He made small changes to each recording.

    Everybody knows that soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world.

    Soccer is not a new sport. People all over the world played the game in different ways long ago. For example, in China nearly 2,000 years ago, soldiers kicked a ball as part of their exercise. Five hundred years ago in Europe, games in the street were common.

    Soccer became popular in England in the 1800s. Different schools, clubs and groups played with different rules. In 1863, these English groups had meetings. They organized (组织) the different games into one game with similar rules. Soon, they formed the Football Association.

    Not everyone agreed with the new rules. In England, some groups wanted to hold the ball with their hands so these groups formed rugby clubs. Groups in the United States also wanted to use their hands in the sport so they formed "football" clubs. Americans who didn't want to use their hands called the game "soccer". Soccer is a short form of the word association.

    From England, soccer began to grow. The first official international game of soccer was played between Scotland and England in 1872. By the 1880s, there were professional soccer teams in several parts of Europe. English players also introduced soccer to Africa, South America and New Zealand.

    Soccer soon became very popular all around the world. FIFA, the international football federation(联盟), met for the first time in 1904. Seven countries came to the meeting. The first World Cup was in Uruguay in 1930. Only 13 countries played in the Uruguayan World Cup.

    The World Cup is now the most popular sporting event in the world. Over 720 million people around the world watch the final game of the World Cup.

    Next time you're playing soccer with your friends, remember that you're part of a long history of a fun and exciting sport.