Many people have tried to simplify (简化) the spelling of English words. Unlike other languages, English sometimes spells the same sounds in very different ways. For example, there is “light” but “white”, “loan” but “phone”, and there are at least seven different ways of pronouncing “ough”, “though”, “through”, “bough”, “cough”, “enough”, “ought” and “thorough”.

    The American President Theodore Roosevelt almost succeeded in simplifying English spelling. In 1906, one of the richest men in the United States of America, Andrew Carnegie, started the Simplified Spelling Board whose plan was to make the spelling of words nearer to the way they sound. For example, the word “though” would be spelt “though” and “through” would become “thru”. Other people on the board were Melvil Dewey, the head of the New York libraries, and Professor Brander Matthews of Columbia University. They explained their idea to President Roosevelt who thought that it was indeed logical (合理的).He immediately instructed the government printer to use simplified spelling in all government letters.

    But people did not like the change — even if it made life easier— and the new, simpler spelling was not popular. More importantly, when the American politicians discussed the plan, they did not like it either. Because Roosevelt did not want to have any problems with the politicians, he changed his mind and told the printer to go back to the old way of spelling.

    Since then no one in any government has dared to simplify English spelling. However, people do simplify some words, mainly in advertisements. For example, we often see “tonite” instead of “tonight” and “thru” instead of “through”.

    This is a song， and millions of Americans will hear it on New Year's Eve. It is called "Auld Lang Syne" (《友谊地久天长》). It is the traditional music played during New Year's celebration. "Auld Lang Syne" is an old Scottish(苏格兰)poem. It tells about the need to remember old friends.

    The words "auld lang syne" mean "old long since". No one knows who wrote the poem first.

    However， a version(版本)by Scottish poet Robert Burns was published(出版)in 1796. The words and music we know today first appeared(出现)in a song book three years later.

    The song is played in the United States mainly on New Year's Eve. The version you are hearing today is by the Washington Saxophone Quartet. One of the 4 musicians in the group is VOA's Rich Kainfaite. As we end our programme with "Auld Lang Syne"，I would like to wish all of our radio friends a very happy New Year! This is Buddy Thomas.

    There are many traditional holidays in China.

    The Spring Festival is the most important one in China. It is as important as Christmas in the West. On the evening before Spring Festival, all the family members get together and have a big dinner.  After dinner, they watch TV and play cards while waiting for the New Year to come.

    The next one is the Lantern Festival. It falls on the 15th night of the first lunar (农历) month. People often go out to enjoy the lantern show.

    Then comes the Dragon Boat Festival. It is on the 5th lunar month. It is a festival to honor an ancient poet Qu Yuan. People often hold dragon boat competition on that day. So it is now a festival of the Chinese traditional sports.

    The next one is the Mid-Autumn Festival. It falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. The whole family sit in the open air and enjoy the bright moon while they're eating moon cakes and fresh fruit.