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.

    Some British and American people like to invite friends for a meal at home.You should not be upset if your English friends don't invite you home.It doesn't mean they don't like you!

    Dinner parties usually start between 7 and 8 p. m. and end at about 11 p.m. Ask your hosts what time you should arrive.It's polite to bring flowers,chocolates or a bottle of wine as gifts.

    Usually dinners start with drinks and snacks.Do you want to be extra polite?Say how much you like the room,or the pictures on the wall.But remember－it's not polite to ask how much things cost.

    In many families,the husband sits at one end of the table and the wife sits at the other end.They eat with their guests.

    You'll probably start the meal with soup or something small,then you'll have meat or fish with vegetables,and the dessert.It's polite to finish everything on your plate and to take more if you want.

    Did you enjoy the evening?Call your hosts the next day,or write them a short “thank you” letter.British and American people like to say “thank you,thank you,thank you” all the time.

    There are many unusual hotels around the world. In Greenland, there is a hotel made out of ice, open between December and April every year. In Turkey, there is a cave hotel with a television, furniture, and a bathroom in each room. And in Bolivia, there is the Salt Palace Hotel.

    Thousands of years ago, the area around the Salt Palace Hotel was a large lake. But over time, all the water disappeared. Today, the area has only two small lakes and two salt deserts.

    The larger of the two deserts, the Uyuni salt desert, is 12, 000 square kilometres. During the day, the desert is bright white because of the salt. There are no roads across the Uyuni desert, so local people must show guests the way to the hotel.

    In the early 1990s, a man named Juan Quesada built the hotel. He cut big blocks of salt from the desert and used the blocks to build it. Everything in the hotel is made out of salt the walls, the roof（屋顶）, the tables, the chairs, the beds, and the hotel's bar.

    The sun heats（使变热） the walls and roof during the day. At night the desert is very cold, but the rooms stay warm. The hotel has twelve rooms and a double room costs $ 60 a night.

A sign on the hotel's wall tells guests, "Please don't lick（舔） the walls."