This is a reading comprehension lesson to test
your ability to understand information written in
English. Read the information below
and then answer the 5 test questions.
Hey
if you cannot understand something on this page,
then use the Fun Easy English
dictionary
(opens in a new window)
Holiday:New Year's Eve
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve (also Old
Year's Day or Saint Silvester's Day in many countries), the
last day of the year, is on December 31. In many countries,
New Year's Eve is celebrated at evening social gatherings,
where many people dance, eat, drink alcoholic beverages, and
watch or light fireworks to mark the new year. Some people
attend a watch night service. The celebrations generally go
on past midnight into January 1 (New Year's Day).
The island nations of Kiribati and Samoa are the first to
welcome the New Year while Honolulu, Hawaii is among the
last places to welcome the New Year.
In the United States, New Year's Eve is celebrated with
formal parties, family-oriented activities, and other large
public events.
One of the most prominent New Year's celebrations in the
country is the "ball drop" held in New York City's Times
Square. Inspired by the time balls that were formally used
as a time signal, at 11:59 p.m. ET, a 11,875-pound (5,386
kg), 12-foot (3.7 m) diameter Waterford crystal ball located
on the roof of One Times Square is lowered down a pole that
is 141 feet high, reaching the roof of the building one
minute later to signal the start of the New Year. The Ball
Drop has been held since 1907, and in recent years has
averaged around a million spectators yearly. The popularity
of the spectacle also inspired similar "drop" events outside
of New York City, which often use objects that represent a
region's culture, geography, or history—such as Atlanta's
"Peach Drop", representing Georgia's identity as the "Peach
State".
The
portrayal of festivities on radio and television has helped
ingrain certain aspects of the celebration in American pop
culture; beginning on the radio in 1928, and on CBS
television from 1956 to 1976 (which also included coverage
of the ball drop), Guy Lombardo and his band, The Royal
Canadians, presented an annual New Year's Eve broadcast from
the ballroom of New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The
broadcasts were also well known for the Royal Canadians'
signature performance of "Auld Lang Syne" at midnight, which
helped popularize the song as a New Year's standard. After
Lombaro's death in 1977, prominence shifted towards ABC's
special Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve (which had
recently moved from NBC), originally intended by its creator
and host Dick Clark to be a modern and youthful alternative
to Lombardo's big band music.
Including ABC's special coverage of the year 2000, Clark
would host New Year's Eve coverage on ABC for thirty-three
straight years. After suffering a stroke, Clark ceded
hosting duties in 2005 to talk show host Regis Philbin.
Although Clark returned the following year, a speech
impediment caused by the stroke prevented him from being the
main host until his death in April 2012, Clark made limited
appearances on the show as a co-host, but was formally
succeeded by Ryan Seacrest.
New Year's Eve is traditionally the busiest day of the
year at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and Disneyland
in Anaheim, California, where the parks stay open late and
the usual nightly fireworks are supplemented by an
additional New Year's Eve specific show at midnight.
New Years Eve is a night when many Americans usually go
crazy and drink a lot of alcohol. In places like Japan,
the night and the few days before and after, are spent
with family eating traditional foods and usually
drinking a lot of alcohol.
Video:
New York Times Square New Year's Rockin Eve
New Year's Rockin Eve
-
Everyone in the world celebrates New Years Eve
differently. Do you wonder what they do in America? The
following videos are from the most famous New Years Eve
show in the world held annually in New York City. Try to
understand as much of the video as possible. Use a
dictionary
to look up words you do not understand.
New Year's Rockin Eve Part 1
New Year's Rockin Eve Part 2
Test:Reading Comprehension New Year's
Eve
Read
the information above. In the test questions
below choose which is the best answer for each
question. There are 5 questions. Good luck.
1. In the Gregorian
calendar, the last day of the year is which of the
following?
a. New Years Eve
b. New Years Day
c. Chinese New Year
d. Lunar New Year
2. Which island nations
are the first to welcome the New Year?
a. Japan and Singapore
b. Kiribati and Samoa
c. Tonga and Tuvalu
d. Tanegashima and Yakushima
3. Which of the
following are among the last to welcome the New Year?
a. New York, New york
b. Los Angeles, California
c. Honolulu, Hawaii
d. Tokyo, Japan
4. Where is New York
City's famous "ball drop" held each year?
a. New Years Park
b. Grand Central Station
c. Times Square
d. Various Locations
5. The Ball Drop has
been held since which of the following?
