CNN News: 美國(guó)的各州不同的新年傳統(tǒng)

In Atlanta, Georgia, there's a giant peach that drops on New Year's Eve. It's one of many annual traditions nationwide. In Wisconsin, there's a giant cheese drop.

在亞特蘭大,喬治亞州,在新年前夜會(huì)有一個(gè)巨大的桃子掉落。這是全國(guó)的一年一度的傳統(tǒng)。在威斯康星州，會(huì)有一個(gè)巨大的奶酪降落。

In North Carolina, a possum drop, or at least a possum lowering. It's in a box. It's not hurt.

在北卡羅來(lái)納州，是一個(gè)負(fù)老降落，或者說(shuō)是下降。老鼠在一個(gè)盒子里面，不會(huì)受傷。

But the famous drop is probably at New York's Times Square. What exactly got this ball rolling?

但是最出名的還是紐約時(shí)代廣場(chǎng)。是什么讓這個(gè)大大的東西滾動(dòng)?

REPORTER: Before we had time zones, each city kept their own time based on the sun. This was a problem for sailors, whose time pieces often got de-calibrated at sea.

在我們有時(shí)區(qū)之前，每一個(gè)城市都是根據(jù)太陽(yáng)的東升西落來(lái)計(jì)量自己的事件。但是這航海者是一耳光問(wèn)題。因?yàn)闀r(shí)間的混亂會(huì)在海上花費(fèi)很長(zhǎng)的時(shí)間。

In the early 1800s, an official in the Royal Navy suggested using a visual on shore. So, they put a ball on top of the flag pole, and raised up a second ball a few minutes before 12:00, when light passed between the two, sailors set their clocks to noon.

在19世紀(jì)初期，皇家海軍的一個(gè)官員建議在海岸上設(shè)立一個(gè)可視的物品。所以，他們就在旗桿上放置了一個(gè)球，然后，幾分鐘之后(12點(diǎn)之前)，在放置另外一個(gè)球。當(dāng)陽(yáng)光照射到這兩個(gè)球之間的時(shí)候，航海人員就把時(shí)鐘設(shè)定為正午。

Eventually, self winding clocks and other new tech made these time balls unnecessary.

最后, 自動(dòng)上弦鐘表鐘和其他新技術(shù)淘汰了這些計(jì)量時(shí)間的球。

Fast forward a few years, "The New York Times" relocates to what is now Times Square. To celebrate, they decided to throw a party on New Year's Eve. Before then, New Yorkers gathered at Trinity Church where people would throw bricks in the air like confetti. So, "The Times" opted for fireworks instead.

而在數(shù)年之后，遷址到現(xiàn)在的紐約時(shí)代廣場(chǎng)。為了進(jìn)行慶祝，人們就決定在新年前夕舉行聚會(huì)。在聚會(huì)之前，,紐約人聚集在三一教堂,人們會(huì)在空中扔磚頭像五彩紙屑?！都~約時(shí)報(bào)》最后選擇的煙花。

But a couple of years later, the city banned the display. Tasked with finding an even safer celebration, the newspaper found inspiration in those old naval time balls.

但是幾年之后，紐約開(kāi)始禁止煙花展示。之后，為了發(fā)現(xiàn)一個(gè)更為安全的方式，《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》想到了之前海軍時(shí)期的時(shí)間球。

In 1907, a 700-pound ball of wood and iron, outfitted with 125-watt light bulbs is lowered to ring in the New Year. A tradition was born.

1907年，一個(gè)有木頭和鋼鐵制成的700英鎊的球，裝飾著125個(gè)燈泡，在新年的那一天降落。一個(gè)傳統(tǒng)就這樣產(chǎn)生。

Since then, we've only gone without the ball twice. That was in 1942, and 1943, when the government was worried the bright lights could be a target during World War II. So, chimes were used instead.

之后，我們只有在1942年和1943年沒(méi)有舉行這個(gè)傳統(tǒng)，因?yàn)楫?dāng)時(shí)(第二次世界大戰(zhàn))政府擔(dān)心這個(gè)燈光成為襲擊的目標(biāo)。就利用鳴鐘代替時(shí)間球的傳統(tǒng)。