又中又英——be a reveler

　　It will soon be Christmas. After that, the world will ring in the New Year. To ring in something used this way means to celebrate the beginning of something. This expression is mostly used for New Year’s Eve when people celebrate with parties and wait for midnight to ring in the New Year. Many cities ring in the New Year with fireworks at midnight. New York City is famous for ringing in the New Year with the ball drop in Times Square. The expression “the ball drop” refers to the large electronically-lit ball on a specially-designed flagpole at the famous building One Times Square.
　　At exactly 11.59 every New Year’s Eve, the brightly-lit ball slowly descends (slides down) the flagpole and reaches the bottom at midnight to ring in the New Year. Normally, around one million revelers go to Times Square to watch the ball drop. A reveler is a person who dances, drinks, and sings in a noisy way. Lan Kwai Fong is full of revelers on New Year’s Eve. Last year New York banned revelers from watching the ball drop in Times Square because of the pandemic. People had to watch it on TV. Revelers will be allowed to watch the ball drop in Times Square this New Year’s Eve.
　　It’s the first time I will be in New York City on New Year’s Eve. I want to be a reveler in Times Square but won’t go. Even though I am triple-vaccinated I feel safer watching the ball drop on TV. Very few cities had revelers ringing in New Year’s Eve last year. Many places had lockdowns. People rang in the New Year at home. The year 2020 was a global tragedy. Many died from the pandemic. Scientists produced effective vaccines but killer viruses can run circles around vaccines. To run circles around means to be much better than someone or something else. The new Omicron virus means many revelers will still not ring in 2022. I hope that will change in 2023.
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　　很快就到圣诞了，在那之后全世界将迎接（ring in）新年。To ring in something在这里是指去庆祝某事的开始、来临。这个习语普遍在大除夕时候使用，就是当人们开派对庆祝以及在子夜等候迎接（ring in）新一年的来临。许多城市都会在子夜时份放烟花庆祝（ring in）新年。纽约市最出名的跨年庆祝（ringing in）活动，就是时代广场的降球仪式（the ball drop）。习语“the ball drop”所指的是在著名的一期时代广场，有一支特别设计的旗杆，上面有个以电子照明的报时球。
　　每年大除夕踏正十一时五十九分，那明亮耀眼的报时球便会沿着旗杆徐徐下降（descends），并在凌晨零时到达底部，以迎接（ring in）新一年。一般来说，大约会有一百万个revelers到时代广场那里观看降球仪式（the ball drop）；a reveler就是唱歌跳舞、纵酒、大声喧哗的人。兰桂坊在大除夕夜就会满是寻欢作乐的人（revelers）。上年因为疫情，纽约禁制寻欢作乐者（revelers）到时代广场看降球（the ball drop），人们只能在电视看直播。但到了今年，纵酒狂欢者（revelers）便得以到时代广场现场观看降球（the ball drop）。
　　这是我头一遭在纽约市度除夕。我也想到时代广场寻欢作乐（be a reveler），但我不会去了。虽然我已打了三针疫苗，但还是透过电视看降球（the ball drop），感觉安全些。上年很少城市有寻欢作乐的人（revelers）庆祝（ringing in）跨年。许多地方都封城了，人们只能在家庆祝（rang in）跨年。二〇二〇年实在是全球灾难的一年，许多人死于世纪疫症。科学家研制出有效的疫苗，但致命病毒却可run circles around那些疫苗——to run circles around意即比某人或某物更强，将对方耍得团团转。新的Omicron变种病毒意味着许多狂欢者（revelers）仍未能满心欢喜的迎接（ring in）二〇二二的到来。我希望到二〇二三年情况可以有所转变。
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中译：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚简宁