1. Chilly寒冷的adj.

2. Festive节日的adj.

[注：be in festive mood 沉浸在节日的欢乐中/ festive costumes节日盛装]

3. Swelling 肿胀 n.（U.） [注：reduce the swelling 消肿]

4. Ravage 破坏 vt. [注：a country ravaged by civil war 遭受内战重创的国家]

5. Livestock 牲畜 n. [ U.]

6. Gunpowder 火药n. [ U]

7. Legendary传奇的 adj.

8. Awaken 唤醒 vt. [注：awaken me 叫醒我]

9. Plentiful 丰富的 adj. [注：a plentiful harvest丰收]

{Traditions of Chinese New Year / 中国新年传统}

Today we'll be taking you through some of the most important traditions of Chinese New Year and historical background.

今天我们将带你领略一些最重要的中国新年的传统和历史背景。

We will look at some of the legends behind Chinese New Year and how to celebrate it.

我们将看看中国新年背后的一些传说和如何庆祝它。

Here in the US and Chinese across the world.

在美国和世界各地的中国人。

The Chinese have specific ways to celebrate their new year.

中国人用特殊的方式来庆祝新年。

If you walk down the street in Chinatown during Chinese New Year, you see a variety of ancient traditions such as red banners, firecrackers and lion dance performances, streets are filled with lively celebration.

如果你在中国新年期间走上唐人街，你会看到各种各样的古老传统，如红色横幅，鞭炮和舞狮表演，街道上充满了活泼的庆祝活动。

However, legend has said that the new year has not always been a time of festivity.

然而，传说新年并非一直是欢庆的日子。

An Asian Chinese story told a chilly start to this festive2 holiday, it begins with an ancient Chinese beast called Nian.

一个亚洲的中国故事讲诉了这个喜庆节日的寒冷起源，它始于一个叫“年”的中国古代怪兽。

Every New Year Nian would rise from swelling3 in the sea to ravage4 Chinese village in livestock5 and hurting people.

每一年新年，“年”会从上涨的海里出来，在中国村庄里肆虐牲畜、伤害人类。

The villages soon found out from a wise gray-haired old man that the only way to scare the beast away was to set off firecrackers and light lamps and to hang red banners on each door.

明智的村庄很快从一位头发花白的老人那里得知，吓跑野兽的唯一方法是放鞭炮，点灯和在每个门上挂红色横幅。

As the story goes, this was the beginning of a tradition that would last thousands of years.

据说，这就是将持续数千年传统的开始。

So this story leads to the creation of many of other traditions for celebrating Chinese New Year, let's take a look at some of these traditions.

这个故事产生了许多其它的为庆祝中国新年的传统，让我们来看看其中的一些传统。

We're gonna try now to tell us why firecrackers are so important to kick off [启动] the new year celebrations.

现在我们要试着讲述鞭炮为什么在新年庆祝活动中如此重要。

For many Chinese, New Year celebrations will not be the same without firecrackers.

对许多中国人来说，新年庆祝活动没有鞭炮是大不一样的。

This tradition originates from ancient China as a Chinese was the first to invent gunpowder as early as during the ninth century.

这些传统源于中国古代，作为中国第一个发明火药早在九世纪期间。

It was believed that ghost, bad spirits and even the legendary monster called Nian that came out attack people during a new year were afraid of loud noises, so the Ancient Chinese would fill bamboo stems with gunpowder to make smell explosions to drive away Nian, evil spirits and bad luck.

据说鬼魂、恶灵甚至传说中的怪兽“年”，“年”攻击人在新的一年害怕噪音，所以中国古代竹茎充满火药气味爆炸赶走年，恶灵，坏运气。

Another popular traditional belief was that the noise from the firecrackers would awaken the sleeping dragon that fly across the sky, bringing plentiful rain for their crops.

另一个流行的传统信仰是鞭炮的声音唤醒了沉睡的龙，它飞过天空，给庄稼带来充足的雨水。

Today in most countries for safety issues, it is illegal for individuals to light firecrackers, but this tradition persists to make it safe and enjoyable [令人愉悦的] for the public.

今天在大多数国家，由于安全问题，个人放鞭炮是违法的，但是这些传统依旧在安全的愉悦着大众。