What Are You Doing on New Year's Eve?

　　In America, the best-known place to be on December thirty-first is Times Square in New York City. Hundreds of thousands of people gather in the cold. They crowd together and wait for midnight.

　　The people count down the final seconds. "Ten ... nine ... eight ... " All eyes watch a huge glass ball as it slides down a pole on top of a tall building. Someone in the crowd says it looks like a bright piece of snow. Someone else says it looks like thousands of stars. This is a famous Times Square tradition.

　　When the ball reaches bottom, it is twelve o'clock. People shout "Happy New Year!" There is lots of excitement.

　　People arrive in Times Square while it is still daylight. After dark, at about six o'clock, the New Year's Eve ball is raised to its highest position. By this time thousands of people are gathered for the celebration .

　　They ooh and aah when the thousands of little lights in the ball come on. Then everyone waits for midnight. People who have never met talk as if they have known each other all their lives. Visitors from around the world are excited to experience this New York moment.

　　The first New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square took place in nineteen-oh-four. The owners of a building on Times Square held that first party on the roof of their building. Three years later, a New Year's ball joined the celebration.

　　The ball has been dropped every year except for two years during World War Two. In nineteen forty-two and 'forty-three, crowds still gathered in Times Square, but there was little to celebrate.

　　Lots of Americans will be out someplace special for dinner and dancing on New Year's Eve. Some people like to be on a boat when the New Year arrives.

　　Some Americans will have parties at home and invite all their friends.

　　Many cities will also hold what are called First Night celebrations. These are events without any alcohol. Local artists in Boston, Massachusetts, organized First Night celebrations in nineteen seventy-six.

　　People in Boston can choose among hundreds of performances and exhibits around the city. People can look at huge statues made of ice. Families can watch fireworks early in the evening. Later, fireworks light the midnight sky.