A Happy Spring Festival

Of all our holidays the Spring Festival is the most important to us Chinese. Everyone gets about one week off work for it. The Spring Festival is mainly a family celebration. No matter how far away from home a person is， he will always try to get home in time to gather together.

　　Several days before this new lunar year， my brother and I cleaned our rooms and decorated them. The old folk say that everything must be new and clean for the Spring Festival so that the new year will bring happiness and good luck.

　　On the 30th of the December of the lunar year， my father told me to write a new year couplets （对联）， my mother was busy with cooking for lunch [new year couplets. My mother was busy cooking for lunch] （1）。 On the table were all kinds of dishes at noon. What an enormous and delicious dinner！ I have never tasted it. [I had never tasted such a nice dinner.] （2） Because of happiness， I drank with Father at dinner.

　　That is the first time I drank. [That was the first time I had ever drunk，] （3） you know. I was flashed [My face turned red] （4） after only one cup of wine. Then my father said， “We are living a happy life because of the wise policy of our Party.”

　　That night we watched the special Spring Festival programmes on TV to see the new year in. The programmes were so wonderful that we burst into laughter now and then. When the clock struck midnight， the noise of the firecrackers outside became deafing [deafening] （5）。 Father opened the door and said， “Let's welcome in big fortune！”

　　I was very excited the next morning and woke up earlier than ever. Mother and Father were making jiaozi. So I helped them with that. When several bowls of jiaozi were ready and put on the table， my father lit the incense （香） on the table. Then my brother tied some firecrackers to a pole and went outside. I picked up a stick which was still burning in the stove to light them. With loud bangs the firecrackers went off. With loud bangs we greeted the first day of the new lunar year.

　　What a happy Spring Festival I had！

　　We hoped that the loud bangs would drive away everything unpleasant in the past and bring us greater happiness and luck in the new year.

　　常州 李秀玉

　　评语

　　春节是我国各族人民最重要的节日。本文描述了亿万家庭中普通一家的过节情景，“我第一次喝酒”、“看春节电视节目”、“父亲开门迎财神”、“点香后吃饺子”、“与兄弟一起放鞭炮” 等细节选择得很典型，使文章充满了节庆的气氛，特别是最后一句表达了“辞旧迎新”的主题。文章中某些语言上的不足之处点评修改如下：

　　（1）couplets是复数，前面不定冠词a应去掉。另外，mymother…应该另起一句。be busy with后接名词，而“be busy +动名词”时，动名词前不用介词with.

　　（2）原句时态用错了。

　　（3）在“主+ be + the +形容词级或序数词+名词+定语从句”的句型中，定语从句一般用完成时态。前面be用is，则定语从句用现在完成时；be用过去式，则定语从句用过去完成时。另外，定语从句中，常根据习惯，加上副词ever，表示强调，如：

　　It is the most beautiful flower I have ever seen.

　　That was the second time I had ever heard this song.

　　（4）原句flash含义不清，故根据上下文改之。

　　（5）原文误将deaf用作动词，构成现在分词，应改为动词deafen的现在分词deafening（震耳欲聋）。