春晚是什么？
What is the Spring Festival Gala (春晚)?
Name: ________________ Date: ________
除夕晚上，我们一家人吃完饭，到了八点，电视就开了。奶奶坐在中间，说：“春晚开始了！”
“春晚”就是“春节联欢晚会”。这是CCTV的一个电视节目，从1983年开始，每年过年的那天晚上都有。它从八点开始，一直到半夜十二点多，差不多四个半小时。
节目很多：有人唱歌，有人跳舞，还有小品和相声。小品是很短的小故事，相声是两个人说笑话。快到十二点的时候，大家一起说“五、四、三、二、一”，新年就到了。最后一首歌常常是《难忘今宵》。
看的人有多少？很多人说，它是世界上看的人最多的电视节目。
现在，很多人一边看电视，一边看手机。2015年，大家一边看春晚，一边用微信拿红包：只要拿起手机摇一摇，就可能拿到钱。那天晚上，大家一共摇了一百一十亿次。
每年春晚的第二天，大家都会说：“今年的春晚没意思，没有以前的有意思。”
可是到了明年过年那天，晚上八点，电视又开了。
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 奶奶 | nǎinai | grandmother (father's mother); grandma |
| 开始 | kāishǐ | to begin; to start; beginning |
| 过年 | guònián | to celebrate the New Year (especially Spring Festival) |
| 跳舞 | tiàowǔ | to dance |
| 一起 | yìqǐ | together |
| 拿 | ná | to take; to hold; to carry |
| 次 | cì | next; second (as in 次日) |
| 中间 | zhōngjiān | middle; center |
| 一直 | yìzhí | always; all along; continuously |
| 节目 | jiémù | program; show (on TV, radio, stage) |
| 短 | duǎn | short; brief |
| 故事 | gùshi | story; tale |
English (for the teacher)
On New Year's Eve, when our family has finished dinner and it gets to eight o'clock, the TV goes on. Grandma sits in the middle and says, “The Gala's starting!”
春晚 is short for 春节联欢晚会, the Spring Festival Gala. It's a TV show on CCTV, and it has been on every New Year's Eve since 1983. It starts at eight and goes on until past midnight, about four and a half hours.
There are lots of acts: people sing, people dance, and there are sketches and crosstalk. A sketch is a very short little story, and crosstalk is two people telling jokes. Just before midnight everyone counts down together, “five, four, three, two, one”, and the new year arrives. The last song is usually 难忘今宵, “Can't Forget Tonight”.
How many people watch it? Many people say it is the most watched TV show in the world.
These days, lots of people watch TV and their phones at the same time. In 2015, people watched the Gala and collected red envelopes on WeChat at the same time: just pick up your phone and shake it, and you might get money. That night, people shook their phones eleven billion times in all.
And every year, the day after the Gala, everyone says, “This year's Gala was boring, not as fun as it used to be.”
But next New Year's Eve, at eight in the evening, the TV goes on again.