萨摩亚跳过12.30直接迎新年
文章来源:未知 文章作者:enread 发布时间:2012-01-08 05:34 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)

If you are reading this on Friday you cannot be in Samoa.

如果你是周五读到这篇文章,那么你一定不是在萨摩亚。

Friday, December 30, has been cut this year for the tiny South Pacific island nation as it ditched(丢弃) a time-zone alliance with the United States and moved its time zone 24 hours ahead to catch up with Asia, New Zealand and Australia.

On New Year's Eve, Samoa will have jumped to the west of the international dateline, which runs zig-zags through the Pacific Ocean and broadly follows the 180 degree line of longitude1, in a move Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi said would make it easier for Samoa to trade with key partners.

"No longer shall we have people ringing us up on Monday from New Zealand and Australia thinking it is Monday when we are closing our eyes and praying at churches. And vice2 versa on our Fridays when we ring up and already our contacts are holidaying on their Saturdays," he told Radio New Zealand on Friday.

"It will remove the enormous amount of confusion in our travel times for the Samoans and especially for the tourists who come to Samoa, who keep thinking of the New Zealand and Australian time zones."

Church bells will ring and carol services will herald3(通报) the changeover time.

To help win public support, the government declared employers must still pay workers for the missing Friday, although banks will not be allowed to charge interest for the lost day.

Countries are free to choose whether the dateline passes to the east or west, and Samoa's decision will mean all new maps will need to change.

The vast nation of China uses one national time zone while Australia is a mesh4, particularly with summer daylight savings5 time that sees southern Adelaide city move from half an hour behind the eastern states to an hour in front of far northeastern Queensland.

But some tourism operators are worried Samoa will lose business by losing its position as the last place on earth to see the sunset each day, although it will now be one of the first places to see in each new day.

Samoa, a country of about 180,000 people, used to be same time zone as New Zealand Australia but went back a day in 1892, celebrating July 4 twice and aligning6 itself with the United States.

The date change is not the first major change in Samoa in recent years. In 2009, the country switched to driving on the left hand side of the road from the right hand side, in line with New Zealand and Australia.



点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 longitude o0ZxR     
n.经线,经度
参考例句:
  • The city is at longitude 21°east.这个城市位于东经21度。
  • He noted the latitude and longitude,then made a mark on the admiralty chart.他记下纬度和经度,然后在航海图上做了个标记。
2 vice NU0zQ     
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的
参考例句:
  • He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
  • They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。
3 herald qdCzd     
vt.预示...的来临,预告,宣布,欢迎
参考例句:
  • In England, the cuckoo is the herald of spring.在英国杜鹃鸟是报春的使者。
  • Dawn is the herald of day.曙光是白昼的先驱。
4 mesh cC1xJ     
n.网孔,网丝,陷阱;vt.以网捕捉,啮合,匹配;vi.适合; [计算机]网络
参考例句:
  • Their characters just don't mesh.他们的性格就是合不来。
  • This is the net having half inch mesh.这是有半英寸网眼的网。
5 savings ZjbzGu     
n.存款,储蓄
参考例句:
  • I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假,那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
  • By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时,他的存款已全部用完。
6 aligning f24e40acf49c4786ebeaa4768c1e490c     
n. (直线)对准 动词align的现在分词形式
参考例句:
  • There are signs that the prime minister is aligning himself with the liberals. 有迹象表明首相正在与自由党人结盟。
  • ToolTips provide textual hints that assist in drawing lines and aligning objects. 工具提示提供了协助画线和对象对齐的文本提示。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
TAG标签: time year Samoa
发表评论
请自觉遵守互联网相关的政策法规,严禁发布色情、暴力、反动的言论。
评价:
表情:
验证码:点击我更换图片