Every time a new year rolls around， people set out to better themselves. They promise they will lose weight， find a new job， or maybe even take that vacation theyve always talked about. But why do we make these promises to ourselves， and where did this tradition come from？ And why does this tradition live on when so many people fail to keep the resolutions they make？ Well， we can start by talking about the ancient Babylonians.

每當(dāng)新的一年來臨之際，人們都會(huì)計(jì)劃改變自己。他們會(huì)決心減肥，找到一份新工作，或者甚至可能會(huì)過一個(gè)討論已久的假期。但我們?yōu)槭裁匆獙?duì)自己定下這些目標(biāo)呢？這個(gè)傳統(tǒng)又從何而來呢？為什么很多人在最終沒能實(shí)現(xiàn)新年計(jì)劃，但這個(gè)傳統(tǒng)依舊在延續(xù)呢？我們可以從古巴比倫人開始談起。

Around 4，000 years ago in Babylon， the earliest recorded celebration honoring the coming of a new year was held. Calendars werent as they are today， so the Babylonians kicked things off in late March during the first new moon after the Spring Equinox. The collective ceremonial events were known as the Akitu festival， which lasted 11 days. The festivities were dedicated to the rebirth of the sun god Marduk， but the Babylonians made promises in order to get on the right side of all of their gods. They felt this would help them start the new year off on the right foot.

現(xiàn)存最早有記載的新年慶祝活動(dòng)是在約4 000年前的古巴比倫進(jìn)行的。因?yàn)楫?dāng)時(shí)的歷法和如今不同，所以古巴比倫人在3月下旬春分后的第一個(gè)新月期間迎來新的一年。集體慶祝儀式被稱為阿基圖節(jié)，這一節(jié)日會(huì)持續(xù)11天。雖然這一慶祝活動(dòng)是為了紀(jì)念太陽神馬杜克的重生，但古巴比倫人為了被眾神庇護(hù)，會(huì)做出承諾，他們覺得這將幫助他們開啟新年的開門紅。

Resolutions continued on with the Romans. When the early Roman calendar no longer synced up with the sun， Julius Caesar decided to make a change. He consulted with the best astronomers and mathematicians of the time and introduced the Julian calendar， which more closely represents the modern calendar we use today. Caesar declared January 1 the first day of the year to honor the god of new beginnings， Janus. The Romans celebrated the New Year by offering sacrifices to Janus.

羅馬人延續(xù)了這種做出承諾的做法。當(dāng)早期的羅馬日歷不再與太陽同步時(shí)，凱撒大帝決定做出改變。他請(qǐng)教了當(dāng)時(shí)最好的天文學(xué)家和數(shù)學(xué)家，并引入了儒略歷，它更接近于我們今天使用的現(xiàn)代歷法。凱撒大帝宣布1月1日為新年的第一天，以紀(jì)念善始善終之神雅努斯。羅馬人通過向雅努斯獻(xiàn)祭來慶祝新年。

To this day， the traditions of the ancient Babylonians and Romans continue on around the world. So much so that a Resolution Map，? where people could add resolutions and see others adding theirs in real time， was launched on the Internet in 2012. However， no matter how many people participated in this project， the numbers are bleak when it comes to the amount of people who maintain their resolutions; only 9.2 percent of people are successful in sticking them out.

直到今天，古巴比倫人和羅馬人的傳統(tǒng)仍在世界各地延續(xù)。以至網(wǎng)上在2012年推出了一個(gè)“決心地圖”，人們可以添加自己的計(jì)劃，并看到其他人實(shí)時(shí)添加的計(jì)劃。然而，無論有多少人參加了這個(gè)項(xiàng)目，當(dāng)涉及堅(jiān)持實(shí)現(xiàn)計(jì)劃的人數(shù)時(shí)，數(shù)字很慘淡：只有9.2%的人能堅(jiān)持到底。

Word Bank

festivity /fe'st?v?ti/ n. 慶祝活動(dòng)

dedicated /'ded?ke?t?d/ adj. 獻(xiàn)身的；專心致志的；一心一意的

sync /s??k/ v. 使同步（synchronize的縮略詞）

bleak /bli?k/ adj. 不樂觀的；無望的；暗淡的