紐約民衆粉碎煩惱 告別
Want to forget 2009? Shred it.
Scores of New Yorkers and tourists seeking a fresh start in 2010 came to Times Square on Monday to put their bad memories through the shredder at the third annual Good Riddance Day.
Ben Winnick of Simsbury, Conn., shredded a newspaper story about the New York Giants' 41-9 loss Sunday to the Carolina Panthers, which ended the Giants' playoff hopes.
"Hopefully, next season will be better," he said.
Roxanne Rodriguez of Manhattan shredded a piece of paper with "Writer's block" written on it. She intends to buckle down and write a musical.
"This is going to be the year I'm going to be dedicated and focused, and I will get something down on the page every day," she promised.
The winner of a $250 prize for most creative item shredded was 12-year-old Alissa Yankelevits of Los Angeles, who is visiting her grandparents in New York. She shredded the memory of a counselor on a school trip who was later featured on the TV show "America's Most Wanted."
"I just spent a week with him," Alissa said. "It was really terrifying because I just found that out."
Good Riddance Day was organized by the Times Square Alliance as part of the buildup to Thursday's ball-drop celebration.
Participants lined up near the booth where discount theater tickets are sold and pitched their bad memories into an industrial-sized shredder. A Dumpster and a sledgehammer were available for items that couldn't be shredded, which included an old computer and a tin of fattening office snacks.
Some shredded reams of bills and correspondence while others sought to banish the memory of former boyfriends and girlfriends.
Gillian Lyons broke up with a man she calls "the Beastmaster" and said she's been waiting for him to return her possessions for two years. "He won't give me back the TV I paid for," she complained.
想忘記2009年（的煩惱）？把它粉碎了吧！
第三屆一年一度的“大解脫日”活動於本週一在紐約時代廣場舉行，很多紐約民衆和外地遊客把過去一年中不開心的記憶放進一個粉碎機裏，迎接嶄新的2010年。
來自康涅狄格州森姆斯柏瑞的本•溫尼克把上週日紐約巨人（橄欖球）隊以41比9大比分輸給卡羅琳娜美洲豹隊的一則新聞報道放進了粉碎機，這場比賽使紐約巨人隊晉級決賽的希望化爲泡影。
他說：“希望下個賽季能好些。”
來自曼哈頓的洛葛仙妮•羅德里格斯粉碎了一張寫有“文思枯竭”字樣的紙張。她打算沉下心來寫一部音樂劇。
她表示：“明年我將全身心地投入到創作中去，每天都要寫點東西。”
“最富創意粉碎獎”由從洛杉磯來紐約探望祖父母的12歲女孩艾麗薩•揚科利維茲獲得，她將獲得250美元的獎金。她粉碎的是有關在一次學校旅行中認識的一位顧問的記憶，此人後來上了“全美通緝令”。
艾麗薩說：“我就和他呆了一週。太嚇人了，我才知道他是什麼人。”
“大解脫日”活動由時代廣場聯盟組織，爲本週四的水晶球降落儀式暖場造勢。
參加粉碎記憶的民衆在出售折扣電影票的售票亭附近排隊，把象徵糟糕記憶的物品扔進一個巨大的粉碎機內。此外，活動組織方還準備了一個大型垃圾箱和一把長柄錘，用來對付那些不能粉碎的物品，例如舊電腦和讓人發胖的辦公室盒裝零食等。
有些人粉碎了大摞的賬單和信件，另外一些人則試圖忘記前任男友或女友。
吉莉安•里昂與一個被她稱爲“魔頭”的男人分道揚鑣，她說她等他歸還自己的財物已經等了兩年。她抱怨道：“他是不會把我買的電視機還給我了。”
Vocabulary:
a fresh start：新的起點，新的開始
shredder：a machine for destroying secret or private documents by shredding them（粉碎機）
playoff：a series of games or matches, as between the leading teams of two leagues, in order to decide a championship（最後決賽階段）
writer's block：a usually temporary condition in which a writer finds it impossible to proceed with the writing of a novel, play, or other work（創作瓶頸，文思枯竭）
buckle down：to set to work with vigor; concentrate on one's work（傾全力，開始認真從事）
sledgehammer：a large heavy hammer wielded with both hands（大錘，長柄錘）
