[ti:Calendars] [ar:Faith Lapidus] [al:Special Program] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]Now, a special English Program for the New Years. [00:04.78]I'm Faith Lapidus. [00:06.88]The New Year is the time for new beginnings. [00:12.71]It is also the time to buy a new calendar. [00:17.71]Yet it can take a lot of time just to choose the right one. [00:23.77]There are lots and lots of choices. [00:27.48]There are small ones. Big ones. [00:32.19]Calendars that sit on a desk. [00:35.30]Calendars that hang on the wall. [00:38.07]Calendars to carry around. [00:40.64]Calendars that show a whole month or one day at a time. [00:46.41]Of course, in one way all calendars are the same. [00:52.12]They all list the same days of the year in exactly the same order. [00:58.78]But people do not buy calendars just to know what day it is. [01:05.24]Calendars have become popular gifts [01:08.64]because many are filled with beautiful pictures. [01:12.75]Some have pictures of famous art works. [01:17.02]It is like hanging a different painting on your wall each month. [01:22.54]You can even learn from calendars. [01:25.29]They often give information about their subject [01:29.34]-- such as famous writers or American Indians or flower gardens. [01:36.21]There are calendars about food and about beautiful places in the world. [01:42.22]Calendars about sports and about movies. [01:46.18]Funny calendars with popular cartoon characters. [01:49.95]Calendars of famous people, like Elvis Presley or Marilyn Monroe. [01:56.51]For pet lovers, there are calendars [01:59.72]with pictures of cats doing unusual things. [02:04.34]Three hundred sixty-five of them [02:06.69]¨C one for each day of the year. [02:09.92]Calendars of dogs wearing clothes. [02:12.77]And calendars of beautiful women in swimming suits, [02:17.05]not wearing much at all. [02:19.42]Would you rather look at pictures of cars? [02:22.92]There are calendars with those, too. [02:26.04]There are even calendars for children [02:29.35]who can draw the pictures themselves. [02:32.22]Some people do not just look at their calendars. [02:37.88]They use them to write down important things they must remember, [02:43.49]like meetings or doctor's appointments. [02:47.41]Busy people can buy small calendars to carry around [02:52.71]to help them organize and plan their life. [02:56.16]But what if they forget to look at their calendar? [03:01.78]Do not worry, there are electronic organizers [03:06.19]that make sounds to remind people of things they must do. [03:11.35]These days, if you forget something, [03:15.30]it is getting harder and harder to find a good excuse. [03:20.42]Some people do not like little calendars, or big ones, [03:28.18]or noisy electronic ones. [03:31.39]They are happy just to write down notes [03:34.74]to themselves on small pieces of paper [03:38.45]-- the smaller the better, usually. [03:41.45]These people never worry about all the time it takes them [03:46.76]to find their small pieces of paper when they need them. [03:50.82]I'm Faith Lapidus wishing all our listeners a Happy New Year.