纽约民众粉碎烦恼 告别2009

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.

想忘记2009年（的烦恼）？把它粉碎了吧！

第三届一年一度的“大解脱日”活动于本周一在纽约时代广场举行，很多纽约民众和外地游客把过去一年中不开心的记忆放进一个粉碎机里，迎接崭新的2010年。

来自康涅狄格州森姆斯柏瑞的本．温尼克把上周日纽约巨人（橄榄球）队以41比9大比分输给卡罗琳娜美洲豹队的一则新闻报道放进了粉碎机，这场比赛使纽约巨人队晋级决赛的希望化为泡影。

他说：“希望下个赛季能好些。”

来自曼哈顿的洛葛仙妮．罗德里格斯粉碎了一张写有“文思枯竭”字样的纸张。她打算沉下心来写一部音乐剧。

她表示：“明年我将全身心地投入到创作中去，每天都要写点东西。”

“最富创意粉碎奖”由从洛杉矶来纽约探望祖父母的12岁女孩艾丽萨．扬科利维兹获得，她将获得250美元的奖金。她粉碎的是有关在一次学校旅行中认识的一位顾问的记忆，此人后来上了“全美通缉令”。

艾丽萨说：“我就和他呆了一周。太吓人了，我才知道他是什么人。”

“大解脱日”活动由时代广场联盟组织，为本周四的水晶球降落仪式暖场造势。

参加粉碎记忆的民众在出售折扣电影票的售票亭附近排队，把象征糟糕记忆的物品扔进一个巨大的粉碎机内。此外，活动组织方还准备了一个大型垃圾箱和一把长柄锤，用来对付那些不能粉碎的物品，例如旧电脑和让人发胖的办公室盒装零食等。

有些人粉碎了大摞的账单和信件，另外一些人则试图忘记前任男友或女友。

吉莉安．里昂与一个被她称为“魔头”的男人分道扬镳，她说她等他归还自己的财物已经等了两年。她抱怨道：“他是不会把我买的电视机还给我了。”

Vocabulary:

a fresh start：新的起点，新的开始

shredder：a machine for destroying secret or private documents by shredding them（粉碎机）

playoff：a series of games or matches, as between the leading teams of two leagues, in order to decide a championship（最后决赛阶段）

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（创作瓶颈，文思枯竭）

buckle down：to set to work with vigor; concentrate on one's work（倾全力，开始认真从事）

sledgehammer：a large heavy hammer wielded with both hands（大锤，长柄锤）