| 1. Under which calendar is New Year's Day | | | | A. Wine and grapes |
| Jan. 1? | | | | |
| | | | B. Babies and childbirth |
| A. Julian Calendar | | | | |
| | | | C. Clocks and calendars |
| B. Gregorian Calendar | | | | |
| | | | D. Gates and doors |
| C. Jewish Calendar | | | | |
| | | | D. Gates and doors |
| D. Chinese Calendar | | | | |
| | | | QQ: The name of the month is derived from |
| E. All of the above | | | | Janus, the Roman god of gates and doors, and |
| | | | hence of openings and beginnings. January was |
| B. Gregorian Calendar | | | | the 11th month of the year in the ancient |
| | | | Roman calendar; in the 2nd century BC, |
| QQ: New Year's Day is the first day of the | | | | however, it came to be regarded as the first |
| year, Jan. 1, in the Gregorian calendar. | | | | month. On January 1 the Romans offered |
| Traditionally the day has been observed as a | | | | sacrifices to Janus so that he would bless |
| religious feast, but in modern times the | | | | the new year. |
| arrival of the New Year has also become an | | | | |
| occasion for spirited celebration and the | | | | 7. When to the practioners of Tibetan |
| making of personal resolutions. | | | | Buddhism celebrate New Year's? |
| | | | |
| 2. What calendar determines the date of the | | | | A. Never |
| Chinese New Year? | | | | |
| | | | B. January |
| A. Lunar | | | | |
| | | | C. February |
| B. Solar | | | | |
| | | | D. March |
| C. Chinese | | | | |
| | | | C. February |
| D. Zen | | | | |
| | | | QQ: Much of the ritual of Tibetan Buddhism is |
| A. Lunar | | | | based on the esoteric mysticism of Tantra, |
| | | | devotions that involve both yoga and mantra, |
| QQ: The Chinese New Year, traditionally based | | | | or a mystical formula, and ancient |
| on the lunar calendar, is celebrated in many | | | | shamanistic practices. On special holidays |
| American cities with the roar of blazing | | | | the temples, shrines, and altars of the lamas |
| firecrackers, dancing dragons made from | | | | are decorated with symbolic figures; milk, |
| papier mâché and cloth, and traditional | | | | butter, tea, flour, and similar offerings are |
| music. | | | | brought by the worshipers, animal sacrifices |
| | | | being strictly forbidden. Tibetan Buddhist |
| 3. Rosh Hashanah is the beginning of the new | | | | religious festivals are numerous. The most |
| year for what religion? | | | | notable are New Year's, celebrated in |
| | | | February and marking the commencement of |
| A. Muslim | | | | spring |
| | | | |
| B. Christian | | | | 8. The Roman New Year festival was called the |
| | | | Calends, and people decorated their homes and |
| C. Buddhist | | | | gave each other gifts. In early times, the |
| | | | ancient Romans gave each other New Year's |
| D. Jewish | | | | gifts of branches from sacred trees. Later |
| | | | they gave small items, such as nuts or coins, |
| D. Jewish | | | | imprinted with pictures of what God? |
| | | | |
| QQ: Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew, "beginning of the | | | | A. Julius Caesar |
| year"), Jewish New Year, celebrated on the | | | | |
| first and second days of the Jewish month of | | | | B. Jesus Christ |
| Tishri (falling in September or October) by | | | | |
| Orthodox and Conservative Jews and on the | | | | C. Janus |
| first day alone by Reform Jews. It begins the | | | | |
| observance of the Ten Penitential Days, a | | | | D. Zeus |
| period ending with Yom Kippur that is the | | | | |
| most solemn of the Jewish calendar. Rosh | | | | C. Janus |
| Hashanah and Yom Kippur are known as the High | | | | |
| Holy Days. | | | | QQ: In later years, they gave gold-covered |
| | | | nuts or coins imprinted with pictures of |
| 4. Kwanzaa is a seven-day holiday that begins | | | | Janus, the god of gates, doors, and |
| Dec. 26 and extends through Jan. 1. What does | | | | beginnings. January was named after Janus, |
| the word mean in Swahili? | | | | who had two faces--one looking forward and |
| | | | the other looking backward. The Romans also |
| A. First fruits | | | | brought gifts to the emperor. The emperors |
| | | | eventually began to demand such gifts. |
| B. First people | | | | |
| | | | 9. What New Year's gift did ancient Persians |
| C. First days | | | | give? |
| | | | |
| D. First dance | | | | A. Money |
| | | | |
| A. First fruits | | | | B. Eggs |
| | | | |
| QQ: Kwanzaa, or matunda ya kwanza, is Swahili | | | | C. Cakes |
| for "first fruits". This is an African | | | | |
| American holiday observed by African | | | | D. Rugs |
| communities throughout the world that | | | | |
| celebrates family, community, and culture. | | | | B. Eggs |
| Kwanzaa has its roots in the ancient African | | | | |
| first-fruit harvest celebrations from which | | | | QQ: The ancient Persians gave New Year's |
| it takes its name. However, its modern | | | | gifts of eggs, which symbolized |
| history begins in 1966 when it was developed | | | | productiveness. |
| by African American scholar and activist | | | | |
| Maulana Karenga. | | | | 10. In ancient Egypt what event dictated the |
| | | | timing of New Year's celebrations? |
| 5. In the Middle Ages most European countries | | | | |
| used the Julian calendar, so they observed | | | | A. Pharaoh's birthday |
| New Year's Day when? | | | | |
| | | | B. Flooding of Nile |
| A. Feb. 14th | | | | |
| | | | C. Solar eclipse |
| B. March 25th | | | | |
| | | | D. Exact alignment of stars with Great |
| C. April 1st | | | | Pyramid |
| | | | |
| D. May 21st | | | | B. Flooding of Nile |
| | | | |
| B. March 25th | | | | QQ: In ancient Egypt, New Year was celebrated |
| | | | at the time the River Nile flooded, which was |
| QQ: In the Middle Ages most European | | | | near the end of September. The flooding of |
| countries used the Julian calendar and | | | | the Nile was very important because without |
| observed New Year's Day on March 25, called | | | | it, the people would not have been able to |
| Annunciation Day and celebrated as the | | | | grow crops in the dry desert. At New Year, |
| occasion on which it was revealed to Mary | | | | statues of the god, Amon and his wife and son |
| that she would give birth to the Son of God. | | | | were taken up the Nile by boat. Singing, |
| | | | dancing, and feasting was done for a month, |
| 6. The name January is derived from the Roman | | | | and then the statues were taken back to the |
| god Janus. What is he the god of? | | | | temple. |
| | | | |