杨宇宸

　　

　　幾乎全世界的人都有庆祝青少年成年之日的习俗。在美国，人们把在孩子们十六岁生日时举办的盛大庆典，叫作“花季十六岁”。

　　如果你对这些成年礼一无所知，不要沮丧——我也是因为最近收到了一位高二朋友的“花季十六岁”派对邀请函，才研究起来的。

　　我知道这个庆典很正式，因为邀请函在庆典两个月前就寄给我了。我买了一个可爱的狮子毛绒玩具，外加一套香水作为礼物。尽管如此，那天我在进入庆典前还是感到紧张。我又检查了一下自己的着装。我穿着一条优雅的、深蓝色的裙子，搭配淡妆和首饰——派对的服装要求是“时尚休闲”。终于，我深吸一口气，走进了大门。

　　进门的那一秒，我的紧张便烟消云散。我首先注意到了我的朋友们，她们正在大厅里聊天。我观察她们的着装，然后对比自己的——我的着装是合适的。

　　看着就无比美味的各种食物被摆放得整齐而优雅。旁边还有一个小酒吧台，有各种饮品。舞厅与食物区的服务员都穿着西装，应该是他们的制服。总而言之，这里的一切看起来都非常专业，说明了庆典的隆重与正式。所有这一切都是为了庆祝女孩的十六岁生日——你可以理解他们有多重视这个传统习俗。

【英文版】

　　All around the world， people celebrate teenagerscoming of age in different ways. In the United States， many celebrate their sixteenth birthdays with grand parties， known as the“Sweet Sixteen”.

　　If you have no idea about these coming of age celebrations around the world， dont feel bad-I only learned them because I recently received an invitation from one of my sophomore friends for her Sweet Sixteen party.

　　I figured this party is a formal one， since the invitation was sent to me two months before the party. I bought a cute lion plush toy， and a set of perfumes as presents. Still， I was quite nervous on that day， before I walked into the party. I double-checked myself before walking in. I was wearing an elegant， dark blue dress， accompanied by light makeup and some jewelries-the dress code was smart casual. Finally， I took a deep breath， and walked through the entrance.

　　The second I walked in， my nervousness was resolved. I saw my friends first， who were chatting with one another in the hall. I observed their dresses， and checked mine-I was dressed appropriately.

　　Various types of delicious-looking food were organized in an elegant manner. There was also a mini bar for drinks. The waiter in the ballroom and in the food area were all wearing suits， which must be their uniform. Overall， everything was professional-looking， indicating the party was grand and formal. All of this was for celebrating the girls sixteenth birthday-you can tell how much they value this tradition.