在百万观众涌入纽约市时报广场观看新年水晶球从天而降的同时，其他美国人正以别的方式庆祝2011年的结束。

在百万观众涌入纽约市时报广场观看新年水晶球从天而降的同时，其他美国人正以别的方式庆祝2011年的结束。

在北卡罗莱纳州罗利市的城市广场中，人群规模虽远逊于纽约，气氛却是同样热烈，吊车把一颗563公斤重、3米高的青铜橡子从空中垂下。这颗橡子1992年由雕刻家戴维·本森（David Benson）制作，纪念罗利建市两百周年。罗利有“橡树之城”的昵称，故以橡子为纪念标志，它的茎是用州议会大厦圆顶的青铜制成。

除了纽约市的新年水晶球与罗利的橡子之外，美国人喜欢观看的其他坠落物体包括一条沙丁鱼（缅因州东港市）、一只鹈鹕（佛罗里达州彭萨科拉市）、一个橄榄（俄克拉荷马州巴特而斯维尔市）与一条裤子（宾西法尼亚州利斯本市）。

Many American towns and cities have their own ways of ringing in the New Year. You might be surprised to read what drops at midnight.

As 1 million people crowd into New York’s Times Square to watch the New Year’s Eve ball descend, millions of other Americans choose different ways to mark the end of 2011.

In Raleigh, North Carolina, a much smaller but no less enthusiastic group of revelers gathers to watch a 563-kilogram, 3-meter-tall bronze acorn (pictured above) descend by crane into Raleigh’s City Plaza. The acorn was created by sculptor David Benson for the city’s 1992 bicentennial and as a nod to Raleigh’s nickname, “The City of Oaks.” The stem is made of pieces of copper from the state Capitol dome.

Other objects Americans choose to watch drop instead of the Times Square ball include a sardine (Eastport, Maine), a pelican (Pensacola, Florida), an olive (Bartlesville, Oklahoma) and a pair of pants (Lisburn, Pennsylvania).