新西兰英语 399 No holiday for Waitangi Day

　　Workers did not have a holiday for Waitangi Day this year because February 6th was a Sunday. However, some foreign embassies¹ in Wellington – the Australian, British and Canadian embassies – were closed on Monday. In some countries, if a public holiday is on a weekend, Monday is a holiday instead. In New Zealand, we do this with Christmas and New Year’s Day. If Christmas and Boxing Day fall on a weekend, the next two days are holidays. The same happens at New Year.
This year, ANZAC Day falls on Easter Monday which is a holiday, so instead of two days holiday, workers have only one day: April 25th. We usually have 11 days public holidays a year but this year we will have only nine.
John Key said he will listen to arguments about making Monday a holiday when Waitangi Day falls on a weekend. However, he said there are problems. If the Treaty² of Waitangi was signed in 1840 on February 6th, how can you celebrate it on the 7th? ANZAC Day is a day to remember the soldiers who were killed on April 25th in the First World War. How can we change the day to April 26th?
Questions
1. If Waitangi Day was called New Zealand National Day, could we celebrate it on 7th February?
2. February 6th is not the best time for a public holiday. Schools have just started. Auckland³, Wellington and Nelson have their Anniversary⁴ holiday in late January. There are no public holidays in March, May, July, August or September. If we had a New Zealand national day, when is the best time?
3. How many public holidays does your country have? Do we have too many in New Zealand?

1 embassies   

n.大使馆( embassy的名词复数 )；大使馆全体成员

参考例句：

• The representatives of other countries have their embassies there. 许多国家都在此设有大使馆。 来自英语晨读30分（高二）
• Demonstrators protested outside the country's embassies all over Europe. 该国驻欧洲各国的大使馆外都有群众进行示威抗议。 来自辞典例句

2 treaty   

n.条约；协议，协定

参考例句：

• Hungary has indicated its readiness to sign the treaty.匈牙利已表示愿意签订该条约。
• I believe this treaty will pave the way to peace in Europe. 我相信这个条约将为欧洲的和平铺平道路。

3 Auckland   

n.奥克兰(新西兰港市)

参考例句：

• Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand.奥克兰是新西兰最大的城市。
• Return to auckland by bus in afternoon.下午乘车返回奥克兰。

4 anniversary   

n.周年(纪念日)

参考例句：

• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。
• Today is my parents'30th wedding anniversary.今天是我父母结婚30周年纪念日。