I was born on the last day of February. I’ve always
felt sorry for February, squeezed between the big months of January (named for
the Roman god Janus, keeper of gateways) and March (after Mars, the god of
war). The first Roman calendar, legend has it, had 10 months
and no February. Beginning at the vernal equinox (春分) with March, it ended with
December. In an agricultural society, winter was of little importance, and thus
went undivided. January and February were added about 700 B.C.
by the second king of Rome, Numa Pompilius. He made all the months 29 or 31
days, but shortened February, the last month of the year, by giving it only
28. By the time of Julius Caesar, the calendar was three months
out of sync with the solar year. This prompted Caesar to announce a new calendar
in 46 B.C. Although there is some dispute—some historians say Caesar gave
February 29 days--most believe his calendar preserved a 28-day February (with 29
days only in a leap year). Next, it was the church’s turn. In
1582 Pope Gregory Ⅻ decreed a new calendar in Europe. Many changes were made,
but the Pope passed up yet another chance to grant February equality with the
other months. It’s messy, even dangerous, changing how we
measure time, but Pope Gregory was hardly the last one to try. The League of
Nations received over 150 new calendar designs, and the United Nations has
considered more proposals since. Just to name a few, there’s the 30×11 Calendar
(which supersizes December to 35 or 36 days) and the Kluznickian Calendar (which
adds the month of Aten, after an Egyptian sun god). Each proposal involves
something that supposedly modernizes the calendar. But I have a
simpler proposal that won’t lead to chaos, and will correct the historical
injustices against February: move the last day of January and the last day of
March into February to make it a normal month with 30 days, and a respectable 31
on leap years. This would not add or subtract a single day from the calendar
year. As an added benefit, making the first three months of the
year each 30 days would bring them into closer alignment with the lunar cycle.
It’s a great idea. And unlike Julius and Augustus, I won’t even demand a month
named in my honor. The author’s purpose in writing the passage is to______.
A. emphasize that February should be extended
B. rewrite the history of February in the calendar
C. explain why February should be the shortest month
D. compare various proposals to make February longer