Carnival:One day in Rio

主題語境：節日與慶祝 篇幅：363詞 建議用時：7分鐘

1Last year I went to the Rio de Janeiro Carnival,and it blew my mind.It had been my dream to attend the famous carnival for many years, so I was excited. However, the moment I arrived, I was a little bit nervous because there were so many people in the streets. Local people said that five or six million people come to Rio during carnival time and about two million of them are in the streets on any given day.Luckily,I had a local guide,my sister's friend Ronnie.He said he would take care of me and show me all the highlights.He did not let me down.

2Well, the carnival is most definitely all about the samba. It's a style of music and dance which has its roots in Africa. Lots of Africans were used as slave labor by the Portuguese when Brazil was being colonized, so this mixed culture of African, Latin and European styles is really strong here. Samba music is usually fast and exciting with a lot of drums and harmonic vocals. It's the kind of music that you can't help dancing to, and I learnt that as I followed Ronnie through the crowd, my hips and shoulders were swinging almost involuntarily(無意地).

3Ronnie had got us tickets for the samba parade, the icon of Brazilian culture, inside the Sambadrome where the top samba schools compete for the championship title, but we still had a long way to go through the street parties.He said most people enjoy the carnival by throwing their own parties in the street.About the samba parade,twelve main teams compete for the championship, and if they win, their performance will be talked about for years to come.So,you must be wondering how it was.Well,I'm afraid I can't tell you because Ronnie and I never made into the Sambadrome.We spent the day moving from one street party to another. There were many snacks, drinks and lots of dancing. Do I regret missing the main parade?Not at all.I experienced the carnival like the locals,and it was truly amazing.

Reading Check

1.What caused the author's nervousness according to paragraph 1?

A.The doubts about the visit.

B.The crowd in the streets.

C.The inability to find a local guide.

D.The anxiety about visiting a new country.

2.What can we learn about samba from the text?

A.It has its roots in America.

B.It is not the taste of the author.

C.It has a long and mixed culture.

D.Its music is usually slow and soft.

3.Why did the author have no regrets about missing the parade?

A.She met some amazing local people.

B.She didn't have the tickets for the parade.

C.She celebrated the carnival in a local way.

D.She enjoyed the carnival by throwing her own parties.

4.Which of the following words can best describe Ronnie?

A.Diligent and determined.

B.Humorous and generous.

C.Creative and demanding.

D.Reliable and considerate.

Language Study

Ⅰ.Useful expressions

blow one's mind 使某人興奮（或吃驚）

let sb down 使某人失望

can't help doing 忍不住做……

dance to 跟著……跳舞

compete for 為……展開爭奪

regret doing 后悔做過……

Ⅱ.V?ing形式作表語

1.V?ing形式作表語用來說明主語的具體內容。在這種情況下，主語和表語通常是對等關系，可互換位置。

Our greatest happiness is serving the people. =Serving the people is our greatest happiness.我們最大的幸福是為人民服務。

2.用來表示主語所具有的特征，有些詞已變成了形容詞。

The news is really disappointing.這個消息的確令人失望。

3.常用來作表語的V?ing形式詞匯有：

interesting 令人感興趣的

exciting 令人激動的

delighting 令人高興的

disappointing 令人失望的

encouraging 令人鼓舞的

pleasing 令人愉快的

puzzling 令人費解的

satisfying 令人滿意的

surprising 令人驚異的

worrying 令人擔心的