Carnival:One day in Rio

2023-06-02江丽

疯狂英语·新悦读 2023年5期

主题语境：节日与庆祝篇幅：363词建议用时：7分钟

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(无意地).

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.