节目资讯
刊物:旅游精选
日期:2010-05-22
难易度:High
关键字:carnival, not be somebody’s cup of tea, opt, culmi
(Music).
Welcome to Studio Classroom, everyone. My name is Steve.
Thanks for joining us.
In this second day of Fun Under The Midnight Sun, we’re going back to St.
Petersburg, Russia, which is home to the annual international festival called
White Nights.
This article could almost be a travel feature as it highlights the best this
Russian city has to offer.
But seeing as it’s really about an event, a three-month-long event, we decided
to list it as a festival.
Now, during this huge summer festival, there are other smaller events taking
place called carnivals.
Let’s open our magazines to page 43 and learn about those right now.
Fun Under The Midnight Sun.
Carnivals of the White Nights.
If ballet and opera aren’t your cup of tea, perhaps carnivals are.
Throughout the festival celebration, a series of entertaining carnivals takes
place.
The largest and most well-known is found in the Peterhof suburb of St.
Petersburg.
Here, actors and actresses in period costumes give performances recreating
historical Russian events.
People attending can even opt to take a carriage ride around the beautiful
Peterhof Park.
Scarlet Sails celebration.
The culminating event of the White Nights Festival is the Scarlet Sails
celebration, the largest public event anywhere in Russia.
Hi, friends and welcome. I’m Chelsea.
And I’m Chip.
And thanks for joining us for our second day in our FESTIVALS article this
month.
We’ve been talking about having fun in the midnight sun.
And if you were with us yesterday, you know that we’re talking about the White
Nights Festival, which takes place in St. Petersburg, Russia.
And it happens in the late hours of the day, and the very early mornings...
er... very early hours of the morning,
which, usually... uh... that means it’s a dark time of the day.
But if you’re that far north in Russia, then it’s light outside. The sun is
shining at midnight.
Yes. And that means that the sun shines on the White Nights Festival.
Now, yesterday we learned about the Stars of the White Nights.
And that includes ballet and opera and symphonies that people can go to and
enjoy throughout the three-month period that the White Nights Festival takes
place.
But today we’re going to be talking about carnivals of the White Nights.
And I personally love carnivals.
A carnival is a place of public enjoyment and entertainment,
or people often wear costumes and, uh, get dressed up and eat lots of good food
and... and good drinks.
And it often takes place on a public road, so the people of the city can all
come out and enjoy it.
So it sounds like carnivals are a big part of the White Nights Festival.
Right. And whenever I go to a carnival, I love to eat the carnival food, uh, but
I also like to play carnival games.
I think carnival games are pretty fun.
So, anyway, what we’re talking about is if ballet and opera aren’t your cup of
tea, then perhaps carnivals are.
So maybe you’re not the kind of person who likes ballet and opera, but, maybe
you do like carnivals.
Right, because if something isn’t your cup of tea, that means you’re not so
interested in that.
If sports aren’t your cup of tea, that means that you don’t enjoy playing
sports.
So if ballet and opera are not your cup of tea, if you’re not interested in
those things, maybe you are interested in something like carnivals.
Now, we saw yesterday that this whole White Nights Festival lasts three months.
So our artical says that throughout the festival celebration, a series of
entertaining carnivals takes place.
So, it sounds like these carnivals are happening throughout this three-month....
month festival.
Right. And the largest and most well-known is found in the Peterhof suburb of
St. Petersburg.
And the suburb would be an area outside of a very large city or town where many
people live.
And they work in the city and so they drive back and forth between the city and
the suburb.
So Peterhof would be just outside of St. Petersburg. And the most well-known
carnival takes place there.
Right. And our article says that here, actors and actresses in period costumes
give performances.
Now, if they’re wearing period costumes, that means that they are wearing attire
or wearing dress; wearing clothing that is from a certain period of history, a
certain period of time.
Maybe, uh, clothing from, uh, a hundred years ago or more.
And, of course, they would be wearing costumes that represent history in Russia.
So it’d be very interesting to go and see what some of these costumes look like.
And these costumes, of course, recreate historical Russian events.
Now, people attending can even opt to take a carriage ride around the beautiful
Peterhof Park.
This also sounds like something that I would really enjoy doing.
Taking a carriage ride, Chip, I think I would opt to do this.
Right. If you opt to do that, then that means that you would choose to do that.
Um, you can opt to do something or you can also opt for something, which would
mean that you choose whatever that something is.
And I think I, uh, I love horses and I love a nice relaxing ride down the
street, maybe being pulled by a horse.
So maybe I, too, would opt for a cariage ride.
That sounds like so much fun to me.
And remember, it’s late at night but the sun is still shining, so it really
would be a beautiful carriage ride through Peterhof Park.
Now we’ve taught you about the Stars of the White Nights, festival celebration
and the carnivals of the White Nights.
And we have some more information for you right now. But when we come back,
we’re going to share about a Scarlet Sails celebration.
Pop Music at the Palace Square.
Each summer during the White Nights Festival,
pop music artists from around the world perform at the Palace Square.
Although this base is most often used for military parades,
large demonstrations and political events,
during the festival the square transforms into a platform for screaming and
adoring fans.
Recent performers include Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones.
OK. Very interesting.
So this Scarlet Sails celebration is called the culminating event of the White
Nights Festival.
Now, if this is the culminating event, then that probably means that it happens
at the end of the festival.
And it happens at the end after the festival has increased in intensity; after
it is increased in excitement.
So that’s kind of the idea that this festival has built and built and built, up
to the point of the culminating event - the Scarlet Sails celebration.
So, if you ever happen to be able to visit St. Petersburg,
this is definitely one of the events you would want to attend if you were there
during the White Nights Festival,
because as we continue on, we see that it is the largest public event anywhere
in Russia all year long.
So, so many people go out see this event.
And we have plenty more to tell you about it.
But first we’re going to take a break and visit the Chat Room.
Hi, Ken.
Hi, Ashley.
What are you reading about today?
I’m still reading about the White Nights Festival. But there’s this one word I
came across that’s confusing me.
Can I help?
Sure. The word is suburb, S-U-B-U-R-B. Is this B supposed to be a P? It should
be superb instead of suburb, right?
No, Ken.
Actually, that word is pronounced ”suburb”.
The stress is on the beginning of the word.
Suburb.
Suburb.
Mmhm. That’s right.
A suburb in an area just outside of a large city.
I’ve heard of suburban areas. Are they the same thing?
Yes. But suburban is an adjective. Suburban areas, the suburbs and suburbia all
refer to these communities.
Usually, people who live in the suburbs are middle class.
They are a group of people who are neither very rich nor poor, but fall
somewhere in the middle.
OK.
And if you live in a suburb, how far do you live from the city?
It depends on the suburb.
Most of the time people in the suburbs work in the city and have to commute from
home to work.
Why would someone want to live in a suburb?
Suburbs are known for their quiet neighborhoods and for being family friendly.
So many families choose to raise their children in suburban areas.
I can understand that. I just want to get out of the city sometimes and have a
nice quiet place for my son to run around in.
Suburb. City. I guess there are ups and downs to both.
But I prefer the city. It’s much more convenient.
And even though it’s busy, the city has this nice library where you can always
come to for some peace and quiet.
That’s right. And you can bring your kids here.
Hmm...I like that.
(Chinese).