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 back from the break, everyone.
In St. Petersburg, winters are really, really long and cold.
Yes.
The average winter temperature is about -4 degrees.
No wonder the White Night season is so popular.
It’s an invitation to get outside, enjoy the warm temperatures, and the sunlit
night sky.
For thousands and thousands of students, both Russian and international, the
White Nights Scarlet Sails celebration is the event that marks the beginning of
summer vacation.
Let’s learn more about this special celebration on page 44 and line 3.
Fun Under The Midnight Sun.
Nearly 1 million people attend each year in anticipation of spectacular
fireworks,
rowing and motorboat races, and staged pirate battles on the Neva River.
To top it all off, a large ship sporting massive scarlet sails makes its way
down the river as onlookers watch it awe.
Inspired by the book Scarlet Sails by Alexander Grin,
this tradition began after World War II as a celebration of the end of the
school year.
Heading home in the early hours of the morning, everyone agrees that
participating in White Nights was worth losing a little sleep over.
Welcome back.
We are here talking about the culminating event of the White Nights Festival.
And that, of course, is the Scarlet Sails celebration, the largest celebration
anywhere in Russia all year long.
Not just in St. Petersburg, but in the whole country of Russia.
And if you know anything about Russia, you know that it is a very, very large
country.
So this would be a very interesting event to attend. Nearly 1 million people
attend each year in anticipation of spectacular fireworks.
I like fireworks, Chip. And I know you do, too.
I do. I love fireworks.
And I love, especially, big fireworks shows. They’re full of excitement and
energy and noise. I like the loud noises that fireworks make.
Here our article talks about these being spectacular, which means they are
excellent and wonderful to watch.
They are, um, very fantastic to see; they are a spectacle. And it’s something
that you might wait in the anticipation for.
Right. And if you wait in anticipation for something, it... it creates a fun,
good feeling within you.
A feeling of excitement about something that will be happening in the near
future.
So if this is the biggest event in Russia all year long and so many people come
out for it,
I can just imagine the excitement and the anticipation of coming out to watch
these spectacular fireworks.
But Chip, not only are there spectacular fireworks at this Scar... Scarlet Sails
celebration, there are also rowing and motorboat races.
All right. Now, motorboat races would be, uh, races between boats that are
powered by motors, of course.
But a rowing race, or a... uh, a race where people are rowing boats, uh, that
would require a lot of physical strength and a lot of physical energy.
To row a boat is to use long paddles called ”oars.” And usually you use two when
you row a boat.
And you use, really, your whole body. You’re using your legs and your arms. Uh,
it would take a lot of energy to win a row boat race.
And, you know, whenever I see rowing races, I’m always so amazed how fast they
actually go.
It seems as though they have a motor in the boat even though they are just using
physical strength.
So we have spectacular fireworks; we have rowing and motorboat races as part of
the Scarlet Sails celebration.
And we even have staged pirate battles on the Neva River.
Now, this is really interesting to me, Chip. Pirate battles.
Right.
Now, pirates are people, throughout history, who have stolen goods from other
boats.
So, actually, these are usually thought to be thieves or robbers that work on
the ocean and on the sea.
Now, these are staged pirate battles.
So if they’re staged, then that means they are acted out.
Uh, we don’t have real pirates doing... doing battles with each other.
Uh, but... these are staged.
That sounds so fun to see.
To top it all off, a large ship sporting massive scarlet sails makes its way
down the river as onlookers watch in awe.
Now, remember, this portion of the White Nights Festival is called the Scarlet
Sails celebration.
And here we learned why. We learned that a very large ship sporting scarlet
sails comes down the river as people are watching.
And if it’s sporting something, that means that it is wearing or it is decorated
with something.
And in this case, we’re talking about a ship that is decorated with scarlet
sails.
And scarlet is a color. It’s a very, very bright, bright red.
And as you know, most boats or most ships have white sails, but here would look
different because they are beautiful, bright red.
OK.
And as this large ship is moving down the river, our article says that it’s
making its way down the river, which means that it’s slowly moving or it’s
eventually going to reach the end of its journey.
So it’s slowly making its way down the river as people watch in awe.
And we call these people ”onlookers” because they are looking and they are
watching this ship move down the river.
And I can just imagine one million people watching this beautiful ship, with
fireworks in the background, go down the river.
It really would be the culminating event of this White Nights Festival.
And this part of the festival is inspired by the book Scarlet Sails, by a man
named Alexander Grin.
And this tradition has been around for a while. It began after World War II as a
celebration of the end of the school year.
So they’ve been doing this for many, many years, celebrating, using scarlet
sails coming down the river to celebrate the end of the school year.
Right. It sounds like this festival, this whole festival, and this Scarlet Sails
celebration especially, has a long history.
Yes. And it’s grown over the years and it’s become an international art
celebration like no other.
Well, heading home in the early hours of the morning, everyone agrees that
participating in the White Nights was worth losing a little sleep over.
That means that it was well worth it to stay out late. The sun was out; there
are plenty of events to attend. It is a great celebration.
And if you ever have a chance to visit St. Petersburg in the summer, well, do
your best to attend the White Nights Festival.
That’s all we have for today. Let’s watch a skit before we go.
How did you like the ballet and opera? Wasn’t it wonderful last night?
I was sleeping.
(Background Noise).
Oh.
So maybe that was not your cup of tea.
Hmm. Maybe we should go to the carnival.
Carnival?
Did you say carnival? I love carnivals.
Then let’s go to the suburbs.
We can go to an entertaining carnival there.
What makes it entertaining?
Actors and actresses dress up. They recreate historical events.
Well, that sounds like fun.
And we can opt to take a carriage ride.
Yes. I want to do that.
Oops. Too late.
We have to hurry down to the river so that we can see the Scarlet Sails event.
What’s so special about that?
Spectacular fireworks, motorboat races and pirate ships.
Pirate ships! Wow!
And to top it all off, a big ship with massive scarlet sails makes its way down
the river.
That’s what I call a big celebration.
That’s for sure. It’s the biggest event in Russia. One million onlookers will
watch in awe.
Wow. Now, that’s a lot of people. Hey, what happens after that?
Nothing.
The Scarlet Sails is the culminating event.
The final event?
That’s right.
Good. Then I can finally get some sleep.
Hi, everyone. I’m Michelle.
(Chinese).
And now it’s time for us to say goodbye. Take care and bye-bye.
Thanks again, Michelle. We appreciate those trips.
Now, Alexander Grin’s classic book Scarlett Sails was actually a children’s book
written back in 1922.
Later in 1961, it was turned into a movie, which made the book and the White
Nights Scarlet Sails celebration even more popular.
The Scarlet Sails story... Now there’s a tongue twister.
It’s a simple but powerful love story set in a land where anything is possible.
It might be hard to find, but if you ever do find it, be sure to read it. You’ll
be glad you did.
Well, it’s the weekend again.
So please take some time to rest your body and your brain, and then join us on
Monday for anotherlesson.