英语听力：自然百科 新奥尔良狂欢节

It’s a party that’s over 200 years old. On February 28th, feats¹ will fill the air, parades will fill the streets and the spirit of Mardi Gras once again transform New Orleans. With its first Mardi Gars since Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans is struggling to recapture its big easy spirit. Just six months ago, the hurricane flooded the city, and claimed the lives of over 1,300 people. But despite the tragedy, some residents vowed² the traditional Mardi Gras would go on.

The holiday was first brought to New Orleans by the city’s French Catholic settlers. In the Catholic Church, believers fast, pray and repent³ for 40 days, to ready their souls for Easter Sunday. This special season called Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. 

During Medieval Times, the day before that became known as Fat Tuesday, because cooks used up all the butter and fat in the kitchen before the deprivation⁴ of Lent began. And in French, Fat Tuesday translates as Mardi Gras.

Mardi Gras’s also the final day of the worldwide carnival⁵ season which kicks off around the globe as early as January 6th. Carnival circles the planet with a worldwide party, and the most famous carnival of all takes place in the streets of Rio de Janeiro. Set to the beat of Samba music, carnival means elaborate costumes, floats and dancing in the streets.

On American soil, New Orleans first celebrated⁶ Mardi Gras with elaborate balls. Then in 1857, the secret society of Comus staged the first parade with floats and the modern Mardi Gras was born. New Orleans is still rebounding⁷ from Katrina’s devastation⁸, but celebrating its most famous holiday maybe one step toward recovery.

 

1 feats   

功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He used to astound his friends with feats of physical endurance. 过去，他表现出来的惊人耐力常让朋友们大吃一惊。
• His heroic feats made him a legend in his own time. 他的英雄业绩使他成了他那个时代的传奇人物。

2 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

3 repent   

v.悔悟，悔改，忏悔，后悔

参考例句：

• He has nothing to repent of.他没有什么要懊悔的。
• Remission of sins is promised to those who repent.悔罪者可得到赦免。

4 deprivation   

n.匮乏；丧失；夺去，贫困

参考例句：

• Many studies make it clear that sleep deprivation is dangerous.多实验都证实了睡眠被剥夺是危险的。
• Missing the holiday was a great deprivation.错过假日是极大的损失。

5 carnival   

n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演

参考例句：

• I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
• Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。

6 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

7 rebounding   

蹦跳运动

参考例句：

• The strength of negative temperature concrete is tested with supersonic-rebounding method. 本文将超声回弹综合法用于负温混凝土强度检测。
• The fundamental of basketball includes shooting, passing and catching, rebounding, etc. 篮球运动中最基本的东西包括投篮，传接球，篮板球等。

8 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》