Carnival: One Day in Rio

Last year I went to the Rio de Janeiro Carnival, and I was excited. However,     1     I arrived, I was quite anxious because the streets were overcrowded. Six million people     2     this incredible carnival. Luckily, I had a local guide, Ronnie. He said he would     3     and show me all the highlights. Then, we     4     to the samba parade.

Well, the carnival is most definitely all about the samba which is featured by exciting rhythms and harmonic vocals. It’s the kind of music that you can’t help dancing to.     5    , I was learning that as I followed Ronnie through the crowd, my hips and shoulders were swinging almost involuntarily.

Thanks to this lively atmosphere, my anxiety completely     6    . Ronnie had got us tickets for the samba parade inside the Sambadrome (森巴大道) where twelve main teams competed for the championship. But we still had a long way to     7     the street.     8     the main samba parade, many small parties were held in the street to celebrate the festival. You must be wondering how the main parade was. Well, I’m afraid I can’t tell you. Ronnie and I never made into the Sambadrome. Fascinated by     9     snacks and drinks, we spent the day moving from one street party to another. Do I regret missing the main parade? Not at all. I experienced the carnival like the locals, and I did     10     it.

Telling the bees

“London Bridge is down” is how Sir Edward Young, Queen’s private secretary, conveyed the official news about the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. As the news spread through the world, a headline     1     many on social media: “royal beekeeper has informed the Queen’s bees that the Queen has died.”

Did bees need to be told about human affairs? Would they have any sort of opinion on the matter?

But some beekeepers,     2     by historians, say “telling the bees” is a standard practice that goes back centuries, with potentially serious consequences if not followed.

“It’s a very old and     3     tradition, but not something that’s very well-known,” said Mark Norman, a folklorist and the author of Telling the Bees and Other     4    : The Folklore of Rural Crafts.

The tradition holds that bees, as members of the family, should be informed of     5     life events in the family, especially births and deaths. Beekeepers would knock on each hive, deliver the news and possibly     6     the hive with a black cloth during a mourning period. The practice is more     7     known in Britain but is also found in the United States and other parts of Europe, Mr. Norman said.

In the 18^th and 19^th centuries, it was believed that neglecting to tell the bees could lead to various     8    , including their death or departure, or a failure to make honey. Nowadays, beekeepers may be less likely to believe they risk bad luck, but they may continue to follow the tradition as “a     9     of respect,” Mr. Norman said.

Stephen Fleming, a beekeeper for 25 years and the co-editor of BeeCraft, a magazine for British beekeepers, said he once     10     the tradition after a friend died. He went to the friend’s bees, gently knocked on the hives and told them the news, he said.

“It was just something I thought my friend would have enjoyed,” he added.

Mr. Fleming said most beekeepers would most likely be aware of the tradition, but not as many would practice it.

“It’s generally thought to be a good and nice thing to do,” he said.

The Origin of Trick-or-treat

On October 31, hordes of children armed with Jack-o’-lantern-shaped buckets and pillow cases will take to the streets in search of sugar. Trick-or-treating for candy is equivalent to Halloween, but the tradition had to go through a centuries-long     1     to arrive at the place it is today. So how did the holiday become an opportunity for kids to get free sweets? You can blame pagans (异教徒), Catholics, and candy companies.

Historians agree that a Celtic autumn festival called Samhain (萨温节) was the origin of modern Halloween. Samhain was a time to celebrate the last harvest of the year and the approach of the winter season. It was also a festival for     2     the dead. One way Celtics may have appeased the spirits they believed still walked the Earth was by leaving treats on their doorsteps. When Catholics invaded Ireland in the 1st century CE, they rebranded many pagan holidays to     3     their religion. November 1^st became the “feasts of All Saints and All Souls,” and the day before it was dubbed “All-Hallows’-Eve.” The new holidays looked a lot different from the original Celtic festival, but many traditions     4     around, including the practice of offering food to the dead. The food of choice for Christians became “soul cakes,” small pastries usually baked with expensive     5     and spices like currants and saffron.

Instead of leaving them outside for     6     ghosts, soul cakes were distributed to beggars who went door-to-door     7     to pray for souls of the deceased in exchange for something to eat. Sometimes they wore costumes to honour the saints—something pagans originally did to avoid being     8     by evil spirits. The ritual, known as “souling”, is believed to have planted the seeds for modern-day trick-or-treating.

It wasn’t until the 1950s that trick-or-treat gained popularity in the US. Following the Great Depression and World War II, the suburbs were booming, and people were looking for     9     to have fun and get to know their neighbours. The old     10     of souling made a comeback and gave kids a chance to dress up in costumes and roam their neighbourhoods. Common trick-or-treat offerings included nuts, coins, and homemade baked goods (“treats” that most kids would turn their noses up at today).

For more than three centuries, the American colonies and later, the United States have been a place for many "have-nots" to make the "American Dream" come true for themselves and to become "haves." And the optimism that people have, knowing that this    1    will always happen, has grown out of some key elements in the history of the nation, a nation that has differed profoundly from every other country in the world. The economic    2    of the nation will also be very much tied to these success stories. Three characteristics have contributed to such attainments.

First, the United States had natural resources undreamed of in other parts of the world. For farmers and ranchers there was land, often to be had cheaply or even for free. There were endless forests to supply lumber and rich    3    of coal, oil, silver, copper and gold. Besides, critical to the development of these resources was a population of both native-born Americans and immigrant who were connected by their common work ethic. This ethic held that industry and thrift should be

    4    with - as Benjamin Franklin says -- "a State of Affluence and some Degree of Reputation in the World," These Americans believed in self improvement as well as in the nobility of all kinds of work. They also, if somewhat    5    , often linked material success with spiritual movement. Next, by and large, America was characterized by a(n)     6    class structure. In contrast to England and other European countries with their history of aristocrats（贵族）, this country was filled by numerous communities in which family connections or    7    money counted for little.

However, the pursuit of American Dream sometimes also proved to be a source of tension and strain. At the beginning of the 20th century, writers like Jack London and F. Scott Fitzgerald depicted a lot of "have-not" characters whose fate is not a matter of free will. They are    8    by forces beyond their control. Often, in their works, children or young people are victimized by poverty that prevents them from    9    themselves. Convinced that a person's destiny is the result of his or her heredity interacting with the environment, they employ many    10     details to explore the oppressive world in which their characters are trapped. Analyzing characters' assumptions and values continued to illuminate the American experience.