新西兰英语 652 The Big Sing

 　　For the next three evenings, Wellington will host the finals of The Big Sing in the Town Hall.

　　The Big Sing is a choir¹ competition for secondary schools. Schools can enter a male, female or mixed choir, or all three if they want to. Each choir performs for 10 minutes and sings three songs, one from each category. These are the three categories: New Zealand music, European music, other music such as folk or popular music.

　　Local competitions began at the end of May with the East Coast region held in Hastings and the Canterbury region held in Christchurch. Most other regional competitions were held mid² June. 230 choirs³ from 150 schools entered the competition this year. Eighteen choirs are in the finals as well as four guest choirs.

　　Many of these performances are on YouTube. You can find links on The Big Sing website.

　　Grammar

　　Note the use of the timeless present simple tense: each choir performs … sings.

1 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

2 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

3 choirs   

n.教堂的唱诗班( choir的名词复数 )；唱诗队；公开表演的合唱团；（教堂）唱经楼

参考例句：

• They ran the three churches to which they belonged, the clergy, the choirs and the parishioners. 她们管理着自己所属的那三家教堂、牧师、唱诗班和教区居民。 来自飘（部分）
• Since 1935, several village choirs skilled in this music have been created. 1935以来，数支熟练掌握这种音乐的乡村唱诗班相继建立起来。 来自互联网