VOA标准英语2010年-Cultures Welcome The New Year in Uniqu

An Andean priest in Lima, Peru

The media often portray¹ fireworks as how much of the world marks the start of a new year but many cultures also turn to their religious and cultural roots.

Shinto shrines² in Japan become the center of a ritual to leave the bad behind and start the New Year purified.

"I heard the brushing-off ritual gets rid of all the harmful energy from my body," says Japanese skateboard designer Yasuhito Ono.

Evil is banished³ through music and dancing on the streets of this central Romanian town. This is a part of an old tradition where dancers wearing costumes or animal furs dance from house to house to bring good luck.

In Brazil, many people flock to Copacabana beach to ask the Afro-Brazilian goddess of the sea, Iemanja, a wish in exchange for a gift.

Those who want a glimpse of 2010 can have their fortunes read by an Andean priest in Lima, Peru. Indigenous⁴ Peruvians brought their New Year rituals to the nation's capital, in the Fair of the Wishes.  Fair-goers can take part in ritual cleanings and make a wish for the New Year.

"The fair of the wishes is a festival of faith and hope.  All of us have a goal for next year - to have a house, a car, finish a job, get into university, open a business, have a company, we always have a goal, and in this fair of the wishes, they can get a little piece of that dream," Shaman Lidia Cortez explains.

Through rituals, and prayers, almost everyone dreams of a better New Year, as people around the world say goodbye to 2009.

1 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

2 shrines   

圣地，圣坛，神圣场所( shrine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All three structures dated to the third century and were tentatively identified as shrines. 这3座建筑都建于3 世纪，并且初步鉴定为神庙。
• Their palaces and their shrines are tombs. 它们的宫殿和神殿成了墓穴。

3 banished   

v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was banished to Australia, where he died five years later. 他被流放到澳大利亚，五年后在那里去世。
• He was banished to an uninhabited island for a year. 他被放逐到一个无人居住的荒岛一年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。