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Warm Up

Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. breathe life into (something)
    • ex. Plants breathe life into the old living room.
  2. secondary
    • ex. She enjoys painting, but it’s only a secondary hobby after playing the piano.
  3. miss out on (something)
    • ex. Jane was sad to miss out on the party because she had to study for her exam.
  4. sponsorship
    • ex. The local soccer team received sponsorship from a big company. The team used the money to buy new uniforms and equipment.
  5. unemployed
    • ex. Mark has been unemployed for six months and is looking for a new job.

Article

Read the article below and answer your tutor's questions.

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Brazil’s Carnival is an annual festival that includes different categories of samba competitions for several dance groups and schools. This year, Carnival breathed life into the economy of a community called Vila Vintem in Rio de Janeiro. How? The samba school called Unidos de Padre Miguel from this community joined the top league for the first time in almost 60 years.

Until last year, the samba school only joined a secondary dance league. The school won about 900,000 reais (about ¥22 million) from that league. But it missed out on sponsorships. However, their victory in last year’s Carnival allowed them to join the top league this year. School chairman Dr. Willie Baracho said the school’s budget this year grew more than ten times, reaching about 11 million reais (about ¥276 million).

The school used the budget to help the community by giving jobs to local dressmakers and construction workers for the parade preparations. And this improved the lives of Vila Vintem residents. For example, many residents who were unemployed before were able to buy smartphones and household items. Luana Borges, a costume designer said, “When Carnival comes, it offers opportunities to people like me.”

This material was based on an article by The Associated Press.
Photo Credits: The Associated Press

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

Brazil’s Carnival

  • Brazil’s Carnival is an annual festival that shows different dance performances. Would you want to visit Brazil during Carnival? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • The samba school Unidos de Padre Miguel used its budget to give jobs to dressmakers and construction workers. Do you think this is a good idea? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • In your country, what festival is similar to Brazil’s Carnival? Discuss.

Being Employed and Unemployed

  • In your opinion, is it easy or hard to find a job these days? Why? Discuss.
  • In your country, what jobs are created because of festivals and other annual events (ex. costume-making, jobs in sales)? Discuss.
  • In a lot of countries, unemployment or being unemployed is a huge problem. Why do you think this is so (ex. there aren’t enough jobs, some people do not have the skills for some specific jobs)? Discuss.