VOA慢速英语2021--尼日利亚的狗狂欢节今年主题“回到学校”

Dogs Go Back to School at Nigeria’s Dog Carnival¹

Hundreds of dogs recently gathered in Nigeria's business capital of Lagos. They wore things meant for humans: colorful school clothes, sunglasses and even book bags.

The dogs were taking part in the third-ever Lagos Dog Carnival. Organizers of the event called it bigger and better than ever. This year, the carnival's theme was "back to school."

Jackie Idimogu is the organizer of the event. She said the purpose is to bring together dog owners to celebrate their dogs and learn from each other how to take better care of them.

"This edition is bigger and better than the previous editions and interestingly, the number of dogs that we have this year is over 250, which is double what we recorded last year," Idimogu told Reuters.

At the event, the awards on offer included "head boy" for cleanest school uniform, "punctuality prefect" and "most noisemaker." Being punctual means arriving on time.

Canada, a white-haired golden retriever, was named head boy. He wore a bright green uniform with stripes² and a school bag. Ivory³, a bulldog, walked away with the punctuality award for arriving first at the carnival. For barking throughout the event, a golden retriever named Oscar took the noisemaker award.

There was even a special appearance by a cat. The animal received an attendance⁴ award.

Idimogu said the event has "helped raise awareness⁵ on keeping dogs as pets. She said there are plans to take the event to other cities across Nigeria in the future.

Words in This Story

bag - n. a container made of thin material (such as paper, plastic, or cloth) that opens at the top and is used for holding or carrying things

theme - n. the particular subject or idea on which the style of something (such as a party or room) is based

edition - n. a particular version⁶ of a product

prefect - n. an older student who is given the job of helping⁷ to watch and control younger students in a school

bark - v. (of a dog) to make a short loud sound

awareness - n. the idea of knowing that something (such as a situation, condition or problem) exists.

1 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。

2 stripes   

n.（与底色不同的）条纹( stripe的名词复数 )；（军装或警服上表示等级的）臂章；纹理

参考例句：

• The plant's stem is marked with thin green longitudinal stripes. 这种植物的茎上长有绿色细长条纹。
• a zebra's black and white stripes 斑马的黑白条纹

3 ivory   

n.象牙，乳白色；adj.象牙制的，乳白色的

参考例句：

• My grandmother has some jewelry made of ivory.我祖母有一些象牙首饰。
• It is carved from ivory.它是用象牙雕成的。

4 attendance   

n.出席，出席人数，护理，照料

参考例句：

• The attendance of this class never dropped off.这个班的出席人数从未下降。
• The young man danced attendance on his rich aunt.这个年轻人小心侍候他有钱的姑妈。

5 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

6 version   

n.版本；型号；叙述，说法

参考例句：

• His version of the events is pure supposition.他对这件事的说法纯属猜测。
• What is your version of this matter?你对这件事情的看法 怎么样？

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。