VOA标准英语2014--里约热内卢贫民窟酒店吸引爵士乐爱好者

 

Hotel in Rio Favela Attracts Jazz Enthusiasts 里约热内卢贫民窟酒店吸引爵士乐爱好者

RIO DE JANEIRO —

You might not expect to find a hotel in one of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas - the local name for the city's shantytowns.  The success story of “The Maze¹,” though located in one of the poorest parts of the city, it has been named one of the best places to hear live jazz music in the world.

Nearly everywhere you go in Rio de Janeiro, you’re always close to an informal settlement, or favela.

More than 11 million Brazilians live in these poor communities, famous for the colorful - but often dangerously constructed - buildings, dense² population, and in some cases, the drug trade and associated crime.

In hotels, brochures advertise favela tours, next to pamphlets for helicopter rides and boat excursions.

But one man has gone far beyond treating Rio’s favelas as just a tourist adventure: 35 years ago, Bob Nadkarni moved in.

Welcome to The Maze.

It started as a quiet art studio for the British expatriate.  Slowly, he expanded the space and ultimately opened his sprawling³ home, with one of the best views of Rio de Janeiro, to friends and family.

“It’s not just a house, it’s a work of art.  It’s a sculpture people live in and find their way through.  It’s called The Maze because it’s a place people come to lose themselves and find themselves,” he said.

Nadkarni was instrumental in helping⁴ clean up the Tavares Bastos favela, where The Maze is located.  For years, he said, it was run by gangs and drug lords.  He convinced the controversial favela pacification⁵ police to set up shop - permanently⁶.

In 2005, The Maze became a hotel.

“As my wife said, all my friends treat me as a hotel anyway, and I thought, ‘you know, I am a hotel!’ So I built a few more rooms and opened it up and got this going,” he explained.

In recent years, the guesthouse has developed a reputation as a world-renowned jazz club.  DownBeat Magazine, an influential⁷ music publication, lists it as one of the “best jazz venues” in the world.

Nadkarni said the now-famous “Jazz Night,” the first Friday of every month, started small.  “We had a party with a few friends of mine playing jazz, 12 people here, and they all liked it so much they suggested we do it again.  So they all brought three friends the next month, and then it was 40 people.  It became geometric, and now I don’t ever get less than 500 people at a jazz night,” he said.

The Maze has raised its prices, trying to keep the attendance manageable - but people still flock in.

For Nadkarni, that’s just what he wants. “I get a house full of all kinds of people. I get a lot of artists and poets and writers and filmmakers and musicians here," he explained. "It’s a place where people meet and exchange ideas and bounce off each other.”

The morning after Jazz Night, life at The Maze is quiet again.  The space is empty and the people are gone - but the gorgeous, panoramic⁸ views remain.

And Nadkarni’s wife helps their daughter with her homework - in the same spot that was packed with people and alive with music just hours before.

1 maze   

n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑

参考例句：

• He found his way through the complex maze of corridors.他穿过了迷宮一样的走廊。
• She was lost in the maze for several hours.一连几小时，她的头脑处于一片糊涂状态。

2 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

3 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

4 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。

5 pacification   

n. 讲和，绥靖，平定

参考例句：

• Real pacification is hard to get in the Vietnamese countryside. 在越南的乡下真正的安宁是很难实现的。
• Real pacification is hard to get in the Vietnamese countryside(McGeorge Bundy) 在越南的乡下真正的安宁是很难实现的（麦乔治·邦迪）

6 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

7 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

8 panoramic   

adj. 全景的

参考例句：

• Most rooms enjoy panoramic views of the sea. 大多数房间都能看到海的全景。
• In a panoramic survey of nature, speed is interesting because it has a ceiling. 概观自然全景，速率是有趣的，因为它有一个上限。