Unit 8 Para-Life Rescue!

1. Unit 8 Para-Life Rescue! 2014/10/20

2. Rio de Janeiro —— the Marvelous City • One of the most multicultural and spectacular cities in the world. • Known as Rio • The city is officially mentioned for the first time when, in January 1502, the second Portuguese exploratory expedition, commanded by Gaspar Lemos, arrived at the bay, which the navigator assumed to be the mouth of a river, therefore calling the region Rio de Janeiro (River of January). • In 1530, the Portuguese court sent an expedition to colonize the area, rather than continuing to use it only as a stop-over on their maritime adventures. The French, however, had had a presence in Rio de Janeiro and its surroundings since the beginning of the century and were willing to fight for control of the region. In 1560, after a series of unsuccessful attempts, the Portuguese expelled the French. • Used to be the capital of Brazil for almost two centuries, until April 21, 1960 when Brasilia became the capital. • It is now the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro • The 2nd largest city of Brazil • The 3rd largest metropolitan area in South America

3. Amazing attractions • natural settings • vibrant carnivals • the largest popular party on the planet. The Sambódromo, home to the famous samba school parades, is the core of the event. • samba • Bossa Nova (巴萨诺瓦, namely Newstyle in Portuguese) • wide beaches • Copacabana • the focus of New Year’s celebrations. Around two million people gather on the sands to watch the traditional firework display and shows given by stars of MPB (Música Popular Brasileira, or Popular Brazilian Music). • Ipanema • Landmarks • Sugar Loaf Mountain • The statue of Christ the Redeemer on the Corcovado Mountain

4. Events • World cup • The 2014 FIFA World Cup will be the 20th FIFA World Cup, an international football tournament that is scheduled to take place in June and July 2014 in Brazil. • This will be the 2nd time the country has hosted the competition, the first being the 1950 FIFA World Cup. Brazil will become the 5th country to have hosted the FIFA World Cup twice, after Mexico, Italy, France and Germany. • Seventeen cities showed interest in being chosen as World Cup host cities, including São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, and Salvador. Even before the host cities were selected, there were few doubts that the chosen venue for the final match will be the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, which also hosted the decisive match of the 1950 FIFA World Cup. • Olympic games • Rio de Janeiro will host the 2016 Olympics after winning a landslide victory over Madrid in the final round of voting by International Olympic Committee members on Friday. The achievement means Rio will be the first South American country to host the Games. • Despite natural beauties and fun-loving people, the nation also has to deal with poverty, violence and other problems inherent to a developing country. Among the problems that will have to be addressed ahead of 2016 are security and transportation. • http://www.rio2016.org.br/en/

5. Culture salon • paragliding [‘pærə,glaɪdɪŋ]高崖跳伞运动, 空中滑翔跳伞 • Powered paragliding, or paramotoring, is a method of ultralight aviation. This activity combines a paraglider wing and a backpack mounted motor and propeller. The motor provides the thrust to take off and determines whether the pilot climbs, descends, or maintains altitude. The paraglider wing provides the lift and ability to maneuver. The pilot can launch the powered paragliding in still air, and on level ground, with no assistance. • Rip current 离岸激流 • As waves travel from deep to shallow water, they will break near the shoreline. The rip currents are narrow, fast-moving belts of water traveling offshore. Rip currents are major hazard for all beachgoers. They can be extremely dangerous, dragging swimmers away from the beach. • Drowning chain • The drowning chain provides a series of events that on their own, or together can result in drowning.