Use of English PRO

The annual Brazilian Carnival (0) IS traditionally a religious festival that takes place at the beginning of Lent, the 40-day period before Easter. The word 'carnival', comes (1) ............ the Latin carnevelare, and literally means 'to remove meat', which is what many Roman Catholics do to their diet (2) ............ Lent. In Rio de Janeiro, and elsewhere across the country, you can be a spectator to a large parade of people dressed (3) ............ colourful costume and dancing through the streets to samba music. It is the world's biggest carnival, (4) ............ attendances of more (5) ............ two million people each day. It comprises individual processions by numerous samba schools, which are collaborations of neighbours who wish to take part. The most famous dance is called 'carnival samba', (6) ............ is a Brazilian dance of African origin. The batacuda-style music is percussion-based and provides the rhythm to which the dancers and spectators move. More than 300 musical groups, or bandas, take (7) ............ in each parade, making this the most popular street party (8) ............ the world.