As Venice prepares to host its famous carnival next month, the lagoon city's inhabitants have more than masked balls and black-tie parties on their minds.

虽然下月威尼斯将迎来其著名的狂欢季节，但对这座水中之城的居民们来说，目前当务之急绝非假面舞会或盛装晚宴。

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Revellers flock to Rio de Janeiro for the world's most famous carnival. Other carnivals, from Venice to New Orleans, compete for the title.

狂欢者为世上最著名的巴西狂欢节蜂拥里约热内卢。而从威尼斯到新奥尔良的其他狂欢节，也来夺人眼球、争艳媲美。

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A couple wearing masks walks in Saint Mark's square, posing for tourists during the carnival in Venice February 13, 2007.

狂欢节上，一对戴着面具的情侣走在威尼斯圣马可广场。

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With the world-famous Carnival of Venice in full swing on the eastern side of northern Italy, the capital of the north-west sent off the Games with its own decadent party featuring acrobats, clowns -- and a touch of burlesque.

CNN: 'Magnificent' Games sent off in style

In the first section, history paintings documenting the familiar events of 18th-century Venice, such as masked carnival-goers at the Ridotto, the state-run gambling house, are executed in precise detail, according to the canons of the neoclassical current of the day, with none of the fanciful splashes of color in the artist's later work.

WSJ: Appreciating Francesco Guardi's Changing Genres/ A Guardi Retropsective at Museo Correr in Venice

The second will focus on the diversity of the national, and in particular the Venetian, intangible cultural heritage (such as traditional boats, Venice Carnival, Murano glass- making and Burano lace to the legacy of fine Venetian fabrics and textiles).

UNESCO: Intangible Cultural Heritage, A Living Legacy To Safeguard | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization