Edinburgh??s summer spectacle爱丁堡的夏日盛事

江丽

每年八月，爱丁堡艺术节在爱丁堡举办。

主题语境：艺术节 篇幅：280词 建议用时：5分钟

1 In 1947， a group of famous people from the art world decided to hold an internationalfestival of music， dance and theatre in Edinburgh. The idea was to seek a stage for artists.

2 It quickly attracted famous names such as Alec Guinness， Richard Burton， DameMargot Fonteyn and Marlene Dietrich as well as the big symphony orchestras （交响乐团）.It became a fixed event every August and now attracts about 400，000 people yearly.

3 At the same time， the EdinburghFestival Fringe （the Fringe） appeared as achallenge to the official festival. Eight the?atre groups turned up uninvited in 1947，believing that everyone should have theright to perform， and they did so in a pub?lic house that had been disused for years.

4 Soon， groups of students firstly fromthe University of Edinburgh， and later from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge，Durham and Birmingham were making the journey to the Scottish capital each summer toperform plays by little?known writers in small halls.

5 Today the Fringe， once less embraced， has far outgrown the festival with around1500 performances of music， dance and theatre on every one of the 21 days it lasts. Andyet as early as 1959， with only 19 theatre groups performing， some said it was getting too big.

6 A paid administrator was first employed only in 1971， and today there are 8 adminis?trators working all year round and the number rises to 150 during August itself. In 2004，there were 200 places housing 1695 shows by over 600 different groups from 50 differentcountries. More than 1.25 million tickets were sold.

Reading Check

1. What was the original idea behind the Edinburgh Art Festival？

A. To have a yearly gathering of famous artists.

B. To challenge the established festivals.

C. To provide a platform for artists to perform.

D. To exclusively feature big symphony orchestras.

2. How did the Edinburgh Festival Fringe start？

A. With 8 theatre groups performing uninvited.

B. With permission from the official festival.

C. As an invitation?only event.

D. As a government initiative.

3. What does the underlined word“embraced”mean in paragraph 5？

A. Investigated. B. Accepted.

C. Allowed. D. Controlled.

4. Why are the numbers mentioned in paragraph 6？

A. To prove different groups have come to the festival.

B. To show administrators are busy in August.

C. To prove the tickets for the festival sell well.

D. To show the festival has grown rapidly.

Language Study

Ⅰ. 日积月累

international adj. 国际的

artist n. 艺术家

challenge n. 挑战

uninvited adj. 未获邀请的

perform v. 表演

disused adj. 废弃的

performance n. 表演

administrator n. 管理員

employ v. 雇佣

house v. 容纳

public house （=pub） 酒吧

Ⅱ. 语法填空

In 1947， Edinburgh 1. ________ （hold） an international art festival for music， danceand theatre， drawing big names like Alec Guinness 2. ________ Richard Burton， amongothers. The event， which is held each August， soon became a staple， welcoming around400，000 visitors 3. ________ （annual）. Meanwhile， the Edinburgh Festival Fringe began asa（n） 4. ________ （invite）， open?access counterpoint to the main festival. It started with 8theatre groups 5. ________ （perform） in a disused pub and quickly evolved， with studentgroups from various 6. ________ （university） presenting lesser?known works.

Today， the Edinburgh Festival Fringe， features 7. ________ （approximate） 1500 showsover 21 days. However， there were only 19 groups present 8. ________ 1959， when somealready felt the event was getting too large. The administration of the festival grew9. ________ a single paid role in 1971 to a team of 8 full?time staff， increasing to 150during August. By 2004， the Fringe offered 1695 shows from over 600 groups across 50nations， selling more 10. ________ 1.25 million tickets.