阅读理解
People’s tastes in recreation(消遣)differ widely.At a recent festival of pop music in the Isle of Weight, crowds of teenagers gathered to listen to their favorite singers and musicians.They went with single railway tickets and slept in the open, a very dangerous thing to do in the climate of Britain, even in August.They were packed together like sardines for four days.There were countless thieves, a group of trouble-makers tried several times to break things up, and the police were everywhere.At the end of the festival many young fans found themselves broke, and they had difficulty in getting back home.Most people would consider these conditions a bad dream of discomfort:the fans appeared to enjoy it all especially.
Even in the overcrowded United Kingdom there are large areas of open unspoiled country, where people with more traditional tastes can go for quiet, and for the sense of freedom they get from closeness to nature.In the national parks especially, modern development of housing and industry is strictly controlled.Visitors may walk for miles through landscape of the greatest beauty and wildness, and often of considerable historic or scientific interest.Along the coasts of some of the seaside countries, public pathways have been created; these paths stretch for many miles along cliffs that look out on the Atlantic or the English Channel.Another path, lying in-land, goes along the range(排)of mountains in the north of England.It is called the Pennine Way.Here, the long-distance walker and the nature-lover can find much to enjoy, without feeling breathless closed by large numbers of their fellows.
Yet few people make full use of the national parks set up for everyone’s benefit.The commonest thing nowadays is for family groups to motor out to a beautiful spot and park their cars in the lay-by(路边停车处).A picnic basket is produced, along with a folding table and chairs, a kettle and a movable stove.They then settle down to a picnic in the lay-by beside the car.Clearly their idea of enjoyment is to get into the fresh air and among the country sights and sounds without having to walk a yard.They seem almost to like to hear and to smell the traffic.
|