Take Away English-UK Music Festivals 英国音乐节

Fans go wild at the Reading Festival

Summer in the UK is traditionally¹ the time when people go on holiday. It is also the time for quiet picnics and spending lazy days doing nothing.

Alternatively, you could watch the Wimbledon Tennis Championship, or spend five days watching cricket², a sport nobody seems to understand.

Does this sound too dull? Well, it is also the time for outdoor music festivals. Let’s look at some of the most famous ones.

The Glastonbury Festival first started in 1970, and is often seen as the standard to judge other festivals by. It takes place on a farm in the south-west of England over 3 days, and visitors camp in the fields around the site.

Acts in 2005 included Coldplay, The White Stripes³ and Basement⁴ Jaxx, among others. The only problem with Glastonbury is the unpredictable weather. Heavy rain meant that last year many of the fields flooded, spoiling⁵ the fun for those whose tents were washed away.

While Glastonbury tries to keep an air of peace and love, the Reading Festival is a noisier, more aggressive⁶ weekend. It is much easier to attend as it is in the centre of the city of Reading, and although you can camp you can also go just for the day. Up to 55,000 people are expected to attend on the weekend of the August Bank Holiday, and top British acts such as Franz Ferdinand and The Kaiser Chiefs will entertain⁷ the crowds.

If you prefer house music to rock, then Creamfields is probably the place for you. Since 1998, this festival of dance music has taken place in Liverpool⁸, also on the final weekend of August, but only for one day, so there is no need to bring your tent. Instead, just enjoy a boogie to top DJs and live acts.

Finally, Knebworth - Knebworth is a huge manor⁹ house and the festival takes place in the gardens. It first took place in 1974, and since then acts such as The Rolling Stones, Queen, Elton John and Paul McCartney have all featured. More recently, Robbie Williams has sold out concerts to crowds of fans. In fact, his concert in 2003 was the largest ever in the UK with over 375,000 fans attending and more than 3.5 million watching live on TV.

So, whatever your tastes in music there is a festival taking place in England to suit you. Just don’t forget to pack your raincoat.

GLOSSARY 词汇表
picnics 野炊, 野餐 cricket 曲棍球 music festivals 音乐节 camp 露营地 flooded 洪水浸没的 tents 帐篷 aggressive 大张旗鼓 house music 大众化舞曲 (也称”浩室” 舞曲) boogie (随着摇摆舞音乐节奏)摆动身体 sold out 销售一空	lazy 懒惰的 dull 乏味的, 无趣的 takes place 举行 unpredictable weather 变幻无常的天气 spoiling 扫兴 washed away 被水冲走 August Bank Holiday 八月的公共假日 rock 摇滚 manor house 庄园主的住宅 tastes in music 对不同音乐种类的喜好

 

1 traditionally   

adv.传说地；传统地

参考例句：

• Traditionally,people clean the house before the Spring Festival.传统上，人们在春节前打扫房子。
• Medicine is traditionally the first of the Nobel prizes awarded each year.根据传统，医学奖是诺贝尔奖每年颁发的第一个奖项。

2 cricket   

n.蟋蟀，板球运动；adj.公平的

参考例句：

• The England cricket team scored quite a useful total.英格兰板球队得分总数令人满意。
• We could hear the shrill of the midsummer cricket.我们可以听到仲夏时节蟋蟀的尖叫声。
• Your behaviour isn't cricket.你的行为不光彩。

3 stripes   

n.（与底色不同的）条纹( stripe的名词复数 )；（军装或警服上表示等级的）臂章；纹理

参考例句：

• The plant's stem is marked with thin green longitudinal stripes. 这种植物的茎上长有绿色细长条纹。
• a zebra's black and white stripes 斑马的黑白条纹

4 basement   

n.地下室，地窖；建筑物的基部

参考例句：

• It is rather damp in the basement.地下室很潮湿。
• They live in a basement flat in North London.他们住在伦敦北部的一所地下公寓里。

5 spoiling   

v.变质( spoil的现在分词 )；损坏；毁掉；破坏

参考例句：

• You are spoiling this man's son. 贼夫人之子。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The murderer attempted to escape from law punishment by spoiling his own face. 那个杀人犯企图自毁容貌以逃脱法律的惩罚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 aggressive   

adj.侵略的，好斗的；敢作敢为的

参考例句：

• You'd better keep the two aggressive boys apart.你最好把那两个好斗的男孩分开。
• These fish are very aggressive.这些鱼极具攻击性。

7 entertain   

vt.招待，款待；使欢乐，使娱乐；vi.款待，请客

参考例句：

• Emma will be happy to entertain you.爱玛会很高兴招待你的。
• They entertain a great deal.他们常常招待客人。

8 Liverpool   

n.利物浦(英国港市)

参考例句：

• Are you traveling to Liverpool as well?We can go together.你也去利物浦吗？我们可以同行。
• His professional career started at Liverpool University.他的职业生涯是从利物浦大学开始的。

9 manor   

n.庄园，领地

参考例句：

• The builder of the manor house is a direct ancestor of the present owner.建造这幢庄园的人就是它现在主人的一个直系祖先。
• I am not lord of the manor,but its lady.我并非此地的领主，而是这儿的女主人。