British Vision Issue 4 爱丁堡迎新年火炬大游行

本期难点
1.light the blue touch paper: Touch paper is the correct name of the impregnated material used in fireworks fuses¹. The original phrase (the instructions on fireworks) reads "Light the blue touch paper and stand well back."
As an idiom it means to initiate² some sort of process or actions.
2. oblige: provide a service or favor for someone, as in: The players are generally happy to oblige with autographs.

Beneath the city's skyline, it was time to light the blue touch paper.The Torchlit Procession traditionally kicks off Edinburgh's Hogmanay Festival. This year, more than ten thousand people were happy to oblige, snaking their way through the streets and up the city's Calton Hill.

(It) wasn't enough. You'll get to walk through the streets of Edinburgh, bonding torches and prevent burning things dying. It's always....

Let me say, fun because every(one) comes together. It's a group.

I have never been here before. Sure there're some novelties³ and real spinnings for us to join then.

It's the twelfth year of Edinburgh's set peace Hogmanay party which stretches over several days. Now it combines with that Christmas festival and both flew under crowds. This year around half a million people will witness the sights and songs of this city at play.

It's just the most beautiful setting in the world. It is a beautiful city that lends itself to, you know, open their stuff even in the middle of winter, but we light it with fire and music and dance and the atmosphere of this place changes incredibly over these few days.

This year's Edinburgh Hogmanay has a Catalonia feat⁴, so Catalan acts and theme performances will combine with Scottish traditional entertainment. The highlights being at the midnight are tomorrow of course,where a hundred thousand people will gather in Princes Street to bring in the new year.

This of course is the warm-up for the main event. It seems to please everybody here and aslo makes good business sense. Edinburgh's Hogmanay Festival is worth more than 14 million pounds to the local economy.

It can hardly get bigger. The challenge this year like every year is in trying to make it better.
James Matthews,Sky News ,Edinburgh.

1 fuses   

保险丝( fuse的名词复数 )； 导火线； 引信

参考例句：

• The author skillfully fuses these fragments into a cohesive whole. 作者将这些片断巧妙地结合成一个连贯的整体。
• We electrified the main circuits to see if the fuses would blow. 我们把主要电路通上电，看看保险丝是否会烧断。

2 initiate   

vt.开始，创始，发动；启蒙，使入门；引入

参考例句：

• A language teacher should initiate pupils into the elements of grammar.语言老师应该把基本语法教给学生。
• They wanted to initiate a discussion on economics.他们想启动一次经济学讨论。

3 novelties   

新颖( novelty的名词复数 )； 新奇性； 新奇的人[事物]； 新颖小巧而价廉的物品

参考例句：

• The simple things she said seemed like novelties. 本来很简单的事情，由她说出来，竟象新奇事情一般动人。
• I bought some novelties on the boardwalk. 我在海滨人行道上买了一些新颖的小玩意儿。

4 feat   

n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的

参考例句：

• Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。