英国拟将劳动节挪至十月（双语）

 　　英国政府考虑把法定假日“五一劳动节”挪到10月，并更名为“英国节”或“特拉法尔加节”，以促进旅游业。负责旅游事务的部长官员说，新节日设在秋天，不仅能促进旅游业发展，还能让我们所有人专注于庆祝这个国家所取得的伟大成就。据悉，这一设想是即将出台的英国旅游业发展战略一部分，政府将就是否以及如何更改“五一节”展开协商。如果协商通过，也要到2013年才会生效。

　　英国在1978年由当时执政的工党确定“五一节”为法定假日，人们在这一天举行游园会，唱歌跳舞，庆祝夏天来临。

　　The British government said Saturday it was considering moving the May Day public holiday to October, in a move that would delight the tourism industry but which unions say is an attack on international labour day.

　　Many countries across the world, from France to China, have a public holiday on May 1, often to commemorate¹ the fight for more workers' rights.

　　In Britain, the holiday was introduced in 1978 by a Labour government. But celebrating May Day with traditional dancing and festivities dates back centuries and also marks the coming of summer.

　　The coalition² now plans to consult on scrapping³ the May holiday and moving it to October, possibly with the new name of "UK Day" or "Trafalgar Day".

　　The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said moving the day off would better spread the public holidays across the year and be a boost to the tourism industry.

　　"An autumn bank holiday, possibly to be branded as a new 'UK Day', would not only help the industry, but also give us all a new focus for celebrating the best of what this country does," said Tourism Minister John Penrose.

　　He added that any change would be subject to consultation⁴. The proposals are to be contained in a forthcoming tourism strategy and the holiday would not be moved until 2013.

　　But the Trades Union Congress (TUC) said that some Conservative MPs were not keen on May Day because of its links to international labour day.

　　"A few Tory backwoodsmen have a bee in their bonnet⁵ about the May Day bank holiday because of its association with international labour day," said TUC general secretary Brendan Barber.

　　"In fact, May Day is a traditional British celebration dating back to the fourth century."Government sources however denied the proposal had any sort of political dimension and said it was solely⁶ in support of their tourism strategy.

1 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。

2 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

3 scrapping   

刮，切除坯体余泥

参考例句：

• He was always scrapping at school. 他在学校总打架。
• These two dogs are always scrapping. 这两条狗总是打架。

4 consultation   

n.咨询；商量；商议；会议

参考例句：

• The company has promised wide consultation on its expansion plans.该公司允诺就其扩展计划广泛征求意见。
• The scheme was developed in close consultation with the local community.该计划是在同当地社区密切磋商中逐渐形成的。

5 bonnet   

n.无边女帽；童帽

参考例句：

• The baby's bonnet keeps the sun out of her eyes.婴孩的帽子遮住阳光，使之不刺眼。
• She wore a faded black bonnet garnished with faded artificial flowers.她戴着一顶褪了色的黑色无边帽，帽上缀着褪了色的假花。

6 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。