Question

In 1947 a group of famous people from the art world headed by an Austrian conductor decided to hold an international festival of music, dance and theatre in Edinburgh. The idea was to reunite Europe after the Second World War.

At the same time, the “Fringe” appeared as a challenge to the official festival. Eight theatre groups turned up uninvited in 1947, in the belief that everyone should have the right to perform, and they did so in a public house disused for years.

Soon, groups of students firstly from Edinburgh University, and later from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, Durham and Birmingham were making the journey to the Scottish capital each summer to perform theatre by little-known writers of plays in small church halls to the people of Edinburgh.

Today the “Fringe”, once less recognized, has far outgrown the festival with around 1,500 performances of theatre, music and dance on every one of the 21 days it lasts. And yetas early as 1959, with only 19 theatre groups performing, some said it was getting too big.

A paid administrator was first employed only in 1971, and today there are eight administrators working all year round and the number rises to 150 during August itself. In 2004 there were 200 places housing 1,695 shows by over 600 different groups from 50 different countries. More than 1,25 million tickets were sold.

1.What was the purpose of Edinburgh Festival at the beginning?

A. To bring Europe together again.

B. To honor heroes of World War 11.

C. To introduce young theatre groups.

D. To attract great artists from Europe.

2.Why did some uninvited theatre groups come to Edinburgh in 1947?

A. They owned a public house there.

B. They came to take up a challenge.

C. They thought they were also famous.

D. They wanted to take part in the festival.

3.Who joined the "Fringe" after it appeared?

A. they owned a public house there

B. University students.

C. Artists from around the world.

D. Performers of music and dance.

4.We may learn from the text that Edinburgh Festival______.

A. has become a non-official event

B. has gone beyond an art festival

C. gives shows all year round

D. keeps growing rapidly

Answer

1.A

2.D

3.B

4.D

【解析】

试题分析: 本文主要介绍了Fringe的成长和发展的历史过程。在英国，二战刚结束以后，百废待兴。从战争和痛苦之中解脱出来的人们期待着一次艺术的盛会。第一届爱丁堡艺术节从战后的艺术家群体里邀请了所有知名的艺术家，可谓盛况空前。八支同样具有好评的艺术团体自费来到英国，组成团体，在爱丁堡艺术节举办的同时自发地举办了他们自己的艺术节。

1.A考查推理判断题。根据第一段中的“The idea was to reunite Europe after the Second World War.”可以推知，其目的是为了让二战后的欧洲再次团结起来，故选A项。

2.D考查细节理解题。由“Eight theatre groups turned up uninvited in 1947, in the belief that everyone should have the right to perform,”这些队伍认为每个人都有表演的权力，所以他们想要参加节日，故选D项。

3.B细节理解题。由“Soon, groups of students firstly from Edinburgh University, and later from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, Durham and Birmingham were making the journey to the Scottish capital each summer to perform theatre by little-known writers of plays in small church halls to the people of Edinburgh.”可知爱丁堡大学，后来的牛津大学、剑桥大学等都加入了，所以是大学生，故选B项。

4.D推理判断题。由“ today there are eight administrators working all year round and the number rises to 150 during August itself. In 2004 there were 200 places housing 1,695 shows by over 600 different groups from 50 different countries. ”可知它发展的非常快。C项不是全年都有。选项A文中未提及。选项B也未提及。故选D。

考点：文化类阅读。