He transformed a Welsh town into a “kingdom”of used books

湖南江華縣第一中學 何高倫

體裁 篇幅 建議用時說明文323 6分鐘

The historic Welsh town of Hay-on-Wye was once home to a few hundred people who made their living by farming sheep.But Richard Booth came and decided to fill the town with hundreds of thousands of used books.

Booth,who died on August 20 at the age of 80,helped change Hay-on-Wye into a literary center and a tourism attraction. Today, the town's famous Festival of Literature and the Arts,which started in 1987,draws writers,historians,musicians and politicians from around the world.

Born in 1938 in Plymouth,England,Booth came to Hay-on-Wye with his parents as a child. He studied history at Oxford and, on graduating,worked for a full three weeks as an accountant before deciding to head back home.Once back home,Booth bought the town's former fire station,its Norman castle and several warehouses.In the 1960s,he started to fill them with second-hand books,which he got at low cost from colleges and libraries.

As Hay Festival director Peter Florence puts it,he “wasn't really in it for money”.Instead,Booth saw a chance to revive his beloved Hay-on-Wye.He first opened six used bookstores in Hay and then nearly 30 others in this town of less than 2,000 people.

As Florence points out,Booth was fond of“the party and the good times”.On April Fools'Day of 1977, Booth wandered through the streets of Hay dressed in a home-made crown and announced himself king of the town.His horse,Booth declared,would be prime minister.And he would issue new passports for the townspeople and found a“secret”service known as the C.I.Hay.

Booth had lost most of his bookstores by the early 2000s.But this didn't seem to destroy Booth's spirit.Until his death,Booth operated a shop in his hometown called the King of Hay,which sold books,journals and things celebrating his reign.

閱讀檢測

1.What makes Hay-on-Wye a great tourist attraction now?

A.Its natural beauty.

B.Its cultural features.

C.Its unique bookstores.

D.Its beautiful artworks.

2.What did Booth do after he graduated from university?

A.He did business in Hay.

B.He bought many used books.

C.He taught history at a school.

D.He worked as an accountant.

3.Why did Booth open used bookstores in Hay?

A.To celebrate his own reign.

B.To build a town of his own.

C.To make money for his living.

D.To make a difference to the town.

4.What is the text mainly about?

A.The history of a small town.

B.A“kingdom”of used books.

C.A person's contributions to a town.

D.The influence of a town on a person.

語言學習

難句分析

Until his death,Booth operated a shop in his hometown called the King of Hay, which sold books,journals and things celebrating his reign.布斯死前在他的家鄉經營著一家名為“海王”的商店，出售慶祝他統治的書籍、期刊和其他物品。

該句為主從復合句，句中的which 引導非限制性定語從句修飾名詞a shop，其中a shop后還有一個過去分詞短語called the King of Hay 作后置定語。

背景知識

威 爾 士

威爾士東臨英格蘭，南臨布里斯托海峽，北與西濱臨愛爾蘭海，土地面積為20，779 平方公里，首府為卡迪夫（Cardiff）,人口約309 萬人。威爾士通往歐洲各市場的交通十分便捷，也有鐵路、公路直接通往英法海底隧道，新的歐洲鐵路貨運站也設在卡迪夫。

相對于英格蘭的繁榮與都市化，威爾士在自然景致、風土民情及語言文化方面就顯得純樸與鄉村化。威爾士擁有不受污染的自然美景以及千變萬化的地理景觀，境內處處是原鄉之美。境內有三座國家公園，其中包括位于北部、囊括英格蘭以及威爾士第一高峰的斯諾登尼亞（Snowdonia）國家公園。