Holidays

克齊

The word “holiday” comes from “holy day”. As a holy day was a day on which no work was done, the name came to mean a day when you relaxed and enjoyed yourself.

Since the Second World War, going on holiday has become very popular. Nowadays, most people want to go away to relax and enjoy themselves. Taking a holiday in the United Kingdom helps tourism1 there. People get to know their country and can enjoy the customs in different places. Most holiday places are easy to get to on the same day by car, train or coach. There are no difficulties with money, food or language. People going on holiday in this country know, more or less, what to expect. Perhaps the main problem is the weather which, even in summer, can be cold and wet.

Going on holiday abroad is exciting. If you haven t visited the country you have chosen before, you do not know exactly what it will be like. The food will be different, the people will speak a different language and the money they use will be different too. This makes it difficult to work out easily what everything will cost and could make the holiday expensive.

People usually like to go to a country where they know the weather will be good. Getting to their holiday could take a long time. If they want to go by train or coach, they have to cross2 the English Channel3 first and this can take time. If the crossing is hard, they can be quite ill. Nowadays, the Channel can be crossed by going underneath4 it in the tunnel5.

Exercise:

I. Answer the following questions. （回答下列問題。）

1. What did the word “holiday” come from?

2. Has going on holiday become so popular since the Second World War?

II. Complete the following sentences by putting in the missing words. （填入所缺單詞，完成下列句子。）

1. Taking a holiday in the United Kingdom helps ______.

2. People usually like to go to a country where they know the ______ will be good.