中國網(wǎng)站品牌欄目（頻道）
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 A tourist photographs Westminster Abbey in London April 15, 2011. |
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Britain is crammed with overpriced restaurants, plagued by expensive hotels and let down by overrated tourist attractions, according to the latest edition of the Lonely Planet Guide. In a warts and all review of the country as a holiday destination the well-known travel bible concludes it "has had its day" especially for cash-strapped natives. "If you're on a tight budget, there's no getting away from it -- Britain ain't cheap," said lead author David Else who dispatched contributors to every corner of the land in search of good deals, but found few. While some places are deemed to be "fantastic" finds and the country was still "one of the most fascinating places in the world to explore" many destinations simply didn't cut it. "Public transport, admission fees, restaurants and hotel rooms all tend to be expensive compared with their equivalents in many other European countries," Else said. "Unfortunately at a time when everyone is in desperate need of a great value summer getaway some of Britain's tourism industry just doesn't deliver," he added. The picture was particularly bleak for Britons hoping to forget the government's austerity-driven budget cuts, underlying inflationary pressures and a battered pound. The guide says some good value deals can be found if families do their homework, but many may, in the end, regret opting for a "staycation." London was singled as being particularly over-priced when it came to dining out. "You're often better spending five pounds on a top-notch curry in Birmingham (central England) or a homemade steak-and-ale pie in a country pub in Devon (southwest England) than forking out 30 pounds in a restaurant for a 'modern European' concoction that tastes like it came from a can." Overseas visitors, however, are undoubtedly the winners, flocking to the island in the last couple of years to take advantage of the weak pound. Must-sees included Canterbury in the southeast which "tops the charts" when it comes to English cathedral cities, the city of Cambridge whose leafy green meadows "give it a far more tranquil appeal" than its rival Oxford, Glasgow a "byword for chic" and London with "endless reserves of cool". Less flattering reviews were saved for the county of Surrey, close to London, "made up of uninspiring towns and dull, sprawling suburbs," while the city of Cardiff in Wales was slated as "a prodigious boozing town." (Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
根據(jù)《孤獨(dú)星球指南》的最新版本，英國到處是高價(jià)飯館和昂貴的酒店，英國旅游景點(diǎn)的價(jià)值也被高估了。 這一著名的旅游圣經(jīng)在列出了英國度假勝地的種種缺點(diǎn)后，得出結(jié)論說，對(duì)于囊中羞澀的本國游客而言，英國作為旅游地的“輝煌時(shí)代已經(jīng)結(jié)束了”。 《孤獨(dú)星球指南》主要作者戴維?埃爾斯說：“如果你手頭緊的話，就會(huì)吃不消——英國可不便宜?！卑査箤⒆迦伺傻接鞯貙ふ覄澦愕馁I賣，但是沒多少發(fā)現(xiàn)。 盡管某些地區(qū)被視為“絕妙”的好去處，英國也依然是“世界上最引人入勝的地方之一”，但是許多旅游目的地確實(shí)不理想。 埃爾斯說：“公共交通費(fèi)、入場(chǎng)費(fèi)、飯館花費(fèi)、酒店入住費(fèi)用比歐洲許多其他國家都貴?！?/p> 他還說：“在這個(gè)時(shí)候，大家都很需要超值的夏日度假地，不幸的是，英國的一些旅游業(yè)做不到這一點(diǎn)?！?/p> 對(duì)于那些希望借度假把政府的預(yù)算削減政策拋到腦后的英國人來說，這一前景顯得特別凄涼。英國的緊縮政策是為了節(jié)制消費(fèi)，以應(yīng)對(duì)通脹壓力和英鎊貶值。 《孤獨(dú)星球指南》說，如果英國人下一些功夫，還是可以找到一些超值的旅游消費(fèi)地，但是很多人最后可能會(huì)為自己選擇在國內(nèi)度假而感到懊悔。倫敦還被選為超昂貴的外出就餐地。 “通常，你花5英鎊在伯明翰（英國中部）吃一流的咖喱菜，或在德文郡（英國西南部）的鄉(xiāng)村酒館吃自制的牛排啤酒餡餅都好過在倫敦飯店里花30英鎊吃所謂的‘現(xiàn)代歐洲’大餐，那味道和罐頭食品差不多?！?/p> 不過，海外游客無疑是贏家，過去幾年許多外國游客都趁英鎊貶值來到英國島度假。 英國的必游之地包括東南部的坎特伯雷，它是英國擁有大教堂的城市中排行居首的旅游地，還有劍橋市，那里的茵茵綠草地使其擁有比競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手牛津市“寧靜得多的氣息和魅力”。不可錯(cuò)過的還有“時(shí)髦雅致的代表”格拉斯哥和“源源不絕的涼氣儲(chǔ)備地”倫敦。 倫敦附近的薩里郡沒獲得什么好評(píng)，“到處是沒有生氣的城鎮(zhèn)和單調(diào)、雜亂的郊區(qū)”，而威爾士的加地夫則被批為“超級(jí)酒鬼城市”。 相關(guān)閱讀 意總理敦促國民在本國度假 幫助經(jīng)濟(jì)復(fù)蘇 （中國日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語點(diǎn)津 陳丹妮 編輯：馮明惠） |
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Vocabulary: warts and all: including all the bad or unpleasant features of somebody/something（包括所有的缺點(diǎn)；不隱瞞缺點(diǎn)；不遮丑） cash-strapped: without enough money（資金短缺的） cut it: 辦成事，成功做成某事 getaway: a short holiday/vacation; a place that is suitable for a holiday/vacation（短假；假日休閑地；適合度假的地方） deliver: to do what you promised to do or what you are expected to do; to produce or provide what people expect you to（履行諾言；不負(fù)所望；兌現(xiàn)） austerity: a situation when people do not have much money to spend because there are bad economic conditions （經(jīng)濟(jì)的）緊縮；嚴(yán)格節(jié)制消費(fèi) staycation: 留在家中度假，就近度假 top-notch: excellent; of the highest quality（最好的；卓越的；第一流的） fork out: （尤指不情愿地）大量花錢，大把掏錢 concoction: a strange or unusual mixture of things, especially drinks or medicines （古怪或少見的）混合物，調(diào)合物，調(diào)配品（尤指飲料或藥物） byword: a person or thing that is a well-known or typical example of a particular quality （某種品質(zhì)或特征的）代表人，代表事物，典范 sprawling: spreading in an untidy way（蔓延的；雜亂無序伸展的） slate: to criticize somebody/something, especially in a newspaper（尤指在報(bào)紙上）批評(píng)，抨擊 prodigious: remarkably or impressively great in extent, size, or degree（非凡的，巨大的） |
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