2018年6月大学英语六级听力常考时文：How the British Spend Their Holidays

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　　1.What will people get if they have to work in shifs with unsocial hours?
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        　　2.Why was a "bank holiday" made by a recent labor government? To ...
        　　3.Where is the most traditional British holiday's destination? ...
        　　4.What are the disadvantages of coast? ...
        　　Nearly all the British people in full-time jobs have at least four weeks’
holiday a year. The normal working week is 35 to 40 hours, Monday to Friday.
People who have to work in shifts with unsocial hours are paid extra for the
inconvenience. More overtime is worked at extra pay than in most other Western
European countries, but there is relatively little “moonlighting” — that is,
independent work for pay in leisure hours. There are only eight official public
holidays a year, only one of them in the six months before Christmas. None of
them celebrates anything to do with state or nation, though the first Monday in
May was made a “bank holiday” by a recent Labor government as the British
holiday in honor of working people. The most obvious — and traditional — British
holiday destination is the coast. No place in the country is more than three
hours’ journey from some part of it. The coast is full of variety, with good
cliffs and rocks between the beaches, but the uncertain weather and cold sea are
serious disadvantages. Also, two weeks in a hotel room with balcony and private
bath can now cost less in Spain or Greece, with flights included, than the same
in a British hotel. Most of the hotels in the numerous seaside resort towns were
built in the railway age, between 50 and 100 years ago, and seem not to be used
as much by people going to conferences as by those on holiday. Going to a
conference can be a sort of holiday, even in working time and with expenses
paid.