People travel for a lot of reasons. Some tourists go to see battlefields or religious shrines1. Others are looking for culture, or simply want to have their pictures taken2 in front of famous places. But most European tourists are looking for a sunny beach to lie on3.
Northern Europeans are willing to pay a lot of money and put up with a lot of inconveniences for the sun because they have so little of it4. Residents of cities like London, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam spend a lot of their winter in the dark because the days are so short, and much of the rest of the year in the rain5. This is the reason the Mediterranean6 has always attracted them. Every summer, more than 25 million people travel to Mediterranean resorts7 and beaches for their vacation. They all come for the same reason: sun!
The huge crowds mean lots of money for the economies of Mediterranean countries. Italy's 30,000 hotels are booked solid8 every summer. And 13 million people camp out on French beaches, parks, and roadsides. Spain's long sandy coastline attracts more people than anywhere else. 37 million tourists visit yearly, or one tourist for every person living in Spain9.
But there are signs that the area is getting more tourism than it can handle. The Mediterranean is already one of the most polluted seas on earth. And with increased tourism ,it's getting worse. The French can't figure out10 what to do with all the garbage left by campers around St. Tropez. And in many places, swimming is dangerous because of pollution.
None of this, however, is spoiling11 anyone's fun. The Mediterranean gets more popular every year with tourists. Obviously, they don't go there for clean water and solitude12. They tolerate traffic jams13 and seem to like crowded beaches. They don't even mind the pollution. No matter how dirty the water is, the coastline still looks beautiful. And as long as14 the sun shines, it's still better thanin the cold rain in Berlin, London, or Oslo.
詞匯：
battlefield / 'bætlfi:ld/n.戰(zhàn)場，疆場
inconvenience /inkən'vi:njəns/n.帶來麻煩的事情，不便
resident /'rezidənt/n.居住者，居民
Copenhagen /,kəupən'heigən/n.哥本哈根(丹麥首都)
Amsterdam /,æmstə'dæm/n.阿姆斯特丹(荷蘭首都)
vacation /və'keiʃən/n.假期，休假
coastline /'kəustlain/n.海岸線
tourism / 'tuərizm/n.旅游，觀光
pollute /pə'lu:t/vt.弄臟，污染
garbage /'ga:bidʒ/n.廢物，垃圾
camper /'kæmpə/n.宿營者
Berlin /bə:'lin/n.柏林(德國首都)
Oslo /'ɔzləu/n.奧斯陸(挪威首都)
economy /i'kɔnəmi/n.經(jīng)濟狀況，經(jīng)濟;節(jié)省，節(jié)約
注釋：
1. religious shrine：宗教圣殿
2. have their pictures taken：請別人為他們照相
3. But most European tourists are looking for a sunny beach to lie on.但大多數(shù)歐洲游客愿意尋找陽光充足的海灘曬日光浴。注意look for和fmd的區(qū)別。look for是“找”的過程，常解釋為“尋找”,find是“找”的結(jié)果，所以常解釋為“找到”。不妨體會一下它們的差別：I've been looking for my lost watch and haven't found it yet.
4. Northern Europeans are willing to pay a lot of money and put up with a lot of inconveniences for the sun because they have so little of it.北歐人心甘情愿花大筆金錢，容忍諸多不便去獲得陽光，因為陽光對他們來說太難得了。
5. Residents of cities like London, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam spend a lot of their winter in the dark because the days are so short, and much of the rest of the year in the rain.由于白天很短，像倫敦、哥本哈根和阿姆斯特丹的居民在冬季的大部分時間里，都是在昏暗中度過的，而其余的季節(jié)又都是陰雨連綿。這句點出了北歐陰冷潮濕，日短夜長的氣候特征，也就解釋了歐洲游客執(zhí)著追求溫暖明媚陽光的原因。
6. the Mediterranean：地中海地區(qū)
7. resorts：指常去的地方，勝地
8. be booked solid：全部客滿
9. 37 million tourists visit yearly ,or one tourist for every person living in Spain.每年有3 700多萬游客，換句話說，旅游者與西班牙居民人數(shù)相當，即為1:1。
10. figure out：此處指“想出”，它還有“算出;明白;斷定”等意。
11. spoil：原意為“損壞;寵壞”，此處指“破壞興致”。
12. solitude：意為“獨居，獨處”，文中指清靜自在。
13. traffic jams：交通堵塞
14. as long as：意為“只要;在……情況下”，引導條件狀語從句。又如：I'm happy as long as you are happy.
