1. Most official holidays occur either just before or just after a weekend, so that the practice of making a ‘bridge’ between the holiday and the weekend is almost unknown. Moreover, there are no traditional extra holidays in particular localities. Although the origin of the word ‘holiday’ is ‘holy day’, not all public holidays during the year (usually known as ‘bank holidays’) are connected with religious celebrations.
大多数官方节假日都是在周末前后，只是这种“连接”假日和周末的做法是不成文的。此外，英国各地也没有什么传统的地方假日。虽然Holiday（假日）这个词起源是“神圣的日子”，并不是这一年所有的公众假日（通常称为“银行假日”）都与宗教庆祝活动有关的。
2. The British upper class started the fashion for seaside holidays in the late eighteenth century. The middle classes soon followed them and when, around the beginning of the twentieth century, they were given the opportunity, so did the working classes. It soon became normal for families to spend a week or two every year at one of the seaside resort towns which sprang up to cater for this new mass market. The most well known of these are near to the bigger towns and cities.
英国上流社会于十八世纪后期开始海滨度假的时尚。紧随其后的是中产阶级。大约在二十世纪时，工人阶级获得了机会，也纷纷效仿。一家老少每年至少花一两个星期在某个海边度假小镇放松，这很快成了平常的事情。这些海边度假小镇如雨后春笋般兴起，以迎合大众的需求，其中最有名的一些都靠近较大的城镇和城市。
3. But for adults who swim, some resorts still have wooden huts on or near the beach, known as ‘beach huts’, ‘bathing huts’, or ‘beach cabins’, in which people can change into swimming costumes (The perfect summer house). Swimming and sunbathing without any clothing is rare. All resorts have various other kinds of attraction, including more-or-less permanent funfairs.
但是，对于下水游泳的成年人来说，有一些度假胜地的海滩上仍有些小木屋，人们称之为“沙滩木屋”，“洗浴室”或“海滩小屋”，人们可以在里面换上泳衣。天体浴场是很罕见的。所有的度假地都有其独特的魅力，有的还有常年开放的露天游乐场。
4. Both of these traditional types of holiday have become less popular in the last quarter of the twentieth century. The increase in car ownership has encouraged many people to take caravan holidays. But the greatest cause in the decline of the traditional holiday is foreign tourism.
这两种传统类型的节日在二十世纪最后四分之一时间里已变得不那么流行。汽车保有量增加鼓励了许多人开车度假。但是传统节日不再流行的最大原因在于出国外旅游热。
5. Half of all the holidays taken within Britain are now for three days or less. Every bank holiday weekend, the television carries news of long traffic jams along the routes to the most popular holiday areas.
英国假日中有一半为期三天或更少。每个包含公众假日的周末，电视上都会报道有关热门度假区沿线交通拥堵的新闻。
6. Some people go on ‘working’ holidays, during which they help to repair an ancient stone wall or take part in an archaeological dig. This is an echo of another traditional type of holiday – fruit picking.
有些人选择“劳动”度假的形式，他们帮助修复古老的石墙或参加考古挖掘工作。这实际上类似于另外一种传统类型的节日----水果采摘节。
7. People also buy Christmas trees (a tradition imported from Germany in the late nineteenth century). Most households have a tree and decorate it themselves (in many cases, with coloured lights). Most people also put up other decorations around the house. Exactly what these are varies a great deal, but certain symbols of Christmas, such as bits of the holly and mistletoe plants, are very common, and the Christmas cards which the household has received are usually displayed. A few people go even further and put up decorations outside their house.
人们还会买圣诞树（这一传统可以追溯到十九世纪后期的德国）。大部分家庭拥有自己的圣诞树并（用彩色灯泡）加以装饰。大多数人也会把房子里面搞一番装饰。具体装饰什么因人而异，但某些象征性的节日符号，如圣诞节的冬青和槲寄生植物，是常用的饰物。各家各户收到的圣诞卡通常会展示出来。少数人甚至更进一步，把房子外边也装饰一下。
8. There is a general feeling that Christmas is a time for families. Many of the gatherings in houses on Christmas Day and Boxing Day consist of extended families (more than just parents and children). In many families, Christmas is the only time that such gatherings occur.
人们普遍有一种感觉，圣诞节是合家欢度的节日。在圣诞节和节礼日，许多家庭举办的聚会往往是几代同堂，亲戚毕至（不仅仅是父母和子女）。对许多家庭来说，圣诞节是一年中唯一一次这样大规模的团聚。
9. As a well-known Christmas carol reminds people, there are twelve days of Christmas. In fact, most people go back to work and school soon after New Year. Nobody pays much attention to the feast of the epiphany on 6 January (the twelfth day of Christmas), except that this is traditionally the day on which Christmas decorations are taken down. Some people say it is bad luck to keep them up after this date.
正如一首著名的圣诞颂歌中所唱，圣诞节有十二天。事实上，大多数人在新年过后就会回去工作和学习。没有人过多关注1月6日的主显节（圣诞节的第十二天），除非这是传统意义上的卸下圣诞装饰的日子。有些人认为这一天过后还留着节日装饰不吉利。
10. On Guy Fawkes Night itself, there are bonfire parties throughout the country, at which the ‘Guy’ is burnt. Some people cook food in the embers of the bonfire, especially chestnuts or potatoes. So many fireworks are set off that, by the end of the evening, the air in all British cities smells strongly of sulphur. Every year, accidents with the fireworks injure or even kill several people. In an effort to make things safer, some local authorities arrange public firework displays and bonfires.
“福克斯之夜”，全国各地都会举办篝火晚会，并有烧毁盖伊福克斯的画像的仪式。随后有些人会在篝火上烧烤食物，主要是栗子或土豆。到了深夜，大量的烟花点燃，英国城市空气中弥漫着强烈的硫磺气味。每一年都会有人因烟花意外受伤，甚至死亡。为了安全起见，一些地方政府会组织公共烟花汇演和篝火活动。