A
Nottingham Goose (鹅) Fair started on the first Thursday in October and lasted 3 days. However, nowadays you won’t find any geese there.
The fair opened at 12:00 on the Thursday by the Lord Mayor of Nottingham, but it has an interesting and shocking history.
For starters, it wasn’t always the largest fair in the area. And the main fair for the people of Nottingham in terms of trade and economy was the Lenton Fair held at Lenton Priory.
In the Middle Ages the Le nton Fair overshadowed (使显得逊色) the Goose Fair in size and importance. Harrisons Calendar of Fairs for 1587 mentions the Lenton Fair but not the Goose Fair. However, the Goose Fair competed wit h its local competitors and every year over 20,000 geese from the Fens in Lincolnshire arrived to be sold to provide the traditional Michaelmas dish.
It wasn’t just for geese either. All kinds of things were sold at the Goose Fair: sheep, horses and cattle were also sold.
The fair has been under threat of closure many times over the years. In 1764 they actually had cheese riots (暴乱) due to an increase of a third on the price of cheese compared with the previous year, which resulted in an attack on the stallholders (摊主) at the fair.
By 1880 the fair was reduced to a three-day event, which started on the first Thursday of October. In 1928 the fair was moved from the market square to its present site in the forest which is far away from the city centre. Despite attempts throughout its history to prevent the fair, the income from rents paid by the stallholders is financially beneficial to the local government. So regardless of the cheese riots and the various attempts to prohibit it, Nottingham Goose Fair has survived to celebrate over eight centuries of fun.
21. The cheese riots in 1764 were mentioned to show .
A. the Goose Fair met strong competition from its competitors
B. stallholders usually benefited most from the Goose Fair
C. the Goose Fair gradually lost popularity with time going by
D. violence and troubles used to put the Goose Fair in danger
22. The Goose Fair has lasted till today mainly because .
A. it is full of fun and enjoyed by most people B. it brings great benefits to the local economy
C. it has strong support from the mayor of Nottingham D. it is representative of the traditions of Nottingham
23. We can learn from the text that .
A. the Goose Fair didn’t become famous until 1587
B. the Goose Fair used to last longer than it does today
C. those against the Goose Fair were mostly from the countryside
D. the Lenton Fair was once held at the same time as the Goose Fair
24. What does the underlined word “prohibit” in the last paragraph mean?
A. Prevent. B. Follow. C. Ignore. D. Describe.
