新视野大学英语视听说教程第三册 Unit 9 News Report A Famous Christmas Market
Receiving Christmas presents is always fun, but buying them can be a headache. This is why many Christmas shoppers around Europe are now going to the German city of Nuremberg to visit its famous Christmas market, Christkindlesmarkt..
The four-hundred-year-old market is a child's paradise. Its 150 stalls sell all kinds of toys, gifts, and special foods. A staggering two million people visit the market annually.
The old city and market add a special feeling to Christmas. As one British tourist, Mivart Thomas, explains," There's something quite, sort of, medieval about the atmosphere here. There are quite a lot of old stalls--traditional-looking stalls--and the cathedral in the background with lights all around; and just a few minutes ago, the brass band was playing...playing Christmas carols. The whole atmosphere is wonderful." The market maintains its Old World atmosphere with regulations saying what can and can't be sold. Not surprisingly, the focus is on the family. The market's tourist officer, Gerd Lauterbauch, points out that the market's name translates as "Christ child's market", and the idea behind it is to offer presents for children on Christmas. Christmas markets are found in many German cities, but Nuremberg's is the most famous. It gives a very different impression from the one tourists expect, considering the city's Nazi past. And as word of the market spreads around Europe, the market is becoming a tourist center.
