Every year a lot of people all over the world spend their holidays travelling. For many of them travelling is the most important event in the year.
People travel the globe to see other countries and continents, modern cities and the ruins of ancient towns, they travel to enjoy picturesque places, or just for a change of scene. The tourist industry will soon be the largest industry in the world. Many places that once were remote are now part of package tours. Tourism has been industrialized: landscapes, cultures and cuisines are consumer goods displayed in travel leaflets. In recent years tourism has really taken off.
Today people have lots of good reasons to travel. Travelling has always been a part of people’s education. The best way to study geography is to travel and the best way to get to know and understand the traditions and customs of different people is to speak to them. Besides, travelling is a good way to practise foreign languages.
If you ask people why they travel, they will often mention world’s most treasured sites, well-known museums, national parks or castles. It goes without saying that it’s always interesting to discover new places and new ways of life, to try foreign food and to listen to unusual musical rhythms. It’s much better than sitting at home and doing nothing.
Some people are against travelling. They say that tourists have no respect for the countries they visit. A lot of tourist places are polluted and many of historical monuments are in danger of being destroyed by unstoppable march of tourism. Besides, today travelling is rather expensive. That’s why some people prefer to spend their holidays in the country or at home in front of TV.
But why not make the most of your holiday and try something different? Certainly, travelling broadens the mind. But travel is more than sightseeing. It is a change, deep and permanent, that goes on in our ideas.
Write four words into the gaps:
1. People travel the globe and continents, modern cities and the ruins of ancient towns, they travel to enjoy picturesque places, or just for a change of scene.
2. The best way to study geography is to travel and get to know and understand the traditions and customs of different people is to speak to them.
3. A lot of tourist places are polluted and many of historical monuments are in danger of being of tourism.
Roaring 20's also called the time of dancing and unrestrained fun. It was then that a phenomenon such as dance marathons appeared. At first they represented innocent entertainment as usual competitions at fairs, but then marathons covered the whole country, turning into the ruthless business for the next 10 years.
The stock market crash of 1929, which caused the Great Depression, became the very area of the economic catastrophe of the industrial world. The United States was among the countries most affected by this crisis. By 1931, stocks were worth only 20% of the nominal value of 1929, industrial production fell by half, one in four was unemployed. By 1935, half of American banks and companies were ruined. Even Ford Motor Company, the largest employer in the country, closed its branches. Millions wandered around the country in search of at least some work, typed and stealing. In this era of shattered hopes and empty pockets, one of the most hideous forms of the entertainment industry flourished - dance marathons that, for some ways, diverted themselves from their suffering, watching strangers, and for others -
Dance marathons, or "poor nightclubs", as they were called, arose in the early 1920s as an innocent hobby, with contests for the largest number of pies eaten.
The first known marathon in the US was held in December 1909 in Butte, Montana. It was attended by more than 170 couples. The dance was stopped by the local sheriff after 15 hours of the marathon, at that moment three pairs continued to dance. He claims that such a dance is dangerous for their health.
Mass craze began in 1923, when the first official dance marathon "Audubon Ballroom Marathon", which began on March 30, 1923 in New York. There was also set the first record - Alma Cummings danced 27 hours, without interruption, this time was replaced by six partners and beat the previous British record.
Her achievement attracted her attention and inspired others, especially women, in the same way to get her 15 minutes of fame. And then in America after this, such competitions began to be widely held. People could come in pairs or singly and find a partner right at the marathon.
By the beginning of the 1930s, dance marathons had turned into a very profitable business. There is something strangely fascinating and attractive in watching people who are on the verge - this is what the organizers played. Around the marathons, a lot of people were feeding - doctors, nurses, waiters, musicians, bouncers.
For many participants, the victory in the marathon meant the fulfillment of a dream - prizes of the elected from 1 to 5 thousand dollars, which was a small state (the average salary in the country was 1368 dollars a year). But most of them can get medical care, which they could not afford. Many cruised across the country from one marathon to another, the proportion is thus their existence. Some of them participated in marathons in the hope that "talent hunters" would notice them and offer a contract. But so lucky units - for example, Jun Hawk, attracted the attention of Hollywood agents on the "West Palm Beach Marathon" in 1934, where she danced 3600 hours almost without stopping.
A special role in dance marathons dominated the manager (Master of Ceremony, MC). His main job was to entertain the audience, coming up with new assignments for the contestants. The most typical variant was the so-called "derby", when after several hundred hours of dancing, the participants, already on the verge of physical and emotional exhaustion, had to run along the tracks painted on the floor. A variant was also distributed, in which once every two hours a certain melody was included, and everyone should have danced in this style - otherwise they were weeded out.