2017届浙江省高考英语一轮复习训练：必修五 Unit 2《The United Kingdom》_高考复习指南

2017届浙江省高考英语一轮复习训练：必修五 Unit 2《The United Kingdom》

　　Ⅱ.阅读理解

　　(2017·桂林市一调)

　　For thousands of years, the most important two buildings in any British village have been the church and the pub. Traditionally, the church and the pub are at the heart of any village or town, where the people gather together to socialize and exchange news.

　　As a result, British pubs are often old and well preserved. Many of them have become historicists. The most famous example is the pub in the city of Nottingham called “The Old Trip to Jerusalem”， which dates back to the year 1189 AD and is probably the oldest pub in England.

　　However, British pubs are not just for kings and queens; they welcome people from all classes and parts of society. On a cold night, the pub's landlord or landlady can always find a warm place for you by the fire. There is always honest and hearty food and plenty of drink available at an affordable price.

　　That's how things used to be. Things are beginning to change. It is said that the credit crunch(信贷紧缩 ) is causing 39 British pubs a week to go out of business. People do not have enough spare money to spend on beer. Recently, the UK government banned (禁止) smoking in all pubs, and that may also have affected the number of customers going to pubs.

　　This decline(衰退) is happening despite the fact that in 2005 the UK government started to allow pubs to stay open after 11 p．m. Previously, with 11 p．m. as closing time, customers would have to drink quite quickly, meaning they sometimes got more drunk than they would if allowed to drink slowly. The British habit of drinking a lot very quickly is known as “binge drinking”， and it causes longterm health problems for people and problems with violent crime for communities.