In 1947 a group of famous people from the art world headed by an Austrian conductor decided to hold an interactional festival of music, dance and theatre in Edinburgh. The idea was to reunite Europe after the Second World War.
At the same time, the “Fringe” appeared as a challenge to the official festival. Eight theatre groups turned up uninvited in 1947, in the belief that everyone should have the right to perform, and they did so in a public house disused for years.
Soon, groups of students firstly from Edinburgh University, and later from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, Durham and Birmingham were making the journey to the Scottish capital each summer to perform theatre by little-known writers of plays in small church halls to the people of Edinburgh.
Today the “Fringe”, once less recognized, has far outgrown the festival with around 1,500 performances of theatre, music and dance on every one of the 21 days it lasts. And yet as early as 1959, with only 19 theatre groups performing, some said it was getting too big.
A paid administrator was first employed only in 1971, and today there are eight administrators working all year round and the number rises to 150 during August itself. In 2004 there were 200 places housing 1,695 shows by over 600 different groups from 50 different countries. More than 1.25 million tickets were sold.
小题1:What was the purpose of Edinburgh Festival at the beginning?
A．To bring Europe together again.
B．To honor heroes of World War 11.
C．To introduce young theatre groups.
D．To attract great artists from Europe.小题2:Why did some uninvited theatre groups come to Edinburgh in 1947?
A．They owned a public house there.
B．They came to take up a challenge.
C．They thought they were also famous.
D．They wanted to take part in the festival.小题3:Who joined the "Fringe" after it appeared?
A．they owned a public house there
B．University students.
C．Artists from around the world.
D．Performers of music and dance.小题4:We may learn from the text that Edinburgh Festival __________.
A．has become a non-official event
B．has gone beyond an art festival
C．gives shows all year round
D．keeps growing rapidly
