People travel for a lot of reasons. Some tourists go to see battlefields or
religious shrines. Others are looking for culture, or simply want to have their
pictures taken in front of famous places. But most European tourists are looking
for a sunny beach to lie on. Northern Europeans are willing to
pay a lot of money and put up with a lot of inconveniences for the sun because
they have so little of it. Residents of cities like London, Copenhagen, and
Amsterdam spend a lot of their winter in the dark because the days are so short,
and much of the rest of the year in the rain. This is the reason the
Mediterranean has always attracted them. Every summer, more than 25 million
people travel to Mediterranean resorts and beaches for their vacation. They all
come for the same reason, sun! The huge crowds mean lots of
money for the economies of Mediterranean countries. Italy's 30,000 hotels are
booked solid every summer. And 13 million people camp out on French beaches,
parks, and roadsides. Spain's long sandy coastline attracts more people than
anywhere else. 37 million tourists visit yearly, or one tourist for every person
living in Spain. But there are signs that the area is getting
more tourism than it can handle. The Mediterranean is already one of the most
polluted seas on earth. And with increased tourism, it's getting worse. The
French can't figure out what to do with all the garbage left by campers around
St. Tropez. And in many places, swimming is dangerous because of
pollution. None of this, however, is spoiling anyone's fun. The
Mediterranean gets more popular every year with tourists. Obviously, they don't
go there for clean water and solitude. They tolerate traffic jams and seem to
like crowded beaches. They don't even mind the pollution. No matter how dirty
the water is, the coastline still looks beautiful. And as long as the sun
shines, it's still better than sitting in the cold rain in Berlin, London, or
Oslo.
单选题
The writer seems to imply that Europeans travel mostly for the reason
that ______.
A. they want to see historic remains or religious spots
B. they are interested in different cultural traditions and social
customs
C. they would like to take pictures in front of famous sites
D. they wish to escape from the cold, dark and rainy days back at
home