4. A) Put the statements from the interview together.

1. I hadn’t much hope of this plan working,	without another person getting in your way.
2. Instead of his son finishing school with a degree in business like my father had originally planned,	he had to watch me doing a hundred off-road driver training days with Land Rover.
3. Nowhere else can you travel the distances you can in Australia	of her son finding a way to make a living as a writer. eight hours a day.
4. Besides that, I’ve heard	of the whole country being crazy for adventure driving.
5. Adventure travel is all	I’ve created and collected.
6. Anyway, after my coming back it’ll take some time to make something of the stories	but I just couldn’t see myself sitting in a cubicle and writing Excel formulas.
7. My mom has been dreaming	about your staying positive when things go wrong.

b) Study the information about Complex Gerund Constructions at page …. Then find these constructions in the sentences above.

c) What is the role of gerund construction in each of the sentences above?

5. Discuss the questions below in pairs.

1. Have you ever seen a tour guide at work? Share your experience. 2. Do you find the job of a tour guide exciting? 3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this job? 4. What skills do you need to be a professional at this job? Do you have these skills? 5. Would you like to try working as a tour guide part-time? Why/why not?

LESSON 6: TRIPADVISER.COM

Active vocabulary: visa, apply, health insurance, re, input

Communicative area: reading a forum, giving recommendations

1. Work in pairs. Look at the picture below. Do you agree with the reasons? What would you change or add to the banner? (илл. 7.6.1)

2. Work in pairs. You are planning to visit a foreign country you’ve never been to. What kind of information will you need before leaving? Make a list of questions to ask your travel agent.

3. A) Read a forum page from www.Tripadvisor.Com. What kind of website is it? How is the language of forums different from standard English?

Mathew03

I'll be in Minsk for 2 days, I've reserved a room in a Planeta hotel. I want feedback about the hotel and how central it is. I’d also appreciate a piece of advice about the main sights there? Any additional travel tips are much welcome. Thanks.

CIayB

My football club has just been drawn against BATE Borisov with the likely date going to be 19th or 20th of July. Can anyone advise the best way to get a visa? Is it possible to get one in Dublin or is it done by post to London? I will be unable to send my passport away until after July 8th. I am not likely to be flying into Minsk as the flights are expensive but will be trying to get a train from somewhere else.

Fotunat Re: ClayB

Try Ryanair. They do dirt cheap flights to Vilnius or Kaunas which is just 100/150 miles from Minsk. The bus from Vilnius to Minsk costs 10 euro and takes only 4hrs/due to an hour spent at the border. So if you get a visa it is not that hard to get here.

RitaM

Hey I have a question about travel to Belarus. Mostly a mix of the questions here. Planning to go there in February. Aside from being cold are things much the same in winter? Do trains and buses run as often?

Due to the cost of flight and visa through the airport I have decided to arrive in Vilnius and proceed to Minsk by train. Then spend a few nights in Minsk or Brest.

I am an Australian living in London now. I only have Australian passport which permit to stay in the UK for 5 years. For a visa do I still need letter from the Hotel? How do you get these? Can anyone recommend a hotel and what I should pay?

Is it possible to book the Train from Vilnius to Minsk in advance? Is this something that I should do?

Anyway that's enough questions. Any help, discussion or pointers would be great! Thanks.

Destination Expert Re: Rita M.

That's a nice undertaking, mate)) Plenty of Aussies seem to be travelling to Belarus from London. Those whom I served as tourists applied in London, got their visas in advance and stayed in a hostel of the Education Ministry.

Transportation here is not disrupted by heavy snowfalls, unlike in some western countries. Weather is sometimes severe, but given the enormous heat this summer I cannot say anything definite for winter.

Should you have any particular questions on sights and all - feel free to PM. Cheers, Andrei

Cora_v

Hi :) Does anyone have any idea what those cottages offered for rent near Mir castle really are? http://www.mirzamok.by/ Any comfort or mainly basic “green tourism" facilities?

Thanks for any input!

Felix300 Re: Cora v

They have a web-site, it is a plus. But not the whole of it seems to be working. Perhaps you can give it a try for a night.

Cora_v Re: Felix300

At the end of the day I gave up staying in Mir. The owners of the cottage on the web-site I mentioned above never picked up the phone. Much to my fortune, because the area can easily be explored from Minsk.:)

ScotlandESmit...

Hello, I am planning to visit Belarus next year at some point between June and September but I'm not yet that sure of times so I was wondering if you could notify me of any events, festivals etc, which would take place during this time. I would be visiting: Minsk, Brest and possibly somewhere in the East.

Thank you very much! Juan

Bruno1982

Hi, I am visiting Belarus this Summer for 4/5 days. I wanted to spend half of the time exploring Minsk which leaves me with enough time to visit one other region of the country. Where would people recommend as the 'must-see site' in Belarus? I'm entering and leaving the country from Lithuania, so this might be a factor...

Also, can anyone recommend the best form of transport to take? Car hire seems a little expensive, so I'd like to know how most people travel around the country.

Felix300 Re:Bruno 1982.

I believe Brest with the Fortress is a nice thing to explore and an easy place to get to on your way back. Grodno is a nice place, too, boasting of a number of undamaged old buildings.

archiron12 Re:Bruno 1982.

I would recommend spending a day or two in Grodno, especially since it's close to the Lithuanian border. You can travel by train or bus within the country. There are minivans running between Minsk and Grodno every hour or so. The ride is about 4.5 hours. Have fun travelling.

Pennyblack

Hi, I’ve just came back from 5 nights in Minsk so here’s some info.

You DO need a visa. You can get it either from a Belarus embassy in your home country or at Minsk 2 airport.

You MUST have an invitation letter and a voucher from a travel agent in Belarus. You get this when you book your apartment or hotel with them.

As for the health insurance being a UK citizen you don’t need to purchase this at the airport like some other nationals.

Place to stay. You can either take a hotel or apartment. If you want any advice about this then email or pm me and I can tell you where I stayed and places in good locations.

Locals are friendly, I got no one hassling me at all and the ones I asked for directions or info were always polite, smiley and nice.

Food in Minsk is not great in my opinion but relatively cheap.

Minsk has beautiful buildings and streets are spotless. I wandered around in the early hours of the morning and never once felt unsafe or nervous.

Marino2000 Re: Pennyblack

I am planning to go to Minsk at the end of the month. I would thank you if you could give me as much info as possible regarding accommodation, visa and of course entertainment!

Do you know any good hotels to stay?

What’s the best and cheapest way to get a visa (I am British)?

sythetraveler Re: Pennyblack

We're planning to drive to Minsk in late April from West Germany. Can you recommend places (hotels or apartments) to stay? Any restaurants you liked? Thanks.

b) Answer the questions below.

1. What is the purpose of ClayB’s visit to Belarus? 2. Why didn’t Cora v stay in a cottage near Mir castle? 3. What seems to be the cheapest way to get to Belarus from Britain? 4. What countries are the forum visitors from? 5. What are the general impressions of those who already came back from their trips?

c) Which of the following definitions describe the words taken from the forum above?

Visa – a) a credit card issued by Visa inc. b) a document issued by a country's government allowing the holder to enter that country c) a French independent record label

Aussie – a) in common financial parlance what Australian dollar is called b) slang for a person with autism c) a slang term for (an) Australian

PM – a) project manager b) personal message c) prime minister

Insurance – a) protection against financial failure b) a score that increases a team's lead enough to prevent the opposing team from tying the game with one more score c) the act, system, or business of providing financial protection for property, life, health, etc., against specified possibilities, such as death, loss, or damage

Re – a) In reference to; in the case of; concerning (Latin) b) renewable energy c) alternate spelling for an ancient Egyptian god Ra

apply – a) to refer (a word, epithet, etc.) to a person or thing b) to request or seek assistance, admission etc c) to put to practical use

input – a) a statement that expresses a personal opinion or belief or adds information b) energy, work, or power used to drive a machine c) a statement or remark that calls attention to something or someone

hassling – a) to argue or fight b) provoke by constant criticism c) to trouble or bother

d) Discuss the questions below in pairs.

How many questions are asked? How many of them are answered? What questions got more than one reply? What are the most common questions? Do you have any of these questions on your list?