Why Not Stay at Home?

Some people travel on business, some in search of health. But it is neither the sickly nor the men of affairs who fill the Grand Hotels and the pockets of their proprietors. It is those who travel 'for pleasure’, as the phrase goes. What Epicurus, who never travelled except when he was banished, sought in his own garden, our tourists seek abroad. And do they find their happiness? Those who frequent the places where they resort must often find this question, with a tentative answer in the negative, fairly forced upon them. For tourists are in the main, a very gloomy-looking tribe. I have seen much brighter faces at a funeral than in the Piazza of St Mark's. Only when they can band together and pretend, for a brief, precarious hour, that they are at home, do the majority of tourists look really happy. One wonders why they come abroad. The fact is that few travellers really like travelling. If they go to the trouble and expense of travelling, it is not so much from curiosity, for fun, or because they like to see things beautiful and strange, as out of a kind of snobbery. People travel for the same reason as they collect works of art: because the best people do it. To have been to certain spots on the earth's surface is socially correct; and having been there, one is superior to those who have not. Moreover, travelling gives one something to talk about when one gets home. The subjects of conversation are not so numerous that one can neglect an opportunity of adding to one's store.

(From Along ili? Road by Aldous Huxley)

Travelling

Text I

Probably nobody can imagine our modern life without travelling. Now the words “tourism”, “travelling” and “holidays” have the same associations. Some years ago travelling abroad was very rare and only few people could afford it, but now thanks to the travel revolution, longer holidays, bigger salaries and the change of the policy of the country more people visit other countries. Holidays are a wonderful chance to relax, have fun and explore new places.

There are different forms of travelling. Probably, the most comfortable is a package holiday. These are holidays that are organized by a travel company where the basic price includes flight, accommodation and food. Going on such holidays you can settle everything beforehand and fully relax during the holidays.

Not all people prefer relaxation during the holidays, some prefer activity holidays. These are holidays which involve an activity. They are fun, practical and a great way to make new friends who share your interests. These interests can include foreign languages, cycling, cookery, sailing and so on.

If you haven’t got enough money, you can go on working holidays. You can work on a farm picking fruit in France or Israel, or if you want to go to the USA you can work in a summer camp for kids. There are hundreds of them all over the US every summer and many of them employ foreign students to help organize games end events. It is hard work, but you are paid and get free time in the end to travel around America.

More and more people want to experience real life when they are abroad, that is why they prefer Homestay holidays. Instead of staying in hotels, you live with a family in their own house. It is cheaper than package holidays and much more interesting.

Text II

The scientific and technological progress has allowed people to overcome time and distance, to cover in the twinkle of an eye the vast expanse of our planet. The whole world is open now. The limits and frontiers of the previous period have stopped to exist.

We can choose any place on the planet and go there on business or for holiday. We can go to the place of our destination by sea, by air or by train.

As for me, I like to travel. The members of our family usually have long walks in the country. Such walks are called hikes. If we want to see the countryside, we have to spend a part of our summer holidays on hikes. It is useful for all members of our family. We take our rucksacks, we don’t think about tickets, we don’t hurry up and we walk a lot. Hiking is becoming very popular. People like to spend their days off in the country. There are picturesque places near every town with forests, lakes and rivers. It is pleasant to spend a day chatting, joking and singing with friends on a river bank, a lake shore or at a bonfire in a forest, having a good time and a good rest.

Text III

A lot of people travel in their own cars along the roads of Belarus, Russia, Moldavia and other countries. Beautiful pine forests and silvery birches, picturesque rivers and numerous lakes attract lovers of nature.

There are other ways of travelling. If you are an adventurer you can travel by hitch-hiking, bicycle, on horseback.

Coach tours are not expensive and I like them very much. They are planned as holidays and there is a chance to do a lot of sightseeing and have a good rest at the same time. Last year I went by coach through a few countries and enjoyed the tour immensely.

During the ten-day holiday we visited Hungary, Slovenia and Italy. Sightseeing was combined with rest. For a few days we stayed at some lovely small hotels. There was no trouble with the luggage because it was taken care of at every night stop. Moreover hotels were carefully selected and booked in advance.

Dialogue

• Hello. What can I do for you?

• I want to travel to Rome for the summer holidays, and I just want an idea of prices and things.

• Just a minute. What exactly do you want to know?

• Well, first of all, how much does a flight cost?

• Our cheapest flight is with Alitalia, stopping over Paris. That’s 506 pounds.

• Return?

• Yes, that’s return. It’s a good price, isn’t it?

• Very good. What about the other airlines?

• With the other airlines, it depends on the time of year.

• When do you want to travel?

• I want to fly out at the end of June and come back about the middle of September.

• That’s quite an expensive time of year, but if you wait a moment, I’ll give you some other prices, just to give you an idea.

• Thanks.

THE WALLACE COLLECTION

The Wallace Collection displays superb works of art in probably the most sumptuous of any museum in London. Many people regard it as their favourite place in the capital.

The Collection was bequethed to the nation by Sir Richard's widow in 1897 and is displayed on the ground I and the first floors of Hertford House, the family's main London residence.

There you can see unsurpassed collections of French eighteenth-century painting, furniture and porcelain together with Old Master paintings by, among others, Titian, Canaletto, Rembrandt, Hals, Rubens, Velazquez and Gainsborough. The finest collection of arms and armour in England outside the Tower of London is shown in four galleries and further displays of gold boxes, miniatures, French and Italian sculpture and medieval and: Renaissance works of art including Limoges enamels, maiolica, glass, silver, cuttings from illuminated manuscripts and carvings in ivory, rock crystal and boxwood.

The Wallace Collection owes its splendid display of eighteenth-century French painting, particularly Watteau, Boucher and Fragonard and its important collection of pictures by French and English artists of the early nineteenth century including Delacroix and Bonington. The collection of miniatures numbers more than three hundred.

The spectacular collection of eighteenth-century French furniture contains a number of pieces made for royal residences including the chest of drawers made for Louis XV's bedroom at Versailles in 1739 and the secretaries made for Queen Marie-Antoinette by the leading cabinet-maker of the period, Riesener. Among the best loved objects in the entire Collection are the many beautiful clocks including a gilt-bronze musical clock which plays thirteen different tunes. At Helford House you can see the finest museum collection of Sevres in the world, including exquisite pieces once owned by Louis XV and his mistress Madame de Pompadour.

The Wallace Collection is particularly strong in finely decorated pieces of armour for parade, tournament and use in the field, and in the series of sixteenth and seventeenth-century swords.

The Wallace Collection is a five-minutes walk from Bond Street underground station and Oxford Street. The admission is free.

SPORT

Active Vocabulary

Nouns and Noun Phrases

amateur		любитель
competitor		противник, соперник
contest		соревнование, состязание, конкурс
endurance		выносливость, стойкость
injury		1. вред, повреждение; 2. рана, ущерб
shape		форма
soccer		футбол
spectator		зритель, посетитель
supporter		сторонник, приверженец
violence		насилие
rival		соперник, конкурент