Going on a trip

Some may be fond of travelling. For me to travel is to go through a gradual state of nerve wrecking.

Once my wife and I decided to take a holiday trip. So I went to an agency to book a cabin on a ship. While 1 was away my wife was supposed to be packing. To my astonishment it was only half done when I returned as my wife was in doubt whether to take a trunk or just a few suitcases to carry our things in.

It was no use urging her to hurry or to be ready at a certain time because she was not the person to be hurried or ordered about. To try to speed her up was to make her excited and bad- tempered.

With only an hour to spare, the packing to do and the city to cross, I could not but be impatient, so I simply began to throw the things into the suitcases without folding them. The suitcase nearly burst, but I was willing to burst a dozen suitcases to catch the train. I knew my wife would have to iron everything again. But I thought it would teaeh her not to put things off to the last moment. Within 20 minutes or so we were ready to go.

I immediately found a taxi which seemed almost too good to be true and requested the driver to hurry and get us to the station alive in time. How the taxi-driver managed to get us to the station alive is difficult to understand because he drove at breakneck speed through the heavy traffic of the city. We got to the station, though strange to relate, quite safety to find the train still there and with a few minutes to spare. Some acquaintan­ces were waiting on the platform to see us off, but we hardly had time to say "hello” to them. We were almost the last passen­gers to arrive. This was no time for me to be genteel. Up went the mountains of luggage; down sank my wife in a comer, and away went the train.

In the compartment we were not the only ones to want to put our luggage on the racks. Our fellow passengers wanted to put their as well, only to find there had been no room left to speak of. It was enough to make anyone angry. When they tried to dump their suitcases in the corridor, the conductor would not have them do it. They tried to convince him that it was nothing to make a fuss about but he replied that corridors were to walk through, not to store luggage in. In the end the conductor calmed down. But the people were just bursting to tell us a thing or two.

When we had to change stations to go aboard the ship, my wife wanted me to carry all the luggage. She didn’t want to waste money on porters when she had a strong, muscular husband to do it for her. But I had no desire to take the risk of breaking my back and so I went on strike. In the end my wife gave in.

It took the porter three trips to transfer it all and when he had finished he had no breath left to speak of. And the beauty of it was that she had us drag all that luggage only to leave half of it unopened when we did get there.

Remember:

to book a cabin on a ship to driveat breakneck speed to go aboard the ship to getto the station

to arrive in/at to see smb.off

to take a holiday trip to change stations

1. Choose the right word. Translate sentences into Rus­sian.

travel, travels, to travel", travelling

(1) His mind ... to his childhood. (2) The news ... fast.

3. This is a book of.... (4) His eyes ... over the picture. (5) He loves reading ... books. (6) He is fond of... . (7) Nowadays ... has become a highly organized business.

2. Explain the following expressions. Reproduce the sit­uations in which the sentences with these words occur in the text.

(1) to be fond of (2) to take a trip (3) to my astonishment

3. it was no use urging her (5) she was not the person to be ordered about (6) with only an hour to spare (7) to catch the train (8) to be too good to be true (9) there had been no room left to speak of (10) to make a fuss (11) corridors were to walk through, not to store luggage in (12) to calm down (13) the peo-

4. pie were just bursting to tell us a thing or two (14) to go on strike (15) to give in (16) it took the porter three trips to transfer it (17) to have no breath left to speak of.

3. Give Russian equivalents for the following:

one’s name to forget oneself

one’s troubles one’s disagreements

to leave

a letter for somebody the window open the tickets behind

4. Write English equivalents for the following words and phrases. Use them in sentences of your own.

Прибыть в Москву; багаж; пересесть на другой поезд; опоздать на поезд; дорожный чемодан; нервотрепка; благовоспитанный; в конце концов; успокоиться

5. Give synonyms from the text to the following words and phrases:

(1) to make up one’s mind (2) to persuadé (3) to bother one’s head (4) to spend money (5) to continue (6) closed

6. Fill in the prepositions where necessary:

(1) He arrived ... his destination in time. (2) The train ar­rived ... Prague early ... the morning. (3) I went straight... the platform to look... my carriage. (4) As the driver drove ... break­neck speed I felt my heart sink. (5) If you are not pressed ... time, you may travel... water. (6) Mother asked me to book her a cabin ... a ship. (7) I hate seeing people .... (8) On our way... Paris we had to change stations. (9) Though I did my best I failed to catch ... the train.

7. Match the words with their definitions below:

1. a cabin (2) a trunk (3) to pack (4) a porter (5) a luggage

1. a man who carries luggage; b) to fill methodically with contents; c) an apartment in a ship; d) a traveller’s baggage; e) a thing for containing clothes.

8. Which words go together according to the text:

muscular wrecking

a dozen traffic

nerve husband

breakneck suitcases

heavy speed

9. Answer these questions. Begin when possible the an­swers with:

/ think/guess/believe... I should say...

The way I see it... I reckon...

I consider...

1. The author-was fond of travelling, was he not? Why?

2. What was his wife supposed to be doing while he was away to an agency? 3. On returning he found the suitcases packed up, didn’t he? 4. Why wasn’t his wife through with packing? 5. Was it any use urging her to hurry? Why? 6. Why couldn’t John but be impatient? 7. How did he teach his wife a good lesson? 8. Was it easy or difficult to find a taxi? 9. Did the taxi-driver manage to get the travellers to the station alive and in time? 10. Did they have enough time to say good-bye to their acquaintances?

11. What did the author mean saying, "this was no time for me to be genteel”? 12. What made eveiyone angry in the compart­ment? 13. Did the conductor let the passengers dump their suit­cases in the corridor? 14. Why did the author go on strike when changing stations? 15. Did his wife give in the end? 16. How many trips did it take the porter to transfer all the luggage?

17. How did the porter feel when he finished? 18. What was the beauty of the situation?

WRITING

1. Translate into English:

1. Добрый день. Я бы хотел зарезервировать два авиа­билета в один конец из Москвы в Ростов. — Да, ко­нечно. Первый класс или эконом? — Эконом, пожа­луйста.

2. Будут ли пересадки? — Нет, это пряной рейс. Вы должны быть в аэропорту за 45 минут до вылета.

3. Вы принимаете кредитные карточки? — Да. Спаси­бо. Распишитесь здесь, пожалуйста.

4. Что имеется в новом каталоге путешествий? — Там несколько новых туров и информация об отдельных услугах. — Есть ли какие-нибудь скидки? — Есть скидки на детей до 12 лет. На взрослых туристов никаких скидок нет.

5. Это — билет в одну сторону, т. е. из Милана в Рим. За другой вам следует доплатить.

6. Вам не следует нарушать установленные ограниче­ния. Условия указаны в билете.

7. Мы прибыли на станцию, чтобы проводить друзей. Мы очень торопились, поэтому неслись на безумной скорости.

8. Отдыхающие взошли на борт корабля и поняли, что поступили правильно, забронировав каюту именно на этом лайнере.

9. Некоторые люди предпочитают готовые туры, дру­гим предлагаются индивидуальные пакеты.

10. Ты наверняка часто видишь рекламу этого агентства в средствах массовой информации.

11. Турагент продает также отдельные услуги. Это номе­ра в отеле, экскурсии, страховки тура и т. д.

12. Они, вероятно, издают брошюры, путеводители, раскладывающиеся проспекты и каталоги путеше­ствий.

13. Он, должно быть, организовывает развлекательную программу для пассажиров на круизном теплоходе.

14. Произнесите фамилию по буквам, пожалуйста. Ка­кой вы выбираете рейс? Заполните вот этот бланк, пожалуйста. Не забудьте написать номер телефона.

15. Купе с двумя спальными местами дороже. Вы можете произвести оплату как наличными, так и по кредит­ной карте. — Спасибо, я перезвоню. Я затрудняюсь решить прямо сейчас.

2. You are thinking about visiting either N. or B. Your friend from N. is doing her/his best to persuade you to go to her/his native place. She/he compares the two places and tells the class which one is better and why.

N

Means of communica­tion — various Climate — warm

В

But in...

The climate is wet. It may rain often.

Beaches — clean and sandy The beaches are dirty. Water — clean and blue Restaurants and cafes — cheap Food — delicious People — friendly Discos — exciting

3. Make up monologues.

1. Are you keen on travelling?

2. Do you think travel helps a person to become wiser?

3. Why are many people fond of travelling.

TALKING POINTS■■■■■■■■■■■■■■

1. Speak about your going on a holiday trip once.

2. Tell your friend that he/she should or should not go:

1. to the Crimea in June;

2. to the Baltic Sea in November;

3. to the Black Sea in August;

4. to the country in January.

3. A. Act out the following situation.

A family is discussing where they will go for their summer holidays...

Even though their tastes are different the family wants to go on holiday together. They are looking at the holiday pages in the papers. They are trying to choose a holiday they all can agree to. They are at home in London on a wet Sunday afternoon.

1. Daughter: Holidays are for doing something different — I’d like to work with my hands — weaving or pottery, or some­thing. I can’t stand lying on a beach for more than a couple of days.

2. Father: An active holiday for me — I’d like to go horse- riding. I’m stuck in an office all year round.

3. Son: I love exploring and discovering things; old church­es and castles, different ways of life; smth. genuine and off the beaten track. I don’t want to get stuck in a crowd of tourists. It’s not worth going on holiday if you can’t get away from what you do all year round.

4. Mother: I’ve been working so hard this year that all I want is to sit around on the beach and have a really lazy time. I want to soak in enough sun to see me through November.