11) Reading

1. Prediction. Read the title of the reading extract. What do you think the writer’s attitude to travel is?

2. Can you think of any reasons why people might not enjoy travel? Is there anything that you don’t like about travel?

3. Read the text. What does the phrase ‘It’s not what it is made out to be’ mean?

Travel – Who needs it?

My dream as a bored 14-year-old sitting in classroom in a town that was all too familiar to me was to get a job that would allow me to travel. Of course it would have been better to travel without the job, but my imagination has always been weighed down by practicalities.

I planned to go backpacking in Europe, trekking in Nepal and hitching across the USA but felt that there must be a company out there that would pay for my visa to China and allow me the luxury of reserving scheduled flights to North Africa instead of relying on the charter flights put on for package tourists.

So for my travel plans I contacted the careers service instead of the travel agent. In no time I became an engineer and was sent off to fix oil and gas pipelines in Colombia after a little time marooned in the North Sea hundreds of miles from anywhere. I was soon to see that the real advantage of travelling with a wealthy sponsor was how easy it was to bypass local inconveniences such as work permits and immigration officials. The company organised inoculations, they dealt with my airport transfers and had excellent accommodation ready for me in every destination. And how many destinations! Wherever a pipeline leaked they would send me. Soon I was more familiar with the airports of South East Asia than I was with my friends’ new houses and babies.

There was something missing of course. I went everywhere, even to Siberia, but never stayed for long enough to learn a language or begin to understand a culture. I ate in great restaurants but never met the chefs. I travelled in planes trains, cars, trucks and boats but never had a season ticket. In fact I rarely ever even had to stand in a queue at the ticket office.

I longed for a dull place to settle down but also for travel without departure lounges and timetables.

It’s not what it is made out to be.

4. Find words or phrases in the text which have a similar meaning to the following:

1. walking in the mountains or forest

2. go around, ignore

3. vaccinations against diseases

4. hotels, apartments, places to stay

11. Describe an interesting journey that you have made in detail.

a. Where did you go? When? Why? Who with?

b. Describe each step of the journey in detail.

c. What did you see? What interesting experiences did you have?

12. Travel Dictionary Quiz.

1. Who are the travelling public?

2. Do we say in your travels or on your travels?

3. What do you take if you travel light?

4. What’s a travelogue?

5. What does a travel agent do?

6. What do you mean if you say your car can really travel?

7. What do you mean if you say that a wine travels well?

8. What are you if you are well-travelled?

9. What’s the difference between traveling and travelling?

PART TWO

READING COMPREHENSION

Text 1. Camping

C amping is recreational activity in which participants take up temporary residence in the outdoors, usually using tents or specially designed or adapted vehicles for shelter. Camping was at one time only a rough, back-to-nature pastime for hardy open-air lovers, but it later became the standard holiday for vast numbers of ordinary families. Most camping is done in forest areas, on mountains, or near oceans, lakes, or streams.