lunes, 21 de noviembre de 2016

Listening test: The passport

Listen to a Canadian citizen talking about the problems she once had with her passport and complete the blanks in the sentences below with up to THREE words. 0 is an example.

0 Example:
The woman used to work as a tour guide in Europe.

1 While doing her job, the woman had a lot of _________________ stamps in her passport.

2 By mid 2005, her passport was full and there was _________________ for more stamps.

3 As a new passport was going to take very long, the embassy official _____________________ to the passport.

4 When she arrived at the Toronto airport, she went to _________________ as usual.

5 Before getting her bags, she had to _________________ to another agent.

6 The officer carefully looked through the woman’s passport to make sure it was _________________ .

7 The woman started _________________ when she realised she might not be allowed into the country.




I used to work as a tour guide in Europe. For five summers starting in 2002, I led tours all over Europe. I crossed a lot of borders during that time, so I had a lot of entry and exit stamps in my passport plus a few visas. By the middle of 2005, my passport was full and there was no room for more stamps. I went to the Canadian embassy in London to apply for a new passport. It was going to take too long to get a new passport and I couldn’t wait because I only had a few days before my next tour. The woman at the embassy added extra pages to my passport and told me to get a new one when I was back in Canada.
I flew home a few weeks later. I arrived at the Toronto airport and went to customs and immigration as usual. The border agent didn’t say anything while he looked at my passport, but I don’t think he had ever seen a passport full of stamps with extra pages in it. He made a mark on my declaration card, but the agents always do that, so I didn’t think anything of it. Before I could leave the customs and immigration area to go get my bags, I had to hand my card to another agent, and that was when I discovered the mark on my card meant something. It meant that I had to go to the immigration office, where they decide who gets into the country and who doesn’t.
I didn’t know why I was there, and that made me nervous. The immigration officer didn’t say anything while he was looking through my passport. I guess he just wanted to make sure it was legitimate. He started asking me questions about Canada and my life, but the questions were hard and I couldn’t answer some of them! I started panicking thinking I wasn’t going to be allowed into the country! He ended the investigation with an easy question that I could answer, and then he smiled and told me to go get a new passport.

Key:
1 entry and exit
2 no room
3 added extra pages
4 customs and immigration
5 hand her card
6 legitimate
7 panicking