Read the text and choose the word or phrase below which best fits into the corresponding gap 1 to 12. Three of the words are not needed. 0 has been completed as an example.
Does travel really broaden the mind?
Mark Twain wrote: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
Perhaps, with the summer holidays upon us, and Brexit-based discussions about tolerance, immigration and our relationship with foreigners ringing in our (0) ears, it’s worth examining Twain’s quote. Does travel really broaden the mind, or does it tend to reinforce existing (1) …?
Parts of the travel industry have long been (2) … creating a “home away from home”, with English bars and familiar pizza restaurants to comfort Brits that their holiday experience will be different, but not that different. It’s perfectly possible to stay within the (3) … and have limited contact with “the locals”.
At the other end of the spectrum, parts of the industry offering more “immersive” experiences in distant places are (4) … marketing slogans such as “come back different” or “life-changing travel” – an indication that they see their holidays as transformative, (5) … is not always true.
For some people meeting (6) …, often with different languages and ways of life is very exciting, and the essence of travel, for others it’s quite naturally a little (7) … . How the tourist chooses to manage this - whether you are an experienced traveller, like me, heading to Kenya to be hosted by the Maasai on safari, or a young family on your way to Spain for the first time – is more important than how much (8) … they have or what they book.
Despite the type of holiday we choose or can afford, as Westerners we often have the habit of thinking we know (9) …, that our ways of doing things are universal. We learn little travelling this way. Travellers who, instead, develop the habit of asking questions, being (10) …, curious and respectful find their holiday is enriched.
Of course, many tourism businesses have understood this and help (11) … mutually beneficial encounters with local people, by designing trips “responsibly” with good local benefits, a (12) … welcome and open door to learn about and experience different ways of life. Perhaps it’s time to review our approach to strangers at home and on holiday.
accused of
best
cold
facilitate
fond of
frightening
keen
money
open-minded
prejudices
resort
strangers
that
warm
which
KEY:
1 prejudices
2 accused of
3 resort
4 fond of
5 which
6 strangers
7 frightening
8 money
9 best
10 open-minded
11 facilitate
12 warm
