Talking point: Travel

This week's talking point is travel. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas come to mind more easily the day you get together with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.

Do you like travelling? Why (not)?
What is the difference between a tourist and a traveller?
Look at the list of some benefits of travelling. Rank them in order of importance.

broadens your mind

enables you to get first hand experience of new places.

enables you to learn about new cultures

gives you the opportunity to try out foreign cuisine

helps you get away from your daily routine

Look at the following types of holidays.
Which of them do you have experience of?
Which of them do you find most appealing? Why?

A cycling holiday

A skiing holiday

A working holiday

A relaxing holiday

An adventure holiday

A camping holiday

A cruise

A city break

People now travel more than in the past. Why do you think this is?
‘Getting there is half the fun.’ How far do you agree with this?

To illustrate the topic you can watch Alain de Botton's documentary The art of travel.

88-year-old retires and lives on cruise ship

An estimated 24 million people are expected to take cruises this year. One report showed more than a quarter of them are age 60 or older, and more than one-fifth are retired. For many of those passengers, the ships are like a second home, but for one woman, ocean liner Crystal Serenity is her only home.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.



1. How often does Lee Wachtstetter talk to her family?
2. How long has she been living on the Crystal Serenity?
3. What is the last thing Lee’s husband told her?
4. What does she say about her grandchildren?
5. Why does she love it when everybody goes touring and she stays on board?
6. What does ‘5.15’ mean?
7. How much do it cost for Lee to live on the ship?
8. How long did it take a ship to cross the Northwest Passage when it was first done?

An estimated 24 million people are expected to take cruises this year. One report showed more than a quarter of them are age 60 or older, and more than one-fifth are retired. For many of those passengers, ships are like a second home, but for one woman, the ocean liner is her only home. CBS News travel editor Peter Greenberg met her while covering another story on board. Peter, good morning.
Good morning, Nora. Part of the reason cruises are so popular for retirees is because so much is taken care of for them, the cooking, cleaning, entertainment, all the activities. But when the cruise is over, most of them return home to their regular lives. But Lee Wachtstetter showed us how she found a way to travel the world without ever leaving home.
Did you miss me?
I did.
You could say 88-year-old Lee Wachtstetter has earned her sea legs.
How often are you talking to the family at home?
I talk to them every day.
Okay.
I’ll talk to them twice a day if it means I don’t have to be there.
Aboard the Crystal Serenity, she’s known simply as Mama Lee and she’s been living there for the past eight years.
I don’t have to shop, I don’t have to cook, I don’t have to do anything. I do what I want, when I want, if I want.
She and her late husband, Mason, took nearly 100 cruises together before he died in 1997.
The last thing he ever said to me, this was the day before he died, ‘Don’t you quit cruising.’ I started frequent cruising. But I got very, very tired of packing and unpacking. So I said, there’s got to be a better way to do this.
And the answer was, how about I don’t leave it at all!
Mama Lee sold her house in Florida, along with her car and most of her belongings, and never looked back.
Everybody knows her, she knows everybody.
Birger Vorland is captain of the Crystal Serenity.
She’s a little bit of a diva, in a good way. She gets along with her day, and she makes herself busy, and she has her things and her opinions, and she’s a wonderful person.
At your age, there are a lot of people who would say, ‘Well, I’m going to go to a retirement place.’
Oh, no, no, no. [Really?] Not me. Why do that? I’m now a great-grandmother. My grandchildren are having children. But I don’t want to be there every minute for that.  I love babies, but they grow up!
Mama Lee has now done more than 240 cruises around the world, and visited hundreds of different ports. But where the ship is going? Irrelevant. For Mama Lee, these days, the ship is the destination. 
Everything is ‘Been there, done that.’ If I’ve been there and done that, I don’t go off the ship. And I love it when everybody goes touring. I got the whole ship to myself with all the help.
You’ve got this figured out!
Oh, absolutely.
And you don’t really get off the ship anymore?
What for?
Cruise director Rick Spath considers himself part of her extended family at sea.
That’s Lee, she doesn’t care where the ship goes, she loves to dance her way around the world.
I dance every single day at 5:15, 7 days a week.
Do you ever sit back and think about what your life would be like if you weren’t on the ship?
Very boring. I think I live a fairy tale existence. It’s not a real life, I realize that. Not everybody does this. But a lot of people could.
I still think I do the same dance at seven every dance.
Yes, you do, but that’s okay.
Thanks, Charlee.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. How much does it cost Lee Wachtstetter to do the cruise? He estimated about $175,000 a year. And by the way, since she goes on the cruise wherever the ship goes, she’s one of a thousand passengers who spent $22,000…, that’s the other story we’re covering, this ship was actually the largest ship ever to attempt the Northwest Passage. They started sailing from Seward all the way north going 500 miles north of the Arctic Circle back to New York. It’s a thirty-two voyage, and to put this in perspective, when it was first done in 1903, it took them three years.
Is there one place she will get off the ship?
Yes, when the ship goes into dry dock, here’s what happens, it only happens once every like six or seven years, they literally pull up to the harbour, pull up to the dock, there’s another ship there and they walk her 50 feet and she goes on another ship.
Where does she get her doctor’s appointments and stuff like that? I mean, does she… I mean…
So far she’s dancing.
Yeah, that’s great!
On the Crystal Serenity. Peter, thank you.

KEY:
1 every day
2 for eight years
3 don’t you quit cruising
4 they are having children now. She’s a grandmother
5 because she has the ship to herself
6 the time she dances at every day
7 $175,000 a year
8 three years

Reading test: Seven top tips for driving long distances with children

In this week's reading test we are going to use The Guardian article Seven top tips for driving long distances with children to practise the heading-matching kind of task.

Read the article and choose the heading A-I which best suits each of the extracts. There are two headings you do not need to use.

A - Asking the wrong question
B - Disconnect to connect
C - Divide the day in well-defined stages
D - Don’t say you’ll do something you may not be able to do
E - Get together with other travellers
F - In-transit activities
G - Leave early, go slow
H - Set great destinations
I - The great distractor

My wife and I had just bought an old motorhome online so  40,000km, 30 countries and one year later by trial and error and with many tears, often mine, we discovered the best ways to have a great family road trip.

1
After a week of solid driving north through the Norwegian fjords towards the Arctic Circle, my family staged a revolution by way of a sit-in, demanding a no-drive day. Revelling in this break, from then on we slowed down, ensuring we were stationary for at least one day in every three. On particularly long driving days, we left early, ensuring everybody was fresh, and arrived before the kids’ witching hour. We stopped regularly at parks or playgrounds, where, unlatched from their seatbelts, the kids ran free like puppies off leashes. This child-friendly pace of dawdling tea stops and long, lazy lunches created as much entertainment as the awesome destinations.

2
Armed with colouring and reading books and paper, and with no mobile internet, the kids started entertaining themselves. We sang silly songs, told stories, and sometimes they slept. Occasionally, we counted cows, castles or yellow cars through the windows. At these times I tried not to be game-competitive – there’s little dignity in screaming “I won!” at a two-year-old.

3
Being with my children 24/7 for an extended period, I discovered how food constantly simmered in their little minds. Promising it, making it, drawing it, from anticipation to devouring, food was the thing that stopped them from paying attention and focusing. Just murmuring the word gelato could produce well-behaved discipline an army sergeant would yearn for. We also maintained a spare crisp packet in the glovebox of the vehicle at all times, cracked open like a glass-fronted fire alarm, only in emergencies, which seemed to occur quite often.

4
Promises of climbing castles, eating food and petting zoo animals could tame even the surliest child. But the great parental trap, the ill-thought-out promise, was to be avoided. When I found there was no gelato in the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco and no Ice Hotel in Sweden (it melts in summer), the disappointment blowback was extreme.

5
 “Has everybody been to the toilet?” seemed like a reasonable question at the start of each drive. Invariably, the kids said yes. Within five minutes of being on the road, however, the toilet concept sunk in, forcing an emergency pullover. We stopped mentioning it.

6
Driving for weeks towards the north pole became a pumped-up adventure once the kids knew they would visit Lapland’s Santa Claus and feed his reindeers. Turkey? Easy – underground cities. Oxford? The grand hall of Hogwarts. Involved in the upcoming stages of our journey, the children would chirp like excited squirrels, making the journey that much better.

7
No TV, internet, tablets or phones – it seemed like a good idea to reclaim “old-fashioned” family time and let the kids’ imaginations run wild. And it was – for a week. Soon we began to crave a hit of Google. But immersed in the rarefied air of each other’s company and discovering a new level of mutual attentiveness, we played games, lit fires, counted the bonging of church bells and connected as a family as never before.

KEY: 
1G 2F 3I 4D 5A 6H 7B

Airbnb home trashed during wild party

A Calgary family say their home has been destroyed by partying guests who rented it on the popular accommodation website Airbnb.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and say whether the statements below are true or false.



1. The Calgary couple rented their home to two people.
2. It was the first time they were renting their home.
3. The police came round during the weekend but saw nothing suspicious.
4. When the Calgary couple arrived on Monday, everybody had already left.
5. The Calgary couple found their house flooded.
6. The Calgary couple are not living in their own home at the moment.
7. The damage to the house amounts to under $50,000.
8. The police don’t know who rented the house.
9. The fine to the person who rented the house might amount to $5,000.
10. Airbnb has issued a statement saying they cannot take responsibility for the damage.

Would you rent out your home to strangers over the internet? A lot of people do but after renting out their home on Airbnb, a Calgary couple came back to find their place trashed, furniture destroyed, garbage everywhere, chicken drumsticks left in their shoes, that's an odd touch. The couple describing the whole ordeal as unimaginable. Well, Nancy Woods following the story for us with gusto, not that you liked this at all but you're fascinated by the story.
I think like a lot of Canadians is just the worst case scenario for renting out your home and Mark and Star King thought they were renting their home to four people who were in Calgary for the weekend, for a wedding. In fact… and it wasn't their first time renting through Airbnb, they'd done it before and they had pretty good experiences. During the weekend neighbours say a bus pulled up, a party bus with about a hundred people in it and at some point the neighbours got concerned and even called the police but when the police showed up, things didn't seem to be noisy so they didn't even go into the house to see what was happening but when the Kings showed up Monday morning, the party was still going on and they basically had to beg them to leave. There was broken glass, the furniture was wrecked, the hardwood floors were buckling because there were pools of alcohol in them, the toilets were blocked with condoms, food left up to spoil, cigarette butts everywhere. Police say there was some kind of drug-induced orgy that had gone on. Now the Kings have children and they say their home will never be the same for them. In fact, they say they would rather have seen it burnt to the ground than defiled the way it was. Here's Mark King.
For me it was shock and horror and disbelief. I just feel so violated and so… bigger than the physical damage, you know, is just we don't have a home, we’re homeless, we’re you know staying with relatives and this… the sense that our lives are broken.
Such a strong language but I get it that I would not want, I wouldn't want to see this, you know.
They said they had to go away for a day and come back the next day and look at it.
So you, you look at this and you figure that's got to be criminal conduct but it's not a slam-dunk criminal case.
Oh, no. The police say there was about fifty thousand dollars worth of damage done and they say they have a name of the person who rented. They want to talk to him. They say it’s a Calgary man but here's what the constable had to say about it.
Personally, I’d like to speak to the person that rented it. We’d like to hear his side of the story and how went out of hand and who he would… like we just want to speak to him first. He's pretty much our person of interest right now.
Now, that’s Sam Horvat, Constable Horvat says he's never seen so much damage done in such a short period of time, just three days. It even made him angry to see it. And the man who rented the Kings’ house could be charged with mischief to property, over five thousand dollars. Now as for Airbnb, it put out a statement today saying we have banned this guest from Airbnb and our trust and safety team will offer its full assistance to law enforcement in any investigation of this matter. It also says that the King family will be reimbursed because it has insurance fund for this kind of occasion which it says is rare and that it is also giving them accommodations until the house can be cleaned up if a house can ever be cleaned up for something like that.
When the family members say they’d say rather it had been burned to the ground… it feels like no amount of compensation is going to make them feel better but, you know what, maybe it'll get cleaned up until they feel okay.
I hope so.
Nancy thank you very much.

KEY:
1F 2F 3T 4F 5F 6T 7F 8F 9T 10F

Reading test: Austria village churches hire bouncers to block tourists

Read the BBC article Austria village churches hire bouncers to block tourists and choose the word or phrase A-N that best fits into each of the gaps in the text. There are three words or phrases you do not need to use. 0 is an example.

Austria village churches hire bouncers to block tourists

A (0) … Austrian village has brought in "bouncers" at its churches (1) … stop tourists disturbing services, it's reported.

Visitors from all over the world (2) … to the lakeside village of Hallstatt, a Unesco World Heritage Site, and it's particularly popular with tour groups from Asia. But some have been (3) … the locals with their eagerness to document church proceedings, even whipping out cameras and selfie sticks (4) .. funerals and photographing the mourners, the Heute website reports.

In response, the village's two churches have started to (5) … their doors before services begin or put someone at the entrance to block tourists. "Bouncers" are also posted to the local cemetery when funerals are being conducted, the meinBezirk news portal says. Church leaders stress that visitors are (6) … welcome at other times.

Parish council head Reinhard Kerschbaumer adds a touch of self-criticism when explaining the problem. "We should sometimes (7) … more moral courage and have the heart to (8) … something and not just grumble after the fact," he tells meinBezirk, adding that the tourist barrier might then not be needed.

Hallstatt's appeal is far-reaching: in 2012, a replica of the village was unveiled in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong. Mayor Alexander Scheutz overcame initial (9) … to fly to China for the opening ceremony, telling the BBC that locals found it amusing that their little village was "important (10) … to get a copy".


A - already
B - annoying
C - do
D - doubts
E - during
F - enough
G - flock
H - in order to
I - lock
J - make
K - picturesque 0 Example
L - show 
M - still
N – when

Photo: Nick Csakany/Wikimedia

KEY: 
1H 2G 3B 4E 5I 6M 7L 8C 9D 10F

Reading test: What we hate about Christmas

Read the text about irritating modern-day Christmas traditions and choose the option A, B or C which best completes each gap. 0 is an example.


The interminable build-up
It used to be December before the distant sound of sleigh bells and ringing tills (0) ___ your ears. Classy families even waited to put up their trees until Christmas Eve. Now the festive season starts directly after Halloween. (1) ___  it’s actually Christmas, I’m bored of Christmas.

Mulled wine
Ever (2) ___ a nice glass of red wine and thought: “This would be much better if it was hot and full of woody shrapnel?” Me neither.

Christmas jumpers
Five years ago, novelty knitwear became a “thing”. Primark started selling monstrosities with snowflakes, reindeers and unfunny slogans on them. People now believe Christmas jumpers are soooo ironically kitsch. They’re not. They’re itchy and make you (3) ___ a child.

Christmas cards
The keeping-in-touch element (4) ___ by social media now, leaving Christmas cards as just a pain in the posterior. And you, of course, will offend someone by leaving them out.

Coffee chains loving Christmas
Red cups? Pumpkin spice lattes? Christmas sandwiches and “Crimble Crumble”? Just (5) ___ my coffee and misspell my name like usual.

Travel hell
Ah, the one time of year when you need to get around: going shopping, attending parties, getting to your family, getting away from them again. So obviously, railways are closed, flights are (6) ___ , roads are jammed and it’s impossible to (7) ___ a cab.

Work lunches
If you’re on one, they’re a torture chamber of forced jollity. If you’re not on one, you can’t enter a pub or restaurant without seeing a long tableful of depressed-looking people in paper hats pretending to like (8) ___ . And you can’t get to the bar because it’s two-deep with amateur once-a-year drinkers who don’t know how to order properly.

Christmas trees on social media
Everybody shares. Nobody (9) ___. I hate to sound tree-ist, but they all look the same.

Secret Santa
Why bother giving a hastily-wrapped gift to a colleague you barely know? Then forcing out a hollow laugh, pretending to like (10) ___ they bought you? Get everyone to chip into a drinks kitty instead. Boozy Santa beats Secret Santa every time.

Feeling like death for a month with so much drinking and eating
Hangovers give you a cold. Work stress (11) ___ your tiredness. The weather worsens your manflu. By Christmas Eve, you’re in danger of total physical collapse.

Finding the end of the sellotape
I’ve calculated how long you’ll spend doing this during your lifetime. I’ll (12) ___ you the answer just as soon as I’ve found the end of this Sellotape. Damn, I thought I had it then. It must’ve been the light or a hair.

Parcel delivery
“We rang the doorbell but you were out”. No, I was in. You just didn’t ring the doorbell. “We’ve left it in a safe place”. Where it’ll get wet/muddy/nicked. “Please book a redelivery.”

0 Example:
A. arrived
B. got
C. reached

1
A. By the time
B. For when
C. After

2
A. blown
B. sipped
C. sucked

3
A. look as
B. look like
C. to feel as

4
A. has been replaced
B. has changed
C. has replaced

5
A. cook
B. do
C. make

6
A. broken
B. grounded
C. stopped

7
A. call
B. hail
C. stop

8
A. each other
B. them
C. themselves

9
A. cares
B. matters
C. minds

10
A. that
B. the thing
C. what

11
A. adds to
B. brings
C. gives

12
A. inform
B. say
C. tell

KEY: 
1A 2B 3B 4A 5C 6B 7B 8A 9A 10C 11A 12C

Talking point: Cheap holidays

This week's talking point is cheap holidays. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas come to mind more easily the day you get together with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.

Read some of the ideas for cheap holidays. Discuss the questions with a partner.
1 What do you think are the pros and cons of each idea?
2 Do you know anyone who has done any of these things? Were they happy with the experience?
3 Think of some other ideas for saving money on a holiday and share them with the members of your conversation group. Which tips are the most useful? Which ideas would you be more willing to try?


1 Go couch-surfing. On websites like couchsurfing.org, local people will let you sleep on their sofa for free. It's not luxury travel, but you'll meet friendly locals and see how they really live.

2 Swap houses. Exchange houses with someone in the place you're going to visit. You stay in their place, and they stay in yours. Websites like homelink.org can arrange this for a small fee.

3 Save on travel costs. Book early for good offers with low cost airlines. Use special services such as InterRail for travelling around Europe by train, or check out car-sharing websites like ridefinder.eu.

4 Eat street food. In many cities, even really expensive ones, you can find food which is both tasty and cheap at stalls in the street. For example, try crépes in Paris, kebabs in Istanbul, tacos in Mexico City. Most places have their own delicious specialty.

5 Try voluntourism. These holidays combine volunteer work and tourism. Help in an orphanage, work on an organic farm, and more — all for free. You'll save money and have experiences you'd never find on a package holiday.

6 Don't move from home: Staycation. A staycation is a period in which an individual or family stays home and visits places within driving distance, sleeping in their own beds at night. Staycations are usually organized around a theme: visiting monasteries, visiting cellars, doing advanture sports.

To illustrate the topic, watch this eHow video where writer Sophie Uliano tells us how to organise a staycation.




Hi, I'm Sophie Uliano, author of "The Gorgeously Green" book series, and today I want to talk to you about how to create a staycation.
Now, what is a staycation, and why on Earth do a staycation? Well, a staycation is as it sounds. You're going to stay at home in your own city instead of getting on a plane and traveling somewhere else.
Why on Earth do that? Well, two very good reasons. One, it's going to save you a tremendous amount of money, and two, it's also going to really reduce your carbon footprint because obviously you're not getting on an airplane and flying somewhere, which is always a very, very positive thing for mother Earth.
So what are the few things, a few key points that make for a very successful staycation? Number one is the planning. Now, make sure that you plan it as you would a regular vacation. So, on a regular vacation you're going to be getting on line and you're going to be picking your hotel. You're going to be picking your activities. You're going to be basically creating an itinerary. So, for your staycation, do exactly the same because if you don't plan an itinerary you're going to end up just slipping back to your hold habits. Oh, I'm just going to go to the office, I'm just going to check my emails, I'm just going to lie around vegging out. No, no, no, no, no, you've got to have that itinerary. So planning, very important, what day are we going to start it, what time of the day are we going to start as a family, two o'clock on Friday afternoon, and then you're going to start planning things like let's plan such and such a museum or art gallery. Let's go to a botanical garden that we've never been before, etc. Now, the next point is to be a tourist in your own city which is, this is what I really like because we never are, so maybe take a tour bus and go and look at sites that you would never even dream of going to see, really fun especially if you have kids. Go and look at local sites that probably everybody comes to your city to see but you never do.
Now I would say that one of the primary rules, there's only got to be one rule on this staycation, and that has got to be turn it off, and I cannot stress the importance of this because I find it's, obviously we all do. Now, it's so tempting just to check the BlackBerry and the emails or the computer, and I think that as a couple or as a family, you have to all sit down and say right, this is what we're going to do. We're going to pretend we're on, it's like a beach in Hawaii where we wouldn't be sitting, hopefully we wouldn't be sitting or checking things, and we're going to pick a time, two o'clock on Friday afternoon when everything will be turned off and phones will all be put away in one place. Now, good for you as a family if you can take three days with absolutely no switching it back on and if you can do that, I promise you you will have a sense of peace and wellbeing that you haven't had for a very very long time.
Now, if there are some really urgent concerns, if you have teenagers that say no way or you have a serious office emergency, then maybe plan a check in time, ten minutes a day when you'll all just spend that ten minutes to check in. So, these are some very simple things that you can do to create a very simple staycation.
Finally, just think about the exercise factor because in your own city or your own environment you can do things like take hikes that you've never hiked before. You can all hire bicycles and decide that for three days instead of even getting in your car you're going to bicycle around your city. So, to have a wonderful relaxing vacation you do not have to get on a plane or book an expensive hotel. Try having a staycation at home in your own city. So, I'm Sophie Uliano and you can always do things yourself for less money and do it gorgeously.

Listening test: Holiday in Thailand

In this week's listening test we are going to practise the heading-matching type of task.

Listen to a person talking about different aspects of his holiday in Thailand and choose the heading A-H that matches each extract. There are two headings you do not need to use.

A - Extreme weather
B - Places to avoid
C - Preconceptions
D - Religion everywhere
E - Tourist route
F - Unknown facts
G - Why Thailand
H - You may need to change some habits

source: Teacher Luke

 
1
These days we like to go abroad more and see new things. It was just a break and a chance to get away from it all. We’d never been to Thailand before. I have been to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia. And also we like food, the two of us, we like eating good and tasty food and Thailand is famous for its good food. And also Thailand’s just a good destination. It’s quite diverse in terms of the things you can do. For example, there’s the city, you know, Bangkok, you can explore this extremely busy, huge city and all the things that’s got to offer. There’s also there is sort of the culture, the food and the arts, particularly in the north, where there are a lot of temples and things like that and then in the south there are these beaches, these islands have got beautiful sunny beaches and stuff like that and also at the moment Thailand is not too expensive.

2
So we started off in Bangkok, which is obviously the capital city, and it’s sort of in the center-ish in terms of sorts like from north to south, it’s kind of in the middle, basically, and we went there for a few days, and then we went north to Chiang Mai, which is another city but in the north and we stayed there for a few days, and then we travelled down south to one of the islands, called Koh Samui, and we stayed there for a few days and then we went back to Bangkok for a few days and then we went home!

3
Now we didn’t go to the islands on the west because generally there are sort of islands on the west and a few islands on the east. We didn’t go to the islands on the west, places like Phuket, because of the climate in August, it’s kind of monsoon, rainy season in August, and the western islands get a lot of rain, so we avoided them, we stuck to sort of the eastern side. Also, just before we left and even while we were there, there were some explosions, some attacks, some bombings, which is a bit worrying. In fact, the first bombing took place just a day or so before we were due to leave and we did consider not going, and we thought, well, then we thought, we live in Paris, so we’ve got as much chance of being blown up here as in Thailand.

4
Whether or not they’ve been there it seems certainly in sort of places like the UK there’s a general view of what people expect about Thailand. So that it’s busy, it’s crowded, there’s amazing food – specifically green curry and pad thai noodles, there’s also the idea that there’s weird sex tourism in Bangkok, also lady-boys, bizarre sex shows involving ping pong balls, full moon beach parties, buckets full of ridiculously full cocktails, kickboxing, temples, buddhist monks in orange robes and western people being locked up in prison for drug possession, scooters, Sagat from Street Fighter 2, snakes, golden buddha statues, amazingly friendly and smiling people and the movie  “The Beach” starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

5
Thailand, the country name, or I think in Thai  that’s “Prathet Thai”, that’s how they say it, Thailand actually means “land of the free”… Thailand has never been colonised by a foreign power, that’s why they call themselves “the land of the free” because they’ve never been colonised by a foreign power, unlike other neighbouring countries which were colonised by European nations like Britain, France and the Netherlands. Thailand had a few wars with Burma, but was never successfully invaded and it was never colonised by any other country. So, well done Thailand.

6 
In Thailand the feet are considered to be very unclean, both clinically in terms of cleanliness and spiritually as well, and so it is very rude to reveal the soles of your feet to anyone. So, don’t sit with your feet facing outwards, or put your feet up on the table when you’re relaxing like we do in the west sometimes. It’s also rude to point at people with your feet, which is fine, isn’t it, really because I literally never do that anyway. I’m never pointing at people with my feet. So that’s fine, it wasn’t a problem.


KEY:
1G 2E 3B 4C 5F 6H

Listening test: TripAdvisor's top destinations

Listen to a report on TripAdvisor's top destinations and choose the heading that best describes each of the cities. There are two headings you do not need to use.

source: VOA News

Which city…?
A - combines sightseeing and enjoyment
B - has a famous clock
C - has an independent state within
D - has the market area surrounded by a wall
E - is full of natural spaces
F - is home to alternative cultural movements
G - is ideal for people whose hobby is history
H - is well known for its wide streets

Siem Reap

Here’s a look at TripAdvisor’s most popular cities to visit!

1. Marrakech, Morocco –The market area is surrounded by a wall
Marrakech is known as the “red city” for its rose-colored buildings. The city’s walled medina, or old city, is a UNESCO world heritage site. One-thousand-year-old monuments remain within the medina, including the Koutoubiya Mosque, the Kasbah, and several gardens. Today, the medina is a crowded marketplace with traditional Moroccan goods for sale. Make sure to visit the Jamaa El Fna Square, an outdoor theater where storytellers and musicians perform.

2. Siem Reap, Cambodia -
The small city of Siem Reap is home to Angkor Wat, the world’s largest religious monument. Visitors can also see hundreds of ancient Buddhist temples in and around town. After a long day at the temples, tourists can enjoy one of Siem Reap’s many bars, restaurants, and nightclubs.

3. Istanbul, Turkey
Turkey’s largest city has one foot in Europe and the other in Asia. As the former capital of the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires, Istanbul is a haven for history lovers. Visitors must see Istanbul’s most famous religious buildings: the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque. At night, sail on the Bosporus Strait, which separates the European and Asian areas of this extraordinary city.

4. Hanoi, Vietnam
Vietnam’s capital has tree-lined streets, lakes, and some 600 temples and pagodas. Visitors should not miss the Temple of Literature. It was built in the year 1070. It is one of several temples in Vietnam dedicated to Confucius.

5. Prague, Czech Republic
This Eastern European city is the modern capital of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of the kingdom of Bohemia. Walk across the Charles Bridge and visit the John Lennon Wall to get a sense of the city’s quiet revolutionary soul. From the unique art of David Cerny — often hidden in plain sight — to the growing counterculture scene, Prague is full of surprises.

6. London, England
The largest city in Western Europe is a world capital of culture and fashion. Visitors can tour rooms in Buckingham Palace, the official home of the Queen of England. They can investigate the Sherlock Holmes Museum or walk across Abbey Road, just like the band The Beatles did in 1969. And make sure to check the time at the famous clock tower, Big Ben.


KEY: 
1D 2A 3G 4E 5F 6B

Reading test: What happens when your child’s hobby dictates your holiday

In this week's reading test we are going to use the Telegraph article A power station and a Reading leisure centre- What happens when your child’s hobby dictates your holiday to practise the multiple choice reading comprehension sort of task.

Read the article and choose the option A, B or C which best completes each sentence.

A power station and a Reading leisure centre -What happens when your child’s hobby dictates your holiday

A converted nuclear power station near Düsseldorf isn’t the kind of venue many look for in a family holiday but, as I’ve found out, being the parent of a child in a street dance crew can pitch you up in places you’d never usually visit.
Wunderland - an amusement park on the edge of the River Rhine, built on the site of SNR-300, a nuclear plant that never went online due to protests - is the latest dance competition venue we’ve visited on a family trip.
We travelled there a few weeks ago, via Amsterdam, for the European Street Dance Championships where my son’s group, Defiance, and his hip hop dance school, Streetfunk, were competing.
Last year’s big competition took us to Glasgow; next month it’s a regional qualifier in a leisure centre in Reading – destination wise, competition travelling runs from the surreal and marvellous to the mundane.
As a family, it’s a different kind of travel that has opened us up to new places and new feelings as we ride the emotional rollercoaster of the competition circuit. There’s a solidarity with parents, teachers and children in your group, and it’s a complete change of scene, giving you the opportunity to reconnect – the last competition a refreshing getaway after Y6 SATs week.
The new film, Streetdance Family, explores this life on the journey of one under-16 UK crew from East London all the way to the World Hip Hop Championship in Germany. Made by award-winning documentary filmmakers Debbie Shuter and Adam Tysoe, it brings to life the intense, behind-the-scenes emotions of the trainers, crews and their families in their bid for glory.
It’s a funny, sad and uplifting story that captures individual characters’ quirks well and in its portrayal of commitment, raw highs and lows, anxiety and celebration, is sometimes reminiscent of the seminal 1994 American basketball documentary, Hoop Dreams.
As the competitions begin there’s a lot of running around - to get registered, to get the right wrist band, to get matching crew hoodies, to get hair and make-up done, assess any injuries and hunker down for a final team talk. On the floor, everywhere you look, people from Belarus to the Netherlands are dancing: practicing in corridors, drilling in the hotel lobby, flipping and break dancing in corners. That’s even before the routines and results…
Travelling like this can be invigorating and exhausting but becomes a tight bonding experience as a family, visiting new places that leave a lasting impression. We’d never heard of Kalkar, Rees or Kleve before visiting Germany, and loved exploring these small areas by the bucolic Rhine. I never imagined, either, that we’d be visiting a nuclear museum inside a theme park where, just outside, one of the old cooling towers now painted with a mountain scene, has a swing ride that pops out the top. Planned Plutonium has given way to pony express train rides, flying elephants and a speedy log flume. And the kids love it.
Other destinations such as Glasgow may not seem a big deal, but it’s a city I wouldn’t have got round to visiting if it wasn’t for a competition. Getting there meant being able to escape for a little while to The Glasgow School of Art and take a tour to learn about Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the city’s incredible art movements.
Just as I tapped up an German ex-flatmate for Rhine travel tips, you also find yourself re-connecting with other old friends around the country. In Glasgow, we took on a friend’s restaurant recommendations to eat delicious Haggis Pakora at The Wee Curry Shop and Tuscan and Ligurian food at Fratelli Sarti, both of which we still talk about. It was slightly pre-planned (dancers need fuel, so food becomes a priority) but there still seems a large amount of serendipity on trips like these that add to the excitement.
Travelling for a pastime (such as sport, performance and activity clubs) helps you uncover another corner of the world afresh. And you move as a unit - when we broke down off the M25 on the way to a competition, the other crew parents were there to rescue us faster than the RAC. It may just be street dance, but it’s taken us down new roads. Where have your child's hobbies taken you?

1 Wunderland
A is the place where the writer’s child competed.
B stopped working as a nuclear power station a long time ago.
C used to be a fairground.

2 The writer
A finds it difficult to engage with other parents.
B is fed up with travelling around so much.
C welcomed the last competition.

3 Streetdance Family
A can be described as a road movie.
B is starred by the writer’s son and his team.
C was directed by the writer himself.

4 In Hip Hop competitions
A appearance is as important as performance.
B everybody seems to be rushing about.
C dancing isn’t the main priority.

5 According to the writer,
A Hip Hop competitions bring the family together.
B his family found the Rhine area unpleasant.
C you can see some animals in Wunderland.

6 The writer
A became familiar with Glasgow’s cultural life.
B had always intended to visit Glasgow.
C managed to escape from his busy lifestyle by visiting Glasgow.

7 The writer says they
A ate with a friend in Glasgow.
B enjoy discovering pleasant things by chance.
C visited an old friend in Germany.

8 Travelling for a pastime
A can sometimes be dangerous.
B has made them familiar with a lot of roads.
C promotes solidarity among the families.

KEY:
1A 2C 3A 4B 5A 6A 7B 8C

Reading text: The best adventure holidays in Europe

Read the descriptions below of the best adventure holidays in Europe according to The Guardian article 10 of the best adventure holidays in Europe and choose the heading A-I below which best corresponds to each of the texts. There are two headings you do not need to use. 0 is an example.

HEADINGS
A - Don’t go for it if you are afraid of heights
B - For participants with a different level of expertise
C - If you don’t mind very cold temperatures
D - Not if you are at beginner’s level Example
E - Slow travel
F - Spotting something unusual
G - Vestiges of past eras
H - Walking on very unusual terrain
I - You might get sick eventually

Text 0
The Persians named Cappadocia “the land of beautiful horses” after its wild mountain ponies – and the striking landscape of deep canyons and strangely shaped rocks is perfect for an unusual horseback adventure. Ride Worldwide has an eight-day group trip that crosses plateaux, canters along valley floors and explores remote villages. With up to six hours in the saddle each day, it’s best for intermediate riders and above. Riders camp each night in a tipi (putting them up themselves), and dine in traditional style on kilims and rugs in the central tent. There’s also an option of guesthouse or boutique hotel accommodation.

Text 1
A walking and cycling trail, the Via Dinarica, launched two years ago and runs for 1,000km from Slovenia’s Dinaric Alps in the north to Macedonia, via Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Albania. There are three options: the high mountain White Trail, the Green Trail, which is ideal for cyclists, and the easier Blue Trail, along the Dalmatian Coast. Local company Green Visions has tailor-made guided trips on the White Trail, and a Best of Via Dinarica group hike through Montenegro and Bosnia.

Text 2
The Iberian lynx once roamed over half of the Iberian peninsula. Today it’s the rarest cat in the world and only found in two locations: the vast, coastal Doñana national park south of Seville, and the rugged Andújar natural park in the north of Andalucia. There’s plenty of adventure to be had in both parks – from 4x4 safaris to guided hikes – but for a good chance to see the elusive lynx, The Travelling Naturalist has a seven-night, expert-led group trip to both parks, where visitors also learn about conservation, and might spot other wildlife such as mouflon wild sheep and Spanish imperial eagles.

Text 3
With ancient forests, high mountains and Unesco-protected villages where life hasn’t changed for centuries, Transylvania offers one of Europe’s last great wildernesses, and plenty of fascinating history and culture, too. Adventure doesn’t need to be fast-paced; British firm The Slow Cyclist has new group and independent trips for 2016, lasting from three days to three weeks. Its four-day Enchanted Saxon Transylvania trip covers 90 miles, from the Saxon village of Cund south-east to Viscri at an unhurried pace with plenty of time to stop at local homes, visit shepherds on hilltops and discover little-visited historic sites.

Text 4
Estonia’s Baltic coast is wild and unspoilt. Many of its 1,500 islands, which were used in the 1950s for Soviet military testing, are now wildlife havens. Explore by kayak, paddling between islands with eerie remains of Russian watchtowers and abandoned farmhouses, and prolific birdlife. Adventure operator Reimann Retked offers several kayaking group trips, with hikes and camping on remote isles. Its two-day Prangli and Kolga Bay Islands tour visits four islands, with a stay on Prangli, still home to about 150 people. Scuba diving is an option on some trips.

Text 5
Mountain walkers have plenty of options in Europe, with countless adventurous routes (Switzerland alone has over 30,000 miles of marked trails). For a less expensive alternative to the Alps, try Slovakia’s High Tatra, which runs along the border with Poland, offering dramatic walks with 20 summits of over 2,500m in just 26km. The soaring views of rocky peaks, lush valleys and sparkling lakes are reward for burning thigh muscles. To plan an independent trip, slovak-republic.org has details of routes and hotels. Alternatively, Utracks offers a new challenging guided eight-day group hut-to-hut trip: a head for heights and ability to walk with your own backpack for up to eight hours a day is recommended.

Text 6
With its mix of mountains, fjords, remote villages and quiet coastal roads, Norway is a strong contender for an adventurous self-drive. Go in summer when the days are long, pack a tent and wild camp along the way (it’s legal here, though there are great campsites and cabins, too). Among the most spectacular drives is from Bergen north to Trondheim which includes a stretch on the Atlantic Road, with eight bridges linking islands, and the chance to spot seals and whales. It’s about 430 miles, and winds through the longest road tunnel in the world and the zig-zag bends of Trollstigen. Fly back from Trondheim or, time-permitting, head back to Bergen via Sogndal. Norwegian flies to Bergen and Trondhein from Gatwick.

 Horse riding in Cappadocia, Turkey. 

Photograph: Keren Su/Corbis for The Guardian

Key:
Text 1 – B
Text 2 – F
Text 3 – E
Text 4 – G
Text 5 – A
Text 6 - I

Holidaying In Warzones

Adventurer Andy McGinlay believes he is the world’s most fearless traveller. He spends his holidays in the world's most dangerous countries.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.



1 What practical reason does Andy give to go to war zones for his holidays?
2 How old was he when he was in a war zone for the first time?
3 How much money did he have to pay to the soldiers in Fiji to be released?
4 Where was the Central World Mall burnt down?
5 What business has Osama Bin Laden's house in Kabul been turned into?
6 How old is Andy?
7 What does he do?

Whoa. This is scary.
While most of us look forward to relaxing on holiday, Andy McGinlay spends his vacations in some of the most dangerous places in the world seeking out coups, civil unrest and even war zones.
My idea was that by going to dangerous countries I kind of got my head above the parapet and it gave me more to talk about, I had more of a story to tell after those kinds of trips.
He got the taste for adrenaline while travelling around the world aged 18, when he found himself in the middle of a military coup in Fiji in the year 2000.
I arrived into Fiji, just after the coup started and, well, they have curfews during the coup. You have to be indoors by 6 p.m. and I just disregarded it and the soldiers caught me, they arrested me and after a couple of hours, he ended up asking me for a bribe. I payed $2 and that was it, I was out.
From then, he started to make a beeline for more exciting holiday destinations.
Yemen, the feeling was very uneasy; it was a very tense situation. Al-Qaeda was huge at the time and the war in Iraq was still very, very much ongoing. I was taking pictures of the Red Shirt protest movement in Bangkok in 2010 and I was on the front line between them and the Thai army in a park in downtown Bangkok and at one point the soldiers were shooting at us, firing live rounds way over my head. It was very scary. I was literally running for my life. There was a protestor; he was wearing a black bandana. He came up to me while I was filming and said that he was going to burn down the Central World Mall.
Smash the **** Central World Mall to ****. Steal everything out of it and burn the **** down.
Within 2 days, the mall burnt down.
Last year I was in Kabul, Afghanistan and I payed this local guy to drive me around and at one point he said, “Look out on the left hand side, look there’s Osama Bin Laden’s house.”
“Osama Bin Laden’s house was there? When did he live there?”
During the Taliban
During the Taliban.
Turns out now, it is a restaurant. So if you want, you can go and have a shawarma or something.
The American black hawks, they were flying over head. I could hear the pop, pop, pop of Kalashnikovs. I think that kind of gun, just firing up into the air. I can assume some local Taliban were trying to hit the helicopter.
Originally from Glasgow in Scotland, the 34 year old is now a teacher in Saudi Arabia. But even where he lives, isn’t proving that safe.
There is of course the constant threat that you are surrounded by maybe people who are sympathetic towards IS or Daesh as they are called here. The week I arrived in Dammam in the east of Saudi Arabia, there was a bomb in a mosque which killed a few and then right here in one of the mosques behind me just about a month ago at the end of January, IS bombed another mosque and killed four. So, you gotta be on your toes.

Near drowning in Morocco

Watch this short story of a  holiday that turned awry.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below about it.




1 What did the couple's friend (of a friend), John, do the first night?
2 What activity did John insist on doing the next day?
3 What happened to him when he was a long way off the shore?
4 Why couldn't the hotel use their lifeboat?
5 How did the swimmer pull John back to the beach?
6 Who was in fact the person who saved their friend's life?

Sometimes you agree to go on holiday with people you don’t really know. And sometimes those people (1) drink too much on the first night.
My husband and I found ourselves on such a holiday in Morocco, where a friend of a friend, let’s call him John, had a place at a beach resort in Ashilla. John insisted on taking Ashilla’s night life by storm and the next day, even though he looked like he could use a nap, continued to amp up the activity level with a bout of (2) windsurfing. This is a vacation after all, why relax?
When he jumped on to the windsurf board he was immediately swept 300 metres off shore and then (3) the mast broke. My husband and I couldn’t swim out to help. He’s not a strong swimmer, neither am I. So we watched with increasing dread as John was rapidly swept further out to sea.
Crowds gathered on the beach and began to get rowdy:
If he doesn’t drown, the sharks will definitely get him. 
Come here! There’s a guy drowning.
The hotel offered to call in a lifeboat from Tangiers, (4) theirs was broken. Tangiers was over an hour away.
Suddenly, Morocco’s version of Arnold Schwarzenegger parted the crowds with his rippling muscles and proclaimed: I watched a guy die here last year. I can’t let that happen again, and in he dove, swimming towards the small dot that John had become on the horizon. He seemed to swim for hours, stopping only briefly to catch his breath and began pulling John back (5) on the broken windsurfer.
As they came on to the shore the previously cut-throat crowd was cheering and crying. The lifeboat from Tangiers had just arrived, the crew basking in undeserved glory.
Turns out the Moroccan Arnold was (6) a professional bodybuilder on vacation from LA. And if he hadn’t weighed 300 pounds we would have lifted him on our shoulders and paraded him through the Medina.

Taxi Hotel Tourists sleep in converted cabs to avoid pricey hotels

An American entrepreneur is offering accommodation with great views to those on a very tight budget.

Self-study:
Watch the video and answer the questions below. The activity is suitable for Intermediate 1 and Intermediate 2 students.



1  How much do you have to pay to stay the night at a taxi cab?
2 What two kinds of vehicles are offered as hotels?
3 How far is Times Square?
4 How are these 'hotels' popularly known?
5 What happens if a guest needs the toilet?


Travelling to New York City can be an expensive business but a new venture aims to cut the cost of accommodation dramatically. For (1) less than $40 the night budget travellers can enjoy million dollar views of Manhattan from the back of a taxi cab.  Entrepreneur Jonathan Powelly started offering (2) vans and New York taxi cabs as overnight rentals on the Airbnb website in April. Each of the vehicles has been converted to accommodate a large bed, a fan and not much. 
I think it's just an adventure. No one's ever done it before. It's different, it's safe, you have a view of just the beautiful Manhattan right here and it's convenient. You're only one stop from Grand Central Station. (3) You're only 2, 3 stops from Times Square, less than 10 minutes, and I think the people that do it are just the type that want to try something different. It's really fun, it's really comfortable and not many people can say that they purposely slept in a taxi. 
The (4) so-called rolling rooms have already attracted plenty of attention from tourists seeking a central location without the big city price tags. 
I think it's really exciting because, first, the view is awesome and second we don't have that much money for our normal hotel in Manhattan and so this is a really nice opportunity for us. 
Guests may enjoy the views but they're reminded that the rooms don't have all the comforts of a Manhattan hotel. Powelly has helpfully made a list of all (5) the restaurants in the area that allow his guests to use the bathroom.

Holiday the eco way

Do you want to go on a guilt-free holiday? Then consider taking an eco-holiday. This might be a trip with a difference and it's more than likely to have a low carbon footprint. Judging by recent trends, getting back to nature without contributing to atmospheric pollution seems to be all the rage.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.




1 Which sport is in vogue on the South Coast these days?
2 What does the phrase 'one in five people' refer to?
3 And 16%?
4 What used to be the backbone of the region's economy?
5  How high is the population on the coast each summer?

We're all being encouraged to reduce our carbon emissions, and now the growing green movement is changing the way we holiday. This summer on the South Coast, holidays with a low-carbon footprint are in vogue.
It's a slow and at times challenging way to get about. But the South Coast is becoming a mecca for paddlers of all ages.
(1) The big thing down here is kayaking. Kayaking has gone through a major surge.
Not particularly comfortable in the sea when I started, so it was a challenge of getting comfortable.
This summer there's a new type of watercraft doing the rounds. Glass-bottomed sea kayaks are proving popular to view the rich marine life.
I think it's something that appeals to a lot of people once they get a little older, because the limbs start to give out, the other adventure sports like the skiing and the bushwalking get a bit hard on the joints.
On the South Coast (2) one in five people work in the tourism industry. (3) Last year visitors spent 420 million, an increase of 16%. This year the industry says environmental awareness is driving the surge in popularity of kayaking, surfing and mountain biking.
I think that the carbon footprint factor has a lot to do with it.
Visitors today are looking to be responsible in their approach to holidays and to tourism.
(4) The commercial fishing industry was once the backbone of the region's economy. Businesses say new marine protection is helping to foster eco-tourism.
With the new Batemans Marine Park here we've got a lot of areas that are sanctuary zones and no more commercial fishing, so I think there's real potential.
(5) The population on the coast quadruples each summer, but there are few green alternatives to the highway gridlock. Adrienne Francis, ABC News, South Coast, New South Wales.

Talking point: Time off

In this week's talking point the topic is time off. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand and ideas flow more easily when you meet up with your friends.

What are the main tourist attractions locally / regionally / nationally?
What are they like?
How many public holidays are there where you live?
Do you take them all?
What is your favourite public holiday?
What did you do on the last public holiday?
Do you often go out for the day if you have a day off?
What is the best place to go for a day out in your area?
What are the main factors to decide where to go for a good day out?
And for choosing a holiday?
How much holiday do you get per year?
Is that the same for all the workers?
Are you happy with what you get?



F: I’ve spent a lot of time living in different countries so there isn’t one place, I think of as home. I’ve lived in Scotland and Poland and China. I love going to new places and learning about new cultures. Today, I’m asking people about travel.
W1: I love travel. It’s one of my passions.
M1: I enjoy it a lot. I have travelled to India several times. I lived there, and I’ve lived here, and I’ve been to Istanbul once and I enjoyed that very much.
W2: I’ve done quite a bit of travelling with holidays and stuff. I think it’s good- good experience.
W3: You get to meet different people from different backgrounds, and that’s pretty important to get an understanding.
M2: It’s always nice to just get out and experience a different culture and different lifestyle.
W4: I get very excited about the thought of going to most countries, any country.
W5: I love to travel to different countries.
M3: Absolutely love travelling. I’ve been travelling for about two and a half years solid now.
W6: I’ve been to Turkey. I’ve been to Egypt. I’ve been to Malta.
M4: I work as an expedition leader and so I actually operate in different countries around the world, many places outside the United Kingdom.
F: What do you like about travelling?
M3: I think you mature a lot when you travel. You learn… oh, just completely different experiences to what you’re used to at home.
W6: I like the airport experience. I love that.
M5: I like the arrival more than the travelling.
W5: To see art especially. We love to see theatre in other countries.
M4: You see some of the most beautiful scenery around the world which you wouldn’t experience in other countries.
M2: I just really like getting out there and experiencing a different culture, getting far away from, you know, what we’re used to in Australia, and meeting new people.
W4: The anticipation of being in a new place, of seeing very different things, of hearing a different language, of eating different food. Everything that travel has to offer.
F: What don’t you like?
W6: I don’t like long flights.
W3: I suppose plane journeys are not always the most exciting of things.
W1: Flying. I don’t particularly like flying, but it’s a necessity when you live in Ireland, you know.
M2: I suppose the biggest problem I have with travelling is living out of a suitcase.
W4: In all honesty, I actually see the whole travel as an adventure in itself. So when I was backpacking, and we ran out of money, or we were in dangerous situations, I actually quite enjoyed that.
M4: You spend a lot of time outside the United Kingdom and the disadvantage of that is, that you tend to miss families and friends. I miss out on normal things in life, so … I’ve been outside the United Kingdom for two thirds of the year. I’d say that’s the main disadvantage.
W5: The hardest thing for me is that I’m handicapped. And so sometimes getting around, especially very old cities, is very difficult.
M5: My wife’s usually late getting to the airport. It wasn’t until I got married that I actually started missing flights.

History of Thanksgiving

We have moved this week's listening test to Thursday 27 November so that teachers and students can do the video activity History of  Thanksgiving well in advance of the holiday.

The history of Thanksgiving Day is a short educational video that covers how Thanksgiving became a national holiday.

Self-study activity:
Watch this five-minute video and answer the questions below.

The activity is suitable for intermediate 1 and intermediate 2 students.



1. When did the Mayflower arrive in the new world?
2. How many colonists died during the first winter?
3. What did Quantum show the colonists to do?
4. What did the king of the Wampanoan, Massasoit, donate to the feast with the pilgrims?
5. What event was commemorated on December 18, 1777?
6. When did President Lincoln declare the last Thursday of November to be Thanksgiving Day?
7. What event is organised by Macy’s Department Store on Thanksgiving Day?
8. Why was Thanksgiving Day moved to the fourth Thursday in November in 1941?

Turkey, pumpkin pie, family, football, and parades. Where did these traditions come from and how did they become a part of a national holiday we call Thanksgiving?
To understand the origins of this holiday, we must take a look back at the origins of our country itself, particularly at the Plymouth Colony and it’s crucial first year.
In the fall of 1620, the cargo ship Mayflower transported a group of 102 English men, women and children to the new world.  A portion of this group were separatists, people who had religiously separated themselves from the Church of England, and wanted to come to the new world to find religious freedom. In time, these people would come to be known as the pilgrims.
The Mayflower arrived in the new world in December 16, 1620 (1), weeks later than they had originally hoped and landing much farther north than they had planned, putting them in present-day Massachusetts. These unfortunate circumstances made for a particularly harsh winter — nearly half the colonists died (2) and those who did not, fell ill.
As the spring of 1621 approached, the luck of Plymouth Colony began to change. The colony was visited by several local Indians, or Wampanoan people. One of these visitors was Quantum, otherwise known as Squanto. Squanto spoke English and showed the pilgrims how to use fish as fertilizer (3) to grow crops on sandy land. He was their interpreter. He even chose to live among the colonists at Plymouth.
By November 1621, things were looking up for the pilgrims. They had survived their first year in the new world, and had a successful enough harvest to continue living there. The pilgrims collected their harvest which could have included corn, pumpkins, squash, and some grain. They caught fish and gathered together wildfowl and birds, such as ducks, geese, and even wild turkeys to feast on in celebration.
The mighty king of the Wampanoan people, Massasoit, joined the pilgrims with 90 of his men. He also donated five deer (4) to this great feast which lasted for three whole days.
To the pilgrims, this celebration was not the start of a new holiday. It was a common harvest festival much like the ones held in Europe, after every fall after a good harvest.
On December 18, 1777, Washington held a national day of Thanksgiving to commemorate the defeat of the British Army in Saratoga (5). Through the remainder of the Revolutionary War, Washington proclaimed several national days of Thanksgiving to commemorate special days.
By the end of the war, individual states, particularly in the North, had gotten used to having a yearly Thanksgiving Day, though there was no official national holiday and the date of the feast would vary from state to state.
Thanksgiving as we know it today was made possible largely by the efforts of a 19th century writer named Sarah Josepha Hale. She was America’s first female magazine editor, and author of the famous nursery rhyme ‘Marry had a little lamb’. During the Civil War, Hale was convinced that a national Thanksgiving Day would awaken in American hearts the love of home and country of thankfulness to God and peace between brethren.
She wrote letters to governors and even to President Abraham Lincoln. A few days after receiving her letter, on October 3rd, 1863 (6), President Lincoln, issued a proclamation declaring the last Thursday of November to be Thanksgiving Day.
Year after year, Americans continue to celebrate this day of feasting and thanks even though Congress had not yet ratified it as an official holiday. Over the years, the date seems to coincide with the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. In 1924, Macy’s Department Store started their Thanksgiving Day Parade (7) which route heads down the streets of New York and ends at the store.
Also in the 1920s, the Detroit Lions came up with the idea of a Thanksgiving Day football game. In order to boost dwindling attendance. It was not until 1941 that congress finally made Thanksgiving a legal holiday. When they did, they moved the holiday up one week so that official day of Thanksgiving would be the fourth Thursday in November. This was done in an attempt to extend the Christmas shopping season (8).
Today, more than anything else, Thanksgiving is about family. Though the way we serve our turkey and our pumpkin may have changed, and our entertainment varied over the years from archery and display of arms to football and parades, Thanksgiving has become a welcome day of rest to spend with loved ones in recognition and appreciation for all the blessings for which we are thankful.

Cover up or face fines in Majorca

The Balearic Island chain has long been a popular destination for European holidaymakers. But now tourists heading to the island of Majorca are being warned to cover up before leaving the beach or face being fined.

Self-study activity:
Watch this BBC video and answer the questions about it. The activity is suitable for Intermediate students.




1 How many tourists visited Greece last year?
2 What kind of tourists does Majorca want to attract?
3 What made the local authorities in Palma change some local laws?
4 What do 50€ and 200€ refer to?
5 What's the difference between Palma and New Jersey?
6 When are tourists expected to start paying fines if  inappropriately dressed?
7 What do critics say about this new regulation?

To check your answers you can read the transcript below.

In recent months some of the Mediterranean countries hit worse by the Euro-zone crisis as seeing their resorts filling up once again. More than 15m international arrivals landed in Greece last year (1) while Spain saw almost 60m. But have these countries learned any lessons.
Well, for the Spanish island of Majorca the answer is maybe. There they’re talking not only about recovery, but also redefining their product. In short, Palma is going up market (2). That’s why there’s been a huge investment in top of the range hotels here, more than twenty built in the last three years, and there are many more planned. And along with wanting more high-end tourists (2), locals now have higher expectations of the way they want their visitors to behave. So, less of this, and more of this. And that’s partly why they’ve introduced the good citizen plan.
Authorities in Palma say the good citizen plan and the subsequent changes to local laws came about at the request of residents (3), some of whom were so fed up with tourists coming off the beach into the old town inappropriately dressed.
The penalties which make up the good citizen plan start at €50 for anyone not wearing a top or T-shirt away from beach areas, €50 for riding a bike on the pavement and €200 if you’re caught buying merchandise from illegal street traders (4). And it’s not just places like Palma where local sensibilities are being offended by tourists, in May authorities in Qatar brought in new rules for visitors to dress modestly in public and respect the Islamic country’s values. Meanwhile in New Jersey in America, it’s the tourists who have the upper hand after laws were passed banning locals from wearing saggy jeans or pants on its boardwalks following a number of complaints from visitors (5).
There tends to be people wandering off the beach and not being aware of the fact that they might cause offence, you know, by wearing inappropriate clothing, you know, speedos, bikinis, with everything hanging out, you know. Let’s be frank, it’s not that pleasant.
Local journalist Anna Nicholas has lived in Majorca for more than 10 years and says she can see why the city council is following in the footsteps of other European cities like Barcelona, which introduced a similar plan last year.
I’ve heard they won’t slap fines immediately, maybe give people a little bit of warning for the first few months of this summer, maybe next year bring it in and come in a bit heavy once people know what’s going on (6), but I think, you know, the idea is that tourists are welcome here, you know, it’s not an idea to just slap fines on people and they have a horrible holiday.
But for unwitting tourists the laws could mean they find themselves on a more expensive holiday than they bargain for.
It was very awful to go through the city and be in contact with people they don’t wear shirts, yeah, you know, it’s not, it’s a question of aesthetic.
The fine is just €50 so, so people could learn from it because if you go in this area, by the beach, for me it’s fine if people just go in their, their swimming suit. It’s not proper if you want to go to the downtown, for example, to the restaurant to have a drink or to some shops, that time for sure you should wear something.
While critics have suggested this is just a money-making venture (7), Palma city council insists this is not true.
No, no, absolutely not. This is a manner to, to still being a relaxing city that we are, we are a really… we are in, in a good position to be a new destination for the next twenty years.
And what happens if a tourist simply says I have no money?
What happen if I go to Piccadilly Circus and I say to the police, I’m sorry, I don’t have money? What happen? It is the same in London, it’s the same in Berlin, it’s the same in… wherever. If I go to Rome and I say a police, I don’t have money, the police say, okay, come with me. And at the end, I pay. It’s quite simple, so… here’s the same.
And the vice-mayor is hopeful that other towns in Majorca will soon follow suit and adopt their own good citizen plans. But for now, it’s simple. If you’ve got it, don’t flaunt it, at least not here in Palma, as it could cost you dearly.

Madrid Teacher: Guess where I went on holiday

A group of Madrid Teachers are playing the yes/no game. They are trying to find out where one of them went on holiday by simply asking yes/no questions.

This is a fun video for students at intermediate level, but strong Básico 2 students may benefit from it, too.

To begin with, watch the video through to get the gist of the conversation and the game. Watch the video through more than once, if necessary.

Now watch the video more carefully and note down the questions on the video. You may need to pause the video so that you have the time to write the questions down.

Once you've got all, or most of the questions, see if you can remember what the answers were.

Finally, get together with a friend or group of friends and guess where everybody went on their last holiday by asking yes/no questions.



Did you fly to this holiday destination?
No, I did not.
Ok. Is it in the United States?
No, it is not.
Is it in North America?
No, it is not.
Is it in Spain?
It is.
OK. And is it a location by the ocean, by the beach?
Yes.
Is it on the beach?
For some of the time.
Did you stay, stay in a city?
Also for some of the time.
Ok. And did you swim?
Yes.
Did you, did you do other kinds of water activities?
Mm-mm.
Water sports?
No.
OK.
Is it on the peninsula? The place, is it on the peninsula or on one of the islands? The Iberian peninsula?
Yeah. Yes. Sorry. The Iberian peninsula. The mainland. Mm-hm.
OK. And did you stay in a hotel?
No, I did not.
Were you camping?
No, it was in between. I stayed in lodging houses.
Ok
Did you go alone?
I went alone, yes.
Did you come back alone?
No, no, I didn’t.
Did you, you didn’t fly so, did you take a bus?
I did.
OK.
Did you meet some friends there?
In the beginning, yes, and then I made some friends.
Was the night life good?
Also in the beginning, yes!
OK.
But not at the end?
No, at the end it wasn’t a night life thing.
And did you go there for a special occasion?
Huh, not special occasion like we normally think of but, that was the time to go.
Was, was there, like, a festival going on there?
You know, it’s Spain. I’m sure there was. But that’s not why I went.
OK. Is this, is this place historically significant?
Yes, many of the places were historically significant.
OK. So, we’re talking about more than one destination.
Mm-hm.
OK. OK.
So, did you tour several locations?
I did.
But it’s in one region in Spain?
Yes.
One specific . . .
Yes. To be honest actually four regions.
OK. Wow!
Did it take a weekend?
No, much more.
A week? A month? Two weeks?
Three weeks.
Three weeks.
Did you do it last August?
No, I did it last July.
OK.
Did you visit museums during your trip?
That’s a good question. I don’t think so.
Did you visit any bars?
Yes, yes, I did.
Did you do any dancing?
Yes, I did, in the beginning.
Ok
Did you try anything different, like new food?
Oh, yeah. The whole thing was different, new food, new activity. Yes.
And was there a particular activity you were doing?
Yes.
For example, was it a cycling tour?
Close.
OK, skateboard?
Now, you’re getting further.
OK.
Motorcycle?
No.
Backpacking?
Yes.
Did you walk on the Santiago, El Camino de Santiago?
You’ve got it, brother.
Ah!
From Irun to Unquera, which is on the border of Cantabria and Asturias.
Cantabria. . . Asturias. Yeah, it’s beautiful. So you, you walked on the north coast? Did you enjoy it?
Thoroughly.
Do you recommend it?
Thoroughly.
Do you feel that you have changed as a person?
I did. I certainly did while I was there, but then you get back and slip into your normal routine once again.

Canada's wilderness cottage culture

During the summer months in Ontario, Canada, thousands of local people escape the heat as well as the hustle and bustle of city life by going to their lakeside cottages. This seasonal ritual allows family and friends to spend quality time together and enjoy the great outdoors.


In this BBC's Close-up episode, reporter Sian Griffiths visits the Kostiw family at their cottage in the Kawartha Lakes region, north of Toronto.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and say whether the statements below are true or false.

The activity is suitable for intermediate 2 students.



1 The closest inhabited place to the cottages in the Kawartha Lakes region is three hours away.
2 Some celebrities live in the same area.
3 The cottage is the ideal place for people who are fond of the new technologies.
4 One of the main problems of living in the cottages is the insects.
5 The Kostiw family love skiing in the mountains.
6 People have to be aware of the bears and wolves not attacking them.

Welcome to the Kawartha Lakes region in the central Canadian province of Ontario. We are about three hours north of the nearest city and fifteen minutes away from the nearest village, Apsley, which is exactly the point. It’s a place people love coming to, who love to go to cottages. It’s secluded, it’s got forests, it’s got lakes, it’s perfect. And the trend has been catching on the Hollywood celebrities as well: Goldie Hawn, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, they’ve been known to come across the border and go to a region up the road called  Muskoka Caucus, but it’s a bit exclusive.
So here today we’ll take a look at the Kostiw family cottage. We’ve got some members here. It’s Matthew on the barbecue. We’re going to go inside and have a quick look. It’s got all the basics. It’s got living space, it’s got bedrooms. But it has no internet and no television. Most of the action takes place outside by the waterfront, so let’s go and have a look.
So we are down here on the deck with some members of the Kostiw family. We’ve got Natalia here and Alex, it’s Natalia’s cottage. Natalia, what’s the best thing about having a cottage?
I think one of the best things is just getting away from the city and the hustle and bustle of Toronto, and the calmness of being out in the countryside, so there’s nobody to disturb us, and friends come over as well, so it’s an excuse to see each other, and just spend quality time all together.
Are there any downsides?
Lots of bugs in the beginning, in June there’s quite a few black flies and you do have mosquitoes but it’s really worth it.
And the kids seem to really be able to get a chance to enjoy the water.
Yeah, they just love the water. My husband sails, I love kayaking and the boys love to ski and they love to be wake-boarding.
And how about wildlife. I think Alex at your place, you’re staying up the road, you can see some wildlife.
We’re on the next lake over, Jack Lake, and there are some bears up at the lake and a few years ago the boys and I saw like three black bear cubs. This year we saw some wolves, three baby cubs on the road. You’ve got to be careful when you’re driving because you can hit them. But, yeah, there’s a lot of wildlife and of course you’ve got the loons and the herons, that’s what we love.
Well I’ve got some bison burger here, it comes from Buffalo. It’s very low-fat. I’ve never tried some before. Delicious. But I won’t eat too much because Natalia and I are going out on the boats.
So we are here on the dock. We have got all kinds of very typical Canadian or Ontario water craft. We’ve got kayak, we’ve got a canoe, we’ve got a pedal boat with a special dog, Zaboo.
And that’s a glimpse of Ontario cottage life.

Key:
1F 2F 3F 4T 5F 6F