Vocabulary

ruins – руины, развалины

ancient – древний

picturesque – живописный

change of scene – перемена обстановки

city-dweller – горожанин

to laze in the sun – валяться на солнце

holiday-maker – отдыхающий

to take pictures of – фотографировать

view – вид

valley – долина

plain – равнина

to remind – напоминать

destination – место назначения

waterfall – водопад

advantage – преимущество

disadvantage – недостаток

Answer the following questions:

1. Why do people travel?

2. What do we see and learn while traveling?

3. How do city-dwellers and people from the country travel?

4. Why do people take a camera with them?

5. What do they usually photograph?

6. How do different people spend their holidays?

Text 2 Traveling by air

Take off when you want to and enjoy the comfort and high style of superb jet-liners. Arrive well-rested and well-fed. So many routes to fly, so many cities to see!

Many people prefer traveling by air as it is 'the most convenient, comfortable and quickest means of traveling.

If you have made up your mind to travel by plane you need to go to the booking office to buy tickets beforehand. Your ticket may be a single or a return. All the big airline companies have their own branches in most large cities. But you can always book through a travel agency. You can choose between two classes: tourist (or economy) class and first class.

Before boarding the plane the passenger must register at the airport. When registering the passenger is required to have his luggage weighed. The free luggage-allowance amounts to 20 kg in the former case and 30 kg if you travel first class. The charge for excess weight varies according to distance.

Before the airplane takes off the stewardess gives all the information about the flight, the speed and the altitude. The stewardess helps everyone get comfortable in the seats and wishes them a pleasant trip.

And so you are comfortable in the air! You may think air travel is somewhat expensive, but it is reliable, pleasurable and exciting. It's worth your money!

Vocabulary

To hike – путешествовать пешком

To hitch-hike – путешествовать автостопом

To book tickets – бронировать билеты

Beforehand = in advance – заранее

Route – маршрут

To board a plane – садиться в самолет

Free of charge – бесплатно

Excess – превышение, избыток

Reliable – надежный

It’s worth smth. (doing smth.) – Это стоит того …

Speak on:

1. What means of travel do you know? Say what are their advantages and disadvantages.

2. Some people prefer to travel on their own and hate traveling in a group. What about you?

3. What places have you visited? What countries would you like to visit?

Topic III Shops and Shopping

In every town there are dozens of shops, and going shopping is one of the most important of the housewife's duties. An Englishwoman, as a rule, deals with only one grocer, one butcher, one milkman and one baker. She may as well phone the butcher and the grocer early in the morning and order what she wants. Then she doesn't go to the shops herself. She does not pay each day but receives a bill each week. At the end of a week, on Saturday, there are several bills to pay.

Sometimes a person sees something advertised in a newspaper or on television that he would like. He may write for it and ask to send it C.O.D. (cash on delivery). When the article arrives, he pays the postman. If the person has a banking account he generally pays by cheque.

Going shopping is a pleasant experience for those who are well-off and can buy whatever they want. It is not so pleasant for a poorer person, who may have to leave the shop without many of the things he would like to buy. In big shops the customer does not pay the salesman or saleswoman (shop assistant), but takes the bill to the cash-desk and pays the cashier. In some shops there is a special department where they wrap up the purchases and hand them over the customers. Some big shops have a home-delivery service.

There is a tendency in England and America for small shops to disappear. They are eaten up by the big firms, who have branches all over the country. Many English people regret the disappearance of small shops.

But big shops are very useful to the public. They have a large variety of goods and sell at reasonable prices.