EOI Advanced cycle

MAY 2011

EOI Topic Area: TravelREADING

Source: Timesonline http://www.101holidays.co.uk/top-10-holiday-destinations/

Top Five Holiday Destinations for British Holidaymakers

Looking for holiday ideas? Our editors – The Sunday Times travel writers David Wickers and Mark Hodson – have revealed their top 5 holiday destinations. These are the most popular destinations with our readers, along with our own personal recommendations.

A. Spain

Spain has long been a favourite of British holidaymakers, and it remains our number one holiday destination. There’s a lot more to Spain than beaches. There are great walking holidays in Northern Spain and cycling in Catalonia. The rise of low-cost airlines has benefited city breaks in places like Palma and Seville – both of which are rich in culture.

B. France

The relationship between the British and French may have had its ups and downs over the years, but our love of all things French shows no signs of abating. Among our favourite holidays are the beaches of the Atlantic coast, Corsica and the Ile de Ré. You can visit Monet’s Garden in Giverny, take a cycling holiday, a walking break or a battlefield tour.

C. Great Britain

No list of holiday destinations for UK travellers would be complete without mentioning our own great country. Britain offers many interesting holiday experiences. You can rent a lighthouse keeper’s cottage or stay in a tipi in Cornwall, go boating on the Norfolk Broads or sleep on a luxury yacht moored in a harbour in Devon.

D. Greece

Holidays in Greece are all about simplicity. Despite a recent profileration of five-star hotels, it is the whitewashed villas, the friendly tavernas, the hot sun and blue seas that keep us coming back year after year. Even Greek food is a masterpiece of simplicity, both traditional and healthy. It is the islands that attract the most visitors.

E. Italy

Ancient culture, great beaches, fantastic food and beautiful weather – it’s no surprise that so many of us decide to holiday in Italy. For a taste of la dolce vita, head to the wonderful cities of Rome, Florence and Venice – for an extra dash of old-school glamour, travel there on the Orient Express. Beach lovers will be blown away by the 500 miles of coastline in stunning Puglia, not to mention the traditional architecture and terrific food and wine.

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Exercise 1Read the text and answer A, B, C, D or E.

At which holiday destination …

1 … can you visit an artist’s garden?

2 … can you spend time on a boat inland?

3 … can you eat simple, nutritious meals?

4 … go on an old, elegant train?

5 … see amazing old buildings?

6 … can you stay in an unusual house?

7 … can you visit museums and galleries without spending too much on a flight?

8 … can you look around places where there was fighting during the war?

Exercise 2Read the text and fill in the gaps with the correct word from the box below.

Why I love House-swapping.

This wasn't the first time we had swapped our home with total strangers via a holiday exchange website. Our first try was at the start of 2009 in the home of architect Cedrick and his family – his chic Parisian apartment had African masks on the (1) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ grey walls, and a rich pink bathroom. The following summer we exchanged with Geraldine and her daughters and stayed in their light-filled, (2) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Cornish home.

But for this latest journey, now a home swap "graduate", I was looking for a way to exchange more than a place to stay. In an email to Nicola (3) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ to the holiday, I asked for names of children that ours could meet and hopefully have fun with. It worked. Two days after we arrived in France, we were perched with Nicola's friends on wooden planks (4) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ a Languedoc village square watching a traditional dancing and bull blessing ceremony. In another encounter, neighbours Eric and Pascale invited us to dinner.

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prior sensation overlooking opennessmuted lingers terraced mediated

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The internet gives us opportunities to share with people outside our immediate circle. What is interesting is the ease with which we felt able to trust this digitally (5) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ encounter, sharing not only everything we own but also our relationships with friends and neighbours. In essence, we were temporarily swapping our lives.

When I was travelling around East Berlin in 1990, I felt I was open to the world ... This (6) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ of connection "partage" is possible thanks to travel and the meeting of the other. Our exchange is the nouvelle experience for the all family. We left the barriers at home and we try to bring back this (7) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ we had in the other home. The kids have been transformed by language, culture, and sharing with people.

One of the ideals of a holiday is to have a transformative experience that (8) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ long after you return to your daily routine. As we learn to become a little less precious about our separateness, swapping homes and lives may become an increasingly attractive and popular adventure.

Emily Kasriel

GRAMMAR

Question words

1. Complete this text with these words and appropriate answers to the questionnaire.

Your parents have sent you a ticket to fly to New York where they are planning to

celebrate their wedding anniversary. (1) . . . . . . . . . . . much is happening at work,

you’ve (2) . . . . . . . . . . . been to New York and you’ve had (3) . . . . . . . . . . . holiday

trips for more than a year, so you’ve quickly packed a couple of large suitcases and

headed to the airport. You are now sitting on board British Airways flight BA 21, non-

stop from London to New York, waiting to take off. The flight attendant hands you a

questionnaire. You decide to complete it.

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did how never no nothingwhat where which who why

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(4) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ is your flight number?

______________________

(5) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ are you taking this flight?

Business or Leisure

(6) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ paid for your flight? Myself or Somebody else

(7) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ you check in bags for this flight?

Yes or No

(8) At _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ airport did you board this flight?

______________________

(9) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ will you leave this flight?

______________________

(10) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _many flights have you made in the last 12 months?

______________________

Adjectives

2. Complete this text with these sets of adjectives in the best order. Add and or punctuation if necessary.

Some people like to talk a lot about food and restaurants they go to. I have a friend

called Lee who lectures on (1) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  

history at the university. He gets very excited when he describes a (2) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  cafe in Rome and ‘all the (3) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ people’ who work there. I also remember listening to an

(4) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  woman, who is a professor of

(5) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  literature, complaining about

how Spanish dishes are served in some places with (6) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  wine from (7) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

boxes. When she speaks about it, her mouth becomes (8) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  , as if she were reliving the terrible experience.

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English older Italian Greek big plastic square little great outdoor European southern Spanish cheap

carefree crazy happy sour twisted

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Prepositions

3. Complete this text using these prepositions.

Whenever I see a newspaper lying on the ground beside a door, I think of Fred. A few

years ago, Fred had to travel to a meeting and his flight was delayed for several hours

because of bad weather. (1) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ the time he got to his hotel it

was (2) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ midnight. Once in his room, he felt really tired so he

just undressed and got into bed. (3) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ some point during the

night, he had to get up and go to the bathroom. He wasn’t really awake and it was very

dark, but he could see a light (4) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ the bathroom door, so he

walked (5) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ the light. He opened the bathroom door and went

in. The bright light blinded him for a moment. As the door closed behind him, he

vaguely wondered why there was a doormat on the bathroom floor. Facing him was

another door (6) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ a number on it. It was number 325. That

was strange. Then he realized he wasn’t in the bathroom. He was in the corridor. He

turned to go back (7) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ his room, but the door was locked.

And he was naked. He heard voices coming from the far end of the corridor. What was

he going to do? Then he noticed a newspaper on the floor beside the door (8) _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ number 325. He quickly grabbed the newspaper and held it in front of

him as a man and a woman in dark uniforms came (9) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ the

corridor towards him. The man said, ‘Good morning, sir. Having a bit of trouble?’ They

were security guards. Fred explained his embarrassing situation and they unlocked the

door for him. He thanked them as if they had just saved his life. After they left, he

opened his door, made sure it wouldn’t close again, stepped (10) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ the corridor and put the newspaper back on the floor outside number 325.

Someone else might need that newspaper.

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