Welcome to Oxford

Oxford has many old buildings (in one square mile, there are over 900) but no tall monuments from which you can see the whole city. The University consists of 35 colleges in different parts of the town. Many good bits of architecture, as well as the entrances to some of the colleges, may be hard to find.

2

Welcome to Oxford

Many periods of English history are impressively documented in Oxford’s streets, houses, colleges and chapels. Within one square mile alone, the city has more than 900 buildings of architectural interest. For the visitor this presents a challenge – there is no single building that dominates Oxford, no famous fortress or huge cathedral that will give you a short-cut view of the city. Even Oxford’s famous University is spread

Amidst a tangle of 35 different colleges and halls in various parts of the city centre, side by side with shops and offices. Nor does Oxford flaunt its treasures; behind department stores lurk grand Palladian doorways or half-hidden crannies of medieval architecture. The entrance to a college may be tucked down a narrow alleyway, and even then is unlikely to be signposted. Persevere, and you will be amply rewarded …

b) 1 What is the difference between the first and the second text?

2 Does the second text include any facts that are absent in the first text?

3 Why is the second text so much longer than the first?

(Advanced Writing with English in Use CAE. p.135)

28. Read the following text, welcoming visitors to Rovaniemi (in Finland, on the Arctic Circle) and rewrite it in a purely factual style, that is in the style of the first Oxford text.

The Warm Embrace of the North

In a sheltered spot among hills and rivers nestles Rovaniemi. A place to relaz in contentment; between the hills of Ounasvaara and Korkalovaara, enclosed by the rivers Ounasjoki and Kemijoki, close to the heart of Mother Nature.

The countryside around Rovaniemi releases warmth, or reddens the cheeks in the winter frost. At the height of summer the sun shines, sultry, for a whole month, and the never-ending light confuses night with day. Towards Christmas Eve the sun offers only the briefest glimpse of itself, but the light of the stars and the Northern Lights glisten in the pure white snow. Even throughout the winter darkness, nature cares for its children.

What is there to be found in the shelter of these hills, by the murmuring streams, right in the heart of nature? Electricity, traffic, the bustle of people, the laughter of children, the greetings of friends …

An expressive vital city and its inhabitants bid you welcome. Rovaniemi offers you a place in its heart.

(Advanced Writing with English in Use CAE. p.136)

29. Read text A and complete the expressions and collocations in the sentences below (B).

A

For tourists yearning to escape the crowd¹, wander off the beaten track² and get back to nature³, Suriname increasingly looks a promising choice⁴. Nobody in Suriname claims that the country boasts⁵ the best sand, sea and sun in the Caribbean. But that, in a way, is precisely the point: there aren't hoards⁶ of people either.

As Henk Essed, director of the Suriname Tourism Foundation, observes: We don't really need masses of tourists like we have in the rest of the Caribbean. Instead, Suriname's modest tourism sector⁷ focuses on what makes the country different. The biggest attraction for visitors seeking something out of the ordinary⁸ is the wealth of⁹ wildlife. Large tracts¹⁰ of the country are still covered by virgin¹¹ rainforest, home to a huge range of flora and fauna¹².

There is great potential to develop eco-tourism¹³ as one of the major sources of income in the near future, says Harold Sijlbing, managing director of Stinasu, an organisation which promotes conservation of wildlife and ecological awareness.

¹ go where there are not many people

² go to places tourists don't normally go

³ live a natural, rural style of life

4 a choice which could be a very good one

5 this use of boast is for listing the good qualities of a place (formal)

6 crowds, in a negative sense

7 tourist industry (formal)

⁸ common collocation: looking for something different/unusual

⁹ large amount of (formal)

¹⁰ areas of land, collocates with large, fast, huge

11original and natural

¹² plants and animals (Latin); a fixed phrase

¹³ holidays that respect the environment

B Complete the expressions and collocations in these sentences, using words from A.

1. Malaysia .............................. some of the loveliest beaches in Asia.

2. The tourism ........................... is very important to the economies of many developing countries.

3. It is vital that tourism should not damage the flora and ........................ of beautiful areas of wildlife.

4. Most tourists like to feel free to ......................... off the ....................... track.

5. Nobody likes to travel to a place where there will be .......................... of other tourists.

6. People who spend all their time in big cities often like to .......................... back to ......................... when they go away for a holiday.

7. If you're ............................ something out of the ............................ why not try a snowboarding holiday? It's certainly different!

8. When I travel I always try to ............................. the crowd and find somewhere quiet.

9. There are vast .............................. of unspoilt land in the north of the country, with ........................... rainforests and a ............................ of wildlife.

10. We've studied the brochures and Tasmania looks a ................................ choice for this year.

(English Vocabulary in Use. Advanced.p p.82-83)

30. Use words from travel advertisements below to fill the gaps, based on the words given in brackets.

1. This company is excellent and their prices are ........................ (rival)

2. You should go into the .................. to see the true culture of the country. (heart)

3. There are some absolutely ....................... beaches to the north. (STUN)

4. I think Suntravel is ..................... when it comes to cheap destinations. (heat)

5. The mountains were so .................... . Many were over 5,000 metres high. (AWE)

6. We rented a ...................... villa. It was nice to be so near the beach. (water)

7. I just want somewhere quiet and relaxing to ..................... for a week. (wind)