Travelling by Sea Text 5 The First Trip Abroad

Early the following morning Tracy stopped at a travel agency and reserved a suite on the Signal Deck of the Queen Elizabeth II. She was as excited as a child about her first trip abroad, and spent the next three days buying clothes and luggage.

On the morning of the sailing Tracy hired a limousine to drive her to the pier. When she arrived at Pier 90, Berth 3, at West Fifty‑fifth and Twelfth Avenue, where the QE II was docked, it was crowded with photographers and television reporters. Tracy brushed past them, showed her passport to a ship's officer at the gangplank, and walked up onto the Ship. On deck, a steward looked at Tracy's ticket and directed her to her Stateroom. It was a lovely suite, with a private terrace. It had been ridiculously expensive, but Tracy decided it was going to be worth it.

She unpacked and then wandered along the corridor. In almost every cabin there were farewell parties going on, with laughter and champagne and conversation. She felt a sudden ache of loneliness. There was no one to see her off.

She made her way up to the Boat Deck and heard the sound of a deep‑throated boat whistle and calls of "All ashore who's going ashore", and she was filled with a sudden excitement. She was sailing into a completely unknown future. She felt the huge ship shudder, as the tugs started to pull out of the harbour, and she stood among the passengers on the Boat Deck, watching the Statue of Liberty slide out of sight, and then she went exploring.

The QE II was a city, more than nine hundred feet long and thirteen stories high. It had four restaurants, six bars, two ballrooms, two Nightclubs, and a "Golden Door Spa at Sea". There were scores of shops, four swimming pools, a gymnasium, a golf driving range, a jogging track. I may never want to leave the ship, Tracy marveled.

Comprehension check

Ex. 1. Answer the questions.

1. Where did Tracy travel?

2. How did she travel?

3. What was the name of the ship?

4. Why was Tracy's suite very expensive?

5. Why did Tracy feel a sudden ache of loneliness?

6. What city is described in this passage?

7. Why can the ship be called a city?

Ex. 2. Find in the text the equivalents to the following words and expressions.

1. дорожка для бега, 2) высотой в 13 этажей, 3) трап, 4) бюро пу­те­шест­вий и экскурсий, 5) чемоданы, 6) нанять, 7) причал, 8) стоять на причале, 9) палуба, 10) место причала, 11) дежурный у трапа, 12) отдельная каюта.

Ex. 3. Fill in the articles a/an/the/ − where necessary.

1) They go by ... air, but this time they decided to go by ... sea. 2) They bought ... tickets and travelled all through ... night to Calais. 3) They were in time to go on ... board... ship waiting at ... quay. 4) They went straight down to ... restaurant for ... breakfast. 5) They saw that ... coast of France was disappearing and ahead were ... white cliffs of Dover. 6) They joined ... many passengers who were leaning on ... rails watching ... English coast. 7) It seemed much more exciting than getting off... plane at ... London Airport. 8) At ... entrance to ... Customs Office their passports were checked. 9) …officer did not ask them to open their cases and in... minute ... they were through ... gate, on ... platform and seated on ... London train.

Ex. 4. Give the synonyms for: 1) port, 2) steamer, 3) buoy 4) quay, 5) cabin, 6) liner, 7) passage.

Ex. 5. Match the words and phrases in column A with t in column B.

А В

on board a ship a) корма

life buoy b) каюта‑люкс

deck с) трюм

stern d) на борту корабля

poitholes e) иллюминаторы

state room f) сходни

gangway g) палуба

hold h) команда, экипаж

crew i) спасательный круг

Ex. 7. Fill in the right word.

Boats sail by boat quay gangway port in advance deck A

1. Shall we stay long in this ...?

2. Which ... will the boat from Batumi arrive at?

3. What ... go on this line?

4. When does the next boat ... for Riga?

5. We went to Astrakhan ... .

6. Our cabin is on ... .

7. When we arrived at the port, the ... had already been up.

8. I booked my tickets three days ... .