Unit 4. Travelling Part 1. Vivien

Ex. 1 Read the text and pick up the terms referring to the topic.

There are advantages and disadvantages of travelling by plane. One obvious advantage is the speed. I’ve been from Hungary to London by coach, and it took 30 hours, whereas by plane it takes two and a half − quite a difference. Also, I think it’s very exciting to go over the sea, and good fun when flying to look down on little towns. All the cars look like ants. Some people are frightened to fly. I've flown about 50 times or something like that. I was frightened at first of course, but I have become accustomed to it, so it’s not frightening at all. One thing I don’t like is when your ears pop, and I always have a slight feeling of nau­sea, feeling all blocked up from the air pres­sure changes, but it’s only a minor irritation. I think landing is worse than taking off. Taking off is really exciting, when you feel the plane accelerate and you feel the power, the seats tip back, and then you take off. I enjoy that bit, but on landing, you seem to hover for ages, and there’s a point when you can't hear anything, and that’s a very unpleasant sensation.

I quite like aircraft food. People always say that it’s awful, but sometimes it’s quite interesting. It’s started getting a lot better now I think, they have cold meat and nice salads.

The longest trip I’ve been on was to the States. I can’t remember how long it took, I think it was 7 hours, and we flew on one of those huge jumbo jets, and inside it was the size of a room. They showed films on the journey, which was good. I remember that for some reason on the way back, we couldn’t go on the flight that we were booked on, and we ended up flying Iran Air, and there was no one on the plane except children from our school, so the entire room was empty and we could wander around.

Usually I fly on those planes that have just 3 seats on one side and 3 seats on the other, 737’s I think they are called. Jumbo jets are quite enormous in comparison.

Airports are usually quite far away from the nearest town, so it takes another long journey after arriving to get into town. For example the London airports, Heathrow Airport and Gatwick Airport, are both a long way away from the center, and if you want to take the tube to the air­port, it takes an hour and a half or some­thing, and it’s a really boring trip. In Moscow it’s the same − to go to my friend’s house from the airport, it can take another 2 hours, as it’s on the other side of town.

One of the advantages of trains over buses is that you can get up and walk about, whereas on a coach you’re stuck in your seat and you can't move, and you get cramp and your feet go to sleep, and you can be sitting next to a really obnoxious antisocial person who’s smoking or drinking or something and you can’t escape. On the train you can always move. For some reason I always seem to end up in a smoking compartment, which I can't say I’m over enthusiastic about. I went on the train to Kaposvar last week­end and I ended up coughing my lungs out after sharing a compartment with 3 smokers, even though it was a nonsmoking com­partment, but at least I could walk to the buffet car. They have some amazing buffet cars now in Hungary. We went to Debrecen in the summer and they had this kind of 60’s buffet with really wacky stalls and seats and an old-style restaurant. It was really good and you could sit down and eat sausages and drink beer. Also, it’s an advantage that you can just turn up at the railway station and buy a ticket, whereas with coaches you have to go along beforehand and order your ticket because you don’t know if the coach will be full, so it takes a bit more planning.

Coaches are subject to traffic jams and motorway pile-ups. They often have accidents in England, as coaches often go too fast ‘cause they have to keep up with their timetable.

I like going on ships. I've been on the cross-channel ferry from England to France, and I’ve also been quite a lot of times on the Isle of Man ferry, which is interesting because it goes across the Irish Sea − one of the roughest seas in the world, they say. It has about 5 different currents that all meet, and the Isle of Man ferry has no stabilizers on it, so a lot of people get really seasick, really ill, but if you go there as a child it's not so bad. I don’t think children suffer nearly as much from seasickness. The channel ferry from Dover to Calais is good, as they have lots of bars and restaurants, and you can just enjoy yourself for an hour and a half. It’s quite entertaining to go up on deck. I went once with a friend who felt seasick even though it was a totally flat calm sea, but we went up on deck and she felt a bit better. It’s good that you can go outside. I once came back on a hovercraft from France to England. The weather was really rough and the sea was rough, and everybody was sick except me, I think. The awful thing was that we were trapped inside and couldn’t go out on deck, and we were stuck in our seats and the smell was terrible. I felt really ill.

The new channel tunnel is apparently very popular now, but I don't think I would go on it, as I get quite bad claustrophobia. Tunnels are bad enough on land. I hate the Tube in London. It’s much worse than in Budapest because it’s much deeper and the car­riages are much smaller. In Budapest they have big Soviet-built square carriages, but in London there's no space and I feel like it sucks out all of your ener­gy. You end up feeling really tired. Also, in England they're really dirty and smelly and there've been a few accidents so it’s quite frightening to go on it. It often stops in the middle of the tunnel and you just don't know how long you're going to stay there, and you can see everybody getting more and more nervous and more and more claustrophobic. It’s quite frightening.

I often walk. In towns I think you can often get around much quicker if you walk, especially at rush hour when there are big traffic jams, although you get affected by pollution.

Perhaps it’d be better to wear a mask similar to those people wear when they go cycling. I used to cycle all around London, but then I gave my bike away to a friend when I came to Hungary. I’d quite like to have a bike here, but I’m not sure if I trust Hungarian driv­ers. They're always quite reckless, and also with the fumes from old cars, it wouldn’t be very healthy if you didn’t have a mask.

When I was little, we use to go to Devon every summer, which is on the coast. I’d stay with my cousins and just go to the seaside and swim every day. Twice in the winter we went to Switzerland. I was so young, I hardly remember it. I remember going to a skiing-school and being thrown out for not behaving, ’cause it seemed that the ski exercises were too easy, and me and a friend that I’d just met went off and did our own thing, and so we got thrown out. I remember having really bad earache from the plane, and my mum put hot oil in my ears.

We also went to Norway when I was very tiny. I hardly remember that at all. I remember the hotel we stayed in, because they had nice games to play. I’ve been to France a lot of times. I went to stay with a French girl, in the south. I think my mum hoped that I would learn a bit more French, but I was really shy at the time and I hard­ly said anything. One of my cousins lives in France with her husband and I've been to stay with them. I went with a friend of mine. We went on little tours around the coun­tryside on mopeds and really enjoyed ourselves. Quite often I've just been over the chan­nel to Calais to go shopping, because from London it's really quick and you can get very cheap tickets − it costs about 6 pounds for a return tick­et. There used to be special offers in the newspapers to encourage people to go to these big supermarkets they have in Calais. I have been to Paris as well. That’s a really nice city, but I remember the waiters being really abrupt.

We went to the USA on a school trip for a month and I stayed with an American girl, but we were really badly matched up. She was very much into sewing and shop­ping and I was more into concerts and music and things like that, so we were a strange mix.

I’ve been to Russia three times, once when it was still the Soviet Union. The first time was in 1980, so it was quite different to when I went last year and about 3 years ago. I noticed the difference. When I went 3 years ago, I went on the train to St. Petersburg. That was really exciting. Also, I went to Kaluga, which is a provincial town outside Moscow. If you go on the electric train, it takes about 3 or 4 hours to get there. Electric trains are like little local trains and they go really slowly, but it was a really interesting journey. I went to stay with Natasha’s parents and I saw what a provincial town was like, quite different from the capital.

I’ve been to the Czech Republic three times. The first was with the University in 1982, where you had to spend a certain amount of time abroad if you studied languages. I went to Brno University. That was really good. It was quite different at that time. I had a bit of a problem with food, because there were no fresh vegetables and I was vegetarian at the time, so I lived on “knedliki” which are similar to dumplings. I think I ended up eating sausages all the time because that was the only thing I could get. We had some really horrible meals. If you asked for a salad in a restaurant, all you got was one sliced up gherkin. Also, I went once on holiday with a friend and went back to Brno and Prague, which was good, and I went to a summer school in Brno, which ended up being the first time I ever came to Hungary. When my visa ran out, I had to go somewhere outside of the Czech Republic, and then go back again to the airport.

I’ve also been to Slovakia. We stayed in the High Tatras and the Low Tatras and we went all around. The countryside was really beautiful. We had a friend whose aunt was in a high position in the Communist Party at the time, so we got to stay in a Communist Party hotel up in the Tatras, which was really interesting. The standard of the hotel was really high, as you can imagine.

I went on a cheap trip to Bulgaria with a friend from London. We went on a spring tour around all these old ski-resorts on the last week of the season before they shut down for the summer. We also went to Plovdiv and Sofia, but we spent most of the time in a ski-resort in the mountains. We went to lots of monasteries, which were very beautiful, and it was quite a good holiday overall. We drank a lot of Bulgarian wine, and had a lot of parties. It was a kind of coach tour, so it was really interesting because often the other people on the tour were as interesting as the country we were visiting.

I’ve been to Albania twice. I’d always been fascinated with Albania, so when the first opportunity came to go there after they opened the borders, I decided to go there. I enjoyed that very much as well.

Ex. 2 Suggest the Russian equivalents to the English ones: whereas, to look down on little towns, to be frightened, to become accustomed to something, to have a slight feeling of nau­sea, air pres­sure changes, a minor irritation, landing, taking off, to accelerate, to get a lot better, aircraft food, a jumbo jet, to go on the flight, on the way back, to end up doing, enormous, in comparison, to be quite far away from, to be stuck in the seat, an obnoxious antisocial person, to get cramp, to get more and more claustrophobic, to be enthusiastic about something, amazing buffet, to cough,

wacky stalls, beforehand, to turn up, to be full, buffet cars, an entire room, to share a compartment, a traffic jam, to feel seasick, motorway pile-ups, to take a bit more planning, to be a long way away from the center, to keep up with the timetable, a cross-channel ferry, to suffer from seasickness, to go up on deck, to trap, to get around much quicker, to get affected, to be very much into sewing and shop­ping, to feel a bit better, to be thrown out for not behaving, ski exercises, to get thrown out, a return tick­et, to go on little tours, to run out, to shut down for the summer.

Ex. 3 Suggest the English equivalents to the Russian ones: очевидное преимущество, отправиться по морю, становится заложенным (об ушах), тошнота, незначительный, наклоняться назад, порхать, ощущение, скитаться, по какой-либо причине, по прибытию, междугородний автобус, аэропорт Хитроу, онеметь (о конечностях), кашлять, Гатуик аэропорт, заказать билет на автобус, Кале, транспортное средство на воздушной подушке, безрассудный, неожиданный, очень маленький, клёцки, нарезанный ломтиками, корнишон, лыжный курорт, от начала до конца, размером с комнату, в стиле шестидесятых, высасывать энергию.

Ex. 4 Fill in the gaps in the sentences.

1. Vivien has become accustomed to…, and good fun when…

2. She thinks … is worse than…

3. For some reason …, we couldn't … that we were booked on.

4. Airports are usually …, so it takes another long journey after…

5. It's an advantage that you can just… and buy a ticket, whereas with coaches you have to…

6. In towns Vivien thinks everybody … if …, especially …, although…

7. It’s quite frightening when a carriage often stops…

8. Vivien used to cycle…

Ex. 5 Complete the sentences.

1. Vivien thinks it’s very exciting to…

2. Flying by plane Vivien always has…, feeling…

3. That's a very unpleasant sensation when…

4. Vivien flew on one of those huge jumbo jets to the States, and inside…

5. Usually Vivien flies on those planes that…

6. One of the advantages of trains over buses is that…

7. On a coach you're stuck in your seat, and you…

8. Vivien isn’t enthusiastic about…

9. Coaches are subject to…

10. Coaches often have accidents in England because…

11. Vivien wouldn’t go on the new tunnel, as…

12. Vivien feels that London tube…

Ex. 6 Are these statements true or false?

1. There are only disadvantages of traveling by plane.

2. Vivien has never been frightened to fly.

3. Vivien thinks it is impossible to get accustomed to fly as she hasn’t got used to it.

4. Vivien likes everything which is connected with a plane.

5. She hates taking off and landing.

6. Vivien has experienced only a short trip by plane. It was boring as she was alone.

7. There is no difference in traveling by trains or by coaches.

8. Vivien is quite indifferent whether to travel in a smoking or a nonsmoking compartment.

9. Traveling by coaches is safe and fast.

10. Vivien hasn’t experienced traveling by ship.

11. Vivien have impressions on tunnels on land. That’s why she dreams of going on the new channel tunnel which is very popular now.

12. Vivien prefers walking at rush hour when there are big traffic jams.

13. In London Vivien used to cycle and she’d like to have a bike, but she is not sure she would be able to cycle in Hungary as Hungarian drives are reckless.

14. Vivien remembers her trip to Paris and the waiters who were very polite.

15. Vivien went to the USA on a school trip. She stayed with an American girl but they badly matched up.

16. Vivien had to leave Czech Republic, when her visa ran out.

17. Due to the fact that the aunt of Vivien’s friend was in a high position in the Communist Party Vivien and her friend stayed at a high standard hotel.

18. Vivien went on a cheap trip to Bulgarian seaside, it was in summer.

19. Vivien was fascinated with Albania.

Ex. 7 Answer the questions.

1. How long does it take Vivien to get to London from Hungary by coach?

2. How much times has Vivien flown?

3. Why does Vivien become accustomed to fly?

4. Is aircraft food started getting a lot of better now?

5. What was going on during the trip to the States?

6. What airports are in London?

7. What advantages has train over bus?

8. When did Vivien go to Debrecen?

9. Why do coaches often go too fast?

10. What is especially interesting on the Isle of Man ferry?

11. Why do a lot of people get a really seasick on the Isle of Man ferry?

12. Why wouldn’t Vivien go on the new channel, wish is very popular now?

13. How does the Tube in London differ from tube in Budapest?

14. Where did Vivien use to cycle?

15. Where is Devon situated on?

16. Why didn’t Vivien learn a bit more French when she was to France?

17. What transport did Vivien use to get to the USA?

18. How much times has Vivien been to Russia?

19. What problem had Vivien in Czech Republic?

20. Who did Vivien meet in Slovakia?

Ex. 8 Translate the sentences into English.

1. Мы обычно добираемся до Москвы автобусом.

2. Он привык вставать рано утром.

3. Ее всегда тошнит в самолете.

4. Поезд ускорил ход.

5. Он откинулся в кресле.

6. Птица парила в небе.

7. После разговора с начальником у него было неприятное ощущение.

8. Он мог часами бродить по саду.

9. Неудобное положение вызвало у него судороги.

10. Он оказался очень неприятным человеком.

11. Ей очень хотелось отключиться от повседневной жизни.

12. Новости были непроверенные.

13. Общественный транспорт попадает в заторы в час пик.

14. В нашем городе автобусы придерживаются расписания.

15. Она страдает морской болезнью, поэтому никогда не ездит морем.

16. Это был безрассудный шаг.

17. Его отъезд был неожиданный.

18. Его грубое поведение разозли ее.

19. Его внешность соответствует его характеру.

20. Он не смог выехать за границу, т.к. у него закончилась виза.

21. Его отец занимал высокий пост.

22. Отдых от начала до конца был прекрасным.

Ex. 9 Give a summary of the text.