Travelling

Reading
Read through this rather long text over the next day or so, noting some of the key
words concerned with trains, boats, cars, coaches and planes. As you read, note
down the details of each of the six journeys described.
Travel Broadens the Mind
June 29th ... June 30th ... July 1st. And they're off. Suitcases packed. Notes left
for the milkman. Arrangements made for the budgerigar to be looked after. They're
all off.

Uncle Bill and Auntie Jane are on the quayside at the cross-channel port of
Dover - the first stage of their Mediterranean cruise — 'the voyage of a lifetime'
their travel agent called it. They've been through customs (half an hour's delay
while suitcases were emptied in search of missing passports) and they'll be
embarking soon. When they go aboard, Bill will finally be allowed to take those
boarding cards out of his mouth.
Granny's at the coach station armed with her special old-age pensioner's season
ticket — a kind of awayday, runabout, extended period, half-price ticket rolled
into one. Today she's off on a one-day sightseeing excursion to Stonehenge,
Blackpool Tower and Canterbury Cathedral.

Julia's with her boyfriend at the airport, kicking their cases through the
departure lounge of what they hope is Terminal 3 and the right place to be for the
package holiday charter flight that their tour operator assured them would be
leaving sometime this morning. To their right, the 1st class passengers are sipping
champagne cocktails; to their left, those in economy and tourist class are drinking
coffee from the machine and, under their feet, those on stand-by, are looking
hopefully up from their sandwiches.
Mum and Dad are already on the open road. They decided to make an early start
on their touring holiday through the Loire valley. "Your turn to drive now. Come
on, let's get moving. Switch on, then. OK, it's all clear. Pull out, there's nothing
coming. Well, take the handbrake off. Right, indicate. Come on, drive away. At
last! Right, keep over. Keep to the right. Change gear, then. Come on,
accelerate!'
'Porter!' 'Sir?' 'How much?' '50p.' 'No thanks; I'll manage my own luggage.' Uncle
Mac is about to board the 10.40 inter-city express to Glasgow for a fortnight's
holiday back in the homeland. 'Do I have to change?' 'No, it's a through train, sir,
non-stop all the way.' It looks as if quite a few expatriates have had the same idea.
The compartments all look full - especially the non-smokers - and the buffet car
already sounds like Glasgow on the night of a Celtic-Rangers football match.

My brother's on the slip road of the Ml motorway at Junction 14, a rucksack on

his back containing sleeping bag, biscuits and a change of underwear. He's been
there for an hour and a half with his homemade sign saying 'Anywhere', trying to
thumb a lift. There are no hostels or transport cafes in sight. The rucksack is
getting heavier and the sky is getting darker. It's not much of a life sometimes,
hitch-hiking.

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 Travelling

Oh dear. Granny's coach has got stuck in a traffic jam, a queue of cars as far as
the eye can see. OK, so central Birmingham is on the direct route from Blackpool
to Canterbury. But during the rush-hour? With thousands of commuters heading
for home? Not a good plan. After all, what are bypasses and ringroads for? 'Right,
you can overtake this one. There's no speed limit here. Oh, a diversion. You'd
better turn off the main road. Pull across to the middle. Now keep in the right
lane. I mean the left lane. I mean ...'
Crashes at take-off, mid-air collisions, flight recorders never recovered, no
survivors ... 'This is your captain speaking'wakes Julia's boyfriend up. Another
nightmare over. The stewardess is smiling down at him. 'Fasten your seat-belts,
please.'
Uncle Bill and Auntie Jane have settled into their cabin, unpacked their things
and have gone up on deck. The sea is calm, the sunset is out of this world, and
Uncle Bill is beginning to feel just a little bit seasick. They are due to set sail in
half an hour.
Traffic is still crawling along behind and in front of Granny's coach. You can see
the casualties by the side of the road, in lay-bys and on the grass verges - bonnets
up, overheated engines, steaming radiators. The guide is into his second hour
on the history of Canterbury Cathedral. 'Toilets 1 mile!' the cry is heard. There is
great happiness.
'Right, here's a garage. 'Essence' must mean petrol station. We'd better pull in.
Come on, slow down. Now, what's French for 'fill up the tank' and 'top up the
battery'and...?'
Brother got a lift half an hour ago — for five miles. He was dropped at the next exit
off the motorway and is now trying his luck on a minor road. There's a four-star
hotel on his left (full board £35 a night for a single room), a guesthouse on his
right (£15 per person for bed and breakfast) and a long road ahead of him.
Granny's having her packed dinner and gazing at the silhouette of Canterbury
Cathedral against the night sky. No matter. She can sleep on the return journey
(reclining seats and air-conditioning on the coach), and tomorrow's another day.
There's a trip to the local brewery; that sounds much better.
Uncle Mac is sitting on his cases in the corridor outside the guard's van,
surrounded by a ring of miniature bottles of scotch.
Julia's plane has landed. Her boyfriend's wondering whether to try and save
something from the bottles of duty-free spirits he's just dropped. Julia's more
interested in the connecting bus that's supposed to take them to their final
destination.
Uncle Bill is on the bridge with the captain, asking him if there's any chance of
being put ashore before the sea gets any rougher.
'Well, it's about time we found a bed for the night, don't you think? You see that
motel on the left? There! There, where I'm pointing! There, the one with the ... Hey,
pull up! Pull up! Oh dear, pull over. I wonder what the French is for 'I'm sorry, we
appear to have dented your bumper'.

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Travelling

Practice
Which form of transport — train, car, boat or plane — do you associate with each of the
words and phrases below?

1 set sail 6 fast lane 11 quayside 16 charter flight

2 a cruise 7 to indicate 12 mid-air collision 17 to disembark
3 traffic jam 8 sundeck 13 departure lounge 18 express
4 compartment 9 commuter 14 buffet car 19 bypass
5 bonnet 10 take off 15 pull in 20 guard's van

Discuss or write the answers to these questions.

1 What, for you, are the pleasures and horrors of modern driving?
2 Look at the aspects of travel listed below. What are they like in your country? How
are they different in any other country you have been to?
a roads and car-drivers
b airports
с train services
d hitch-hiking possibilities

What's the furthest you have travelled in one 24-hour period? Describe the journey.

Think of films or film sequences - disaster movies, car chases, train adventures,
sinking ships — that involve travelling. Describe in detail the ones that impressed
you most.

Write or act out a conversation in a car. A driving instructor is taking a learner

driver out for their first lesson. The learner knows absolutely nothing about cars.

Write, in dialogue form, a conversation in which three friends argue about how they
should travel to a distant city for a long weekend. One thinks it would be best to go
by car, the second is for going by train, and the third would prefer to go by coach.

Write a circular letter to parents on the travel arrangements for a school's weekend
excursion from London to the North of France, which you have organised.

Write a dramatic paragraph from your latest novel, as the hero tries desperately to
get to the airport in time to catch his plane to Prague. It begins: Jackson jumped into
his waiting Porsche and...

Add here any other words or expressions that you meet on your travels.

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