0.5 Tour commentaries  (Page 3/3)

As they leave the bus, Mrs. Miller tells the sightseers: "You have one hour to go through the museum. Then we'll meet back at the entrance. I'll take you to the museum restaurant where we'll have lunch."

As the Silvers are leaving the museum after lunch, Janet asks the tour guide, “Can we stop for a moment? I want to buy some postcards to send to my friends. The stamps in your country are so pretty.”

Each member of the family buys several postcards at a sales counter just inside the front door of the museum, near the diorama. Then Mrs. Silver asks: “Would you mind taking the pictures of us standing on the front steps of the museum?”

Tour guides often receive this type of request. Tourists like to have pictures of themselves visiting faraway places. The tour guides are often asked to take the pictures so that the whole family or group can be in the photograph.

During the afternoon, the tour goes to a large crafts market. Built by the government, the market contains many stalls (enclosed spaces) where people display (show) and sell handicraft items, clothing, and souvenirs. The family walks around the market. They stop and look at many items. Suddenly, all four members of the family have the same idea at the same time, buying some shirts as souvenirs.

Back on the bus, the family agrees that they have enjoyed every bit of the tour. They will take home memories of a pleasurable, interesting day. The souvenirs they bought will remind them of the pleasurable experiences they had.

(Adapted from English for the Travel Industry by Benedict Kruse and Bettijune Kruse, 1982)

Work in groups and answer the following questions.

• Why are local tours sometimes called sightseeing tours?

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• Why does Mrs. Miller tell the sightseers to ask her any questions they have about the places they see?

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• How did the driver get the experience to become a tour bus driver?

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• What gives people confidence in a driver?

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• Why do tourists ask a tour guide to take their photographs?

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1. Vocabulary

a. Choose the correct word or phrase to complete each sentence.

1. An________ driver has practice driving in many different situations.

a. ordinaryc. experienced

b. unusuald. unsafe

1. Because the Silvers feel ________ that the driver is doing his job well, they have him.

a. an interest inc. nervousness about

b. a concern aboutd. confidence in

1. A tour bus driver must know all the traffic ________.

a. signsc. regulations

b. streetsd. police officers

1. Local tours are sometimes called ________.

a.bus tripsc. museum tours

b.sightseeing toursd. city trips

1. A ________ is a small pamphlet that describes or gives information about something.

a.newspaperc. book

b.magazined. brochure

b. Match each word or phase in column A with its meaning in column B.

1. Writing and Speaking

a. These are some of the most famous tourist attractions in Can Tho City. Do you know all of them? Write their names under the pictures?

a. …………………………	b. ………………………	d. …………………………
e. …………………………	f. …………………………	g. …………………………

b. Imagine you’re a tour guide. Prepare a short commentary for a place in Exercise A that you know well. Then describe it to your partner and ask him/her to guess what the place is.

Section 3: do you remember?

If you want to indicate positions, what expressions can you use?

When do you use the passive form?