I recall a movie starring Chevy Chase called Vacation. A family ventures out to have a journey of a lifetime. I thought that the plot of the movie was similar to the trips that I took as a child. When packing for your trip, remember to separate valuable items. Keep money orders and cash separate – and make sure your entire luggage is secure.
Stop at every chance you get.
My father was the type that really disliked stopping until we were at our final destination – and to a degree I have inherited that cause. But really – if you have planned to take a road-trip, part of the adventure is seeing what lies between your start and end points.
Get lost.
I say this in a ‘ tongue in cheek ’ kind of way. When I say get lost, I mean to find a safe spot and just try to blend in with the locals as best you can. If you don’t really want to hang around too long, you will always have that GPS to get you back on track. I have often said that there is no better way to walk in someone’s shoes unless you know where they bought them.
Keep the lines of communications open.
Talking to people you may find, that there really is not much difference between you and them. After getting over the initial shock of hearing a very deep Southern accent from a gentleman in South Carolina, I found a travel guide to some of the best bar-b-q spots in all of the Carolinas! Spots that I would have never imagined walking into – and my taste buds thanked him considerably. We still exchange Christmas Cards to this day!
Stop to stretch your legs out!
Something that the whole family had to hound my father about growing up (see #5) – can really make for a very uncomfortable ride. Of course, you can stop and stretch out your legs when you stop to fuel up, but it really is important to just stop and get some fresh air at every chance you get. Your legs (along with other vital organs) will thank you!
Pack your lunch!
Sometimes, there is just no where to stop, and if those hunger pains hit you when all you see is miles and miles of highway, you certainly will feel like a hero if you packed something to eat. Just be forewarned, if you find yourself in a long stretch of road and decide to finish off that 36oz cup of soda – if you take in water, you will make water – so in moderation, please.
Travel with friends.
Although there is a lot to be said about taking some of these road trips on your own (I drove from New England to Key West by myself and had an amazing time), you will miss out on a lot of things that you would otherwise have enjoyed with a friend. Be careful that you actually like the friend that your traveling with, otherwise you might want to just stick with #5.
A fun and exciting way to travel is by the way of the automobile. Millions of little areas of this country are just waiting for you to come and discover them. Here’s hopping to our chance meeting on the open road.
Lesson 7
TRAVELLING BY ROAD
Discuss the text and vocabulary (cards, pictures, etc)
Talk about the advantages and disadvantages of travelling by car.
What other kinds of transport can we use travelling by road? (motorbike, bicycle, bus, roller skates, segway, kick-scooter, troika, dog-harnesses, etc…)
Discuss the tasks on hand-outs.
Listening (“Car Service”)
Topics for reports:
1) The first automobile ever
2) Unusual cars
3) Minor road vehicles (bike, roller-board, rollers, kick-scooter, segway, …)
4) Old-fashioned and rare (+ethno-specific) vehicles (stagecoach, troika, dog-harness, riksha, cab, …)
5) City transport (bus, trolleybus, taxi, coach, …)
6) Luxurious automobiles
7) Soviet automobiles
8) Types of roads
9) Types of cars (car bodies)
10) The most well-known road signs
11) The procedure of getting the driving license in the UK, USA, and Russia
12) The main parameters of a car in an advertisement / commercial
13) SUPPLEMENTS
Trainspotting
В этой статье рассказывается о необычном, но очень популярном в США и Англии хобби - "трейнспоттинг" (от англ. train - поезд и spotting - отслеживание. По материалам из Wikipedia и статьи "The world's first trainspotter" (автор Tom Geoghegan) из BBC News Magazine http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7179030.stm.
If you are a person who detects trains for a hobby you are a "trainspotter" who makes an effort to spot all of a certain type of rolling stock. This can be a locomotive or a carriage or all the rolling stock of a particular company. A trainspotter collects and exchanges detailed information about the movements of trains on the railway network. They use a data book listing the locomotives or equipment, in which locomotives seen are ticked off. In modern times, mobile phones are used to communicate with others in the hobby.
It is believed that trainspotting was born in the North East.
For a 14-year-old boy, the sight of the world's first steam-hauled passenger train in 1825 was a revelation.
John Backhouse, a Quaker from County Durham, wrote to his sisters a letter which includes an illustration of the train, complete with annotations. He mentioned the locomotive steam engine at the front, the freight wagons, the passenger coach and the flags.
The letter suggests he may indeed be the world's first trainspotter.
In the heyday of trainspotting, large numbers of schoolboys could be seen on platforms before and after class, clutching their log books that had all the engine numbers, plus added details like boiler pressure.
Those were the days when rail travel played a huge part in people's lives.
It is a misconception that all railfans are trainspotters. Many enthusiasts simply enjoy reading about or travelling on trains, or enjoying their rich history—this may extend to art, architecture, the operation of railroads, or simply modelling, drawing or photographing them.
Certain train operating companies in the United Kingdom are banning trainspotters from taking photographs on railway station platforms. The reasons for the ban appear to be security and concerns about terrorism.
Глоссарий:
a rolling ['rəulɪŋ] stock - подвижной состав
a locomotive [ˌləukə'məutɪv] - локомотив
a carriage ['kærɪʤ] - вагон
a railway network - железнодорожная сеть
listing - зд.: со списком
to tick off - отмечать
other in the hobby - другие люди с таким же хобби
a Quaker ['kweɪkə] - квакер (последователь протестантского религиозного течения, проповедующего пацифизм и благотворительность; возникло в Англии во второй половине 17 в.)
steam engine ['stiːmˌenʤɪn] - паровой двигатель
a freight [freɪt] wagon ['wægən] - грузовой вагон
a passenger ['pæs(ə)nʤə] coach [kəuʧ] - пассажирский вагон
In the heyday ['heɪdeɪ] - в период расцвета
a log book - регистрационная книга
boiler ['bɔɪlə] pressure ['preʃə] - давление в котле
rail travel - железнодорожные перевозки
operation of railroads - эксплуатация железных дорог
