Text 5: HOLIDAYS AND HOLIDAY MAKERS

For the next few weeks, tour operators will be sorting through the annual deluge of complaints. Ron
Wheal, head of customer relations for Britain’s biggest holiday company, which took more than a million
people abroad this summer, says, “Holiday makers are complaining about silly little things.” Such as?
“Such as the fact that their hotel is next to a road. How do they expect to get to their hotel if it’s not next
to a road?”

Perhaps one of the most common complaints is that the holiday fails to live up to the brochure promises.
A family from Berkshire with two young children were attracted by a two-week package in a three-star
hotel that was described as ‘friendly’ and ‘particularly suitable for families with children’. It offered ‘cots,
baby minding, high chairs and early suppers’. When they arrived, the hotel was not up to three-star
standard, the staff was rude and the promised facilities for children were practically non-existent.

An initial complaint which had been sent to the holiday company by the family was answered with a
payment of £30 as compensation. With the help of a consumer magazine, the family issued a summons
claiming £500 – which the holiday company eventually met in full.

One of the big travel successes of recent years has been the ‘gite’ holiday; a gite is self-catering
accommodation in France, often on a farm. The director of the Gite de France’s London office recently
received a telephone call from one client furious about the cows that passed in front of her gite. Was she
complaining about the mess? “No, she was angry because the cows used to stop and look in at her as
they went past the window.”

Britain’s biggest seller of long-distance holidays says that the majority of its complaints come from
people who have chosen the wrong sort of holiday. People who fail to do their research could find
themselves in the Caribbean during the hurricane season.

Mr. Wheal says that if someone really wants action over a spoilt holiday, “they should try and sort it out
with a holiday company representative there and then.” Those who complain to the tour operator on
their return and are unhappy with the response can take their case to the Association of British Travel
Agents (ABTA), which will provide conciliation facilities free of charge.

1. The text is mainly about _____.

a) the problems of travel agents

b) the fancy brochure promises of hotels

c) gite holidays in France

d) the complaints of holiday makers

2. The Berkshire family received compensation from the holiday company because _____.

a) the hotel they went to was not a three-star hotel

b) the family refused to take the payment of £30 as compensation

c) the hotel didn’t keep its brochure promises

d) the hotel staff were very rude

3. Which of the following is true according to the text?

a) Ron Wheal thinks that most of the complaints his company receives are reasonable.

b) Holiday makers generally complain that their holiday is of a lower standard than they expect.

c) The Berkshire family chose an unsuitable hotel for themselves deliberately.

d) Despite the pressure of the consumer magazine, the Berkshire family sued the hotel company.

4. Which of the following is not true according to the text?

a) On a gite holiday you cook your own meals.

b) Once a family went to the Caribbean during the hurricane season and had a tough time.

c) The holiday complaints generally stem from wrong choices.

d) Gite holidays have become very famous lately.

5. What does Mr. Wheal suggest to the discontented holidaymakers?

a) to sue the holiday company b) not to trust holiday company representatives

c) to complain to the tour operator d) to contact ABTA

6. What does “facilities” in paragraph 2 mean?

a) entertainment b) services c) tools d) help

7. What does “majority” in paragraph 5 mean?

a) some b) all c) few d) most

8. What does “it” in paragraph 2 refer to?

a) the hotel b) the family c) the brochure d) the staff

9. What does “its” in paragraph 5 refer to?

a) Britain’s b) majority’s

c) the long distance holiday’s d) the famous holiday seller’s

10. What does “it” in paragraph 6 refer to?

a) the spoilt holiday b) the hotel c) the action d) the holiday

Text 6: GLOBAL WARMING

Global Warming is an important ecological issue because it has several negative effects upon our environment.
Global Warming, or the Greenhouse Effect, is the result of a fourfold ecological process: First, sunlight radiates from
the sun, through space, to the Earth’s atmosphere. Second, the sunlight enters the atmosphere and hits the Earth.
Some of it turns into heat energy in the form of infrared light. The heat gets absorbed by surrounding air and land,
which, in turn, makes it warm. Third, infrared rays, which are remitted into the atmosphere, are trapped by
greenhouse gases. Finally, the gas then absorbs the light and is remitted back to the Earth’s surface and warms it
even more.

Left on its own, this natural process keeps our planet warm enough for habitation, but with the increases in
temperature, caused by modern industry, our current way of life could become threatened. Over the past 100 years
the emissions of greenhouse gases have been increasing due to increases in technology and human developments.
Modern factories and production plants have been responsible for depositing large amounts of gas into the
atmosphere. These gases include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone depleting substances such as
CFCs, also known as Chlorofluorocarbons, hydro fluorocarbons, and per fluorocarbons.   

Activities such as fossil fuel combustion, waste disposal, the use of refrigerators, agricultural and industrial
activities, and the cutting down of forests have all played a significant role in the spread of these gases. These, and
other human practices, have changed the chemical make-up of the atmosphere. Between pre-industrial times and
today, carbon dioxide concentrations have been on the rise. With these higher levels of gas concentration in our
atmosphere, the Earth's climate is slowly changing for the worse. If the temperature of the Earth’s surface is not
warmer, it is still as warm as it has been in any other century.

One study, conducted by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), said that unless governments do
something to restrict the emissions of greenhouse gases to a lower level, global temperatures could rise 1.6 to 5.3
degrees Fahrenheit by the year 2100. This increase is significant, because it represents the fastest global warming
since the end of the last ice age more than 10,000 years ago (Houghton and Griggs). One result of these warmer
temperatures is drought. With the warming of the planet, the water on the ground would quickly evaporate,
causing rivers and lakes to dry. This would lead to crops dying from lack of rain, which would lead to increased food
prices and other associated economic changes. Another result that would occur from global warming is a drastic
rise in sea levels. As the Earth warms up, the polar ice caps will start to melt. This would put immense amounts of
water into the Earth’s oceans. All cities along the coast would be flooded from the rise in sea level. This would force
people to move inland, and with more people inland, the results could lead to a shortage of space in some areas.
With the coastal cities under water, people moving inland for suitable habitation and widespread crop deprivation
due to drought economic hardships will be sure to ensue.

The negative effects of global warming are a real threat. It is our responsibility to ensure a safe and healthy planet
while we increase manufacturing and production at the same time.

1. Global warming is increasing as a result of _____.

a) technology b) the heat of the sun c) infrared light d) heat energy

2. Which of the following is not a factor which leads to a negative change in the Earth’s climate?

a) disappearing forests b) fuel combustion

c) increase in carbon dioxide concentrations d) the chemical make up of the atmosphere

3. If the emissions of greenhouse gases are not cut down, _____ in the future.

a) fuel combustion may increase b) there may be less rain

c) fewer trees may be cut down d) the level of the oceans may decrease

4. Which of the following would not occur if polar ice caps began to melt?

a) economic problems b) migration from coasts to inner parts of lands

c) an increase in the amount of crops d) floods in cities along coasts

5. What does “habitation” in paragraph 2 mean?

a) living b) working c) moving d) going

6. What does “depositing” in paragraph 2 mean?

a) increasing b) absorbing c) getting d) leaving

7. What does “immense” in paragraph 4 mean?

a) terrible b) surprising c) dangerous d) huge

8. What does “it” in paragraph 1 refer to?

a) the atmosphere b) the Greenhouse Effect c) the sunlight d) the heat energy

9. What does “it” in paragraph 3 refer to?

a) the temperature of the Earth’s surface b) the Earth’s climate

c) gas concentration in our atmosphere d) the chemical make-up of the atmosphere

10. What does “this” in paragraph 4 refer to?

a) shortage of space in some areas b) the melting of the ice caps

c) immense amounts of water d) widespread crop deprivation