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Bus Tours

Bus Tours

Date: Jul 11 2018

Themes: Travel

Grammar: Verbs with "-ing"

Intro

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2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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Sit back, relax, and enjoy your whirlwind tour of as many major attractions as you can possibly hit in one day. Bus tours are good way to see a new country or city if you want to visit a bunch of different sites in a short amount of time. They’re also great if you don’t want to worry about getting lost. Just make sure you don’t forget where the bus is parked!

On the other hand, if you spend all your time on a bus with a bunch of other tourists, you probably won’t have a very authentic, local experience. Plus, sometimes the best parts of visiting a foreign country are the experiences you didn’t plan or expect. Find out if Amy and Devan like to go on bus tours, or if they’d rather rough it.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Amy

Amy

Devan

Devan

Amy:  Have you ever gone on a bus tour?

Devan:  I haven’t. I thought about going on one of those Double-Decker buses when I went to New York but I didn’t end up doing it. What about you? Have you done that?

Amy:  No, I haven’t, and I’m really…I’m not sure I can see the appeal, you know, of just getting on a bus and snapping some pictures at all the monuments and then getting back on the bus.

Devan:  Yeah, it does kinda seem like a tourist trap thing. And it’s like…kinda like…I don’t know, I feel the same way about it that I feel about cruises.

Amy:  Yeah.

Devan:  You spend so much time on the cruise boat or the bus that you hardly get to spend any time at the sites that you’re supposed to be seeing, you know?

Amy:  Yeah.

Devan:  And I think that’s kinda weird.

Amy:  And you have to follow somebody else’s schedule, too, like you have to get up at a certain time, and then it’s like, OK, you have an hour here, and then you have to be back on the boat, or back on the bus, and you just can’t have any of those spontaneous travel experiences where you just kinda wander around and then, you know, find something amazing and decide to spend as much time there as you want.

Devan:  I can see how it could be good for like, maybe people like elderly people, you know, people that aren’t super mobile or can move a lot or really know what they’re doing and kinda need some guidance. But for any like young, adventurous person it seems like a strange thing to do when you could just run around on your own and do whatever you wanted instead of doing what someone else tells you to do.

 

Grammar Point

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Discussion

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Devan nearly took a tour bus when she visited New York. But in general, she agrees with Amy that bus tours might not be the best way to see a new place.

Devan thinks that when you take a cruise or a bus tour, you end up spending more time on the boat or bus than at the actual destination. Amy points out that when you are on a tour, you usually can’t set your own schedule. You might have to wake up early in the morning to get on the bus, which isn’t everybody’s favorite thing to do!

But Amy and Devan agree that bus tours can be convenient for people who have a hard time getting around on their own or for people who want to have a worry-free vacation.

Have you ever been on a bus tour? What is your favorite way to see a new place?

 

Comments

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oozer

Turkey

I think as it is mentioned in the dialogue doing what a person tells you to do is really unfavorable part of a  tour. you have to move according to a schedule. So, you can't live spontenuous experiences, memories. In my view, you should organize your own group and then go on an adventurous  vacation:)If you have  a private car, you can stop wherever you want and spend however time you want. but you have to search the place you will before you travel as you won't have the chance of a guidance.

08:50 PM Jul 02 2010 |

alireza_lightblue

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

I think I agree with Bahus too. I think bus tour might be very interesting way to get a complete visit around a city, and of course it is the cheepest way to have a tour in a foreign city. But it may be turrible if the bus be busy and in a rush hour and something like that!

06:18 PM Jul 02 2010 |

bahus

bahus

Kazakhstan

I think that Bus Tour is very interesting thing. You may see many picturesque places from bus. You may stop anywhere you like.During the tour you may meet many interesting people.

06:05 PM Jul 02 2010 |

fahadcom

fahadcom

Saudi Arabia

I have never gone by bus in my life, but I will try to go in the bus in the future If Allah wills.

02:06 PM Jul 02 2010 |

Snazz De

Snazz De

United Kingdom

they are just great

 

01:48 PM Jul 02 2010 |

aunglawkeeshein

Myanmar

Bus Tours must be really great after I checked out the lesson above but I have never done that … Like to try it sometime in the future .. but unfortunately here in Myanmar bus tours is not very common to do for people here …. 

01:42 PM Jul 02 2010 |

Shinichi Lover

Bahrain

i don't agree with you , I like travel by bus tour it's kind of adventure :)

it's cooool , i like it :)

01:17 PM Jul 02 2010 |

saba7

saba7

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

i dont like bus

12:12 PM Jul 02 2010 |

santholus

santholus

India

I love travel in bus with my friends….......

11:59 AM Jul 02 2010 |

SÉRGIO

SÉRGIO

Brazil

i agree with Devan, making bus tour must be so bored!!

11:55 AM Jul 02 2010 |

Cz

Cz

Nigeria

I like traveling by bus to see the beauty of the city…

11:40 AM Jul 02 2010 |

rickymathew

India

I love bus journey…......

08:04 AM Jul 02 2010 |

shad84

shad84

United States

NO MATTER HOW OLD YOU ARE,MOM IS ALWAYS WORRIED WHENEVER YOU TRAVEL, GO GREYHOUND THIS SUMMER AND LEAVE MOM WITH ONE THING TO WORRY ABOUT….......—> WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO SEE HER AGAIN?

I LOVE GREYHOUND 

06:47 AM Jul 02 2010 |

fan11

fan11

China

There in changsha ,bus always crowed especially in rush-hour,i'm getting insane .And i never try a double-decker bus,acctully  there didn't have one .I prefer  rent a bike cause a bus wonn't stop anywhere at anytime you want to stop.

05:33 AM Jul 02 2010 |

spacedragon

Brazil

i love buses they r cool …...................................

04:34 AM Jul 02 2010 |

julywidiawati

Indonesia

I ever been on a bus tour, if I gotta, like when I was in school visited museum or heritage places, actually I prefer my private car to see a new place.

01:24 AM Jul 02 2010 |

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