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Second Twin City Liner to launch

Ideas and Articles by David Robinson

14th May 2008

Category: Lifestyle / Travel / Boats

Level: Intermediate / Upper intermediate

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Second Twin City Liner to launch

On Friday 25th April a second catamaran boat called Twin City Liner II departed the Norwegian port of Mandal. Its journey would see it sail through the North Sea and then through Europe in order to get to Bratislava. The elegant catamaran is designed to sail on the shallow Danube. Sailing through the North Sea was very dangerous. After the first day the weather got really bad and because of huge waves the Twin City Liner II had to stop in the Dutch port of Eisberg. When it gets out of this city it will have to sail 800 nautical shipping miles. When it gets to Amsterdam it will start its journey on the Rhine River. This should result in it having a calmer journey through the river systems of the Rhine, Mohan and Danube, as there will be less danger for the catamaran. It will sail through Europe for about 10 days and after 1,600km it will get to Vienna. On its way the boat will pass through 60 locks. On arrival it will commence return river journeys between Vienna in Austria and Bratislava in Slovakia.

A survey recently undertaken revealed 90% of the passengers were completely satisfied with the journey on the current catamaran. The main problem has been the long waiting times to get an available ticket, as the highly popular service is booked solid at times. In the future this problem should be reduced because of the new catamaran that is coming. There will be 5 sailings from both cities a day instead of 3. This means that there will be more connections every day. People from Bratislava will soon be able to visit Vienna for a whole day, which they couldn't do before because of the timing of the 3 journeys every day which started mainly in Vienna. From the end of May a catamaran will be leaving Bratislava every day at 10.30, 14.30, 17.00, 18.30, and 22.30 at night. Another will leave Vienna at 08.30, 09.00, 12.30, 16.30, and at 20.30 in the evening. There are still a few months left until the celebration of the second year of shipping between Bratislava and Vienna. Catamaran owners Central Danube have already transported more than 200,000 people.

START

1. RIVER JOURNEY: What is the longest river journey you have done? When did you undertake it? With who? What river journey would you like to do in the future? Go round the room swapping stories. Change partners often.

2. DICTATION: The teacher will read some of the article slowly and clearly. Students will write down what they hear. The teacher will repeat the passage slowly again. Self correct your work from page 2 - filling in spaces and correcting mistakes. Be honest with yourself on the number of errors. Advise the teacher of your total number of errors. Less than 5 is very good. 10 are acceptable. Any more is room for improvement! More than 20 - we need to do some work!

3. READING: Get students to read the passage aloud. Swap readers every paragraph.

4. VOCABULARY: Students look throughthe article. Underline/highlight any vocabulary you do not know. Look in dictionaries. Discuss and help each other out. The teacher will go through & explain any words or phrases you do not understand.

5. GREAT RIVERS: Think of 6 great rivers in the world. Write them below. Compare and discuss with your partner. How many of these have you been on? Which ones would you like to go on? Which is the longest/shortest river?

1 4
2 5
3 6

The teacher will choose some pairs to discuss their findings in front of the class.

6. ARTICLE QUIZ: With your partner or in small groups: (1 point for each correct answer. Lose ½ point if you look at the article for help!)

Student A
1) What type of boat is to be launched?
2) Name the owners of the boat?
3) Name the rivers in the article.
4) Name the capitals in the article
5) How many sailings a day are there currently?
6) How many people have been transported?
7) How many locks does the ship have to pass through?
8) Name the Norwegian port.
9) Where in the article is the boat currently?
Student B
1) Where is its next destination?
2) How many departures a day will there be in the near future?
3) What has been the main problem?
4) What project was undertaken last year?
5) Whose idea was it?
6) Name the boat(s) in question.
7) Who is the Deputy Mayor of Vienna?
8) What can children under 18 do until the end of May?
9) What happened in the North Sea?

7. BOATS AND RIVERS: With your partner on the board write as many words to do with 'Boats and rivers' as you can. One-two minutes. Compare with other teams. Discuss together - linking your words.

8. SENTENCES: Choose six/nine of the words from no 7. Write two/three sentences using two/three words in each. Underline your chosen words. The teacher will if necessary correct your work. Students might be asked to read their sentences aloud.

9. BOATS: Think of 6 different types of boat. Write them below. Compare and discuss with your partner. Which the biggest/smallest boat you have been on? Was there any you did not like? Have you ever been ill on a boat?

1 4
2 5
3 6

The teacher will choose some pairs to discuss their findings in front of the class.

10. LONG JOURNEYS: Think of 4 long journeys you have undertaken in your life. Write them below. Were they by road/rail/boat/plane/bike/other? Which one was the best and why? What, if any adventures did you have? Which countries did they go through? Draw a map on the board of your favourite river journey mapping your best features of the journey. Compare and discuss with your partner.

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The teacher will choose some pairs to discuss their findings in front of the class.

11. MAZE: Try to find 12 words and phrases hidden in the maze.
(Answers are on page 13)

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12. UN-SCRAMBLE: Put the following into the right order:

Easy
1) port the departed catamaran Norwegian a
2) designed to is the it Danube on sail
3) 60 boat will the pass locks through
4) satisfied the passengers were 90% completely of
5) been 200,000 people already transported have
Harder
1) soon will be a leaving new Bratislava catamaran
2) to had the stop in it port of Eisberg Dutch
3) would journey it see sail its the on North Sea
4) dangerous sailing the North Sea very through was
5) the bad the day weather got on really first
Answers are on page 16 - sentences adapted from article

13. I WENT ON A BOAT JOURNEY AND SAW...:
Think of 10 things you might have seen had you been on a boat journey between Bratislava and Vienna. Write them below. Compare and discuss with your partner.

1 6
2 7
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The teacher will choose some pairs to discuss their findings in front of the class.


14. SENTENCE STARTERS: With your partner(s), finish these sentence starters. Change partner(s) and talk about the sentences you made.

  1. The catamaran_________________________________________________

  2. Bad weather ___________________________________________________

  3. More departures________________________________________________

  4. The lock______________________________________________________

  5. The Rhine_____________________________________________________

  6. Students_____________________________________________________


15. SCHOOL TRIPS: Think of 4 trips/outings you made with your class at school. Write them below. Compare and discuss with your partner. Which was the best? Why? What did you learn from them?

1 3
2 4

The teacher will choose some pairs to discuss their findings in front of the class.


16. TWIN CITY LINER QUICK DISCUSSION:
Discuss the following with your partner...

Student A
1) Have you ever been on the Twin City Liner?
2) If yes, how was the journey?
3) Did you find the trip cheap/ok/expensive?
4) Would you consider taking a/the journey on it (again)?
Student B
1) Have you been on a boat service between Vienna and Bratislava?
2) If yes, what did you like/didn't like about the journey?
3) Suggest two improvements to the service
4) What other ways have you travelled between Vienna and Bratislava?

AFTER READING / LISTENING


1. TRUE