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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: 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? What is a catamaran? 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: 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? What did you see? Draw a map on the board/on some paper to describe your journey. Compare and discuss with other students.

1 3
2 4

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

11. WORD MAZE: Try to find 14 words and phrases hidden in the maze. Look across and down.
(Answers are on page 13)

q e r i v e r d a n u b e t s
s e r v i c e b m n b h f r a
h j k l s e f o w d h u e n i
c a t a m a r a n d p t a o l
c c x z q r y t u j h t j r i
c f r q z w b b r h i n e t y
x s h i p p i n g r r w j h t
k j r h h g f r t i u p l s i
c v b j o u r n e y b b p e c
j h n b v x z z r u u t o a k
t w i n c i t y l i n e r r e
q w e t g b c c o x x v t v t
h b t g v c e w c r r u u y y
e t y y k k f t k d e r b x z
r y h u t r a n s p o r t e d

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
3 8
4 9
5 10

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 / FALSE: After reading the article guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F): If false, why?

a.

Twin City Liner III recently launched

T / F

b.

It will take 12 days and 1,600km to reach Vienna

T / F

c.

The boat will pass through 60 locks

T / F

d.

80% of passengers are completely satisfied with the journey

T / F

e.

Soon there will be 5 sailings instead of 4

T / F

f.

More than 220,000 have already been transported

T / F

g.

The catamaran owners are Central Danube

T / F

h.

The new catamaran departed from Norway

T / F


2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

a.

Elegant

Take on

b.

Danger

Start

c.

Journey

Present-day

d.

Survey

Rejoicing

e.

Current

Well-known

f.

Commence

Questionnaire

g.

Celebration

Risk

h.

Elegant

Graceful

i.

Undertake

Trip

j.

Popular

Before


3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article:

a.

A second catamaran boat

having a calmer journey

b.

Its journey would

the weather got really bad

c.

The elegant catamaran is designed to

800 nautical shipping miles

d.

After the first day

transported more than 200,000 people

e.

because of huge wave the Twin City Liner II

start its journey on the Rhine river

f.

It will have to sail

called Twin City Liner II

g.

When it gets to Amsterdam it will

for the catamaran

h.

This should result in

it sail on the shallow Danube

i.

There will be less danger

had to stop in the Dutch port of Eisberg

j.

...Central Danube have already

see it sail through the North Sea

GAP FILL: READING


Put the words into the gaps in the text.

On Friday 25th April a second _________ boat called Twin City Liner II departed the Norwegian port of Mandal. Its _______ would see it sail through the North Sea and then through Europe in order to get to Bratislava. The _____ catamaran is designed to sail on the shallow Danube. _______ through the North Sea was very _________. 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 ________ shipping miles. When it gets to Amsterdam it will start its journey on the Rhine River. This should result in it having a ______ 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 ________ return river journeys between Vienna in Austria and Bratislava in Slovakia.

nautical

sailing

dangerous

commence

catamaran

elegant

calmer

journey

A ______ recently __________ 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 _______ 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 _______ of 3. This means that there will be more __________ 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 __________ of the second year of _______ between Bratislava and Vienna. Catamaran owners Central Danube have already __________ more than 200,000 people.

transported

survey

undertaken

instead

celebration

shipping

popular

connections

GAP FILL: LISTENING:


Listen and fill in the spaces.

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 ________________ through the North Sea and then through Europe in order to get to Bratislava. The ____________________ designed to sail on the shallow Danube. Sailing through the North Sea was very dangerous. After thefirst 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___________________ city it will have to sail 800 nautical shipping miles. When it gets to Amsterdam _________________ journey on the 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. ___________________ will pass through 60 locks. On arrival it will commence return river journeys between _____________________ Bratislava in Slovakia.

A survey recently undertaken revealed 90% of the passengers were ____________________ 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 __________________times. In the future this problem should be reduced because of the new catamaran that is coming. There will be 5 sailings from __________________ instead of 3. This means that there will be more connections every day. People from Bratislava will soon be able to visit Vienna _______________, 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 ________________ months left until the celebration of the second year of shipping between Bratislava and Vienna. Catamaran owners ___________________ already transported more than 200,000 people.

SPEAKING

GREAT RIVER/BOAT JOURNEY

In pairs or in teams of 3/4
You are going on a great river/boat journey. You have two weeks holiday.
Decide how you will navigate it etc... Use the table below to help you.

Team/Student 1

Team/Student 2

Which river



When and with who



How



Accommodation & Food



What you might see



Who you might meet



What you want out of the holiday



Problems you might encounter



Your choice of theme



The teacher will ask for some student's results.

DISCUSSION

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS(Do not show these to student B)

1)   Did the headline make you want to read the article?
2)   Would you like to navigate the waterways of Europe
3)   Have you ever thought of taking a cruise around Norway
4)   Have you ever travelled across the North Sea?
5)   Have you ever been seasick?
6)   Is it a good idea to expand the Twin City Liner departure times?
7)   Should more boats travel between Vienna and Bratislava
8)   Have you ever travelled on a boat journey in your capital?
9)   Have you ever been on a canal?
10)  Would you like to live alongside/on a river/canal/lake?

---------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS(Do not show these to student B)

1)   What do you think about what you read?
2)   Have you ever been on the Rhine River
3)   If you had the money what sort of boat would you buy and why?
4)   Have you ever navigated a lock?
5)   What is the largest boat you have been on?
6)   Have you ever been on a catamaran?
7)   Have you ever slept on a boat?
8)   Have you ever been on a cruise?
9)   Would you like to travel the world on a ship?
10)  Did you like this discussion?

LANGUAGE:


CORRECT WORD: Match the following synonyms from the article: Choose the correct words from a-d below and write them in the article.

On (1)__ 25th April a (2)__ catamaran boat called Twin City Liner II (3)__ 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 (4)__ on the (5)__ Danube. Sailing (6)__ the North Sea was very dangerous. After the first day the weather got really bad and because of huge (7)__ 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 (8)__ 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 (9)__ 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 (10)__ of shipping between Bratislava and Vienna. Catamaran (11)__ Central Danube have already transported more than 200,000 (12)__.

1.

(a)

Thursday

(b)

Friday

(c)

Saturday

(d)

Sunday

2.

(a)

second

(b)

third

(c)

fourth

(d)

fifth

3.

(a)

departs

(b)

departing

(c)

departed

(d)

depart

4.

(a)

float

(b)

sail

(c)

sink

(d)

move

5.

(a)

fallow

(b)

hallow

(c)

barrow

(d)

shallow

6.

(a)

through

(b)

though

(c)

threw

(d)

then

7.

(a)

waved

(b)

waving

(c)

wave

(d)

waves

8.

(a)

lowly

(b)

highs

(c)

high

(d)

highly

9.

(a)

hole

(b)

part

(c)

whole

(d)

holy

10.

(a)

period

(b)

year

(c)

week

(d)

month

11.

(a)

owner

(b)

owned

(c)

owners

(d)

owning

12.

(a)

folks

(b)

people

(c)

peoples

(d)

students

GRAMMAR


1: MIDWAY Put the words into the gaps in the text.

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 (1)__ see it sail through the North Sea and (2)__ through Europe in order to get to Bratislava. The elegant catamaran is designed to sail on the shallow Danube. Sailing (3)__ the North Sea was (4)__ dangerous. (5)__ 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. (6)__ 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 (7)__ result in it having a calmer journey through the river systems of the Rhine, Mohan and Danube, as (8)__ 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.







then

should

when

after

would

there

very

through

A survey recently undertaken revealed 90% of the passengers were completely satisfied (1)__ 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 (2)__ be reduced because of the new catamaran (3)__ 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 (4)__ 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 (5)__ started mainly in Vienna. From the end of May a catamaran will be leaving Bratislava (6)__ 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 (7)__ (8)__ 200,000 people.

should

from

with

every

than

which

more

that

GRAMMAR


2: EASY Put the words into the gaps in the text.

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. (1)__ 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 (2)__ huge waves the Twin City Liner II had to stop in (3)__ Dutch port of Eisberg. When (4)__ 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 (5)__ 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 (6)__ Vienna. (7)__ its way the boat will pass through 60 locks. On arrival it will commence return river journeys between Vienna in Austria (8)__ Bratislava in Slovakia.







to

of

its

on

in

the

and

it

(1)__ survey recently undertaken revealed 90% of the passengers were completely satisfied with the journey on (2)__ current catamaran. The main problem has been the long waiting times to get (3)__ available ticket, (4)__ the highly popular service is booked solid (5)__ 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 (6)__ 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 (7)__ the second year of shipping between Bratislava (8)__ Vienna. Catamaran owners Central Danube have already transported more than 200,000 people.

the

and

an

at

as

for

a

of

HOMEWORK

1. NEWSPAPER ARTICLE: Write an article on "Great river journeys of the world" (You may need to use the internet for this!)
(Minimum 200 words)

2. NEWSPAPER ARTICLE: Write an article on "My experiences of river journey's are..." (You may need to use the internet for this!)
(Minimum 200 words)

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Which article was best and why?

WRITING: IN CLASS:

1. FIVE MINUTE ARTICLE: Write an article on "Great river journeys of the world" You have five minutes. Afterwards swap articles with your partner. Read through their article and correct any mistakes. The teacher will select some students to read out their work.

Countdown: Every minute the teacher may say, "You have xx minutes."

2. FIVE MINUTE ARTICLE: Write an article on "My experiences of river journey's are" You have five minutes. Afterwards swap articles with your partner. Read through their article and correct any mistakes. The teacher will select some students to read out their work.

Countdown: Every minute the teacher may say, "You have xx minutes."

q e r i v e r d a n u b e t s
s e r v i c e b m n b h f r a
h j k l s e f o w d h u e n i
c a t a m a r a n d p t a o l
c c x z q r y t u j h t j r i
c f r q z w b b r h i n e t y
x s h i p p i n g r r w j h t
k j r h h g f r t i u p l s i
c v b j o u r n e y b b p e c
j h n b v x z z r u u t o a k
t w i n c i t y l i n e r r e
q w e t g b c c o x x v t v t
h b t g v c e w c r r u u y y
e t y y k k f t k d e r b x z
r y h u t r a n s p o r t e d

SPELLING TEST

The teacher will ask the class individually to spell the following words that are in the article:

1 catamaran

11 already

2 calmer

12 mayor

3 journey

13 nautical

4 celebration

14 departure

5 transported

15 bilingual

6 shallow

16 accompanied

7 commence

17 executives

8 satisfied

18 together

9 instead

19 through

10 connections

20 mainly

ANSWERS: 2

12. UN-SCRAMBLED: (adapted from article)

Easy
1) A catamaran departed the Norwegian port
2) It is designed to sail on the Danube
3) The boat will pass through 60 locks
4) 90% of the passengers were completely satisfied
5) 200,000 people have already been transported
Harder
1) A new catamaran will soon be leaving Bratislava
2) It had to stop in the Dutch port of Eisberg
3) Its journey would see it sail on the North Sea
4) Sailing through the North Sea was very dangerous
5) On the first day the weather got really bad

 

ANSWERS: 1

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. F

c. T

d. F

e. F

f. T

g. T

h. T

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.

Elegant

Graceful

b.

Danger

Risk

c.

Journey

Trip

d.