【一起听英语】网上订票度假期
在网上订票然后去旅游似乎日益成为一种趋势和潮流，你是否喜欢这种方式，这种方式又有什么利弊呢？
Stephen: Hello, I'm Stephen.
Alice: And I'm Alice.
Stephen: And this is 6 Minute English. This week we're talking about booking holidays
online. Some travel companies have been criticised for making misleading
claims about holidays or flights they're selling on their websites. Well, you're
probably familiar with the kind of language used in advertising 1 holidays.
Sometimes, the way a holiday is described doesn't really match what it's really
like.
Alice: For example, ‘azure blue waters’ might turn out to be a dirty blue sea, and a
‘cosy hotel room’ - a nice way of saying it's a very small room.
Stephen: But it's not just the descriptions that are controversial 2 - travel companies have
been getting in trouble for the way they sell their services online. Before we
find out more Alice, let's hear today's question.
Alice: OK.
Stephen: Online travel is big business, and the top online travel company in China is
called Ctrip.com. They announced a huge increase in profits between January
and March, but how much was that increase? Was it:
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011
Page 2 of 6
a) 13%
b) 23%
c) 33%
Alice: Oh, because you said it’s a huge increase I’ll go for the biggest figure – 33%.
Stephen: Well, we'll find out the answer at the end of today's 6 Minute English. First,
let's talk some more about booking holidays online. If you're like me, at this
time of the year, you're searching through lots of holiday websites for a really
good deal.
Alice: A really good deal - a bargain, a great offer.
Stephen: But it might not turn out to be that cheap in the end. There can be hidden costs
and something can end up being more expensive than you were expecting.
Alice: Hidden costs include anything that's not very obvious. It could be taxes or
administration 3 charges - payments 4 for the office staff who deal with money
and booking your flights or hotel.
Stephen: It can be really frustrating 5 after lots of clicking to discover that the final price
of your holiday is considerably 6 more expensive. Here's Stephen Dunk, the
Commercial Director of Travel Zoo, a company which sells holidays online.
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011
Page 3 of 6
Insert 1: Stephen Dunk
You see a great offer and you think “I’d like to go and do that”, and then you start
trying to book it and you actually see that it’s no longer available, or that you’re going to
have to pay much more money. And having made that emotional 7 commitment 8 to go and
do something there’s nothing worse than having to make a decision to either pull out or
to pay much more than you perhaps were anticipating 9.
Stephen: So Stephen Dunk says that you might see a holiday you like. When you try to
book it, it's no longer available or it could be much more expensive than you
had budgeted for.
Alice: To budget for something is to plan to spend a certain amount of money on it.
Stephen: He also says if you have chosen a holiday, often you've made an emotional
commitment to go on it. It's a difficult decision then to pull out.
Alice: An emotional commitment. I think he means if you’ve set your heart on doing
something - you’ve decided 10 you really want to do it - you’re less likely to pull
out, even if the price goes up.
Stephen: To pull out, means to withdraw 11 or not do something. Also, booking holidays
online can mean clicking lots of buttons. There can be quite a few stages
before you see the final cost. Let's hear about some of the hidden costs of plane
flights. Here's George Hobica from airfarewatchdog.com.
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011
Page 4 of 6
Insert 2: George Hobica
I think it’s a great boon 12 for consumers to actually see all the taxes in the airfares.
Unfortunately a lot of airlines when they send you an email will say $179 to Europe,
say from New York City, or even in the reverse 13 direction. And in fact it requires a
round-trip purchase so it’s twice that, and it doesn’t include taxes – so the real fare is
$1000. It’s very, very deceptive 14 and I think it is time that the airlines be upfront about
it.
Stephen: George Hobica thinks it's a great boon to be able to know all the price details
of a flight - to be able to see all the taxes.
Alice: A great boon – that’s something really helpful or beneficial.
Stephen: But he said, a flight from Europe to New York being advertised for $179 could
end up costing $1000. That's a very large difference in price.
Alice: He also used some interesting words and phrases associated with travel. In
American English a return trip is called a round-trip.
Stephen: George Hobica says the way fares are advertised can be deceptive. He wants
airlines to be more upfront.
Alice: Deceptive - misleading. He wants airlines to be more upfront - more honest -
about their pricing.
Stephen: Well, there’s certainly plenty to be thinking about when I'm booking my next
holiday! Have you any holiday plans this summer, Alice?
Alice: Not yet. I think I might go away in the autumn.
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011
Page 5 of 6
Stephen: A bit of sunshine would be nice, I’m sure. And earlier I asked you how much
profits went up at the Chinese travel company ctrip.com?
Alice: I said 33% between January and March.
Stephen: Close enough – it was actually 23%.
Alice: Oh, that’s still pretty big.
Stephen: So, before we go, would you reading some of the words we heard in today's
programme, please?
Alice: Of course.
hidden costs
clicking
budgeted for
an emotional commitment
to pull out
boon
Stephen: Thanks, Alice. Well, that's all we have time for on today's 6 Minute English.
Both: Bye!
- Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
- The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。
- The topic of argument is controversial.这个议题是很有争议的。
- Immigration is a controversial issue in many countries.在很多国家，移民都是一个颇有争议的问题。
- Who is in charge of the administration of your company?你们公司的行政工作由谁负责？
- The teachers are responsible to the school administration.教师向学校行政负责。
- Welfare payments cease as soon as an individual starts a job. 一旦就业，即停发福利救济。
- The law can compel fathers to make regular payments for their children. 这项法律可强制父亲定期支付子女的费用。
- It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
- It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
- The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。
- Emotional people don't stop to calculate.感情容易冲动的人做事往往不加考虑。
- This is an emotional scene in the play.这是剧中动人的一幕。
- The builder had a commitment to finish the work on time.那个承建商答应过准时完工。
- He made a commitment to pay the rent on time.他保证按时付房租。
- He was anticipating his expectations at a dazzling rate. 他正以令人目炫的速度抢先花掉他的未来遗产。
- Anticipating that it would soon be dark, they all took torches. 他们预见到天快黑了，就都带上了手电筒。
- This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
- There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
- I want to withdraw a statement I made earlier.我想收回我早些时候发表的一项声明。
- The general decided to withdraw his soldiers.那位将军决定撤军。
- A car is a real boon when you live in the country.在郊外居住，有辆汽车确实极为方便。
- These machines have proved a real boon to disabled people.事实证明这些机器让残疾人受益匪浅。