Angličtina - 17. Travelling and tourism
^Autor:

I think, many people like travelling. Travelling takes up more time in our lives. An everyday form of travelling may be going shopping, commuting to school or visiting friends. There are two ways of travelling: one is using our own means of transport and the other is to rely on the public transportation services. People and goods can be transported by land, air or by water.
The main fact that speaks for water transport are the relatively small costs. That is why rivers, seas and oceans are continuously being filled with new cargo and passengers. In general not many people have the courage to board a ship because although trip is inexpensive they can still become sea-sick.
Unlike sea travel, air transport is one of most expensive kind of travelling. An air ticket ensures us a comfortable seat on the play which can fly us to any place in the world within a few hours. The air transportation system is the one most strictly depend on the timetable. At the airport we go through the passport control and security check, have our luggage checked and then wait until the plane is ready for take-off. For private use helicopters are usually bought.
Land offers the greatest variety of means of transport. There are motor road vehicles and bicycles on the one hand and rail on the other. As personal vehicles, motorcycles and cars are the most popular. There are also other means of transport on four wheels - busses and trolleybuses. Of rail vehicles, which are almost exclusively designed for public use, we could mention trains, trams and the underground.
Cars and motorbikes are expensive to purchase and in addition one also has to pay for petrol, which if the vehicle has a big consumption, cost a lot of money as well. For short and middle distances a car is fast enough so as not to get too tired by travelling, unless we get to traffic jam. The best thing about cars is that they you almost anywhere at any time. Modern cars with soft seats and a lot of space for the legs are sometimes even more comfortable then the interior of plane. To get a driver's licence one must know how to drive and know the traffic rules well. One of the rules says that cars are to be driven on the right side of the road. This isn't true a Great Britain and the USA, there people drive on the left.
The most frequent public means of transport are busses and trains. The network of bus and train stops covers most inhabited places. Public transport is cheaper, but also less comfortable. The bus and train stops in major cities are called stations. An ordinary railway station looks like this: a big hall with a ticket office where one can buy single or return ticket and a seat reservation, telephones, waiting halls and so on. From the platform we get on the train and look for a free seat. If all seats are occupied we must move into another carriage and try again there. When we are seated and the train starts, we can spend the time talking with fellow passenger, eat some food or play cards. When the conductor come we hand him a ticket and he checks them.
In big cities underground with several different tracks have been built in order to relieve the trams and busses. They are the fastest means of urban transportation and the underground train usually go every five minutes on average. Many workers and pupils depend on this kind of transport.
When travelling on vacation we should look for accommodation appropriate to our demands. In the first place there are hotels and motels which differ in price and comfort. The motels are situated mostly by the roads. The guest can park his car at hte door of his own room. A special kind of accommodation for young people are youth hostels (mainly in Great Britain). Some tourist prefer to stay at a farm or they rent a room on their own.