Travel and Adventure

The unit opens with four photos of holy places in Nepal and asks which one you would like to visit.

Picture	Where it is	Something to say
Swargadwari Temple	a hilltop in Pyuthan, about 2,100 meters up	Its name means “the gate of heaven” (swarga, heaven; dwar, door). It is one of Nepal’s great places of pilgrimage, and it honors the cow: its founder spent his life herding thousands of cows there.
Ugratara Temple	Dadeldhura, in the far west	A pagoda-style temple of the goddess Ugratara, a form of Bhagwati, and the best-known place of pilgrimage in Dadeldhura.
Mahabouddha	Patan (Lalitpur)	A tall, pointed Buddhist temple in the shikhara style, its walls covered with small images of the Buddha. It was built in the late 16th century and rebuilt after the great earthquake of 1934.
Boudhanath	Kathmandu	One of the largest stupas in the world, with the Buddha’s eyes painted on its tower; one of the seven World Heritage monument zones of the Kathmandu Valley.

Before you read

What kind of text it is

The text is a travel blog, a kind of travelogue: a visitor, Mathilda Wu, writes about a trip in the first person (I, we), mixing what she saw and did with what she felt. She did the “classic Nepal triangle”: Kathmandu, Chitwan and Pokhara, three places a first-time visitor often sees in one trip. The blog has a heading for each place, so you can find any part at once. You will write a travelogue of your own in Writing I.

The blog, part by part

1. The opening: a bold claim

She starts by saying that all three places have a charm (a special attraction) that very few places have all at once, and she dares you to read on and see why she has the nerve (the courage) to say so. It is a hook: she makes a claim, and the rest of the blog is her proof.

2. Kathmandu: the first impression

For her, the saying “the first impression is a lasting impression” is true of Kathmandu. The city is huge, nestled (lying snugly, as if in a nest) in a green valley ringed by enormous mountains. On the short drive from the airport she was amazed by three things: the red-brick houses, the smiling faces of the people, and the cattle wandering among the busy traffic. It was like a scene from a film, but more sophisticated (more complex, richer) when you are really there.

3. A riot of color on the walls

She noticed a riot of colors (a mass of bright colors) on the city’s walls: murals, paintings made directly on walls, showing symbols, people, animals and imaginative designs, stretching for more than a mile. She was told that street art is on the rise: artists from Nepal and abroad are starting projects to send messages through beauty made by people.

4. Patan Durbar Square

She points out that Nepal was never colonized (never ruled by a foreign country). Before the country was unified in the 18th century, it was ruled by several kings, who built three splendid Durbar Squares as royal palaces; all three are now monument zones of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Kathmandu Valley. She visited Patan Durbar Square. Its quiet courtyards hold well-kept pagodas and stone temples. Their guide, Kshitij, explained what the wood carvings, symbols and ornaments meant, and brought the old place to life. As they walked, flocks of pigeons circled above the temples.

5. Students in the square

It was the off season, so the squares were less full of tourists than of local people passing the time. She talked to a group of college students taking a break, and what they firmly believed surprised her: that in today’s Nepal, skill matters more than education.

6. Pashupatinath

At Pashupatinath Temple she was struck by how Nepalis see death as part of everyday life. Families bring their dead to be cremated (burned, as Hindu funerals do) in the open air on the banks of the Bagmati River. She had expected to find it grisly (horrible to see), but she found it calm instead, and she was surprised that the families didn’t mind visitors being there. She saw families holding memorial rites for their dead, making offerings and shaving the heads of the male relatives. Here, too, she met sadhus, holy men in yellow and orange robes, with ash on their bodies and long hair and beards.

7. Thamel at night

Kathmandu also has a name for its nightlife in Thamel, a lively area full of restaurants and shops. She says it is as safe as anywhere they went, and so many local people spend time there that it never feels like a place only for tourists.

8. Chitwan: the jungle

In Chitwan they explored the jungle and came close to wildlife: one-horned rhinos, deer, wild boars, monkeys and countless birds. Chitwan National Park covers a huge area and offers many activities: jeep safaris, canoeing, jungle walks and cycling around the villages. Theirs was the only group on the boat that afternoon, and she calls it a privilege (a special chance) to enjoy the whole tranquil (calm and peaceful) view of the water alone. In short, Chitwan is perfect for physically active travelers who want to see wild animals in an undisturbed place; the only other place she knows like it is probably in South Africa.

9. Pokhara: the lake and the mountains

“Is there any place better than Pokhara in the world? Not in my dictionary”, she writes: not as far as she is concerned. About 200 km west of Kathmandu, Pokhara is a different picture from the crowded capital: clean streets, snow mountains, a laid-back (relaxed) feel and plenty of adventure. The middle of the city is ruled by Phewa Lake, with a clear view of the snowy Annapurna range; some lakeside hotels have rooms where you can see the mountains from your bed. An easy walk up a hill with the World Peace Pagoda on top gave them a view of the white peaks and the whole city. Then she tried paragliding, and agrees that Pokhara may well be the best place in the world for it: flying with the birds over that scenery is something she will never forget.

10. Sarangkot and goodbye

On the last morning they went up to Sarangkot, a village known as the best place to watch the sunrise over the Annapurna Himalaya. The snow peaks turned from purple and pink to gold, and the whole valley below woke up as the sun rose. She almost cried when it was time to leave and would go back in a heartbeat (at once, without thinking twice). She ends with a message to her readers: don’t stay away from Nepal because of hoaxes (false stories) in the media; the other Western visitors she met would see eye to eye with her (agree completely).

Words from the blog

Words linked here open in English Vocabulary, where you can see an example and practice them in the word game. The meanings below are the ones the words have in this blog.

Word	Meaning here
charm	a quality that attracts and pleases people
have the nerve to	to be bold enough to do or say something
nestled	lying in a sheltered place, as if in a nest
enormous	very big
sophisticated	complex and refined, not simple
a riot of color	a mass of many bright colors
mural	a painting made directly on a wall
colonized	ruled and settled by another country
grisly	horrible to see, because it has to do with death
cremation	burning a dead body, as at a Hindu funeral
the deceased	the person who has died
genuine	real, not pretending
privilege	a special chance or right that not everyone has
tranquil	calm, quiet and peaceful
vestige	a small part or sign of something that is left; the blog’s “vestiges of wild species” are the wild animals still left
laid-back	relaxed, not in a hurry
breathtaking	so beautiful that it surprises you
hoax	a trick that makes people believe something false
see eye to eye	to agree completely

A. Complete the sentences

B. Where can a traveler do it?

C. Answer the questions

D. Your choice

The same letters can stand for different sounds. ch is usually /tʃ/ (bench), but in many words from Greek it is /k/ (character), and in words from French it is /ʃ/ (machine). c is /k/ before a, o, u or a consonant (comfort), /s/ before e, i, y (cell), and /ʃ/ in -cian (musician).

When someone tells you something, you can say you are the same or you are different in two or three words, without repeating the whole sentence. The trick is the helping verb (auxiliary) of what they said:

They say	You agree (the same)	You disagree (different)
My father works in a factory. (no helper → does)	So does mine.	But mine doesn’t. / But mine works in a bakery.
I visit my parents regularly.	So do I.	But I don’t.
Mr. Joshi is strict.	So is Mrs. Karki.	But Mrs. Karki isn’t.
I can swim.	So can I.	But I can’t.
I don’t like spicy food.	Neither do I. (or Nor do I.)	But I do.
I haven’t seen the sea.	Neither have I.	But I have.

• To agree with a positive sentence: So + helping verb + subject.
• To agree with a negative sentence (with not, never, hardly…): Neither / Nor + helping verb + subject. The verb after neither is positive: Neither do I, never ✗ Neither don’t I.
• To disagree: But + subject + the opposite helping verb.
• In everyday speech, Me too (positive) and Me neither (negative) do the same job.

A. Three model conversations

The book’s three short conversations show each pattern: Reema agrees with Abhi (So does mine), and Bikalpa disagrees (But mine works in a bakery); Angel agrees with Namita about visiting her parents (So do I), and Pratik doesn’t (But I don’t); and Saru answers Nita’s he is rather strict with So is Mrs. Karki. In the third, Lumanti also uses a question tag, Mr. Joshi looks so intelligent, doesn’t he?, which you will learn in Grammar I.

B. Your own conversations

C. Complete the broken dialogue

A question tag is a short question added to the end of a statement: Pokhara is beautiful, isn’t it? It doesn’t really ask for information: it asks the listener to agree or to check something you think is true. Tags are mostly spoken; in writing, they belong in dialogues and friendly letters.

How to build a tag

1. Find the helping verb of the statement (is, are, was, have, has, had, can, will, would, should, must…). If there is none, use do, does or did, as you would to make a question.
2. Turn it the other way: a positive statement takes a negative tag; a negative statement takes a positive tag.
3. Add a pronoun for the subject: Pokhara → it, Rina → she, the guides → they. A tag never repeats a noun.

Statement	Helping verb	Tag
You are tired,	are	aren’t you?
She can swim,	can	can’t she?
The bus has left,	has	hasn’t it?
They won’t come,	will (won’t = will not)	will they?
You live in Bhaktapur,	none: live → do	don’t you?
Ram went to Chitwan,	none: went → did	didn’t he?
He didn’t call,	did	did he?

Words that make a statement negative

A statement can be negative without not. Never, no, nothing, nobody, no one, none, hardly, scarcely, barely, seldom, rarely all make it negative, so the tag is positive:

• He never came again, did he?
• She can rarely come these days, can she?
• You hardly ever came late, did you?
• I barely know you, do I?
• Nothing will happen, will it?

The special cases

Statement	Tag	Why
I am right,	aren’t I?	there is no amn’t in standard English
Let’s go, / Let’s not go,	shall we?	a suggestion for us all
Open the door, (an order)	will you? (or won’t you? would you? can you?)	asks politely; Don’t forget, will you?
There is a shop near the gate,	isn’t there?	there stays in the tag
Nothing / everything / something is ready,	is it? / isn’t it?	these take it
Nobody / everyone / someone came,	did they? / didn’t they?	these take they
I think he’s busy,	isn’t he?	the tag is about what you think, not I think
I don’t think he’ll come,	will he?	I don’t think makes the idea negative, so the tag is positive
I’d rather go,	wouldn’t I?	I’d rather = I would rather
You’d better go,	hadn’t you?	You’d better = you had better
He’s got a car,	hasn’t he?	has got: the helper is has
You have a bath daily,	don’t you?	have as a main verb takes do (British English also says haven’t you?)

How you say it

The tone of your voice changes what a tag means.

• Falling at the end (↘): you are sure, and you expect the listener to agree. It’s a lovely day, isn’t it? ↘
• Rising at the end (↗): you are not sure, and you are really asking. You’ve got the tickets, haven’t you? ↗ (I hope so, but I am checking.)

To answer a tag, answer the fact, not the tag: “You aren’t hungry, are you?” “No, I’m not.” (I am not hungry.) or “Yes, I am.” (I am hungry.)

A. Match the statements with their tags

B. Supply the tags

How to write a travelogue

A travelogue is a true account of a journey, written in the first person (I, we) and mostly in the past tense. It tells what happened and what you saw, but what makes it good is how you felt and what you noticed that others might miss.

1. Title: the place, and a hint of the experience (Three Days in Bandipur, Expect the Unexpected).
2. Opening: when, where, with whom, and why you went, in one short paragraph.
3. The journey and the place: in time order, with a few vivid details: what you saw, heard, smelled and tasted. Pick the best moments; don’t list every meal.
4. People: one person you met, and something they said or did.
5. Ending: what the trip taught you, or how you felt leaving.

Before you read

The poet and the poem

Thomas Hardy (1840–1928) was an English novelist and poet who wrote about the countryside of south-west England, which he called Wessex. His last novel came out in the 1890s; after that, for the last thirty years or so of his life, he published only poems. Weathers is the first poem of his collection Late Lyrics and Earlier (1922). It is light and musical, like a folk song, and the composer John Ireland set it to music in 1925.

The poem has two stanzas of nine lines, each the opposite of the other:

• the first is the weather of late spring and early summer, which the cuckoo likes;
• the second is the cold, wet weather of late autumn and winter, which the shepherd avoids.

Each stanza begins This is the weather… and ends with the refrain And so do I, so the poem itself uses the pattern you practiced in Speaking.

The poem, part by part

Stanza 1: the weather the cuckoo likes

This is the weather the cuckoo likes, and the speaker likes it too. Light showers (short, gentle falls of rain) betumble (toss about) the spiky flowers of the chestnut trees, and nestlings (baby birds) leave the nest and learn to fly. The little brown nightingale bills (sings) his best song. People sit outside the village inn, The Traveller’s Rest. Maids (young women) come out in light summer dresses of sprig-muslin, a thin cotton printed with little sprays of flowers. And citizens (townspeople) dream of holidays in the warm south and west of England, by the sea. The speaker dreams of it too.

Stanza 2: the weather the shepherd shuns

This is the weather the shepherd shuns (avoids, because he dislikes it), and so does the speaker. The beech trees drip with rain, their leaves turned brown and dun (a dull grayish-brown), and their branches thresh and ply (toss and bend) in the wind. Hidden in the hills, swollen streams throb (beat strongly), wave after wave, throe on throe; rivulets (little streams) in the meadows overflow; raindrops hang in a row on the bars of the gates. And the rooks, big black birds of the crow family, fly home in families to their nests in the tall trees, out of the weather. The speaker goes home too.

The poet’s devices:

• Contrast: the two stanzas mirror each other, line for line: liked weather and disliked weather, going out and going home.
• Refrain and repetition: This is the weather… and And so do I open and close both stanzas, like a song.
• Listing with “And…”: line after line begins with And, piling up the signs of each season.
• Rhyme: both stanzas rhyme ababccccb: lines 1 and 3 (likes, spikes; shuns, duns), lines 2, 4 and 9 (I, fly, I; I, ply, I), and four lines in a row on one rhyme (best, Rest, drest, west; throe, overflow, row, go).
• Sound: hard, heavy words for the winter (thresh, throb, throe on throe) and light ones for the spring (showers, nestlings, sprig-muslin).
• Imagery of sight and sound: chestnut flowers, raindrops on a gate, a nightingale’s song.

Words from the poem

Word	Meaning
shower	a short, usually light fall of rain
betumble	to tumble about; throw into disorder (Hardy’s own word)
nestling	a baby bird too young to leave the nest for long
bill	(of a bird) to sing; usually to bill means to touch beaks
maid	(old) a young woman, a girl
sprig-muslin	fine cotton cloth printed with small sprays of flowers
drest	old spelling of dressed
shun	to avoid, because you dislike it
dun	a dull grayish-brown color
thresh, ply	(of branches) to toss about, and to bend
throb	to beat or sound with a strong, regular rhythm
throe	a violent pain or struggle; throe on throe, one surge after another
rivulet	a small stream
rook	a large black bird of the crow family that lives in groups

A. Find the words

B. Answer the questions

C. Complete the interpretation

D. Your season

A. Before you listen

The textbook’s listening task is six short conversations, in each of which someone is asked about a journey. CDC’s own recording is below: look at the three pictures first (A: people stopped at a roadside rest stop with cold drinks and a picnic; B: a woman at an airline’s check-in desk being handed money; C: a young man asleep in a train seat, a book in his hand), then listen, as many times as you need.

B. The textbook’s audio: answers

C. Your own travel story

Grammar II practices the special cases. Before you start, look again at the table of special cases and the words that make a statement negative.

A. Add suitable question tags

A brochure is a small printed booklet or folded sheet that tells visitors about a place (or a product, or a service) and makes them want to go. It is short, bright and easy to scan: a catchy title, headings, short lines and bullet points, contact details, and usually photos.

How to make a brochure

1. A catchy title with the place’s name, and a slogan under it (a living museum of Newar art).
2. Headings for each part, so a reader can find what they need at a glance.
3. Short points, not long paragraphs; the most exciting attractions first.
4. Practical facts: how to get there, opening times, tickets, rules, contacts. Check them: a brochure with a wrong bus route or phone number sends visitors the wrong way.
5. A closing line that invites the reader (Come for a day…).
6. In a real brochure: photos, a small map, and lots of space.

A contraction is two words joined and shortened, with an apostrophe (’) where letters are left out: is not → isn’t, they have → they’ve. The apostrophe marks the missing letters, not the join: *did**n’*t (the o of not is missing), not ✗ did’nt.

Contractions are informal. Use them in speech, dialogues, personal letters, messages and emails to friends. Don’t use them in formal writing: official letters, applications, reports, essays and exam answers that ask for formal writing.

Contraction	Meaning	Contraction	Meaning
could’ve	could have	you’d	you had, you would
he’d	he had, he would	you’ll	you will
he’ll	he will	you’re	you are
he’s	he has, he is	you’ve	you have
here’s	here is	isn’t	is not
how’d	how did, how would	aren’t	are not
how’ll	how will	can’t	cannot
how’re	how are	couldn’t	could not
how’s	how has, how is	didn’t	did not
I’d	I had, I would	doesn’t	does not
I’ll	I will	don’t	do not
I’m	I am	hadn’t	had not
somebody’s	somebody has, somebody is	hasn’t	has not
someone’s	someone has, someone is	haven’t	have not
something’s	something has, something is	mustn’t	must not
that’s	that has, that is	shouldn’t	should not
there’s	there has, there is	shan’t	shall not
won’t	will not	weren’t	were not

SEE-style practice on this unit. Try each one as in the exam, then open the answer.