easy listening - Instant english

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easy listening
TRAVEL
p
k
c
Bla
nno
low-cost, gli inglesi ha
Con l’avvento dei voli Inghilterra. Ma Blackpool
disertato la Riccione d’ : si sta preparando a
ha un asso nella manica
d’Europa. by John Rigg
diventare la Las Vegas
Glossary
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seaside resorts centri balneari.
factories - fabbriche.
railway network rete ferroviaria.
linked - collegò.
sandy beach spiaggia sabbiosa.
piers - moli.
cartoon characters
- personaggi dei
cartoni animati.
rollercoaster montagne russe.
survival sopravvivenza.
LANGUAGE LEVEL
BASIC
Track
3
Speaker:
Justin Ratcliffe
(Standard British accent)
10
ten
Blackpool is one of England’s most
popular seaside resorts1, but how did
a town on the northwest coast of
England become such an important
tourist destination? In order to discover
the answer, we must go back to the
Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth
century, when factories2 were built
and “ordinary people” took holidays
for the first time. A new railway
network3 linked4 all the major cities and
Blackpool, with its long sandy beach5,
was ready to take advantage. It became
a boomtown. Three piers6 were built
during the Victorian era and Blackpool
Tower, a replica of the Eiffel Tower in
Paris, was opened in 1894.
THE ILLUMINATIONS
Today Blackpool is the city of constant
noise and excitement. It’s most famous
for its Illuminations, which were
introduced in 1912. They stretch for six
miles (9.6 km) along the sea front with
pulsating light displays of UFOs, cartoon
characters7 and other visions. Blackpool
Pleasure Beach, with its spectacular
rollercoaster8, is another “must see.”
LANCASHIRE LAS VEGAS
Unfortunately, the number of visitors is
in decline, with many tourists preferring
low-cost flights to southern Europe’s
guaranteed sunshine.
But Blackpool has one more card to play
in its fight for survival9: there are plans
to transform the city into Britain’s Las
Vegas with big hotels and a gigantic
casino offering millions of pounds in
prizes.
l
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Getting there
Blackpool is in the
county of Lancashire.
Blackpool has an
airport, with low-cost
flights from Stansted
and elsewhere. There
are also regular trains
from Manchester and
London.
Lancashire
Blackpool
Manchester
LONDON
Left : the Illuminations, with
Blackpool Tower in the
background. The “lights” will
be on from September 1st
to November 5th. Above the
rollercoaster at Blackpool
Pleasure Beach. Far left: more
Blackpool night life.
eleven
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