Return to Menu Passage A Passage B
Return to Menu Passage A Passage B
Passage A Think About t Read About It Talk About It Write About it
Passage A • Think About It • Read About It • Talk About It • Write About It
1. What attracts you most when you visit a new place? Reference: (Open The people, the scenery, the architectures
1. What attracts you most when you visit a new place? (Open). The people, the scenery, the architectures … Reference:
2. Do you think, consciously or unconsciously, that some cultures are superior or inferior to others? Why? Reference: No culture is superior or inferior to any other culture at all because each culture has its own unique features
2. Do you think, consciously or unconsciously, that some cultures are superior or inferior to others? Why? No culture is superior or inferior to any other culture at all because each culture has its own unique features. Reference:
3. Can we understand a culture through the channels other than learning it in person? State your reasons in either case Reference: Yes. We can learn a lot about a culture through books, movies, TV programs No If you dont have the experience in person you can never really understand a culture
3. Can we understand a culture through the channels other than learning it in person? State your reasons in either case. Yes. We can learn a lot about a culture through books, movies, TV programs … No. If you don’t have the experience in person you can never really understand a culture. Reference:
Read About It Language Points Content Awareness Language Focus
Read About It • Language Points • Content Awareness • Language Focus
The Woman Taxi Driver In Cairo Her name is Nagat I first saw her outside cairo' s airport terminal. A woman taxi driver-the only woman, for that matter, among a large crowd of her male counterparts Do you know what it is like to arrive in a strange city in the middle of the night? Nobody, not even a ray of sunshine is here to greet you. When I walk out of the terminal, I am facing the crowd of taxi drivers milling about in front of every airport the world over. Here in Cairo, it is large and noisy. "Taxi! "" You want taxi? I hear all round me
Her name is Nagat. I first saw her outside Cairo’s airport terminal. A woman taxi driver — the only woman, for that matter, among a large crowd of her male counterparts. The Woman Taxi Driver In Cairo Do you know what it is like to arrive in a strange city in the middle of the night? Nobody, not even a ray of sunshine is here to greet you. When I walk out of the terminal, I am facing the crowd of taxi drivers milling about in front of every airport the world over. Here in Cairo, it is large and noisy. “Taxi!” “You want taxi?” I hear all round me
I feel a firm hand holding my left arm. " You want taxi, follow me, the woman says. She doesnt ask, she simply pulls me through the crowd. I follow her willingly. There is this moment when a tourist, particularly a woman, simply has to trust someone. We stop at a worn car. It has seen a better day, there are quite a few scrapes on its body, the tires are bald and there is a crack in the windshield but it is a car for hire, and the woman will personally drive me. I breathe a sigh of relief when she puts my bag into the trunk, locks it and gets behind the wheel. " I will drive you, don't worry she says Nagat, as she now explains to me, works as a taxi driver several days and nights a week. She has another job, working in an office, but details of it remain vague. The little old car is not hers; it belongs to a boss from whom she in turn rents it whenever she can. She has been a driver ever since her husband died some ten years earlier and left her with two teenage kids and her parents to support
I feel a firm hand holding my left arm. “You want taxi, follow me,” the woman says. She doesn’t ask, she simply pulls me through the crowd. I follow her willingly. There is this moment when a tourist, particularly a woman, simply has to trust someone. We stop at a worn car. It has seen a better day, there are quite a few scrapes on its body, the tires are bald and there is a crack in the windshield. But it is a car for hire, and the woman will personally drive me. I breathe a sigh of relief when she puts my bag into the trunk, locks it and gets behind the wheel. “I will drive you, don’t worry,” she says. Nagat, as she now explains to me, works as a taxi driver several days and nights a week. She has another job, working in an office, but details of it remain vague. The little old car is not hers; it belongs to a boss from whom she in turn rents it whenever she can. She has been a driver ever since her husband died some ten years earlier and left her with two teenage kids and her parents to support
She knows every nook and cranny in and around Cairo-no easy feat. Cairo with its complex system of streets and lanes, its quarters and markets is like a labyrinth invented by ancient storytellers. Hundreds of mosques many of which are masterpieces of Islamic architecture, old neighborhoods with houses boxed together, huge apartment buildings on the outskirts and the Nile calmly running through it; all are part of this overcrowded city With a mild sense of humor around a deep core of understanding of human nature, Nagat takes control of my sightseeing schedule Every morning punctually at nine o'clock, I can depend on seeing her short, solid frame outside the hotel lobby, her round face turning into a big smile as soon as she sees me coming down the stairs. Most every day, she wears an earth tone- colored Jellaba. Her movements are energetic and she doesn't waste any time. Her determined approach seems to have grown on a bed of economy on the necessity to get as much done as she possibly can
She knows every nook and cranny in and around Cairo — no easy feat. Cairo with its complex system of streets and lanes, its quarters and markets is like a labyrinth invented by ancient storytellers. Hundreds of mosques — many of which are masterpieces of Islamic architecture, old neighborhoods with houses boxed together, huge apartment buildings on the outskirts and the Nile calmly running through it; all are part of this overcrowded city. With a mild sense of humor around a deep core of understanding of human nature, Nagat takes control of my sightseeing schedule. Every morning punctually at nine o’clock, I can depend on seeing her short, solid frame outside the hotel lobby, her round face turning into a big smile as soon as she sees me coming down the stairs. Most every day, she wears an earth tone-colored Jellaba. Her movements are energetic and she doesn’t waste any time. Her determined approach seems to have grown on a bed of economy, on the necessity to get as much done as she possibly can
What becomes clear to me soon as she drives me from museum to pyramid, from one part of town to the opposite, is this she is a true exception here. Wherever we stop, be it for a cup of tea during a break or upon arriving at an historical site where her male colleagues gather in the parking area- everywhere, she is being noticed. Men walk up to her in the car with questioning faces. As she tells me, they all have one question first of all: " Are you a taxi driver? She then explains in a few short sentences, and I see the mens faces soften, smile and respectfully and kindly chat with her. This scene repeats itself over and over again. I get the sense that she invites goodwill from the people she meets
What becomes clear to me soon as she drives me from museum to pyramid, from one part of town to the opposite, is this: she is a true exception here. Wherever we stop, be it for a cup of tea during a break or upon arriving at an historical site where her male colleagues gather in the parking area — everywhere, she is being noticed. Men walk up to her in the car with questioning faces. As she tells me, they all have one question first of all: “Are you a taxi driver?” She then explains in a few short sentences, and I see the men’s faces soften, smile and respectfully and kindly chat with her. This scene repeats itself over and over again. I get the sense that she invites goodwill from the people she meets