Straightforward Intermediate Second edition © Macmillan Publishers Limited 20121   

Straightforward    Business

2a Business travellerSPeaKing1 Work in pairs. Discuss the questions.

• Whatdoyoulikeanddislikeabouttravelling?• Whoisthemostwidelytravelledpersonthatyouknow?

Wherehashe/shebeen?Whydidhe/shegothere?• Howimportantisthepossibilityoftravelinajobforyou?• Whatdoyouthinkthatpeoplewhotravelalot

complainabout?

Reading1 Read the article and choose the best answer a, b or c to 

explain the title.

a Thewriterlovestravellingtodifferentplacesforhiswork.b Thewriterisbeingironic;hedoesn’tthinkveryhighlyof

businesstravel.c Thewriterlikesbeingawayfromhome.

2 Read the article again and answer the questions.

1 WhywasthetriptoKazannotcompletelysatisfactory?

2 Whyisthequalityofthehotelimportanttohim?3 Howmuchdoesheseeofthecitieshevisits?4 Whydoeshesometimeswanttogotobed

early?5 Whatdoeshenothaveenoughtimetodo?6 Howdoweknowthatheprobablylikes

travelling?

3 Work in pairs. Discuss the questions.

• Doesthewriterthinkheisluckytotravelsomuch?

• Wouldyouliketohavethewriter’slifestyle?Whatwouldyoulikemostandleastaboutit?

• Howmuchtimedoyouwanttospendathomenearfriendsandfamilyeachyear?

The joys of BUSINESS TRAVELPeople think I’m lucky to go to so many exotic places for my work. At the beginning, I found it exciting, but after a year, perhaps less, the novelty wore off. I’ve just come back, for example, from a three-day trip to Kazan, in Russia, but I only left the hotel for about two hours. It looked very interesting, but I didn’t have time for more than a quick walk around.

Probably the most exotic place I’ve been to this year was Bangkok, but, again, I was only there for a few days. I’ve stayed in some wonderful hotels, but the ones in Thailand are the best. When you spend half your life travelling, the quality of the hotel becomes very important. On many trips, the hotel is all you see! But everyone I know who has travelled as much as me agrees on one thing. It’s often lonely. Have you ever spent an evening with a group of sales people (who don’t speak your language) when everything is on expenses? The food is good, but you prefer to go back to your hotel room early because you have a 6am flight in the morning.

This year, I have already visited 17 countries in Europe, and eight in other continents. I have spent the equivalent of three months in hotel rooms, and I have lost my bag twice. I have not had enough time to see my partner or my family.

Travelling is not all it’s cracked up to be. Exotic places stop being exotic very quickly, one airport begins to look like another. But there’s something very addictive about it. I know I complain, but I haven’t applied for a new job!

Daniel Poole is the Regional Sales Director of an international publishing company

Glossaryexoticadj interestingorexciting,but

unusualthenoveltyworeoffphrase it

becamelessinterestingonexpensesphrase whenthe

companypaysthebillequivalentadj ofthesamesizenotallit’scrackeduptobephrase

notasgoodaspeoplesayaddictiveadj soenjoyablethatyou

wanttodoitasaoftenaspossible

Straightforward Intermediate Second edition © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2012   2

Straightforward    Business

  Business traveller  2a

Grammar: present perfect & past simple 11 Look at the first two paragraphs of the article again. 

Underline all the examples of the present perfect and past simple. Then answer the questions.

1 Whichverbformdoyouusewhenthetimeisknown?2 Whichverbformdoyouusewhenthetimeisnot

stated?

2 Choose the correct alternatives to complete the text.

Matthaus, from Vienna, (1) has begun / began his job with a multinational publisher three years ago and he (2) has visited / visited most of the major European capitals since then. He looks after visiting authors and he (3) has had / had many visits. He (4) has had / had very few authors who can speak other languages, so he is able to practise his English. He (5) has been / went to England for his work a couple of times for annual conferences and training, and he is hoping to attend other conferences with the company. On his last trip for work, he (6) has gone / went to Zurich, and then (7) has taken / took a visiting author back to Geneva by train.

3 Complete the questions. Put the verbs in brackets into the present perfect or the past simple.

1 Howmanycountries you (visit)?2 What’sthemostinterestingplaceyou (be)to?3 Howmanytimes you (go)away

lastyear?4 Where you (go)foryourlastholiday?5 What’sthefurthestyou ever (fly)?6 When you (fly)forthefirsttime?7 What’sthestrangestformoftransportyou

ever (use)?8 youever (travel)onyourown?

4 Work in pairs. Ask and answer the questions in exercise 3.

Usethepastsimple…withquestionsthataskaboutthetimeofanevent.When did you last come back?•totalkaboutpastactionswhenyouknownwhen

theeventhappened.I only left the hotel for about two hours.•withcertaintimeexpressions,egyesterday,last

week,one night,the last time,when.

Usethepresentperfect…•totalkaboutpastactionswhenthetimeisnot

stated.Theeventhappenedinthepast,butthetimeisnotimportant.

Have you ever spent an evening with sales people?•withcertaintimeexpressions,egever,never,

already,yet,since,just.I’ve already visited 17 countries.I’ve just come back from Kazan.

   FOr OTHer USeS OF THe PreSenT PerFeCT, See Page 74

  See LangUage ReFerenCe Page 24