Section C
You are going to read an article from a newspaper. Six paragraphs have been removed from the article. Choose from the paragraphs (A-G) the one which fits each gap (65-70). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use. Mark your answers on the Answer Sheet.
Questions 65-70 are based on the following passage.
Cruising may not be everyone’s idea of entertainment yet it would hardly be the same without its traditional British teatime. There is no better way of breaking down social barriers either. Or so I found when I enjoyed a cup of tea with an anonymous-looking passenger aboard the smart ship I had joined.
65. ______
Sharing tea with a celebrity may not be a normal cruising experience, but the Seabourn Spirit is no run-of-the-mill vessel. Nor aboard most cruise ships are you served high-quality leaf tea--it is usually tea-bags, even if it is in a silver pot.
66. ______
And with due reverence to the ele, it was personal treatment all the way. With a passenger-crew ratio of almost one-to-one, there was never any chance of the delays you might experience on other craft. Nor do you find many lines where the staff are so quick and keen to learn your particular tastes.
67. ______
In what other ship, I wonder, would the cabin stewardess put a marker in your paperback so you would not lose your place A small detail--but little pleasures add up to give maximum satisfaction. Yet such high standards might daunt some, fearing that it will be far from relaxing having to live up to them. But I have not often been on such a happy-go-lucky cruise. Be we president or pleb, we were all treated as equals, and I have been on much less distinguished ships with more marked social mores.
Just to illustrate my point: aboard Seabourn Spirit, there were just three formal dinners, and not all the men wore dinner jackets. Most evenings were casual or informal.
Full silver service meals were available in your cabin as part of the 24-hour waiter service. Passengers could also choose between the main dining room and the veranda care. The cuisine was worthy of such a ship and, if it was too nouvelle for some, at least it made eating those cream cakes at tea less of a worry.
68. ______
If there was any problem, it was overcoming the temptation to become a seagoing hermit. All the cabins have broad picture windows and living areas with settee, soft chairs, table and desk. And there is plenty of room for the queen-size bed. The marble bathrooms are a good size with a decent tub-shower and double wash-basins. Most convenient is a closet with enough wooden coat hangers for a debutante’s ball and plenty of room for luggage.
69. ______
A highlight of our tour was a visit to the scenic resort of Yalta and the Livadiya Palace, where Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin held their famous conference in 1945 that decided much of the fate of post-war Europe. And we paid a rare cruise ship call to Sevastopol. Mooring near a flotilla of heavily armed warships in what is still a big naval base was one of the more thought-provoking experiences.
70. ______
The main port brought back the smiles--a chance at last to indulge in that cruise essential, shopping, but with a touch of culture. As a mark of the special attention given to the passengers, the line booked the opera house for an exclusive ballet performance. Even if cruising is not your cup of tea, this is almost certainly the ship to change your mind.
Paragraphs :
A. The passenger clearly seemed to be enjoying the occasion. During a gale, however, he might have wished he was back in port. Seasickness can afflict anyone. A good pair of sea legs is one of the few comforts not provided on a ship where every effort is made to satisfy passengers’ whims.
B. Yet nothing moved our emotions more than when we were driven to the site of the Valley of Death. Today, it is a sylvan scene. Had it not been for Olga, our guide, the horror of it would have remained hidden. In perfect English, she recited Tennyson’s Charge of the Light Brigade. I saw the American woman beside me shed a tear. She was not the only one.
C. A more potent concern, even before boarding, was not over-eating but overdrinking. One reason for such high fares is that drinks are included without extra charge. But the mainly elderly passengers stayed as sober as judges--as several were, in fact.
D. Although under 10,000 tons, a midget of the ocean waves, what it lacks in size it makes up for in quality. "Luxury" is a much abused word, yet this ship deserves the description. "Exclusive" may be a better word if you reckon on the ability to pay an average of more than ￡ 550 a day for the pleasure of being there. It was not surprising, therefore, that the majority of the 188 passengers on our 12-night jaunt from Istanbul to the Black Sea and Aegean came from the richer golden lodes of the social strata.
E. My fridge, too, was stocked to the gunnels. As another compulsion to remain in blissful isolation, the television also relays the ship’ s daily lectures on port news and travel subjects. There were half a dozen grander suites with separate rooms and a balcony. If you could tear yourself away from the room or felt like a more academic pastime, the ship also had its own library, but it would take a world cruise at least to read through the edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica that was included.
F. Nothing boosts egos more, or makes one feel more at home, than having the steward know without being reminded that your breakfast croissants should be only slightly warm and that you prefer Orange Pekoe to Darjeeling.
G. Sipping from his cup English-style (with milk) with obvious pleasure, he told me: "I enjoy it very much although we do grow excellent tea in my country, Indonesia. It’s called Col Para. Did you know that it is a favourite kind of your Queen" This surprised me but then who am I to dispute a former president of his country Questions 65-70 are based on the following passage.Paragraphs :