Dutch towns tell tourists how to behave

It's great being a tourist and leisurely wandering around old towns and villages seeing the sites,
but is it such a thrill for the local residents? Villagers living in the area known as 'Old Holland'
outside of Amsterdam have had enough of visitors traipsing around and of tour guides with
megaphones disturbing their peace. They have got together with local tour companies to create
rules of conduct for tourists. The rules include not photographing residents without permission,
not strolling into their gardens and not dropping litter. The new code of conduct is an attempt to
deal with the growing popularity of the region. Tourism is booming and the number of tourists is
expected to rise by 50 per cent in the next decade.

Old Holland is an idyllic area that matches people's image of Dutch life from a slower, bygone
age. There are windmills everywhere and locals live in beautifully preserved, traditional wooden
houses. Local resident Peter-Jan van Steenbergen told Holland's Het Parool newspaper that the
village of Zaanse Schans is like an open-air museum. He said: "I talked to one resident who
opened his curtains in the morning and looked into the camera lenses of nine amateur
photographers." He added: "The visitors seem happy to knock on the wooden houses to see if it
is real wood. If you are the resident of that house, that is not pleasant, of course." He said the
busloads of tourists were the biggest nuisance.

VISITOR: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word
"visitor".
SITES: Rank these with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners often and share
your rankings.
The Amazon
Machu Picchu
Masai Mara
Mount Fuji
The Pyramids
The Statue of Liberty
The Great Wall of China
Sydney Opera House

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).
1. The article said receiving tourists is a thrill for local people. T / F
2. 'Old Holland' is a part of central Amsterdam. T/F
3. New rules for tourists say there is to be no photography in villages. T/F
4. The number of tourists may increase by 50% in the next 10 years. T / F
5. 'Old Holland' does not fit people's idea of life in Holland in the past. T/F
6. A resident said one village was like an open-air museum. T / F
7. One resident opened his curtains to find 9 photographers outside. T / F
8. A resident said busloads of tourists were the most annoying thing. T / F

SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1. leisurely 1. picturesque
2. thrill 2. annoyance
3. disturbing 3. relaxed
4. permission 4. mushrooming
5. booming 5. local
6. idyllic 6. interrupting
7. preserved 7. authentic
8. resident 8. excitement
9. real 9. maintained
10. nuisance 10. say-so
PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1. leisurely wandering 1. the biggest nuisance

2. tour guides with megaphones 2. rise by 50 per cent
3. deal with the growing popularity 3. area
4. the number of tourists is expected to 4. bygone age
5. in the next 5. around old towns
6. an idyllic 6. photographers
7. life from a slower, 7. disturbing their peace
8. like an open- 8. decade
9. Amateur 9. air museum
10. busloads of tourists were 10. of the region

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

conduct litter leisurely decade enough permission thrill
popularity

It's great being a tourist and (1) ____________ wandering around old towns and villages seeing
the sites, but is it such a (2) ____________ for the local residents? Villagers living in the area
known as 'Old Holland' outside of Amsterdam have had (3) ____________ of visitors traipsing
around and of tour guides with megaphones disturbing their peace. They have got together with
local tour companies to create rules of (4) ____________ for tourists. The rules include not
photographing residents without (5) ____________, not strolling into their gardens and not
dropping (6) ____________. The new code of conduct is an attempt to deal with the growing (7)
____________ of the region. Tourism is booming and the number of tourists is expected to rise
by 50 percent in the next (8) ____________.

air age real nuisance preserved pleasant idyllic resident

Old Holland is an (9) ____________ area that matches people's image of Dutch life from a
slower, bygone (10) ____________. There are windmills everywhere and locals live in
beautifully (11) ____________, traditional wooden houses. Local resident Peter-Jan van
Steenbergen told Holland's Het Parool newspaper that the village of Zaanse Schans is like an
open- (12) ____________ museum. He said: "I talked to one (13) ____________ who opened
his curtains in the morning and looked into the camera lenses of nine amateur photographers."
He added: "The visitors seem happy to knock on the wooden houses to see if it is (14)
____________ wood. If you are the resident of that house, that is not (15) ____________, of
course." He said the busloads of tourists were the biggest (16) ____________.
1) enough of visitors traipsing around and of tour guides with megaphones ______
a. disturbing their piece
b. disturbing there peace
c. disturb in their peace
d. disturbing their peace
2) They have got together with local tour companies to create ______
a. rules off conned duck
b. rules of contract
c. rules of conduct
d. rules off conduit
3) photographing residents without permission, not strolling into their gardens and ______
a. not drooping litter
b. not dropping litter
c. not dropping letter
d. not drooping letter
4) The new code of conduct is an attempt to deal with the growing popularity ______
a. of the region
b. of the regional
c. of the regions
d. of the legion
5) the number of tourists is expected to rise by 50 per cent in ______
a. the next decades
b. a next decadence
c. the next decade
d. the next decadent
6) matches people's image of Dutch life from a slower, ______
a. bygone age
b. be gone age
c. bye gone age
d. beginning age
7) told Holland's Het Parool newspaper that the village of Zaanse Schans is like an ______
a. open-airy museum
b. open-air museum
c. open-aired museum
d. open-airs museum
8) The visitors seem happy to knock on the wooden houses to see if ______
a. it is real wood
b. it is real wooden
c. it is real woods
d. it is real woody
9) If you are the resident of that house, that ______
a. is not pleasing
b. is not pleasantry
c. is not pheasant
d. is not pleasant
10) He said the busloads of tourists were the ______
a. biggest nuance
b. biggest nonsense
c. biggest nuisance
d. biggest nascence

It's great (1) ___________________ and leisurely wandering around old towns and villages
seeing the sites, (2) ___________________ thrill for the local residents? Villagers living in the
area known as 'Old Holland' outside of Amsterdam have had enough of visitors traipsing (3)
___________________ guides with megaphones disturbing their peace. They have got
together with local tour companies to create (4) ___________________ tourists. The rules
include not photographing residents without permission, not strolling into their gardens (5)
___________________ litter. The new code of conduct is an attempt to deal with the growing
popularity of the region. Tourism is booming and the number of tourists (6)
___________________ rise by 50 percent in the next decade.
Old Holland (7) ___________________ area that matches people's image of Dutch life from a
slower, bygone age. There are windmills everywhere and locals live in beautifully preserved, (8)
___________________ houses. Local resident Peter-Jan van Steenbergen told Holland's Het
Parool newspaper that the village of Zaanse Schans is (9) ___________________ museum. He
said: "I talked to one resident (10) ___________________ curtains in the morning and looked
into the camera lenses of nine amateur photographers." He added: "The visitors seem (11)
___________________ the wooden houses to see if it is real wood. If you are the resident of
that house, that is not pleasant, of course." He said the (12) ___________________ were the
biggest nuisance.

Comprehension questions
1. What did the article question tourism might not be for local residents?
2. What do tour guides have that disturb locals' peace?
3. What do tourists need permission to take photos of under the new rules?
4. What did the article say was booming?
5. By when is the number of tourists expected to rise by 50%?
6. What kind of area did the article say Old Holland was?
7. What are the houses made from that the locals live in?
8. How many photographers did a resident find outside his window?
9. What do some tourists knock on?
10. What did a resident say was the biggest nuisance?
Multiple choice quiz
1) What did the article question tourism might not be for local residents?
a) profitable
b) a thrill
c) the dream life
d) touristy
2) What do tour guides have that disturb locals' peace?
a) giant loudspeakers
b) mobile phones
c) fights
d) megaphones
3) What do tourists need permission to take photos of under the new rules?
a) the inside of churches
b) the houses
c) the local residents
d) windmills
4) What did the article say was booming?
a) tourism
b) the voices of tour guides
c) a 12th-century cannon
d) fireworks
5) By when is the number of tourists expected to rise by 50%?
a) 2050
b) in the next decade
c) 2020
d) the end of next year
6) What kind of area did the article say Old Holland was?
a) idyllic
b) age
c) matchless
d) slow
7) What are the houses made from that the locals live in?
a) steel
b) brick
c) wood
d) rocks
8) How many photographers did a resident find outside his window?
a) 9
b) 8
c) 7
d) 6
9) What do some tourists knock on?
a) trees
b) windows
c) buses
d) the wooden houses
10) What did a resident say was the biggest nuisance?
a) tourists breaking flowers
b) rush hour
c) busloads of tourists
d) litter

1. What did you think when you read the headline?

2. What springs to mind when you hear the word 'tourism'?
3. What kind of tourist are you?
4. What kind of tourism is there in your town?
5. What responsibilities do tourists have?
6. What are the bad things about tourism?
7. Why is tourism such a big industry?
8. What rules for tourists would you add?
9. What should happen to tourists who break these rules?
10. What benefits do tourists bring to a town or area?
11. Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
12. What do you think of when you hear the word 'tourist'?
13. What do you think about what you read?
14. What kind of bad behaviour can tourists have?
15. Should people have culture lessons before going to other countries?
16. What image do people from your country have overseas?
17. Do you like being a tourist?
18. Do you prefer solo travel or being part of a tour group?
19. Would you be a good tour guide? Why?
20. What questions would you like to ask the villagers?
Language Cloze (Gap-fill)
It's great being a tourist and (1) ______ wandering around old towns and villages seeing the
sites, but is it such a (2) ______ for the local residents? Villagers living in the area known as
'Old Holland' outside of Amsterdam have had enough of visitors traipsing around and (3)
______ tour guides with megaphones disturbing their peace. They have got together with local
tour companies to create rules of conduct for tourists. The rules include not (4) ______
residents without permission, not strolling into their gardens and not dropping (5) ______. The
new code of conduct is an attempt to deal with the growing popularity of the region. Tourism is
booming and the number of tourists is expected to (6) ______ by 50 percent in the next decade.
Old Holland is an (7) ______ area that matches people's image of Dutch life from a slower,
bygone (8) ______. There are windmills everywhere and locals live in beautifully preserved,
traditional wooden houses. Local resident Peter-Jan van Steenbergen told Holland's Het Parool
newspaper that the village of Zaanse Schans is like an open-(9) ______ museum. He said: "I
talked to one resident who opened his curtains in (10) ______ morning and looked into the
camera lenses of nine amateur photographers." He added: "The visitors seem happy to knock
on the wooden houses to (11) ______ if it is real wood. If you are the resident of that house, that
is not pleasant, of course." He said the busloads of tourists were the biggest (12) ______.

Which of these words go in the above text?

1. (a) leisurely (b) leisure (c) leisured (d) leisureliness
2. (a) trill (b) till (c) thrill (d) thriller
3. (a) have (b) by (c) of (d) to
4. (a) photographed (b) photo (c) photograph (d) photographing
5. (a) litter (b) kittens (c) mittens (d) smitten
6. (a) risen (b) rise (c) arise (d) raise
7. (a) metalic (b) alcoholic (c) acrylic (d) idyllic
8. (a) old (b) age (c) history (d) before
9. (a) oxygen (b) wind (c) air (d) breeze
10. (a) a (b) that (c) one (d) the
11. (a) watch (b) look (c) view (d) see
12. (a) nuance (b) nuisance (c) nascence (d) nonsense

Would you slow down a bit, please? I can't _________ you.

keep up with
put up with
make up to
hold on to
_____ at the door before entering please.
Knocked
To knock
Knocking
Knock
The men will have to wait all day ______ the doctor works faster.
if
unless
whether
that
Mr. Smith, theres a man at _____ front door who says he has_______news for you of
great importance.
the; ---;
the; the;
---; ---;
---; the;
John said hed been working in the office for an hour, _______ was true.
he
this
which
who
Hundreds of jobs______ if the factory closes.
lose
will be lost
are lost
will lose
If this dictionary is not yours,_______can it be?
what else
who else
which else's
who else's
---- Did you remember to give Mary the money you owed her?
---- Yes, I gave it to her_______I saw her.
while
the moment
suddenly
once
Ive won a holiday for two to Florida. I _______ my mum.
am taking
have taken
take
will have taken
Why havent you bought any butter?
I _______to, but I forgot about it.
liked
wished
meant
Expected
Inversion Error Exercise
Look at the sentences which all use inversion. Which sentences are correct?

1. How wonderful that movie was!

Correct
Not Correct
2. Only after posting the postcard did I remember I hadn't put a stamp on it.
Correct
Not Correct
3. Rarely Veronica forgets to take her key.
Correct
Not Correct
4. Under no circumstances you should reply to that letter.
Correct
Not Correct
5. What a lovely meal was that!
Correct
Not Correct
6. Only when you have your own children you will understand how difficult it is.
Correct
Not Correct
7. Never I have seen so much snow in November!
Correct
Not Correct
8. Only Phil saw the thief coming through the window.
Correct
Not Correct
9. What worries me most is the sheer expense of the vacation.
Correct
Not Correct
10. Is what I'm going to do, ask for another bill.
Correct
Not Correct