Page 4 - simply cae test 9

CAE Practice Test 9 Paper 1 - Reading and Use of English
Part 5
You are going to read a magazine article. For questions 31-36, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which
you think fits best according to the text.
The Solo Traveller
Practice Test 9 Why do we travel? What is it that makes us pack up and
leave the places and people we know and love? What are
we hoping to experience when we go? And, how do we
know when we’ve done it? I travel because I want to get
to know myself. I travel to find out what I really, truly
can’t live without. I want to know what makes me tick,
what gets under my skin and how I react. I want to
change all the settings, erase all the old data, start from
scratch and meet the new me - and I do it all, by travel-
ling alone.
From my experience, telling your family and friends you’re
going abroad on your own is an emotional rollercoaster
in itself. First, comes utter disbelief ‘Why would you do
something so ridiculous?’, quickly followed by total out-
rage ‘Have you even begun to consider how dangerous
that is?’ and ‘didn’t you hear that story about my friend
who had that nightmare experience while travelling solo
through the outback?’. Then, comes the desperate bar-
gaining ‘are you at least going to call home every hour?!’
which rapidly turns into resigned depression, ‘we’re never
going to see you again, are we? You’re going to disap-
pear mysteriously, somewhere between Caracas and the
Bermuda Triangle aren’t you?’. Then, finally, acceptance
begins to take hold, and they start to consider for the
very first time that maybe, somehow, travelling solo
might have its advantages, and believe me, it really does.
If you feel like sleeping in until noon and discovering a
new city by night rather than by day, then do it. If you
want to splash out on silver service the whole way, or
eat every meal from the dirt-cheap street food stand on
the corner, or stick to 50p super noodles the entire way,
then you can, it’s your prerogative. Walk everywhere, dis-
cover the countryside through the windshield of your
rental car, see how far a rickshaw will take you for the
change in your back pocket; it’s your trip, and you’re the
only one who gets to decide how it goes.
Being able to travel my way is the one luxury item I
can’t do without when I’m abroad, and it’s the only time
in my life when I can be completely and unashamedly
selfish. After all, nobody ever chased true adventure by
agreeing on a daily schedule beforehand and then fighting
over whose turn it is to carry the water bottle.
There’s no better thrill than picking up a language through really, as there wasn’t room for one more...
sheer immersion, because you spent your time listening
rather than commenting on the decor in that great little
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bar you found round the corner; there’s nothing as exciting
as enjoying the company of new friends not because you
have to, but because you want to; there’s no comparison
to the rush of knowing you can handle absolutely any sit-
uation that life throws at you, because you’ve done it
before with hand gestures, foreign currency and no
phone signal, all by yourself - and you can do it again.
Of course, solo travel isn’t always sunshine and once-in-
alifetime experiences. You have to choose your destina-
tions wisely, avoid getting drunk with strangers in remote
locations, and take extra care with your belongings.
But, then again, I would give exactly the same advice to
travellers in groups, many of whom are still under the
false illusion that travelling in numbers automatically
provides security (it doesn’t). In addition, solo travellers
will need to master the art of packing lightly, since there
might not be anyone to help you get your bags up the
next three flights of stairs at the hostel; but again, once
you’ve really learned to pack, there’s no reason to go
back to your old, excessive ways.
While you may experience moments where you miss
having company, remember that there is a very real
distinction between being ‘alone’ and being ‘lonely’. Take
the opportunity to talk to others, meet new people and
do what you want, when you want to do it.
The last time I travelled alone, I woke up at 5am in
Bangkok, and I couldn’t sleep. Wandering through the
eerily silent streets while local market vendors were set-
ting up their stalls and eating breakfast, I lazily made my
way along the river. When I eventually found myself at
the train station, enquiring at the ticket office bought me
a 20p ticket to ride 150km all the way to the Burmese
border. Cutting through the vibrant green jungle of
Kanchanaburi, the ground fell away from the train track
on either side as we rushed over the gargantuan River
Kwai. The conductor opened the back door of the train
and I happily squeezed into the tiny space by the door,
legs dangling over the foaming rapids below; the rough
wind whipped my hair back into my face but it wasn’t
enough to distract me from the breath-taking scenery
below me. As the train wound its way around ancient
mountains and thundering waterfalls, I braced myself
tightly against the slender doorframe. Lucky I was alone