Describe a trip which was not up to your expectations. You should say: where you went what you did what happened and explain why the trip was not up to your expectations. [You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you're going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish. ] Sample Answer 1:
Right, I’m racking my brain to think of a good example for this one. Often when I set out on a trip or mini-adventure, I try to keep an open mind, to be flexible and make the most of whatever experience presents itself. I think if you embark on things with very fixed expectations that can end in disappointment. Then again, sometimes it’s pretty clear that you have a reasonable expectation that, for example, a bus will take you from one place to a particular end destination, or your outing to collect a purchase from a certain shop will pass largely unremarkably. So a trip doesn’t have to be anything especially adventurous, just in this instance something which didn’t pass in the way I’d expected it to… Hmm, hang on, I’ve got one, I think it’s a good example, perhaps even a comical one too – I wonder what you will make of it. I’ll tell you where I went, what I did, what happened, and why the trip was not AT ALL what was expected… Some years ago I celebrated my fortieth birthday by booking an exotic holiday. I saved up for a very long time so that I could afford to go, and it was certainly special. I was to spend some time in Tanzania on safari and then immediately afterwards travel on to the Island of Zanzibar for a two days extension on the beaches there. The holiday itself was absolutely amazing, and when I got to Zanzibar I couldn’t believe how lovely it was. Beautiful beaches, friendly and welcoming people, and extraordinary architecture. The city seemed to me to be out of a fairy tale. A labyrinth of passageways with tall ancient walls and enormous Morocco style solid wooden doors towering over the narrow streets, which were heaving with local people going about their daily business. Now, the first thing that happened in Zanzibar, was that I heard from my travel agent, that there was a problem with my return flight back to the UK. They were very sorry, but I’d have to stay on for three extra days – at their expense of course – in a luxury hotel! I couldn’t believe it! This wasn’t a hardship at all, I felt as if I was in paradise, and the hotel suite I was staying in was bigger than my own flat at home, this was really no inconvenience at all, I felt as if I’d won the lottery! However, this is not the unexpected trip I want to tell you about, although it I the cause of my embarking on it. Finding myself with some extra days to fill in an unknown location, I met up with some other travellers in the same situation and we planned what we could do together. One of them had read about a really amazing restaurant in the city and suggested we all go there together. The problem was that gorgeous as Zanzibar undoubtedly was, its main centre really isn’t a city to explore at night. The winding maze of lanes with its mix of Swahili and Islamic influences was beautiful certainly, but also nigh on impossible to navigate. The streets were unlit, and although most people were law abiding as naïve comparatively wealthy tourists we were warned we would be at risk of the pickpocket or worse if we ventured out unaccompanied. However, there was an easy solution. The hotel said that if we just stepped outside, there would always be some enterprising local person who for a dollar between us, would take us safely to wherever we wanted to go. By employing them, we would be safe from other touts or pickpockets, and could easily walk to where we wanted to go, plus contribute a bit of money to the local community. This sounded like a good plan and we all agreed on this trip to the favoured restaurant. From memory, I think there were about half a dozen of us. We stepped outside our hotel, and just as we had been advised a potential guide approached us, and agreed to take us where we wanted to go for just a dollar. We handed over our fee, and he set off – at quite a pace. We jogged behind him through the dark maze of narrow lanes. It was exciting being out at night, the main town – called Stone Town with good reason – was even more spectacular and spooky at night. We marvelled at how our guide was able to take us down hidden rat-runs on seemingly un-navigable shortcuts. At one point one of our members lost his nerve. He became convinced that this man was trying to lure us to a secret location where we would all be mugged and robbed away from spying eyes, but the rest of us laughed at his ridiculous caution! After some half an hour or so, our guide announced we were at the restaurant because we had already paid him, he then vanished into the dark. After a few seconds, we realised it wasn’t where we had wanted to go at all! It was a completely different restaurant, perhaps one where he got a commission for bringing tourists. Nevertheless, it looked very good, and laughingly we decided to eat there anyway. The food was absolutely excellent, and with the exception of our more cautious fellow traveller who feared treachery at every turn and was indignant that we’d been tricked in this way, the rest of us found it hilarious. After all, we’d enjoyed our night tour of the streets of Zanzibar, and there was no way on earth we’d have had the courage to do that on our own. In any case, we had a delicious meal so where was the harm. After our meal, it slowly dawned on us that we now had to find our way back to the hotel, and we had absolutely no idea where we were. This wasn’t looking so good. We paid our bill, and managed to ask at the restaurant for directions ‘home’. We showed him the card with our hotel’s details on it. The restauranteur looked really confused. At first we thought he just didn’t understand what we were asking, but eventually, he took us to the door, pointed down the road, and there was our hotel. It was within sight, we were perhaps 300 metres away from where we started off. Our guide it seemed had taken us round in a big circle, ending up almost back where we started! So to summarise, the trip was a guided excursion to a restaurant, so that is where we went. What did I do? Employ a guide to take me and some others to a recommended eating place. What happened? Well, we had a magical mystery tour that ended up somewhere else entirely. The trip didn’t meet my expectations because strictly speaking, we didn’t end up where we were supposed to, not even close! However, it honestly didn’t matter. I really enjoyed my tour through the pitch black maze of streets in Zanzibar, I still had a delicious meal with new friends, and for just a dollar that adventure was worth every penny! All’s well that ends well after all, and it was a great mini-adventure. It just shows that things might not always work out quite as planned or as expected, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that things end in disaster. Far from it, I think I get more pleasure from this traveller’s tale than I would if everything had gone exactly as expected from the outset! [ Written by - Lucy Marris (2016): Careers Adviser (UK), TEFL teacher (Vietnam) ]
Describe
a
trip
which was not up to your
expectations
. You should say: where you went what you did what
happened
and
explain
why the
trip
was not up to your
expectations
. [You will
have to
talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to
think
about what you're going to say. You can
make
some
notes to
help
you if you wish.
]
Sample Answer 1:
Right
, I’m racking my brain to
think
of a
good
example for this one.
Often
when I set out on a
trip
or mini-adventure, I try to
keep
an open mind, to be flexible and
make
the most of whatever experience presents itself. I
think
if you embark on things with
very
fixed
expectations
that can
end
in disappointment. Then again,
sometimes
it’s pretty
clear
that you have a reasonable
expectation
that,
for example
, a bus will take you from one place to a particular
end
destination, or
your
outing to collect a
purchase
from a certain shop will pass
largely
unremarkably
.
So
a
trip
doesn’t
have to
be anything
especially
adventurous,
just
in this instance something which didn’t pass in the way I’d
expected
it to… Hmm, hang on, I’ve
got
one, I
think
it’s a
good
example, perhaps even a comical one too
–
I wonder what you will
make
of it. I’ll
tell
you where I went, what I did, what
happened
, and why the
trip
was not AT ALL what was
expected…
Some
years ago I celebrated my fortieth birthday by booking an exotic holiday. I saved up for a
very
long time
so
that I could afford to go, and it was
certainly
special. I was to spend
some
time in Tanzania on safari and then immediately afterwards travel on to the Island of Zanzibar for a two days extension on the beaches there. The holiday itself was
absolutely
amazing, and when I
got
to Zanzibar I couldn’t believe how lovely it was.
Beautiful
beaches, friendly and welcoming
people
, and extraordinary architecture. The city seemed to me to be out of a fairy tale. A labyrinth of passageways with tall ancient walls and enormous Morocco style solid wooden doors towering over the narrow
streets
, which were heaving with local
people
going about their daily business.
Now
, the
first
thing that
happened
in Zanzibar, was that I heard from my travel agent, that there was a problem with my return flight back to the UK. They were
very
sorry,
but
I’d
have to
stay on for three extra days
–
at their expense
of course
–
in a luxury
hotel
! I couldn’t believe it! This wasn’t a hardship at all, I felt as if I was in paradise, and the
hotel
suite I was staying in was bigger than my
own
flat at home, this was
really
no inconvenience at all, I felt as if I’d won the lottery!
However
, this is not the unexpected
trip
I want to
tell
you about, although
it
I the cause of my embarking on it. Finding myself with
some
extra days to fill in an unknown location, I met up with
some
other
travellers
in the same
situation and
we planned what we could do together. One of them had read about a
really
amazing
restaurant
in the city and suggested we all go there together. The problem was that gorgeous as Zanzibar
undoubtedly
was, its main
centre
really
isn’t a city to explore at
night
. The winding maze of lanes with its mix of Swahili and Islamic influences was
beautiful
certainly
,
but
also
nigh on impossible to navigate.
The
streets
were unlit, and although most
people
were
law abiding
as naïve
comparatively
wealthy tourists we
were warned
we would be at
risk
of the pickpocket or worse if we ventured
out
unaccompanied.
However
, there was an easy solution. The
hotel
said that if we
just
stepped outside, there would always be
some
enterprising local person who for a dollar between us, would take us
safely
to wherever we
wanted
to go. By employing them, we would be safe from other touts or pickpockets, and could
easily
walk to where we
wanted
to go, plus contribute a bit of money to the local community. This sounded like a
good
plan and
we all
agreed
on this
trip
to the
favoured
restaurant
. From memory, I
think
there were about half a dozen of us. We stepped outside our
hotel
, and
just
as we had
been advised
a potential
guide
approached us, and
agreed
to take us where we
wanted
to go for
just
a dollar. We handed over our fee, and he set off
–
at quite a pace.
We
jogged behind him through the dark maze of narrow lanes. It was exciting being out at
night
, the main town
–
called Stone Town with
good
reason
–
was even more spectacular and spooky at
night
. We marvelled at how our
guide
was able to take us down hidden rat-runs on
seemingly
un-navigable
shortcuts. At one point one of our members lost his nerve. He became convinced that this
man
was trying to lure us to a secret location where we would all
be mugged
and robbed away from spying eyes,
but
the rest of us laughed at his ridiculous caution! After
some
half an hour or
so
, our
guide
announced we were at the
restaurant
because
we had already paid him, he then vanished into the dark. After a few seconds, we
realised
it wasn’t where we had
wanted
to go at all! It was a completely
different
restaurant
, perhaps one where he
got
a commission for bringing tourists.
Nevertheless
, it looked
very
good
, and
laughingly
we decided to eat there
anyway
. The food was
absolutely
excellent, and
with the exception of
our more cautious fellow
traveller
who feared treachery at every turn and was indignant that we’d
been tricked
in this way, the rest of us found it hilarious.
After all
, we’d enjoyed our
night
tour of the
streets
of Zanzibar, and there was no way on earth we’d have had the courage to do that on our
own
. In any case, we had a delicious meal
so
where was the harm. After our meal, it
slowly
dawned on us that we
now
had to find our way back to the
hotel
, and we had
absolutely
no
idea
where we were. This wasn’t looking
so
good
. We paid our bill, and managed to ask at the
restaurant
for directions ‘home’. We
showed
him the card with our
hotel’s
details
on it. The
restauranteur
looked
really
confused. At
first we
thought
he
just
didn’t understand what we were asking,
but
eventually
, he took us to the door, pointed down the road, and there was our
hotel
. It was within sight, we were perhaps 300
metres
away from where we
started
off. Our
guide
it seemed had taken us round in a
big
circle, ending up almost back where we
started
!
So
to
summarise
, the
trip
was a guided excursion to a
restaurant
,
so
that is
where we went. What did I do? Employ a
guide
to take me and
some
others to a recommended eating place. What
happened
?
Well
, we had a magical mystery tour that ended up somewhere else
entirely
. The
trip
didn’t
meet
my
expectations
because
strictly
speaking, we didn’t
end
up where we
were supposed
to, not even close!
However
, it
honestly
didn’t matter. I
really
enjoyed my tour through the pitch black maze of
streets
in Zanzibar, I
still
had a delicious meal with new friends, and for
just
a dollar that adventure was worth every penny! All’s
well
that
ends
well
after all
, and it was a great mini-adventure. It
just
shows
that things might not always work out quite as planned or as
expected
,
but
it doesn’t
necessarily
mean that things
end
in disaster. Far from it, I
think
I
get
more pleasure from this
traveller
’s tale than I would if everything had gone exactly as
expected
from the outset!
[
Written by
-
Lucy
Marris
(2016): Careers Adviser (UK), TEFL teacher (Vietnam)
]