Booking holidays online

 　　NB: This is not a word for word transcript¹

　　Stephen: Hello, I'm Stephen.

　　Alice: And I'm Alice.

　　Stephen: And this is 6 Minute English. This week we're talking about booking holidays

　　online. Some travel companies have been criticised for making misleading

　　claims about holidays or flights they're selling on their websites. Well, you're

　　probably familiar with the kind of language used in advertising² holidays.

　　Sometimes, the way a holiday is described doesn't really match what it's really

　　like.

　　Alice: For example, ‘azure blue waters’ might turn out to be a dirty blue sea, and a

　　‘cosy hotel room’ - a nice way of saying it's a very small room.

　　Stephen: But it's not just the descriptions that are controversial³ - travel companies have

　　been getting in trouble for the way they sell their services online. Before we

　　find out more Alice, let's hear today's question.

　　Alice: OK.

　　Stephen: Online travel is big business, and the top online travel company in China is

　　called Ctrip.com. They announced a huge increase in profits between January

　　and March, but how much was that increase? Was it:

　　6 Minute English ? bbclearningenglish.com 2011

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　　a) 13%

　　b) 23%

　　c) 33%

　　Alice: Oh, because you said it’s a huge increase I’ll go for the biggest figure – 33%.

　　Stephen: Well, we'll find out the answer at the end of today's 6 Minute English. First,

　　let's talk some more about booking holidays online. If you're like me, at this

　　time of the year, you're searching through lots of holiday websites for a really

　　good deal.

　　Alice: A really good deal - a bargain, a great offer.

　　Stephen: But it might not turn out to be that cheap in the end. There can be hidden costs

　　and something can end up being more expensive than you were expecting.

　　Alice: Hidden costs include anything that's not very obvious. It could be taxes or

　　administration⁴ charges - payments⁵ for the office staff who deal with money

　　and booking your flights or hotel.

　　Stephen: It can be really frustrating⁶ after lots of clicking to discover that the final price

　　of your holiday is considerably⁷ more expensive. Here's Stephen Dunk, the

　　Commercial Director of Travel Zoo, a company which sells holidays online.

　　Insert 1: Stephen Dunk

　　You see a great offer and you think “I’d like to go and do that”, and then you start

　　trying to book it and you actually see that it’s no longer available, or that you’re going to

　　have to pay much more money. And having made that emotional⁸ commitment⁹ to go and

　　do something there’s nothing worse than having to make a decision to either pull out or

　　to pay much more than you perhaps were anticipating¹⁰.

　　Stephen: So Stephen Dunk says that you might see a holiday you like. When you try to

　　book it, it's no longer available or it could be much more expensive than you

　　had budgeted for.

　　Alice: To budget for something is to plan to spend a certain amount of money on it.

　　Stephen: He also says if you have chosen a holiday, often you've made an emotional

　　commitment to go on it. It's a difficult decision then to pull out.

　　Alice: An emotional commitment. I think he means if you’ve set your heart on doing

　　something - you’ve decided¹¹ you really want to do it - you’re less likely to pull

　　out, even if the price goes up.

　　Stephen: To pull out, means to withdraw¹² or not do something. Also, booking holidays

　　online can mean clicking lots of buttons. There can be quite a few stages

　　before you see the final cost. Let's hear about some of the hidden costs of plane

　　flights. Here's George Hobica from airfarewatchdog.com.

　　Insert 2: George Hobica

　　I think it’s a great boon¹³ for consumers to actually see all the taxes in the airfares.

　　Unfortunately a lot of airlines when they send you an email will say $179 to Europe,

　　say from New York City, or even in the reverse¹⁴ direction. And in fact it requires a

　　round-trip purchase so it’s twice that, and it doesn’t include taxes – so the real fare is

　　$1000. It’s very, very deceptive¹⁵ and I think it is time that the airlines be upfront about

　　it.

　　Stephen: George Hobica thinks it's a great boon to be able to know all the price details

　　of a flight - to be able to see all the taxes.

　　Alice: A great boon – that’s something really helpful or beneficial.

　　Stephen: But he said, a flight from Europe to New York being advertised for $179 could

　　end up costing $1000. That's a very large difference in price.

　　Alice: He also used some interesting words and phrases associated with travel. In

　　American English a return trip is called a round-trip.

　　Stephen: George Hobica says the way fares are advertised can be deceptive. He wants

　　airlines to be more upfront.

　　Alice: Deceptive - misleading. He wants airlines to be more upfront - more honest -

　　about their pricing.

　　Stephen: Well, there’s certainly plenty to be thinking about when I'm booking my next

　　holiday! Have you any holiday plans this summer, Alice?

　　Alice: Not yet. I think I might go away in the autumn.

　　Stephen: A bit of sunshine would be nice, I’m sure. And earlier I asked you how much

　　profits went up at the Chinese travel company ctrip.com?

　　Alice: I said 33% between January and March.

　　Stephen: Close enough – it was actually 23%.

　　Alice: Oh, that’s still pretty big.

　　Stephen: So, before we go, would you reading some of the words we heard in today's

　　programme, please?

　　Alice: Of course.

　　hidden costs

　　clicking

　　budgeted for

　　an emotional commitment

　　to pull out

　　boon

　　Stephen: Thanks, Alice. Well, that's all we have time for on today's 6 Minute English.

　　Both: Bye!

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

3 controversial   

adj.引起争论的，有争议的

参考例句：

• The topic of argument is controversial.这个议题是很有争议的。
• Immigration is a controversial issue in many countries.在很多国家，移民都是一个颇有争议的问题。

4 administration   

n.经营，管理；行政，行政机关，管理部门

参考例句：

• Who is in charge of the administration of your company?你们公司的行政工作由谁负责？
• The teachers are responsible to the school administration.教师向学校行政负责。

5 payments   

n.支付，付款，缴纳，报酬( payment的名词复数 )；付出的[要付出的]款项；报答，报偿

参考例句：

• Welfare payments cease as soon as an individual starts a job. 一旦就业，即停发福利救济。
• The law can compel fathers to make regular payments for their children. 这项法律可强制父亲定期支付子女的费用。

6 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

8 emotional   

adj.令人动情的；易动感情的；感情(上)的

参考例句：

• Emotional people don't stop to calculate.感情容易冲动的人做事往往不加考虑。
• This is an emotional scene in the play.这是剧中动人的一幕。

9 commitment   

n.奉献，忠诚，辛劳，委托，实行，承担义务，赞助

参考例句：

• The builder had a commitment to finish the work on time.那个承建商答应过准时完工。
• He made a commitment to pay the rent on time.他保证按时付房租。

10 anticipating   

预感( anticipate的现在分词 )； 预见； 预料； 先于…行动

参考例句：

• He was anticipating his expectations at a dazzling rate. 他正以令人目炫的速度抢先花掉他的未来遗产。
• Anticipating that it would soon be dark, they all took torches. 他们预见到天快黑了，就都带上了手电筒。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 withdraw   

vt.收回，撤消，撤退；vi.缩回，退出，撤退

参考例句：

• I want to withdraw a statement I made earlier.我想收回我早些时候发表的一项声明。
• The general decided to withdraw his soldiers.那位将军决定撤军。

13 boon   

n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠

参考例句：

• A car is a real boon when you live in the country.在郊外居住，有辆汽车确实极为方便。
• These machines have proved a real boon to disabled people.事实证明这些机器让残疾人受益匪浅。

14 reverse   

v.推翻，颠倒，反向；n.反面，逆境；adj.反向的

参考例句：

• His answer was just the reverse of what I expected.他的回答正好与我期望的相反。
• Please reverse the positions of two pictures.请把两张图片的位置倒转过来。

15 deceptive   

adj.骗人的，造成假象的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• His appearance was deceptive.他的外表带有欺骗性。
• The storyline is deceptively simple.故事情节看似简单，其实不然。