Вправа 2.1 What would be your responses to these questions ?

Вправа 2.2 Reply to one of the emails offering a solution to the problem.

Вправа 3. In his book Running a Hotel on the Roof of the World, Alec Le Sueur tells the story of his experience of working at a Holiday inn hotel in Tibet. Before you read the extract below think about these questions.

· What physical problems could guests experience staying at 12.000 ft?

· What could the hotel provide to prevent these problems?

Вправа 3.1 Read the extract and translate it:

‘Why don’t your staff speak English?’ was a question which was asked by guests throughout the day. It became very annoying and although it was extremely tempting to reply. ‘Why don’t you speak Tibetan or next time stay at home?’ this answer was not really acceptable in an international hotel. Instead I answered with a polite, ‘Oh, I am terribly sorry, we are constantly looking for ways to improve the service to our guests and thank you so much for bringing this matter to our attention.’

The last straw with the ‘lack of English’ complaints came from an investment banker who had been invited to Tibet to discuss important financial projects with the local government. We had special instructions to provide red carpet treatment and the General Manager escorted him and his wife to the best suite in the hotel. The financier was concerned that his wife might suffer from altitude sickness and he looked around the suite for the oxygen supply. He found the bottle beneath the bedside table and followed the instructions on how to release oxygen into the room.

But nothing happened and he called the operator to ask for someone to check the oxygen. ‘Yes,’ the operator responded. He waited patiently for an engineer to arrive. Fifteen minutes later no-one had appeared and his wife was complaining of a headache. He called the operator again to ask for the oxygen. ‘Yes, wait a moment. I check for you,’ was the reply.

Another quarter of an hour passed, and still no-one had arrived – his wife’s headache was worsening and he was beginning to lose his temper. He snatched the receiver, dialed 2222 and demanded to know why there was no oxygen. The operator gave him an irritated reply, he had been wasting her time. ‘Yes, I checked for you, but there is no Mr Oxygen staying in the hotel.’

Вправа 3.2 Read the extract and answer these questions:

1. What is meant by ‘red carpet statement’?

2. Why was it important to give this visitor ‘red carpet statement’?

3. Why do you think it was ‘the last straw’?

4. What mistake did the operator make?

5. As the manager of this hotel what would you do to improve the situation?

6. Do you know any similar stories involving language problems?

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