FINAL TEST – ENGLISH FOR TOURISM
SAMPLE TEST
PART I: VOCABULARY (30 points)
A. With the knowledge you have studied, decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F)
(10 points)
1. Sustainable growth of tourism does not meet the needs of present tourists while protecting and promoting the
opportunities for the future.
2. Couchette is a bed in a train or on a boat which can either be folded away or used as an ordinary seat during
the day.
3. Full board consists of breakfast and dinner or breakfast and lunch.
4. The term ‘window’ is used in hotels meanwhile ‘porthole’ is used in cruise ships.
5. Overcrowding of tourists can have some impact on the environment of the receptive region/locality.
6. Genealogy tour is an example of mass tourism.
7. Dark tourism attractions include cemeteries, haunted houses, battlefields, and sites of natural or man made
disasters.
8. Resorts provide a low-cost, self-catering alternative to hotels, and appeal to young travelers.
9. A holiday representative is a private retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism-related services
to the general public on behalf of accommodation or travel suppliers to offer different kinds of travelling packages
for each destination.
10. A passenger manifest is a plan of a journey, including the route and the places that will be visited
B. Choose the correct answer to fill in the blank (10 points)
1. The train standing at ________ 2 is the 20.18 service to San Andreas.
A. pier B. station C. platform D. harbor
2. A canyon is ______________.
A. lowland between lines of hills or mountains
B. a large church
C. a deep valley with very steep sides of rock
D. a stately mansion
3. He went on a two-day business _______ to Moscow last week.
A. travel B. voyage C. journey D. trip
4. A good tour guide should be helpful, friendly and ________.
A. commentary B. approach C. knowledge D. presentable
5. ________ is the place where the tour guide and coach meet the passengers.
A. pick-up point B. hospitality desk C. incentive point D. rooming list
6. ________ is a card for getting onto an aircraft and is given to a passenger when the ticket is issued or upon
check-in at the airport.
A. boarding pass B. pasteboard C. greetings card D. passport
7. _______ is the place to pitch a tent or park a caravan.
A. mobile home B. campsite C. bonsai D. train
8. _______ tour is a vacation organized by a travel agent, with arrangements for transportation, accommodations,
etc., made at an inclusive price.
A. safari B. backpacking C. package D. free and easy
9. When the guest arrived at the hotel, she found out her room had been _________ and so she was redirected to
another hotel.
A. give up B. give in C. let down D. let out
10. _______ is a person on a ship responsible for papers and accounts and on a passenger ship also for the comfort
and welfare of passengers.
A. purser B. receptionist C. concierge D. tour operator
C. Fill in the blanks with the words from the list below. There are more words than needed (10 points)
food court amphitheater duty-free baggage claim panoramic view
taxi gate disembark deck charter
cabin boarding passes balcony departures terminal embarkation
1. Finding your way at an airport
An airport is a confusing place. Many people fly in from other cities and they enter through the arrivals terminal.
Then, they pick up their bags at the (1)__________. Other passengers use the (2) __________ to fly out from the
airport. First, they check in. Then, they pass a security screening. Some people get hungry at the airport, so they
eat at the (3)_________. Others buy presents at the (4)________ shop.
Each plane departs from a specific gate. All passengers check their (5)_________ for the gate number. Some people
arrive early at the gate. It is before the boarding time and they relax in the departure lounge.
2. Do you want a mix of relaxation and adventure? Then Poseidon Cruises is perfect for you! Immediately after
(6)________, our porters take your luggage right to your (7) _______. And cruise directors tell you about activities
on the ship. Do you want to relax? Then spend time on your private (8)________ or visit the pool. Do you want to
have fun? Make new friends on the upper (9)________. We also offer many shore excursions. Passengers
(10)________ at several ports of call. How do you get to land? We take you to land on tenders. Call us today to
learn more.
PART II: READING (20 points)
A. Tourism, holidaymaking and travel are these days more significant social phenomena than most commentators
have considered. On the face of it there could not be a more trivial subject for a book. And indeed, since social
scientists have had considerable difficulty explaining weightier topics, such as work or politics, it might be thought
that they would have great difficulties in accounting for more trivial phenomena such as holidaymaking. However,
there are interesting parallels with the study of deviance. This involves the investigation of bizarre and idiosyncratic
social practices which happen to be defined as deviant in some societies but not necessarily in others. The
assumption is that the investigation of deviance can reveal interesting and significant aspects of normal societies.
It could be said that a similar analysis can be applied to tourism.
B. Tourism is a leisure activity which presupposes its opposite, namely regulated and organized work. It is one
manifestation of how work and leisure are organized as separate and regulated spheres of social practice in modern
societies. Indeed, acting as a tourist is one of the defining characteristics of being ‘modern’ and the popular concept
of tourism is that it is organized within particular places and occurs for regularized periods of time. Tourist
relationships arise from a movement of people to, and their stay in, various destinations. This necessarily involves
some movement, that is the journey, and a period of stay in a new place or places. ‘The journey and the stay’ are
by definition outside the normal places of residence and work and are of a short term and temporary nature and
there is a clear intention to return ‘home’ within a relatively short period of time.
C. A substantial proportion of the population of modern societies engages in such tourist practices new socialized
forms of provision have developed in order to cope with the mass character of the gazes of tourists as opposed to
the individual character of travel. Places are chosen to be visited and be gazed upon because there is an anticipation
especially through daydreaming and fantasy of intense pleasures, either on a different scale or involving different
senses from those customarily encountered. Such anticipation is constructed and sustained through a variety of
non-tourist practices such as films, TV literature, magazines records and videos which construct and reinforce this
daydreaming.
D. Tourists tend to visit features of landscape and townscape which separate them off from everyday experience.
Such aspects are viewed because they are taken to be in some sense out of the ordinary. The viewing of these
tourist sights often involves different forms of social patterning with a much greater sensitivity to visual elements
of landscape or townscape than is normally found in everyday life. People linger over these sights in a way that
they would not normally do in their home environment and the vision is objectified or captured through
photographs postcards films and so on which enable the memory to be endlessly reproduced and recaptured.
E. One of the earliest dissertations on the subject of tourism is Boorstin’s analysis of the pseudo-event (1964)
where he argues that contemporary. Americans cannot experience reality directly but thrive on pseudo-events.
Isolated from the host environment and the local people the mass tourist travels in guided groups and finds pleasure
in inauthentic contrived attractions gullibly enjoying the pseudo-events and disregarding the real world outside.
Over time the images generated of different tourist sights come to constitute a closed self-perpetuating system of
illusions which provide the tourist with the basis for selecting and evaluating potential places to visit. Such visits
are made says Boorstin, within the environmental bubble of the familiar American style hotel which insulates the
tourist from the strangeness of the host environment.
F. To service the burgeoning tourist industry, an array of professionals has developed who attempt to reproduce
ever-new objects for the tourist to look at. These objects or places are located in a complex and changing hierarchy.
This depends upon the interplay between, on the one hand, competition between interests involved in the provision
of such objects and, on the other hand changing class, gender, and generational distinctions of taste within the
potential population of visitors. It has been said that to be a tourist is one of the characteristics of the modern
experience. Not to go away is like not possessing a car or a nice house. Travel is a marker of status in modern
societies and is also thought to be necessary for good health. The role of the professional, therefore, is to cater for
the needs and tastes of the tourists in accordance with their class and overall expectations.
A. Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below. There are more
headings than paragraphs so you will not use all of them You may use any heading more than once. (10
points)
Paragraph D has been done for you as an example.
List of Headings
i. The politics of tourism
ii. The cost of tourism
iii. Justifying the study of tourism
iv. Tourism contrasted with travel
v. The essence of modern tourism
vi. Tourism versus leisure
vii. The artificiality of modern tourism
viii. The role of modern tour guides
ix. Creating an alternative to the everyday
experience
1. Paragraph A _____
2. Paragraph B _____
3. Paragraph C _____
Paragraph D __ix___
4. Paragraph E _____
5. Paragraph F____
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer? WRITE: (10 points)
YES, if the statement agrees with the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
6. Tourism is a trivial subject.
7. An analysis of deviance can act as a model for the analysis of tourism.
8. Tourists usually choose to travel overseas.
9. Tourists focus more on places they visit than those at home.
10. Tour operators try to cheat tourists.
PART III: OPEN QUESTION (20 points)
Write a 100-word paragraph to describe how to become a responsible traveler.
PART IV: WRITING (30 points)
Write a response (200-250 words) to the following complaining letter you have received from your
customer.
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to express my disappointment with the five-day tour of Thailand I booked through your
company, reference number TLK103, from 20/06 to 25/06/2025. I had high expectations for this trip, but
unfortunately, many aspects were unsatisfactory.
Firstly, the itinerary promised visits to several historical sites. However, we spent a significant amount
of time in souvenir shops, which felt like a waste of our limited time. We only had brief stops at the actual
landmarks, leaving us feeling rushed and unable to fully appreciate them.
Secondly, the accommodation was not as described. The hotel was supposed to be a three-star
establishment, but the room was unclean and the air conditioning did not work properly. This made sleeping
difficult and uncomfortable.
Lastly, the tour guide’s English was difficult to understand. Many of us struggled to follow their
explanations, which meant we missed important information about the places we visited. Furthermore, the
guide seemed uninterested and did not engage with the group.
I believe the tour did not meet the standards advertised. I request a partial refund to compensate for the
poor quality of the experience. I have attached copies of my booking confirmation and photos of the hotel
room as evidence.
I look forward to your prompt response and a resolution to this matter.
Sincerely,
July Nguyen
END OF TEST