English I

TURISMO / NTC
st
1 semester – 2018/2019

OPINION WRITING

➊ ACCESS AND TOURISM FOR SULBEN

Look at the map of the Eskadronan mountains. The village
of Sulben is isolated from the rest of the region. At the
moment, access to Sulben is limited to a horse track up the
difficult Telvo gorge. In an attempt to end the village’s
isolation, the regional government have proposed a cable
car to the village. The cable car will have a maximum
capacity of 1,500 tourists a day. Twenty people live in
Sulben all year round. In summer, this number grows to 45
when relatives who left the village to work in the city return

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for their summer holidays.

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➋ OPINION WRITING

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1. In pairs, make a list of positive and negative impacts of a
cable car on the village.
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2. Your lecturer will put you into one of four groups (A, B, C
or D). Study the information about your group and think of
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additional arguments in favour of what you want.

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3. With the other people in your group, write an opinion text

defending your position. Follow the structure below. Write approximately 250 words.
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Introduction: the topic.

Context.
Your basic opinion.
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Each point in favour: 1 paragraph.

Present reasons / examples.
ê
All counter-arguments: 1 paragraph.
Counter counter-arguments.
ê
Conclusion: express the balance.
Refer back to intro.

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 ➌ LINKING IN OPINION WRITING: CONTRASTING & ADDITIONAL POINTS
1. Complete the following sentences with although, in spite of or however.

a) The proposed Sulben cable car will be a major tourist attraction. _______________, it will have to
compete with the cable car on the other side of the mountains.
b) The cable car to Sulben will provide jobs for the local people, _______________ these will be mainly
poorly paid and low quality.
c) _______________ the cable car to Sulben providing jobs for the local people, these will be mainly
poorly paid and low quality.

2. Use however and although to contrast these ideas.

a) less damage to the Telvo gorge than a road / high impact on the scenic beauty of the Telvo gorge
b) connect the inhabitants of Sulben with the rest of the region / closed during November and at night

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3. Complete the following sentences with in addition to, moreover or as well as.

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a) The cable car will be a major tourist attraction, and will provide jobs for the local people.
_______________, it will do less damage than the road up the gorge.

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b) _______________ providing the local people with jobs, the cable car will give them a place to sell
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produce from their farms.
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c) _______________ having to compete with the cable car on the south side of the mountains, the
Sulben cable car will be closed in November and at night.
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4. Say if the following linking words and expressions are used to indicate addition or contrast.
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also although and as well as

but despite even though furthermore
however in addition in comparison in contrast (to)
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in spite of nevertheless nonetheless on the contrary

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on the other hand still though too

whereas while yet
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5. Think about the arguments for and against the road up the Telvo gorge and the one over the
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Pambucho col. Write 2 sentences comparing and 2 sentences contrasting those arguments.

adapted from
Robin Walker and Keith Harding. Oxford English for Careers: Tourism 3. Oxford: OUP, 2009.

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 GROUP A: LOCAL VILLAGERS
You are neither for nor against tourism. The village has always received a small number of walkers
and climbers each year, especially in the summer, and you would be quite happy to see that
number grow, although you wouldn’t want the number of tourists to get out of control.
However, you are completely opposed to the cable car because
ü it doesn’t give the villagers the chance to get to their houses by car
ü it will only run during the day, so it doesn’t solve the problem of what to do if one of the
villagers need urgent medical attention at night
ü when you visited the cable car on the other side of the mountains you could see that
although local people had jobs there, these were poor quality jobs (bar staff and waiters in
the cafeteria, ticket inspectors, or cable car cabin staff)
ü the jobs at the cable car were mainly in the summer when most local people had to work on
the land, harvesting crops and looking after the animals (milking cows twice a day, etc.)
ü the arrival of the cable car will mean outsiders buying up empty houses for holiday homes,
and this will mean the cost of everything will rise for everyone, including the villagers, who
have much poorer salaries than the outsiders from the cities.

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You want a road to your village up the Telvo gorge. You would prefer the road to be private for the

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villagers’ use as in some villages in Switzerland. You reject the road proposed by the ecologists

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that goes first to Renares because it would mean a journey of 22 km from Acebes, as opposed to 7

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km using the Telvo gorge.

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GROUP B: CONSERVATIONISTS
You are in favour of all sustainable tourism practices and believe that the right kind of tourism can
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be very positive for mountain regions in general, and for the village of Sulben in particular. You
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accept that tourism could provide jobs and a future for the young people, who at the moment all
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leave for the city once they are eighteen.

You are completely opposed to a cable car because
ü it represents a now discredited, outdated, high-impact model of tourism
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ü it is based on tourism models from the early-middle 20th century that have had a very
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negative impact on mountain areas in the European Alps

ü it will transport 1,500 tourists a day to Sulben, which has a permanent population of 20 and
a summer population of 45. The villagers will be swamped by tourists and local crafts,
customs, and traditions will be lost or trivialized
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ü the cable car will not provide villagers with 24-hour access to the rest of the region, so
medical emergencies will be a problem at night or during November, when the cable car is
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closed for obligatory servicing and maintenance

ü it will allow local tourism entrepreneurs to buy and develop property in Sulben for profit.
You are also completely opposed to the road up the Telvo gorge because
ü the impact on the scenery will be enormous and will destroy one of the most beautiful
natural gorges in the country
ü the existing horse trail up the gorge is a major tourist attraction for walkers and trekkers.
You want the regional government to build a road to Sulben via the Pambucho col using the road
that already services the villages of Espina and Renares. This option would use existing farm
tracks for the new section from Renares to Sulben. The environmental impact would be minimal as
a result.

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 GROUP C: REGIONAL GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES
You proposed the cable car to Sulben after going to the Swiss Alps and seing how they worked
there. The benefits of a cable car are that it
ü solves the problem of providing communication between Sulben and the rest of the region
ü avoids the destruction of the Telvo gorge, which is a major attraction for walkers and
mountaineers and could become a UNESCO World Heritage Site
ü provides a major tourist attraction to compete with the cable car on the south side of the
mountain range, which lifts over 400,000 tourists a year into the very heart of the mountains
ü provides jobs for local people in the cable car and the adjoining cafeteria and car park
ü provides a place for local people to sell local farm produce (mainly cheeses and cured
meats) and craft products (mainly carvings and wool products – socks, jumpers)
ü will allow the local tourism entrepreneurs to buy up old properties in the village and turn
them into hotels and holiday cottages to let (you are under a lot of pressure from the
association to make this a reality).
You are aware that the cable car is not open 24 hours a day and that it must shut in November, but
you are happy to guarantee a helicopter service to the village for emergencies.

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You are not completely against the suggestion made by the conservationists about the road via

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Renares because it will be cheaper than the cable car, but it is not your first choice. The road won’t

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have the same benefits as the cable car in terms of jobs, etc, and cars pollute much more than a

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cable car, which doesn’t pollute at all.

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GROUP D: LOCAL ASSOCIATION OF TOURISM ENTREPRENEURS
You are in favour of the cable car. You visited Switzerland with the regional government and saw
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how they worked there. You also saw the standard of living of the local people and the finances of
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the local tourism companies. In the opinion of your association the cable car is essential
v i y re

ü to end the isolation of Sulben. You find it completely unacceptable that in the 21st century
there should be villages like Sulben that do not have decent communications with the
outside world
ü to offer the villagers the chance of decent jobs and a decent income. You are very aware
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that mountain farming is very demanding physically, but pays very poorly
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ü to be able to compete with the cable car in the neighbouring region on the south side of the
mountain range, which receives over 400,000 users a year
ü to be able to transport tourists up to the hotels and rented holiday homes that your
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association plans to renovate in Sulben as a way of using houses that are currently empty.
These houses belong to villagers who left for the city because there is no access to the
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village, and who need to sell their homes in the village to be able to pay for flats in the city.
You are opposed to the road via Renares because if this option is chosen, it will be much harder
for the association to control who buys and develops property in Sulben. You are also opposed to
the road up the Telvo gorge for the same reason. In public, however, you normally explain that you
oppose the Renares road because it means a 22-km journey for the villagers. Similarly, in public,
you oppose the Telvo gorge road because the impact on the gorge will destroy it as a tourist
attraction for walkers and mountaineers.

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