[Travel News ★★★]
(P1) Visitors to Korea looking for affordable accommodation can start their search at the Korea Tourism Organization’s (KTO) “Good Stay” website.
(P2) The venues are selected after satisfying certain criteria, including cleanliness, credit card acceptance, safety, facilities and foreign language service.
(P3) Users can search 1,126 accommodation options nationwide that are categorized by room types, such as traditional “hanok” Korean house, guesthouse, hotel, hostel, and homestay. Eleven languages, including English, Chinese, French, Spanish, and Arabic, are provided.
(P4) The service aims to promote accommodation venues that have low to middle-range prices. The KTO added 45 new venues in June after dropping 89 poorly performing ones from last year’s list.
WORDS: 107
SOURCE: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/culture/2016/07/316_209372.html
VOCABULARY: affordable, venues, criteria, nationwide, categorized, aims
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
If you found the passage difficult to read or had problems understanding specific words or idiomatic expressions, please discuss them with your tutor. The following discussion questions should be answered in your own words and with your own arguments.
- Briefly, summarize the content of the article in your own words.
- If you were traveling to South Korea, would you use this website? Why or why not?
- Which types of rooms do you prefer? Why?
- Does your country have a website like Good Stay? If yes, what’s your opinion of it? If no, should there be one? Why or why not?
READING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS:
- Who’s the owner of Good Stay?
- Tell me 3 standards the venues need to fulfill before their place can be advertised on Good Stay?
- The accommodations are only located in certain regions in South Korea. (T or F)
- How many different languages are available?
- Some of the venues are on the higher end of the price range. (T or F)
EXPRESSIONS or PHRASES:
What do the following expressions or phrases mean?
- after satisfying certain criteria (P2)
- 1126 accommodations options nationwide (P3)
- promote accommodation venues (P4)
- that have low to middle-range prices (P4)
Image source: Korea Times file