[Travel ★★★]
(P1) Just about everyone associates Bran Castle with Dracula, except its owner. For Archduke Dominic Habsburg, the Romanian fortress is the former home of his grandparents, Queen Marie and King Ferdinand I, who made it “a happy place of light and flowers.” Today, however, few know anything about the castle except that it served as inspiration for Dracula’s lair in Bram Stoker’s 1897 vampire tale and might’ve once held Vlad the Impaler. Habsburg, 79, who lives in New York, blames the Romanian government, reports the Wall Street Journal. After the fall of communism in 1989, the government played up the castle’s links to Dracula to boost tourism and portrayed its former royal inhabitants “as the mean exploiters of the poor,” Habsburg says.
(P2) In reality, the townspeople loved Queen Marie, who was Queen Victoria’s granddaughter, so much that they gave her the 14th-century fortress in 1920, Habsburg says. Since he and his sisters inherited the castle in 2006, they’ve tried to rid it of its sinister feel by adding furnishings and teaching visitors about its history as a royal residence. Soon, “the queen’s tea house, where she used to receive international visitors,” will become a restaurant, Habsburg says. Yet he knows Bran Castle’s ties to Dracula aren’t going anywhere. Most of the 800,000 tourists who visit the castle each year, and pass through a parking-lot souvenir area selling everything from plastic fangs to Dracula salad dressing, “come for Dracula,” he says, “but they leave with the queen.”
WORDS: 245
SOURCE: http://www.newser.com/story/234068/its-known-as-draculas-castle-to-its-owners-dismay.html
VOCABULARY: fortress, lair, inhabitants, exploiters, inherited, sinister, fangs
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.
- have you ever visited Romania? If yes, describe your trip. If no, would you like to go there? Why or why not?
- Are there fortresses in your country? If so, where?
- Have you ever watched a movie about Dracula? If yes, did you like it? If no, would you go see one? Why or why not?
READING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS:
- What’s the royal title given to Mr. Habsburg?
- What’s the name of the fortress and who owned it before Mr. Habsburg?
- The former king and the queen of the castle were actually ruthless and took advantage of the less fortunate people. (T or F)
- Habsburg and his siblings are the current owners of the fortress. (T or F)
- Nowadays, the castle is a huge _____________ attraction.
EXPRESSIONS or PHRASES:
What do the following expressions or phrases mean?
- the fall of communism (P1)
- to rid it (P2)
- Yet he knows Bran Castle’s ties to Dracula (P2)
- “come for Dracula,” he says, “but they leave with the queen” (P2)
Image source: by AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru http://www.newser.com/story/234068/its-known-as-draculas-castle-to-its-owners-dismay.html