Tag: Gondolas

Learn English with the News – Venice restricts numbers allowed on gondolas because tourists “have gotten fatter”

Things are changing in Venice, and it’s not what you might expect. Due to what local gondola drives claim as “fatter” tourists, the city will limit the number of passengers allowed on a single gondola for a ride along the canals. Watch the video and check out the accompanying English language exercises.

The news is a consistent source of entertainment, knowledge and discovery that never ceases to exist and always comes out with more and more material each day. Because it plays such a vital part in our lives and is so important to keep up with, it is without a doubt a piece of your everyday routine that can’t go ignored. 

Whether it is to understand the ramifications of recent legislation passed, to hear about recent events and grasp the potential consequences to your country, or simply hear about what is happening in other countries in order to compare them to what’s happening in yours, the news is certainly a staple in our lives and the most consistent way to get information.

This is why Scrambled Eggs has decided to unite two of your biggest worlds: learning English and keeping up with what is happening in the world. We hope our challenging daily exercises, composed of listening, vocabulary and comprehension exercises in English, will satisfy both of those above worlds in a satisfactory and also entertaining way.

So enough about introductions, let’s get to today’s Learn English with the News topic:

Adapted from this article.

Now that you’ve had a listen, let’s put your knowledge to the test with some of our vocabulary and comprehension exercises:

Venice restricts numbers allowed on gondolas because tourists “have gotten fatter” | Definition Match

Put the following words to the correct definitions.

Venice restricts numbers allowed on gondolas because tourists “have gotten fatter” | Fill in the Blank

Fill the empty spaces with the proper words.

Venice restricts numbers allowed on gondolas because tourists “have gotten fatter” | True or False

Indicate which sentences are true and which ones are false.

 

And that’s it for today’s English lesson, where you can improve your English with the news and current events. Do you have any comments or special requests for us for the next edition of Learn English with the News? Be sure to leave any feedback you have in the comments section below, as we would love to help you on your quest to learn the English language!

For other Learn English with the News segments, be sure to check out the rest of our posts:

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Full Text:

“The coronavirus pandemic has placed a heavy weight on Venice’s vast tourism industry. But as it emerges from lockdown, the city is trying to ease the weight put on its gondolas. A new restriction will see the maximum capacity on the city’s famous gondolas reduced from six passengers to five. And it’s not social distancing that caused the change — it’s the high average weight of tourists at the destination.
“Over the last 10 years or so, tourists weigh more – so we are limiting the number of people on a single boat,” Andrea Balbi, the president of Venice’s Gondola Association, confirmed to CNN while explaining the rule.
The change applies to Venice’s slim boats that cruise through the small canals. The maximum occupancy in the larger “da parada” gondolas, which are mostly for taxis across the Grand Canal, has also been reduced, from 14 to 12. Balbi said more weight means the gondolas flood, making it harder for gondoliers to navigate canal traffic.
Raoul Roveratto, president of the association of substitute gondoliers — a group representing less experienced gondoliers — didn’t hesistate when speaking to La Repubblica newspaper. Roveratto said that some citizens are like bombs, and when the boat is fully loaded, it sinks and water enters,” he said.
Sometimes it’s better to be safe than sorry, and this is the message the gondoliers want to give the public.”