Here are some useful word groups about air travel Overhead locker Passport control Flight attendant Customs Window seat Arrivals screen Landing card Hand-luggage Duty-free shop Check-in desk Security check Passport Suitcase Briefcase Trolley Seat-belt Aisle seat

TASK Look at the following pictures and find the words that they show.

Window seats Aisle seats

Briefcase Suitcase

Flight attendant Arrival screen

Passport control Landing card

Check-in desk Duty free shop

Passport Security check

Overhead locker Custom

If you travel to Paris, which place will you visit first? Today we will have a chance to ‘visit’ one of the most famous museums in Paris – The Musée d’ Orsay. And now let’s move on with a reading passage to know more about this special place.

Today, the Musee d’Orsay is one of Paris’s most famous art museums, and it has over two million visitors a year. Yet it began life not as a museum but as a train station and hotel. Like the Eiffel Tower, it was built for the World Exhibition of 1900, and until 1939 was one of the city’s main stations. Then trains started to get longer and more powerful, and the platforms at the Orsay Station were too short, so after 1939 it was used only for local trains. During World War 2 it became a mailing centre for sending packages to prisoners of war. After the war it served as a welcome centre for prisoners returning home. It was then used in several film sets, including Orson Welles’ film of Kafka’ The Trial.

In 1973, the hotel closed its doors for the last time. There were plans to demolish the old hotel and station, and build a large modern hotel in their place. Fortunately a new interest in 19th century architecture saved it from destruction and in 1977 the French government decided to convert the building into a museum of art. The Musee d’ Orsay welcomed its first visitors on 9 December 1986.

TASK True or False? It began life as a train station and hotel. The musée d’Orsay has been one of Paris’s most famous art museums since It served as a mailing center during world war it was demolished and a large modern hotel was built in its place.

Thank you