jueves, 10 de septiembre de 2009

modals in the past

Miriam’s disastrous trip.

As a young girl, Miriam always wanted to see orangutans. After graduating from high school, she worked for a year to save some money. She decided to visit Indonesia, where there is one of only two orangutan rehabilitation centers in the world.
The night before her flight, her friends threw her a huge going-away party that ended at 4:00 A.M. Her flight wasn’t until noon, so she thought she had plenty of time. She came home late, forgot to set her alarm clock, and didn’t wake up until 9:30 A.M. She hadn’t packed the night before, so she just threw all her clothes into her backpack and left for the airport. She made it just in time!
Miriam was so excited that she didn’t eat or sleep during the 12-hour flight to Jakarta. She planned to study her guidebook on the plane, but in her hurry to pack that morning, she forgot to put it in her carryon bag. It was late at night when the plane landed, so the airport was busy and confusing. A very aggressive taxi driver quickly grabbed her luggage, put her in his taxi, and took her to a very expensive hotel. She was tired, hungry, and scared, so she decided to stay only one night and look for a more inexpensive hotel the following day.
The next morning at breakfast, Miriam finally got a chance to look at her guidebook. Her face fell when she read that Indonesia consisted of more than 18,000 different islands! Indonesia was a huge country,and she was in the wrong part of it – that is, if she wanted to see orangutans! Jakarta is on the island of Java, and the orangutan rehabilitation center was near Bukit Lawang on the island of Sumatra!
Miriam decided that she could either sit and cry or calmly think about her options. She could fly to the closest major city of Medan, which would be really expensive. A bus would be cheaper, but that would be a 50-hour nonstop bus ride! She could take a 45-hour boat ride from Jakarta to Medan, but that boat ran only once every two weeks. Taking the train wasn’t a bad idea, but train service was only available to the end of Java, and then she would have to take a 36-hour bus ride.

What was she going to do?

2. Now discuss these questions.

a. What are some things that Miriam definitely should have done before she left on her trip?
Definitely Miriam must have forgot to put her guidebook in her carryon
b. What are some other things that Miriam could have done to make her trip more enjoyable?
c. What should she do now?

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