Objective Proficiency p 66. Activists Offer Protest Tour Of Spain's Modern Ruins. Extra Listening

Listen to this NPR programme and fill in the gaps.

War tourism involves adrenaline 1____________ who go on vacation to Afghanistan, for example. Poverty tourism guides take foreigners through Brazil's crowded 2_________. In Western Europe, another type of alternative tourism seems to be 3__________/ ________ with people who are eager to see the 4_______________ remains of the continent's 5_______________ economy.
Miguel Angel Ferris Gil runs a 6________________ tour in his hometown of Valencia. He 7____________ a bus to take people past government buildings where 8____________ is rumored to take place.
The bus tour 9____________ past unfinished construction projects. Here, a half-built soccer stadium. There, posh but empty buildings standing as sad 10____________ at the mouth of Valencia's port, which once hosted the America's Cup sailing race.
These are Spain's so-called 11____________/ ___________, public infrastructure projects that 12____________/ _________ billions in taxpayers' money, and whose 13____________ is now bankrupting the economy.
Miguel Angel and his business partner, Teresa Galindo, are 14___________ journalists who felt like their newspaper reports were 15__________/ _________/ ________/ ________. That's why they 16_______/ __________ their press 17___________ and became activists instead.
Tours like this are 18____________/ __________ across Europe. Liam Taylor is a high school civics teacher who 19____________  as a tour guide with Occupy London. From his school playground one can see the enormous glass towers in which bankers trade billions of pounds each day. However, the area of London in which the school is has the highest rate of child poverty in the U.K. And so there's an enormous 20_______________.
In the Czech capital Prague, you can take a tour 21____________ the best of the worst - past luxury villas, a 22_____________ railway and an empty field where an Olympic stadium was paid for but never built. Taylor, with Occupy London, says he's thrilled to learn that he's part of this accidental network.
What people are 23_____________ is a deeper understanding of what has happened in the last few years.
A ticket for Valencia's tour costs about $10 dollars. Tours have been booked 24_________ since they began last spring.

KEY
1. seekers 



2. slums (slum an area of a city that is very poor and where the houses are dirty and in bad condition. Sp. barrio pobre. E.g. a slum area. City/urban slums. She was brought up in the slums of Leeds.)



3. cropping up (crop up: to appear or happen, especially when it is not expected. Come up. Sp. salir de la nada. E.g. His name just cropped up in conversation. I'll be late—something's cropped up at home.)



4. shattered (shatter: to suddenly break into small pieces; to make something suddenly break into small pieces. Sp. destrozar. E.g. He dropped the vase and it shattered into pieces on the floor. The explosion shattered all the windows in the building.)



5. boom-and-bust ( periods of rapid growth with an increase in investment and consumption and that are followed by sudden collapses in economic activity. Sp. auge y decadencia. E.g. the eras of boom and bust. Boom-and-bust cycle. Arnold's life had followed a boom-and-bust cycle, rich one moment, broke the next.)



6. wastefulness (the trait of wasting resources. Useless or profitless activity; using or expending or consuming thoughtlessly or carelessly. Sp. derroche, despilfarro. E.g. the wastefulness of missed opportunities) 



7. charters (charter something to hire/ rent a plane, boat, etc. for your own use. Sp. alquilar, fletar. E.g. a chartered plane. They flew to Athens and then chartered a boat to the island.)



8. bribery (/ˈbraɪbəri/ the giving or taking of bribes (a sum of money or something valuable that you give or offer to somebody to persuade them to help you, especially by doing something dishonest). Sp. soborno. E.g. She was arrested on bribery charges. Allegations of bribery and corruption.)



9. cruises (cruise to drive along slowly, especially when you are looking at or for something. E.g. She cruised around the block looking for a parking space.)



10. sentinels ( /ˈsentɪnl/ a soldier whose job is to guard something. Sp. centinela. E.g. Large dark pines stood like sentinels guarding the wintry (typical of winter; cold) garden.)



11. white elephants ( white elephant a thing that is useless and no longer needed, although it may have cost a lot of money. E.g. The new office block has become an expensive white elephant. Origin: From the story that in Siam (now Thailand) the king would give a white elephant as a present to somebody that he did not like. That person would have to spend all their money on looking after the rare animal.)



12. gobbled up (gobble something up (informal) to use something very quickly. Sp. zamparse, devorar. E.g. Hotel costs gobbled up most of their holiday budget.)



13.  upkeep ( upkeep (of something) /ˈʌpkiːp/ the cost or process of keeping something in good condition. Maintenance. E.g. Tenants are responsible for the upkeep of rented property.)



14. former 



15. falling on deaf ears (fall on deaf ears to be ignored or not noticed by other people. E.g. Her advice fell on deaf ears.) 



16. tossed out (toss out throw away. E.g. The bread was all moldy, so I tossed it out.)



17. badges 
badge: a small piece of metal or plastic, with a design or words on it, that a person wears to show that they belong to an organization, support something, have achieved something, have a particular rank, etc. Sp. insignia. E.g. She wore a badge saying ‘Vote for Coates’. All employees have to wear name badges.


18. popping up (pop up to suddenly appear. E.g. The menu pops up when you click twice on the mouse.) 



19. moonlights (moonlight to have a second job, typically secretly and at night, in addition to one’s regular employment. E.g. He spent years moonlighting as a cab driver. He had been moonlighting for a rival tabloid.)



20. juxtaposition (/ˌdʒʌkstəpəˈzɪʃn/ the fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect. E.g. the juxtaposition of these two images. The juxtaposition of realistic and surreal situations in the novel)



21. dubbed (to give somebody/something a particular name, often in a humorous or critical way)



22.  botched (botch to spoil something by doing it badly. Sp. estropear. E.g. He completely botched up the interview. The work they did on the house was a botched job.)



23. craving (crave (for) something/  crave to do something to have a very strong desire for something. E.g. She has always craved excitement.)



24. solid ((of time) uninterrupted; continuous: [postpositive]: it poured for two hours solid)

Speaking
Are you thrifty or a spendthrift? 



thrifty: careful about spending money and not wasting things. Frugal. E.g. He was brought up to be thrifty and never to get into debt.

spendthrift: spending too much money, or wasting money. E.g. spendthrift governments
  
 

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
You may have heard of war tourism - adrenaline seekers who go on vacation to Afghanistan, for example - or poverty tourism, with guides taking foreigners through Brazil's crowded slums. In Western Europe, another type of alternative tourism seems to be cropping up with people who are eager to see the shattered remains of the continent's boom-and-bust economy. Lauren Frayer took one such tour of Valencia, on Spain's east coast, and sent us this report.
MIGUEL ANGEL FERRIS GIL: (Foreign language spoken)
LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE: Miguel Angel Ferris Gil runs a wastefulness tour in his hometown of Valencia.
GIL: Here we are in the face of the Valencian parliament. There we begin, we start all our tours, our wasted tours, protesting against the political corruption and waste.
FRAYER: Every Saturday, he charters a bus to take people past government buildings where bribery is rumored to take place, and then to elementary schools where kids go to class in trailers. He wants to show foreign investors where their money has gone.
GIL: There are a lot of people in European countries, especially England and Germany, because they put a lot of money into our economy. They're interested to know where there is the money? And we go to show you where there isn't the money - at the public schools, at the hospitals.
FRAYER: The bus tour cruises past unfinished construction projects. Here, a half-built soccer stadium. There, posh but empty buildings standing as sad sentinels at the mouth of Valencia's port, which once hosted the America's Cup sailing race.
GIL: (Foreign language spoken)
FRAYER: This was built for America's Cup?
GIL: Yes, 30 million euros, and there is nothing, (Foreign language spoken). This is the cost of a hospital - 30 millions of euros.
FRAYER: These are Spain's so-called white elephants, public infrastructure projects that gobbled up billions in taxpayers' money, and whose upkeep is now bankrupting the economy. Most prominent among them here in Valencia is the City of Arts and Sciences, a massive museum complex.
GIL: We are here near the Arts and Science city. It's the skyline of the mother Valencia. There is 1 billion and 400 million of euros that are wasted here. And we have a very strong debt.
FRAYER: Miguel Angel and his business partner, Teresa Galindo, are former journalists who felt like their newspaper reports about wastefulness were falling on deaf ears. So they tossed out their press badges and became activists instead.
TERESA GALINDO: (Through Translator) Every day they surprise us with another case of corruption, or politicians losing money. It makes us mad as citizens. As time went by, we decided we had to do something. So, we started designing our routes.
FRAYER: Tours like this are popping up across Europe. Liam Taylor - speaking here via Skype from London - is a high school civics teacher who moonlights as a tour guide with Occupy London, showing tourists around the British capital's financial district.
LIAM TAYLOR: From my school playground you can see these enormous glass towers in which bankers trade billions of pounds each day. And yet, my school might as well be in a different universe because the area of London in which the school is has the highest rate of child poverty in the U.K. And so there's an enormous juxtaposition.
FRAYER: In the Czech capital Prague, you can take a tour dubbed the best of the worst - past luxury villas, a botched railway and an empty field where an Olympic stadium was paid for but never built. Taylor, with Occupy London, says he's thrilled to learn that he's part of this accidental network.
TAYLOR: It's interesting because we came up with the idea of this tour completely independently, and then obviously people in Spain have done the same thing, presumably without hearing of us. But I think what people are craving is a deeper understanding of what has happened in the last few years. Because many people don't understand it very well, and yet it's having enormous consequences in all of our lives.
GIL: (Foreign language spoken)
FRAYER: A ticket for Valencia's wastefulness tour costs about $10 dollars. Tours have been booked solid since they began last spring. Around 50 tourists a week, from Japanese visitors to the 84-year-old Spanish widow who comes nearly every week.
GIL: Eighty-four years old. She's very enthusiastic.
FRAYER: For NPR News, I'm Lauren Frayer.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SIMON: This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon.