Listening

Warm Up

Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. commercial
    • ex. The busy city street has a lot of commercial buildings.
  2. an attraction
    • ex. A popular attraction in New York is the Statue of Liberty.
  3. a construction
    • ex. The construction of a new building caused heavy traffic.
  4. accommodate
    • ex. The meeting room can accommodate large business meetings and events.
  5. enhance
    • ex. The park will be enhanced to have a playground for kids.

Article

Read the article below and answer your tutor's questions.

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The biggest and newest airport in Cambodia has started its commercial operations. It is designed as an easier way to reach Angkor Wat, Cambodia’s major tourist attraction in Siem Reap. The airport cost $1.1 billion (more than ¥165 billion) to build. The construction started in 2020 to replace the old airport that was closer to the temple. It is because there were worries that frequent flights would harm the historic attraction.

The airport can accommodate 7 million passengers yearly. It will be enhanced so that it can handle 12 million passengers from 2040. This project was created as part of an agreement between Cambodia and China. It aims to help Cambodia’s tourism industry. Cambodia welcomed about 5.5 million foreign visitors in the first eight months of 2023 compared to 6.6 million in 2019. This shows the importance of tourism to the country’s economy.

The airport was officially opened on November 16. It was led by Prime Minister Hun Manet and senior Chinese officials. Currently, a new airport is being built in Phnom Penh. It is formally called the Techo International Airport. It is expected to be completed by 2024.

This material was based on an article by The Associated Press.

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

Tourist Attractions

  • In your opinion, what is the most popular tourist attraction in your country? Why? Discuss.
  • What tourist attraction in another country would you like to visit? Why? Discuss.
  • Angkor Wat is a major tourist attraction. It’s a temple. Why do you think tourists like visiting temples? Discuss.

Airports

  • What do you think about having an airport in your city (ex. it’s good, it’s annoying)? Discuss.
  • Some people were worried that frequent flights to Angkor Wat would harm the historic attraction. Why do you think they were worried? Discuss.
  • In what area in your country do you think an airport should be built? Why? Discuss.