1
Tour
guides at William Randolph Hearst's castle in California like to present
San Simeon as a man's home rather than the museum that it is. There are
few barricades to prevent tourists
from
wandering, but we remind
them to stay on the
tour mats,
thus protecting
priceless
Oriental rugs. "After all," one guide said, "how would you like to have
five thousand people walking on your living-room carpet each day?"
Quipped
one wag, "At eight dollars a
head, bring them on!"
from wandering:
from walking
about (que anden caminando)
tour mats: long common carpets just for walking (senderos
alfombrados para los turistas)
priceless: invaluable (invaluables)
quipped one wag: remarked a witty amusing person (acotó un
bromista)
2
As
Captain of a nature cruise off Florida's Key Largo, I
was describing the color changes that brown pelicans
undergo. "The young
pelicans are all brown," I explained. "During
courtship the backs of
their necks turn
chestnut.
After courtship the chestnut turns to white, giving them an all-white
head and neck.
Birders
call this "postnuptial
plumage". "Bernie," said an elderly woman to her white-haired husband,
"that explains what happened to you."
undergo: go
through, suffer (sufren, experimentan)
courtship: the seek of affections (el cortejo)
chestnut: golden brown, reddish brown (de color castaño)
birders: persons who identify and study birds in their natural
habitats (los ornitólogos)
3
A
caller to our
national travel agency was inquiring about quarantine regulations for
transporting birds into Canada from the United States. I gave him the
information. He thanked me and then said, "May I ask a question? What do
they do about the birds that fly over the
border?"
caller: visitor (visitante)
border: delimitation, boundary between countries (límite,
frontera)
4
Calls
come
in
nonstop to the travel agency where I work. Once, a
frantic woman wanted the
ZIP Code for Greece. "I'm
sorry," I told her. "This is a travel agency, not the post office." She
protested, "You send people to Greece, don't you?" "Yes, we do," I
replied, "but not in an
envelope."
in nonstop: at all
times, without stopping (de corrido, sin
parar)
frantic: excited, frenetic (frenética,
nerviosa)
ZIP Code: postal code (código
postal)
envelope: container for letters
(sobre)
5
As
a tour guide at the Alexander Graham Bell
Homestead in Brantford, Ontario, I loved to watch young people trying to
reconcile present-day life with activities a hundred years ago. One
father, trying to interest his young son in the Bell family history,
pointed out a photograph
and said, "Look, Paul, it says here that both of Alexander's brothers
died of
T.B."
The boy's eyes
widened.
"Why?" he cried. "Did they watch too much?"
pointed out:
signaled (señaló)
T.B.: tuberculosis (tuberculosis)
widened: opened wide (se abrieron enormes)
6
I work as a guide at a local
cave. At a certain point
on my tour, I
turn off
all the lights to illustrate the concept of total
darkness. One day at
this critical point of the tour,
amid the typical
oohs and
ahs, one of the more impressed members of the group exclaimed,
"Wow! Can you imagine what this place must be like at night!"
cave: natural underground enclosure
(cueva, caverna)
turn off: switched off, stopped (apago,
desconecto)
darkness: absence of light (oscuridad)
amid: in the middle of (en el medio de)
oohs and ahs: expressions of surprise (expresiones
de sorpresa)
7
I'm a travel agent, and I
remember the time a nervous, first-time
flier came into my office
to book a flight. After
confirming the reservation, I asked him, "Would you prefer a window seat
or one on the
aisle?" "It
doesn't matter," the man replied. "I'll be
lying on the floor."
flier: someone who
flies, travels by air (pasajero de avión)
to book: to make a reservation (para reservar)
aisle: narrow passage in a plane (pasillo)
lying: in a horizontal position (tendido, acostado)
8
The
cruise ship my friend was
working on
docked at a
Mexican port during a very
high
tide. Everyone on board was forced to use the ship's narrow
gangplank as a passageway
to the dock far below. The staff stood motionless when a passenger
in her 70s appeared at
the top of the plank. There wasn't room
for anyone
to assist her, so she
edged along slowly and
finally
made it to the
dock safely, to everyone's
relief. As she stepped down, she turned, looked back at the top
of the plank and shouted, "It's okay, Mother, you can come down now."
cruise ship: big
boat for pleasure voyage (crucero)
docked: came into
dock (amarró)
high tide: the periodic rise of the sea level (marea alta)
gangplank: temporary bridge (plancha temporal)
in her 70s: 70 years old (de setenta años)
for anyone to assist her: for anybody to help her (para que
alguien la ayudara)
edged: advanced slowly (se desplazó)
made it: succeeded, could do it (logró llegar)
relief: alleviation (alivio)
9
I
operate
a gift shop and information center at the
Shrine
of St. Joseph of the Mountains in Yarnell, Arizona.
A group of visitors listened
intently as I described the history of the shrine. "Are you a
nun?" asked one woman.
"No," I replied, laughing, "I have been happily married to the same man
for 50 years." "Then you are a
saint!"
shrine: temple,
sacred monument (templo)
intently: with attention (atentamente)
nun: a woman religious (hermana, monja)
saint: holy person, someone who has been declared a saint by
canonization (santa)