Everyone wants to travel. But those who cannot do so themselves might find it interesting to work in a travel agency,arranging journeys for other people. Brian Lawtey does this,working in a small travel agency in a big city. Most of his work is concerned with holidays,both at home and abroad. Every autumn,the agency sends out hundreds of booklets (小册子) full of attractive, colored photographs,describing the holidays that their customers will be able to have the next year. Soon,people begin to come into the office to book their holidays:perhaps a week"s skiing in Austria in January,perhaps a cruise (巡游) to the Caribbean in February,perhaps a seaside holiday in Spain in May,or a tour of Africa. Brian often has to advise people on what holidays will be suitable for them,and they always have a lot of questions. Last year,for example,a lady of eighty-two wanted to book for a mountaineering (爬山) holiday in the Alps,and Brian had great difficulty in persuading her that it would not be suitable. In the end, she decided to go for a Mediterranean cruise instead. Arranging journeys for people who have to travel abroad on business is often very complicated, but Brian enjoys this work. For example,last spring Mr. Perry,a director of a chemical firm,went on a business trip,and Brian arranged it all for him. First,Mr. Perry traveled to London by train, and stayed overnight in a hotel near the airport,because his plane left early the next morning. He flew to Frankfurt in Germany,where he spent the morning discussing business. Then he went on by train to Zurich,where he stayed the night. After a meeting the next morning,he caught a plane for Tokyo,and spent three days there before going to America. He had business in Seattle,Chicago and New York,and stayed some time in each of those places. From New York,he flew back to London,and then got home by train. The next day he telephoned the agency to thank Brian for arranging everything so well for him. |