English Essay by Brian Southwick, Niigata City ALT

52 A Trip to Galveston, USA: Part 2 ＲＥＡＤＩＮＧ (slow) (fast)

　　There were many things to do before we could leave for our sister city. The students chosen for the trip and the four adults taking part in the visit met to get ready. Most students did not have experience going abroad, so they had to learn about immigration and customs. And most students did not have a passport, so they were told about getting and taking care of their passport.
　　At the meetings we practiced English conversation. We studied English to use at the airport, at a shop or a restaurant in America, and also English to communicate with the homestay family. The students had many new words and sentences to learn, but they studied hard. We had our last meeting on Tuesday, October 26, and talked about the trip for the final time. The students seemed nervous because they knew that they could not use Japanese to communicate in America. But they were excited, too.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　ＲＥＡＤＩＮＧ (slow) (fast)

　　On Sunday, October 31, the sixteen students and four adults met at Niigata Station. After short speeches by the leaders of our group, we went to the shinkansen platform to get on the train. The students’ families were there to see us off, and at about 9:30 our train left for Tokyo.
　　We arrived at the Narita International Airport a few hours later, and some of us were already tired. We checked in, and then some members of the group went to a Japanese restaurant. It was the last time we could eat Japanese food for a week. But a few of the students went to a hamburger shop, I think.
　　After a flight of almost eleven hours, the plane landed in Houston, Texas, one of the largest cities in America. It was 3:00 in the afternoon on Sunday, October 31. We went through US immigration, got our bags, and went through customs. A kind lady from Galveston met us at the airport and took us outside to get on the bus. When we got outside we found that it was much warmer than in Niigata, but the bus was quite cool, so we didn’t take off our jackets.

＜注＞
chosen＜choose（選ぶ），taking＜take part（参加する），get ready（準備をする）
most（大部分の），experience（経験），immigration（出入国審査），customs（税関）
conversation（会話），airport（空港），communicate（通じ合う），sentences＜sentence（文）
final（最終の），seemed＜seem（〜に見える），nervous（不安を感じて）
leaders＜leader（リーダー），platform（プラットホーム），get on（乗る），see of （見送る）
checked＜check in（搭乗手続きをする），flight（飛行），outside（外に），cool（冷たい）
take off（脱ぐ）





Question and Answers:　Please answer the following questions
in English in a complete sentence, with a subject and　a verb.


Q1. How many adults went on the trip to Galveston?
A1.

Q2. What kind of English did the students study at the meetings?
A2.

Q3. How long was the flight from Narita to Houston?
A3.

Q4. Who met the group at the airport in Houston?
A4.

Q5. Why did the students wear their jackets on the bus?
A5.





＜解答例＞

A1.　Four adults did.

A2.　They studied English to use at the airport, at a shop or a restaurant in America, and also English to communicate with the homestay family.

A3.　It was almost eleven hours long.

A4.　A kind lady from Galveston did.

A5.　Because the bus was quite cool.