OBIECTIVELE Unităţii de învăţare Nr.

Principalele obiective ale Unităţii de învăţare Nr. 1 sunt:

 să desprindă sensului global al unui text informativ;
 să selecteze informaţiile esenţiale din text ;
 să utilizeze cuvintele cheie în contexte de comunicare noi ;
 să integreze adecvat, în exprimarea orală proprie, elementele de
construcție a comunicării studiate și a noțiunilor de gramatică.

1.1 Professional Practice: The Importance of Ecotourism

Imagine the scene. You are sitting in the hot

sunshine beside the swimming pool of your
international luxury hotel, drinking your
imported gin and tonic. In front of you is the
beach, reserved for hotel guests with motor
boats for hire. Behind you is an 18-hole golf
course, which is kept green by hundreds of water sprinklers. Around the
hotel are familiar international restaurant chains and the same shops that
you have at home. You have seen some local people - some of them sell
local handicrafts outside the hotel. You bought a small wooden statue and
after arguing for half an hour you only paid a quarter of what the man was
asking. Really cheap!

Is this your idea of heaven or would you prefer something different?

Nowadays, many of us try to live in a way that will damage the
environment as little as possible. We recycle our newspapers and bottles,
we take public transport to get to work, we try to buy locally produced fruit
and vegetables and we stopped using aerosol sprays years ago. We want to
take these attitudes on holiday with us. This is why alternative forms of
tourism are becoming more popular all over the world. But what is
ecotourism?
Definition of
Eco tourism is one of the fastest growing trends in the worldwide tourism
Ecotourism
industry. There are lots of names for these new forms of tourism:
responsible tourism, alternative tourism, sustainable tourism, nature
tourism, adventure tourism, educational tourism and more. Ecotourism is a
form of tourism involving visiting fragile, pristine, and relatively
undisturbed natural areas, intended as a low-impact and often small scale
alternative to standard commercial (mass) tourism. Its purpose may be to
educate the traveller, to provide funds for ecological conservation, to
directly benefit the economic development and political empowerment of
local communities, or to foster respect for different cultures and for human
rights. (Wikipedia). Everyone has a different definition but most people
agree that ecotourism have the following basic principles:

1. It avoids negative impacts that can damage or destroy the character

of the natural or cultural environments being visited.
 Principles of 2. It educates the traveller on the importance of conservation.
Ecotourism 3. It directs revenues to the conservation of natural areas and the
management of protected areas.
4. It brings economic benefits to local communities and directs
revenues to local people living near the protected areas.
5. It emphasizes the need for planning and sustainable growth of the
tourism industry and seeks to ensure that tourism development does
not exceed the social and environmental “capacity.”
6. It retains a high percentage of revenues in the host country by
stressing the use of locally - owned facilities and services.

Characteristics Ecotourism typically involves travel to destinations where flora, fauna, and
of ecotourism cultural heritage are the primary attractions. Ecotourism is intended to offer
tourists insight into the impact of human beings on the environment, and to
foster a greater appreciation of our natural habitats. So for example, in a
true ecotourism project, a nature reserve allows a small number of tourists
to visit its rare animals and uses the money that is generated to continue
with important conservation work. The local people have jobs in the nature
reserve as guides and wardens, but also have a voice in how the project
develops. Tourists stay in local houses with local people, not in specially
built hotels. So they experience the local culture and do not take precious
energy and water away from the local population. They travel on foot, by
boat, bicycle or elephant so that there is no pollution. And they have a
special experience that they will remember all of their lives. This type of
tourism can only involve small numbers of people so it can be expensive.
But you can apply the principles of ecotourism wherever you go for your
holiday. Just remember these basic rules:
• Be prepared. Learn about the place that you are going to visit. Find
out about its culture and history. Learn a little of the native language, at
least basics like 'Please', 'Thank you', and 'Good Morning'. Think of your
Basic rules of
holiday as an opportunity to learn something.
ecotourism
• Have respect for local culture. Wear clothes that will not offend
people. Always ask permission before you take a photograph. Remember
that you are a visitor.
• Don't waste resources. If the area doesn't have much water, don't take
two showers every day.
• Remember the phrase "Leave nothing behind you except footprints
and take nothing away except photographs." Take as much care of the
places that you visit as you take of your own home. · Don't buy souvenirs
made from endangered animals or plants.
• Walk or use other non-polluting forms of transport whenever you can.
• Be flexible and keep a sense of humour when things go wrong. Stay
in local hotels and eat in local restaurants. Buy local products whenever
possible and pay a fair price for what you buy. Choose your holiday
carefully. Don't be afraid to ask the holiday company about what they do
that is 'eco'
• Remember that 'eco' is very fashionable today and lots of holidays
that are advertised as ecotourism are not much better than traditional
tourism.
But before you get too enthusiastic, think about how you are going to get to
your dream 'eco' paradise. Flying is one of the biggest man-made sources of
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Friends of the Earth say that one return
flight from London to Miami puts as much carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere as the average British car driver produces in a year. So do not
forget that you don't have to fly to exotic locations for your 'eco' holiday.
There are probably places of natural beauty and interest in your own
country that you have never visited.

Test de autoevaluare 1.1 – Scrieţi răspunsul în spaţiul liber din chenar.

1. How is ecotourism different from nature tourism, sustainable
tourism, responsible tourism?

2. Why is ecotourism important?

Ecotourism is valuable for people and the Planet
Ecotourism is intended to offer tourists insight into the impact of
human beings on the environment, and to foster a greater appreciation of
our natural habitats.
First, there is the traveler. These are people going out of their way
to experience something new and adventurous. Returning home, they bring
with them not just souvenirs, but stories, memories, and conservation
messages from their travels abroad. A good ecotourism guide will impart
their ecotourists with a taste of their local conservation culture.
Second, there is the host country. Historically (and by historically, I
mean over the past hundreds to thousands of years), the value of land has
been measured primarily by the collection of natural resources it has or that
land’s proximity to those resources. For example, a forest would be
valuable for the wood and the potential space for crops. Prairies were
valuable for the arable land and presence of animals to hunt. Mountains
(albeit a bit more recently) are great places to mine for minerals and
provide grazing land for animals.
1.2 Language Focus: Revision of Tenses

Explanation Past Present Future

Simple Past Simple Present Future I Simple

action that takes He played He will / is going

He plays football
place once, never football every to play football
every Tuesday.
or several times Tuesday. every Tuesday.
Moment

He played
actions that He plays football He will play
football and
happen one after and then he goes football and then
then he went
another home. he will go home.
home.

Past Present Future I

Progressive Progressive Progressive
He was
action going on He is playing He will be
playing
Period

at that moment football. playing football.

football.
He was
He will be
actions taking playing He is playing
playing football
place at the same football and football and she
and she will be
time she was is watching.
watching.
watching.
Past Perfect Present Perfect
Future II Simple
Simple Simple
action taking
place before a
He had won He will have won
Result

certain moment He has won five

five matches five matches by
in time; matches so far.
until that day. then.
emphasizes the
result
 Past Perfect Present Perfect Future II
Progressive Progressive Progressive

action taking
Duration

place before a
He had been He will have
certain moment He has been
playing been playing
in time (and playing football
football for ten football for ten
beyond), for ten years.
years. years.
emphasises the
duration

Test de autoevaluare 1.2.

Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verbs:

1. My sister ………………. a great film play (see)

2. ………………….….……a new house? (you ever buy)?
3. ………………….….……him last Sunday ? (meet)
4. The band ….………….....while I …………………. (play, write)
5. Mary ……………………a new painting in 2000. (buy)
6. My friend …………… …in London for the past ten months.
7. My parents ………………in Madrid when we arrived a few weeks
ago.
8. …………………………. to get married ? (you plan)
9. I ……………………….. so much fun since I was a kid. (have)
10. How long ……………… for her ? (you wait)

1.3 Vocabulary: Ecotourism

Match the words to their definitions

basic benefit fair price
The words are
taken from the flexible footprints handicrafts
article
“Ecotourism” natural resources nature reserve restaurant chain

souvenirs sustainable warden

water sprinklers wildlife

1. .................... are devices used to direct water in order to water plants,

grass, etc.
2. A .................... is a group of establishments which belong to a single
company, have the same
appearance and sell similar food.
3. .................... are skilled activities in which things are made in a
traditional way with the hands rather
than being produced by machines in a factory, or the objects made by such
activities.
4. .................... is used to refer to a way of using natural products so that no
damage is caused to the
environment.
5. .................... means animals and plants that grow independently of
people, usually in natural
conditions.
6. To .................... means to receive or give a helpful or good effect.
7. A .................... is an area of land which is protected in order to keep safe
the animals and plants that live there, often because they are rare.
8. A .................... is a person whose job is to take care of a wildlife park
and make certain that members of the public obey particular rules.
9. .................... are materials such as coal and wood which exist or are
produced in nature and can be
used by people.
10. .................... means providing the base or starting point from which
something can develop; it also means simple or without complication.
11. .................... are the marks made by a person' s or animal' s feet.
12. .................... are things you buy, give or receive to help you remember a
visit or an event.
13. .................... means able to change or be changed easily according to
the situation.
14. A .................... is one which is reasonable and is what you expect or
deserve.

Test de autoevaluare 1.3 – Scrieţi răspunsul în spaţiul liber din chenar.

Write sentences using the following words: natural resources, warden,
footprints, sustainable.
Lucrare de verificare Unitate de învăţare Nr. 1

Eseul, al cărui conţinut este prezentat mai jos, solicită cunoaşterea

conceptelor prezentate în Unitatea de învăţare nr. 1.

Write a short essay on Ecotourism.