He went there by an overnight train and hoped that it would not take him much time to get there. He enjoyed his trip by train. As he was travelling first class, there were only two passengers in his compartment and he was satisfied with his fellow travellers.
But there was one thing which he didn't like. The fact was there was no buffetcar on the train and by the end of the journey he was very hungry. So he looked forward to having a good dinner at the station restaurant.
What he wanted to do first when he arrived at Hamburg was to find a restaurant. It took him some 15 minutes to get to the nearest restaurant. "He left his coat in the cloak-room and went upstairs.
The head-waiter showed him to a little table near the window. In a few minutes a waiter came up to his table and put the menu on the table. The Frenchman made his choice very quickly because there was only one word on the menu he could understand, it was "beef-steak." So he had to order beef-steak; but it was so bad the Frenchman couldn't eat it.
At a table not far from him a man was eating chicken. The Frenchman wanted to have chicken too, but he didn't know how to say it in German. Soon the man finished his chicken and said to the waiter: "Some more, please." The waiter went out and a minute later came back with another plate of chicken.
"Well," thought the Frenchman, "now I know how to say «chicken» in German." So he called the waiter and said in German: "Some more, please."
The waiter went out and ten minutes later brought him another beef-steak.
3.1.1 Vocabulary notes
to look forward to – ожидать, очень хотеть
3.1.2 Answer the questions
1 What was the purpose of the Frenchman’s visit to Germany?
2 What was he looking forward to while staying in Germany?
3 How did he like his trip by train?
4 Why was he hungry by the end of the journey?
5 What was the first thing he did at Hamburg?
6 Did he enjoy his meal at the restaurant? Why not?
7 Why didn’t he get what he required?
8 How do you think he felt when the waiter brought him another beef-steak? Did he eat it?
9 Why do you think it is extremely important to know foreign languages if you deal with foreign firms?
10 Did you go to a restaurant during your last trip to a foreign country? Who ordered meals for you?
3.2 Text 2. Read the text and answer the questions.