The Train Station Hotel - intermediate news lesson.pdf

Published by Macmillan Education Ltd. © Macmillan Education Limited, 2021.
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Europe’s unluckiest train station gets new lease of life as hotel
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Level 2: Intermediate
Warmer
a. What do you know about railway stations? Choose the best answers.
1. The world’s highest railway station is in China / the USA.
2. The world’s busiest railway station is in Japan / India.
3. The oldest railway station in the world is in France / the UK.
4. The railway station with the most platforms (44) is in New York City / Beijing.
5. The station with the longest name (58 letters) is in Scotland / Wales.
Key Words
a. Find the following words in the text. The paragraph numbers are given to help you.
1. A noun meaning a connection between two places (1)
2. A noun meaning a lack of skill or ability to do something correctly or well
(2)
3. A noun meaning a very hard metal used in the production of steel
(4)
4. An adjective meaning very important, necessary, or essential (4)
5. An adjective meaning making a lot of money (5)
6. A noun meaning extremely bad treatment of people, especially because of their race, religion, or
political beliefs (5)
7. An adjective meaning describing something in a way that makes it seem larger, worse, or more
important than it really is (6)
8. A two-word phrasal verb meaning improve or increase (8)
9. An adjective meaning profitable (9)
10. A noun meaning a reason given to explain why something bad has happened
(10)
11. An adjective meaning fairly small, especially when compared with other things of the same type
(10)
12. A verb meaning to make something successful again (12) .
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Once-grand Canfranc was known as
the Titanic of the mountains, but fell
into disrepair thanks to fire, derailment
and war
Stephen Burgen
Mon 19 Jul 2021
It was once called the “Titanic of the mountains”,
but now the enormous train station at Canfranc
is to get a new life as a five-star hotel, 51 years
after the international rail link across the
Pyrenees closed.
Canfranc is a village more than 1,000 metres
(3,280ft) above sea level on the Franco-Spanish
frontier. The story of its station is one of ambition
and failure, incompetence and corruption,
smuggling and a century-long run of bad luck.
Spain wanted to show that it could build
something like Europe’s great ‘railway
cathedrals’, says railway writer Alfonso Marco.
The problem was that the station was planned
in 1853 but not completed until 1928.
There are many myths and legends
surrounding the station, such as that it changed
the course of the Second World War. It didn’t,
but it certainly played a role. After the Nazis
occupied France, Spain’s Franco regime used
Canfranc to exchange tungsten, vital in tank
production, for Nazi gold.
Franco wanted good relations with Britain
and the US but didn’t want to turn down
the opportunity of lucrative trade with Nazi
Germany. ‘As an international crossing point,
Canfranc was much less visible than others,’
Marco says. The station was used by spies
on all sides, and it is said that numerous Jews
also escaped persecution in Vichy France
via Canfranc.
‘There’s some truth in all these stories but
they have been exaggerated,’ says Marco.
‘For example, it’s true that Jews used it as a
crossing point, but not on a massive scale.’
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Marco rejects the Titanic nickname, although
he accepts that, like the ship, Canfranc can
be seen as a metaphor for failed ambition and
agrees that it’s had more than its fair share of
bad luck.
The station had only just opened when the
1929 financial crash hit. Two years later it was
extensively damaged in a fire. Then, in 1936,
the Spanish Civil War began, and when that
ended, the Second World War broke out. By
the time the war was finally over, Spain was
isolated and international rail traffic didn’t pick
up again until the 1950s.
However, the track on the Spanish side was
wider than the French one, so passengers and
luggage had to be offloaded from one train to
another, adding to the already long journey
time. The line was never viable.
In 1970, a damaged bridge was the excuse to
abandon the station. Marco describes as ‘an
involuntary railway mausoleum of enormous
sentimental value … part of a history that can’t
be ignored and that deserves to be known and
valued’. Today, the station only has a modest
Spanish domestic service.
A new station is being built behind the existing
one and will be entered via the hotel. The
complex will include a 200-seat conference
centre, a railway museum and shops.
It is hoped that the hotel will revive the village
when work is completed at the end of next year,
but Marco believes it will be some time before
the link to Pau in France is running again.
In 2020, France and Spain agreed to begin
to work on reopening the tunnel that links the
two countries, and with EU support, it is hoped
that the Canfranc line and station will be fully
operational by 2026. In the meantime, Marco
recommends taking the twice-daily train from
Zaragoza to Canfranc through the spectacular
scenery of the Pyrenees.
© Guardian News and Media 2021
First published in The Guardian, 19/07/2021
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Comprehension check
a. Are these statements true (T) or false (F) according to the article? Correct any that are false.
1. Canfranc is a railway station in France.
2. Canfranc was finished in 1853.
3. Canfranc station changed the course of the Second World War.
4. The station was used for the exchange of valuable metals.
5. Canfranc was a good place for spies as it was less visible than other international crossing points.
6. Alfonso Marco likes the nickname ‘Titanic of the mountains’.
7. The station was badly damaged in a fire in 1931.
8. The railway track on the French side of the border is wider than the track on the Spanish side.
9. The line to France will probably reopen in 2026.
10. Trains run from Zaragoza to Canfranc twice a week.
Key language
a. Match the adjectives in the left-hand column with the nouns in the right-hand column to make
expressions from the text.
1. bad a. value
2. financial b. luck
3. lucrative c. ambition
4. sentimental d. scenery
5. spectacular e. trade
6. failed f. crash
Discussion
a. Discuss these statements.
• ‘Train travel is the best form of travel.’
• ‘After COVID-19, people will travel less, so this project is a waste of money.’

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In your own words
a. Imagine that you are an architect whose task is to bring the old station at Canfranc back to life.
Use the internet to find pictures of Canfranc station and then think of some ways of making it
an interesting and attractive place for the 21st
century. The exterior of the building must remain
the same but think of ways of modernising the interior. Write a short report (100 to 150 words)
describing your plans. You can use some of the information in the text to help you.

Level 2: Intermediate – Teacher’s notes
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themselves, their achievements, or their abilities. It is
the opposite of ‘boastful’.
Key:
1. link
2. incompetence
3. tungsten
4. vital
5. lucrative
6. persecution
7. exaggerated
8. pick up
9. viable
10. excuse
11. modest
12. revive
3. Comprehension check
a. The answers given are only suggested answers
and students may correctly answer the questions in
different ways, e.g., in item 2, they may say, “It was
planned in 1853.” or something similar.
Key:
1. False. It is in Spain.
2. False. It was finished in 1928.
3. False. It played a role in the war.
4. True.
5. True.
6. False. He rejects this nickname.
7. True.
8. False. The Spanish track is wider.
9. True.
10. False. They run twice a day.
4. Key language
a. Students could be asked to do this exercise
individually and then compare their answers in pairs.
Ask students to check their answers by referring
back to the text to see the phrases in context.
Key:
1. b
2. f
3. e
4. a
5. d
6. c
5. Discussion
a. Allow students time to note down their ideas about
each statement and encourage them to say why they
agree or disagree with each one.
1. Warmer
a. The purpose of this activity is to introduce the topic
of railway stations. The highest railway station is in
China (in the autonomous region of Tibet), at 5,068
metres. The previous highest was at Galera, in Peru,
at 4,781 metres. 3.5 million people use Shinjuku
station in Tokyo each day, making it the busiest in
the world. The oldest existing station was built in
Liverpool, England, in 1830. Grand Central station in
New York has the most platforms (44), while Nagoya
station in Japan is the largest in terms of area, at
446,000 square metres. The Welsh railway station is
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysilio
gogogoch, which means ‘The church of St Mary
in the hollow of white hazel trees near the rapid
whirlpool by St Tysilio’s of the red cave’.
Key:
1. China
2. Japan
3. the UK
4. New York City
5. Wales
2. Key words
a. Ask students to do the exercise individually and then
compare their answers in pairs or small groups. Note
that ‘pick up’ is often used to talk about business
as in ‘things are beginning to pick up after the
pandemic’. ‘Modest’ can also be used to describe
people. Modest people do not like to talk about
Article summary: The article describes a
plan to revive the enormous railway station on
the border between Spain and France.
Time: 45 – 60 minutes
Skills: Reading, Speaking, Writing
Language focus: Vocabulary
Materials needed: One copy of the
worksheet per student

Level 2: Intermediate – Teacher’s notes
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6. In your own words
a. This is probably best done as a homework task as
students will need plenty of time to find the pictures
and develop their ideas. They could then present
their ideas to the class.

The Train Station Hotel - intermediate news lesson.pdf

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The Train Station Hotel - intermediate news lesson.pdf