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ESL

ESL Podcast 116 – Holiday Travel

• It's hard to avoid traveling over the holidays but the experience I had last week really takes the cake.
  

  takes the cake: the worst things

• I flew back to Tucson, Arizona, to be with my wife's family, as we do every Christmas.
• I got to the airport an hour and a half before my flight, which I thought would be plenty of time.
• When I got there, though, I saw that the security line was out the door. - Because it was the holidays, people were traveling with a lot of extra packages.
• It took twice as long as it normally would to get to the front of the line.
• When I finally got to the gate, I found out that my flight had been oversold.

The gate agent was looking forpeople to voluntarily give up their seats for a later flight in exchange for a $100 travel voucher

voucher :a ticket that can be used instead of money for a particular purpose:
- voucher 指通过“预付”或“由他人支付”，得以免费取得商品或服务的凭证，可视为一种“兑换券”
- coupon 则是用以享受某种特价或优惠的“折价券”，在取得商品或服务时仍需付款，或满足其他一些消费要求。

• If she didn't get enough volunteers, she would have tobumppeople from the flight.

How to prevent being bumped from an overbooked flight?

• Luckily, several people took her up on the offer and the rest of us boarded.
• What a hassle! I love the holidays but I don't love holiday travel.

What a hassle: big problem.
1. It's a real hassle to get a picky child to eat.
2. Come on! Don't hassle me about the deadline! (hassle sb about sth)
3. Stop hassling me with all the little details. (hassle sb with sth)

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

• amity
• edify
• filial
• kith and kin
• misanthrope
• rectify
• vesige