Choose from the sentences A-H the one which fits each gap (1-7).
There is one extra sentence that you do not need to use.
Are you planning a trip to Sri Lanka but don’t know where to start? (1)_____________ And how
can you get away from the crowds? We’ll answer all of these topics and more in our Sri Lanka
Experiential Travel Guide and two-week itinerary.
From meeting people on trains to sharing a sunrise with pilgrims and travellers alike at the top of
Adam’s Peak, wandering through tea gardens, learning to pop spices and cook Sri Lankan food
in clay pots, admiring sleeping Buddha sculptures in caves, and much more, here is a taste of
the variety of experiences and destinations you’ll find while travelling through Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Ceylon. (2)_________________. It wasn’t my first time there.
I lived there for 18 months while my father worked at the US Embassy. My six or seven-year-old
self recalled brilliantly coloured saffron robes worn by Buddhist monks, young orphan elephants
swimming in the river, giant sleeping golden Buddhas, and a vibrant green as far as the eye
could see over the rolling hills of tea plantations in the north.
The variety of ethnicities, cultures, and religions in Sri Lanka is something I appreciate as an
adult but didn’t really understand as a child, other than seeing differences in people’s clothing.
(3)____________Add to this a long and complicated history dating back 8,000 years —
including power struggles between kingdoms, colonialism, and forced migration — and you
have the mix that makes Sri Lanka the fascinating and complex place that it is, the same mix
that helped divide it and drive it into a devastating 26-year civil war (1983-2009).
(4)__________________ As the conflict continued, we watched as our Sri Lankan friends fled
to avoid the carnage. And, when peace and stability returned over the preceding decade, we
witnessed many of them return home. When Dan and I were in southern India in 2008, we were
on the verge of visiting Sri Lanka. It was nearing the end of the civil war. (5)________________
When the conflict ended in May 2009, we searched for a chance to visit.
Years later, one finally appeared. (6)__________________ Dan made his way south to a beach
for his own self-made retreat while I sat in my meditation class. Following the completion of the
meditation training, we went on a two-week trip across the island together.
To put up an itinerary, we solicited suggestions from friends who had recently lived or travelled
there, putting together a rough plan centred on train rides, tea gardens, and hikes. We kept
things open-ended, often reserving accommodations the day before or the day of to allow for
changes and modifications as needed.
In the end, it turned out to be an even better two-week vacation than we’d hoped for, chock-full
of diverse experiences and places that belied the relatively small amount of time we had.
(7)________________
Using the following options, Fill the Gaps.
A. We decided to postpone the trip after speaking with Sri Lankan acquaintances.
B. We booked a last-minute ticket to Colombo because there was a vacancy in a
Vipassana meditation training at a facility in Sri Lanka.
C. My family fled before the civil war started.
D. Travelling by train in Sri Lanka, regardless of class carriage, is the greatest way to see
the country, meet people, and stay on budget.
E. Despite the distance, we’d travelled and the events we’d seen, we never felt hurried.
F. The tiny tear-shaped island off the coast of India
G. Where should you go, what should you do, and how should you organise your trip?
H. This includes a majority Sinhalese population who are mainly Buddhist, a Tamil minority
made up of both Sri Lankan and Indian Tamils who are largely Hindu, as well as
Christians and Muslims.