The Reading / Listening - Railway Stations - Level 1

London St Pancras is the best railway station in Europe. It is also called St Pancras International because of the Eurostar trains to France, Belgium and Holland. A travel centre asked passengers about their opinions on Europe's stations. There were questions on the ease of access, cleanliness, connectivity, friendliness of staff, and platforms. There was also a question about the number of days station staff went on strike.

St Pancras is the only UK station in the top ten. Zurich Central and Leipzig Central were second and third. Five of the top ten stations were in Germany. They included Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich. The travel centre commented on the beauty of St Pancras. It was built in a gothic style and opened in 1868. It said St Pancras looks like it is "from another world". It goes to great destinations in Europe and has a good mix of shops, restaurants and services.

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Railway Stations - Level 0,  Railway Stations - Level 2   or  Railway Stations - Level 3

Sources
  • https://www.cityam.com/london-st-pancras-tops-list-of-europes-best-train-stations/
  • https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-8024183/The-best-railway-stations-Europe-named-Londons-St-Pancras-International-No1.html
  • https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/europe-best-train-stations-st-pancras-london-uk-germany-railway-a9344696.html


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Phrase Matching

Paragraph 1

  1. the best railway station
  2. Eurostar trains to
  3. A travel centre asked
  4. opinions on Europe's
  5. questions on the ease
  6. friendliness
  7. a question about the
  8. station staff went
  1. of staff
  2. passengers
  3. on strike
  4. of access
  5. France
  6. number of days
  7. stations
  8. in Europe

Paragraph 2

  1. the only UK station in
  2. second and
  3. Five of the top
  4. The travel centre
  5. the beauty
  6. It was built in a
  7. looks like it is from
  8. a good mix
  1. another world
  2. commented
  3. the top ten
  4. of St Pancras
  5. gothic style
  6. third
  7. of shops
  8. ten stations

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

London St Pancras (1) ___________________ railway station in Europe. It is also called St Pancras International (2) ___________________ Eurostar trains to France, Belgium and Holland. A travel centre asked passengers about (3) ___________________ Europe's stations. There were questions on the (4) ___________________, cleanliness, connectivity, friendliness of (5) ___________________. There was also a question about the number of days station staff (6) ___________________.

St Pancras (7) ___________________ UK station in the top ten. Zurich Central and Leipzig Central were (8) ___________________. Five of the top ten stations were in Germany. They included Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich. The travel centre commented (9) ___________________ of St Pancras. It was built in (10) ___________________ and opened in 1868. It said St Pancras looks like it is "from another world". It (11) ___________________ destinations in Europe and has a (12) ___________________ shops, restaurants and services.

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

LondonStPancrasisthebestrailwaystationinEurope.ItisalsocalledStP
ancrasInternationalbecauseoftheEurostartrainstoFrance,Belgiuma
ndHolland.AtravelcentreaskedpassengersabouttheiropinionsonEur
ope'sstations.Therewerequestionsontheeaseofaccess,cleanliness,c
onnectivity,friendlinessofstaff,andplatforms.Therewasalsoaquestio
naboutthenumberofdaysstationstaffwentonstrike.StPancrasistheon
lyUKstationinthetopten.ZurichCentralandLeipzigCentralweresecon
dandthird.FiveofthetoptenstationswereinGermany.TheyincludedBe
rlin,Frankfurt,HamburgandMunich.Thetravelcentrecommentedont
hebeautyofStPancras.Itwasbuiltinagothicstyleandopenedin1868.It
saidStPancraslookslikeitis"fromanotherworld".Itgoestogreatdestin
ationsinEuropeandhasagoodmixofshops,restaurantsandservices.

Student survey

Write five GOOD questions about this topic in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper. When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

(Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

Discussion — Write your own questions

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

(a) ________________

(b) ________________

(c) ________________

(d) ________________

(e) ________________

(f) ________________

(g) ________________

(h) ________________

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

(i) ________________

(j) ________________

(k) ________________

(l) ________________

(m) ________________

(n) ________________

(o) ________________

(p) ________________

Free writing

Write about this topic for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

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