AT THE HOTEL

RESERVING A ROOM

The secretary of the Russian Trade Delegation in London telephones the Tavistock Hotel¹ to reserve a room for Mr. Kozlov.

Receptionist:   Reception-desk. Tavistock Hotel. Good morning.

Secretary:       Good morning. This is the Russian Trade Delegation. We'd like to reserve a room for Mr.

                        Kozlov  for three nights² from the 20th of October.

Receptionist:    Mr. Kozlov. Could you tell me³ what accommodation Mr. Kozlov would like to have? Yes,

                        certainly. A single room with a private bath. Just a minute. I'll see whether we have

                         the accommodation available.

Secretary:        Thank you.

Receptionist:    Yes, I can reserve a single room with a bath from the 20th of October, for three nights.

Secretary:        Thank you. What's the charge?

Receptionist:    Eight pounds tenpence⁴ a night⁵.

Secretary:         Thank you. Good-bye.

Receptionist:     Good-bye.

AT THE HOTEL

At about I o'clock in the afternoon Mister Kozlov arrived at the Tavistock Hotel. A hotel-porter took Kozlov's suit-case and showed him to the reception-desk. Kozlov told the receptionist that the Russian Trade Delegation had reserved a room in his name⁶ a few days before. The receptionist checked that and said that they could let him have a nice room on the third floor.⁷ After that the receptionist gave Mister Kozlov a form and asked him to fill it in.

Mister Kozlov wrote his name, address, nationality and occupation on the form and gave it back. Then the porter took the key to Kozlov's room and they went to the lift. In a minute they were on the third floor. The porter unlocked the door, brought in the suit-case⁸ and asked if that was all. Kozlov thanked him, gave him a tip and the porter went out. Kozlov unpacked his suit-case and rang the bell for a chambermaid⁹ because he wanted to have his suit pressed.

Chambermaid:     Good afternoon, sir. What can I do for you?

Kozlov:                Good afternoon. Could I have my jacket and trousers pressed?

Chambermaid:     Very good, sir. I think I can do it right away.

Kozlov:                Thank you. By the way, could I have an extra blanket? I'm  afraid I'll be cold at night as

                              the weather is damp to-day.

Chambermaid:      I'll attend to it, sir.

Kozlov:                 Thank you. I wonder if the restaurant is open now.

Chambermaid:     Yes, sir. The restaurant serves breakfast from eight to ten, lunch from twelve to two thirty

                             and dinner from six to eight.

Kozlov:                Thank you very much.

COMMENTARY

1. the Tavistock Hotel  — готель  "Тависток". Перед назвами  готелів завжди вживається означений  артикль.

2.... for three nights — ... на три доби

3  Could you tell me ... — He могли б ви сказати мені ... (Скажіть будь-ласка)

4   eight pounds  tenpence a night

      a pound — фунт (грошова одиниця). В фунті 100 пенсів;

Заповніть  пропуски артиклями, где необхідно :

... other day Mr. Goodwill, ... representative of Brighton & Co., arrived in Moscow on business. Mr. Mitin, director of our office, met him at Sheremetievo Airport and brought him to ... Metropol Hotel.

Mr. Mitin had reserved accommodation for Mr. Goodwill there two days before. ... hotel-porter met them at... door and showed them to reception-desk. Some people were waiting at... desk.

... receptionist gave Mr. Goodwill... form and asked him to write his name, ... address,... nationality and ... ocupation. As Mr. Goodwill knew Russian well it didn't take him long to fill in ... form. After he had done all ... formalities, ... receptionist gave Mr. Goodwill... key to his room and ... porter showed him into it. It was... nice single room on ... second floor. Mr. Goodwill liked ... room very much and he thanked Mr. Mitin.