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Reading: Europe by Bus

Average: 3.4 (18 votes)

Today, after a month of working 14 hour days as Director of Studies for a school, I am desperate to get away! Although I'm not a fan of long, uncomfortable coach journeys, Paris for a pound sounds good right now. I thought this article might also be of interest to some of our students studying in the UK at the moment. Read through the article and fill the gaps with the missing words. I've written the meanings of the words to help you out. Right...who's off to Paris with me?
By Caroline Devane

Missing Words

Fares – prices of tickets.
Fuel – petrol, what a vehicle needs to make it run.
Bargain – a really good price.
Ferry – A boat.
Transformed – completely changed.
Launched – begun or started.

Transport Reading

Megabus offers tickets to Paris and three other European destinations for £1 - but can you get hold of one?

With hiked rail _1_ and petrol prices at an all time high, the cost of holidaying at home, let alone abroad may prove difficult for some this year.

But, like a knight on a blue and yellow charger, budget coach operator megabus.com has zoomed in to the rescue. Or so it claims.

The company, owned by Stagecoach has _2_ a UK to Europe coach service with seats starting at £1.

If you're prepared to spend up to 12 hours on a bus, listening to the duff, duff, duff of your fellow traveller's iPod while taking in the delicate aroma of the on-board toilet, then congratulations! Paris, Boulogne, Brussels and Amsterdam could be your oyster.

But a quick search for _3_ £1 tickets to all four destinations on megabus.com proved tricky today - mainly because there weren't any.

A Stagecoach spokesman told MailOnline that tickets range from £1 to £40 and include the _4_ crossing and free on-board wi-fi.

He added the company started selling UK to Europe tickets last month and had already sold out of more than 80 trips.

The cheapest available ticket from London to Paris on megabus.com today was £4, while the most expensive to Brussels was £15.

Stagecoach chief executive Sir Brian Souter said: 'With the rising cost of living, rocketing _5_ prices and running a car becoming more and more expensive, everyone is looking to make their money go further.

'Our new network offers families, students and tourists great value fares and high-quality coaches. These services will deliver a long-overdue shake-up to the over-priced European coach travel market.'

He added: 'We launched megabus.com in Scotland nine years ago and it has already _6_ intercity travel in the UK and North America.'

Stagecoach also revealed today that it is investigating the potential for a sleeper coach service between the UK and Europe.

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