BACKPACKING
Once you‟ve left the airport you find yourself in a cheap hostel and sleep badly because 1.____.
Besides there‟s the noise of the busy street. On the top of that you‟re jet-lagged because you‟ve crossed two time zones at least. All you night fears have come true 2.___.
In the morning you feel tired but more alive than you have for years. You go out onto the street to have your first cup of tea. Everywhere there are foreign vehicles, strange smells, different colours and people wearing different clothes. As you look up and down the street you see more and more people just like yourself, travelers 3._____. They are much more interesting looking than you and seem completely at home as they visit the shops and market stalls, or hurry to the cybercafés to see if their moms have sent them emails. Welcome to Backpackerland!
Backpackerland is a new world of possibility. It has recognized meeting points like Khao San Road in Bangkok, the Kings Cross area of Sydneyand the Colaba Causeway in India. It exists 4.____. Each year more and more young people cross the world from east to west, from north to south, stuffing their clothes, notebooks and cameras into their backpacks to experience the world.
Travelling has changed in the last 30 years. In the old day you waited for months for a letter from your dear granny 5.___. It was only the bravest who risked cutting themselves off like that. Now you‟re almost never out of touch. So the moment you get off the plane you can email the friend you saw the day before you left home.
When I was last in Thailand I bumped into Colin, the man who had done the electric wiring in my little flat in London that time he always seemed miserable and cold, but now Colin was tanned and fit 6.___. That‟s the kind of thing that happens in Backpackerland. You can be anyone you want to be 7.___.
8. Now answer the question: Which of the following statements best summarises the text?