what a guy
Bill Bensley is a famous architect and designer who creates eco-friendly resorts and hotels. He started his career after studying at Harvard and later opened design studios in Bangkok and Bali. He has worked on many luxury resorts, including Four Seasons and Oberoi hotels.
Bensley is known for his colorful, creative style and love for nature. He believes in „Minimal Intervention,“ which means building around nature instead of removing it. For example, at a resort in Thailand, he kept all the trees and worked with the land’s natural shape.
In Cambodia, he built a luxury tented camp in the Cardamom Mountains. The money from this camp helps protect wildlife and forests. Bensley also teaches others about eco-friendly design through his book Sensible Sustainable Solutions and a TV show called Designing Paradise.
His goal is to prove that luxury travel can also help the environment. He wants the travel industry to care more about nature and be more responsible.
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Vocabulary explained:
- Eco-friendly: Good for nature; not harmful to the environment.
- A resort: A place where people go to relax or have a vacation, often with hotels, pools, and activities.
- Creative: Having new and fun ideas; being able to make interesting things.
- Intervention: Stepping in to change something or help with a situation.
- To remove: To take something away.
- The natural shape: The way something is in nature, without being changed.
- Tented camp: A place to stay where people sleep in large, fancy tents, usually in nature.
- Wildlife: Animals that live in nature (like birds, tigers, or monkeys).
- Sensible: Smart and reasonable; makes good sense.
- Sustainable: Something that can last a long time without hurting the planet.
- A solution: An answer or way to fix a problem.
- To prove: To show that something is true.
- Environment: The natural world around us (like trees, water, animals, and air).
- To care about: To think something is important and want to help.
- Responsible: Doing the right thing and thinking about how your actions affect others or the planet.
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Correct or incorrect?
- Bill Bensley is a designer who loves nature.
- He started his first design office in New York.
- He likes to build without cutting down trees.
- His idea is called „Minimal Intervention.“
- He went to Harvard University.
- He built a tent camp in the Cambodian desert.
- The camp helps save animals and forests.
- His designs are boring and plain.
- He uses bright colors and fun ideas.
- He made a resort in Thailand and kept all the trees.
- The camp gives money to big shopping malls.
- He has a TV show called Designing Paradise.
- He wrote a book about helping the planet.
- He wants luxury travel to protect nature.
- He doesn’t care about the environment.
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Here are 10 multiple choice questions based on the text. Each has 4 answer options, and more than one may be correct:
1. What is Bill Bensley’s job?
A) Architect
B) Chef
C) Designer
D) Tour guide
2. Where did Bill Bensley open design studios?
A) Bangkok
B) Bali
C) New York
D) Singapore
3. What does “Minimal Intervention” mean in his work?
A) Building without changing nature too much
B) Using fewer workers
C) Cutting all the trees first
D) Designing around nature
4. What is special about his resort in Thailand?
A) It uses bright colors
B) It kept all the trees
C) It is in the desert
D) It follows the land’s natural shape
5. What is true about the tented camp in Cambodia?
A) It’s in the mountains
B) It helps protect animals
C) It gives money to shopping malls
D) Guests sleep in fancy tents
6. How does Bensley share his ideas with others?
A) Through a TV show
B) By writing books
C) By selling clothes
D) Through speeches and interviews
7. What is Bensley’s style like?
A) Colorful
B) Boring
C) Creative
D) Simple and plain
8. What does Bensley want the travel industry to do?
A) Care more about the planet
B) Make bigger hotels
C) Be responsible
D) Protect nature
9. What did Bensley study in school?
A) Design
B) Business
C) Architecture
D) Law
10. What does Bensley believe about luxury travel?
A) It can help nature
B) It should ignore the environment
C) It can be eco-friendly
D) It must be simple and cheap
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What is the message? What is the correct order of words?
- is a Bill great Bensley designer.
YOU WRITE: Bill Bensley is a great designer. - environment He about cares the .
- Harvard University studied He at
- many luxury He on resorts works
- fun uses designs He
- a camp He tented built
- protects animals The and camp forests.
- a TV He on show made
- is sustainability book about His
- He hurting without builds nature.
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Which word are we looking for?
- ___________Good for nature and the environment.
- ___________ place where people go for vacations.
- ___________Having new, original ideas.
- ___________Changing or helping something in a situation.
- ___________To take something away.
- ___________Related to tents or inside a tent.
- ___________Animals and plants that live in nature.
- ___________Wise and reasonable.
- ___________Able to be continued without harming nature.
- ___________A way to fix a problem.
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Interviewing Bill Bensley
Interviewer: Bill, what does „eco-friendly“ design mean to you?
Bill Bensley: It means creating designs that protect nature and the environment.
Interviewer: Can you tell us about the resorts you design?
Bill Bensley: I design resorts that blend with nature and wildlife.
Interviewer: What does „sustainable“ design mean in your work?
Bill Bensley: „Sustainable“ means designing things that last without harming nature.
Interviewer: You mention „Minimal Intervention.“ What does that mean?
Bill Bensley: It means I work with nature, not against it.
Interviewer: Can you tell us about the tented camp you created?
Bill Bensley: I designed a tented camp that protects wildlife and forests.
Interviewer: How important is wildlife to your work?
Bill Bensley: Wildlife is very important in my designs and projects.
Interviewer: What makes your designs different from others?
Bill Bensley: My designs are creative, colorful, and nature-friendly.
Interviewer: What do you want people to feel when visiting your resorts?
Bill Bensley: I want them to feel connected to nature and relaxed.
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Which word are we looking for?
