A、Some US $50 million. B、About US $500 million. C、Some US $500 billion. D、About US $5000 billion. D

According to the United Nations, a tourist is someone who travels at least 50 miles, or 80 kilometers, for recreation. In the United States, people love to take trips. They spend more on vacation than anyone else in the world. Many of them take package tours. However, the first vacation package was attributed to an Englishman named Thomas Cook. In 1841, he took 500 travelers to a nearby town. The price of the tour included a train ticket and a meal along the way. In 1845, Thomas Cook sold the first vacation package tour to Europe, and 1866, his company was organizing trips to the US.
    Today, tourism is a big business. And the tourist industry is crucial to many countries’ economy. It is estimated that eight percent of jobs in the world—that’s more than 200 million people—depend on tourism. Some local governments, like the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean, are almost totally dependent on visitors. About 95% of the islands’ income comes from tourism. For other places in the world, tourism is ever growing. It is estimated that, by the year 2015, people worldwide will spend some US$ 5000 billion for vacation abroad. Regions in Asia, the Pacific, the Middle East and Africa will see the greatest growth.
Question No. 15 What is a package tour?
Question No. 16 According to the talk, who first introduced the package tour?
Question No. 17 Which of the following is TRUE about the British Virgin Islands?
Question No. 18 How much will be spent by people worldwide on vacationing abroad by the year 2015?