However crowded the roads are, British car owners usually find a reason not to switch to public transport. The buses are too slow, or the trains are too expensive, or no public services actually take them where they want to go. In many cases, these are just the excuses of people who really want to sit in their own cars with the radio on, and who blame others for creating the traffic jams. But there is also some truth in their criticisms. There has been a serious lack of government investment in transport, with predictable consequences.
The London Underground or the Tube, as Londoners call it, started in 1863 as the first underground line in the world, and is still the longest, with over 400 kilometres of lines. When it is working well, it is extremely quick and efficient. But those who use it every day complain of terrible delays when things go wrong. The electrical engineering is old, and it breaks down frequently. And government failed to invest the huge sums of money which would be needed to bring the Tube up to the 21st century standards.
One particular failure has been a cause of considerable embarrassment to the British since the opening of the Channel Tunnel. Eurostar trains from Paris travel at up to 300 kilometres per hour in France, but have to slow down to 80 kilometres per hour once in Britain because the high-speed line has not yet been built. Parliament only made the decision to build the line after the tunnel had opened. This sad story seems to symbolise all the country's transport problems.
TEXT WORK
Pronounce correctly and transcribe. Consult the dictionary if
Necessary.
Private, ownership, spread, phenomenon, psychological, human, carapace, quiet, wheel, phrase, fight, murder, hours, exhaust, figures, accident, vehicles, mature, neighbours, deaths, actually, serious, consequences, extremely, failure, cause.
Английский язык для турбизнеса и сервиса
2. Compare and mind the difference:
AmE
Gasoline or Gas (for short)
Gas pump
Kilometer
To rent a car
Driver
Hood
Trunk
Neighbor
| BrE Petrol Petrol station Kilometre To hire a car Motorist Bonnet Boot Neighbour To symbolise |
To symbolize
Answer the questions.
1. When did private car ownership start growing rapidly?
2. Why did public transportation lose its dominant role?
3. Why did railways cut lines and stations?
4. Why was government happy to see the railway wither away?
5. Why did roads become overcrowded?
6. What was the solution for overcrowded roads?
7. What strange phenomenon occurred after building the new road?
8. What is M25? Why was it built? What happened to it immediately?
9. What psychological effect does car driving have on human beings?
10. What is "road rage" and why does it happen?
11. Why don't road accident figures increase with number of vehicles on the road?
12. What can you say about seat belt laws for vehicle drivers and passengers in Britain?
13. What side of the road do British drive on?
14. Do they plan to change? Why?
15. What other countries drive or used to drive on the left?
16. Why don't British car owners shift to public transport?
17. What does British transport lack seriously?
18. What is the common name of London Underground?
19. Does the Tube work according to the 21st century standards? Why?
20. What has been a cause of considerable embarrassment to the British since the Channel Tunnel was opened?
Unit 5. Travelling By Car
4. Give Russian equivalents to the following words and word combinations. Find and translate sentences with them in the text.
Railways wither away, private car ownership, small rural communities, roads became over-crowded, massive new motorway, Outer London, dramatic example, overloaded immediately, traffic jam, human being, aggressive shell, common theme, it was no longer a joke, a new phrase was coined, road rage, to commit a murder, obviously not good for people, road accident figures, mature culture of driving, better record, number of deaths per 10,000 vehicles, seat belt laws for vehicle drivers and passengers, to respect the laws, island nation, road traffic across the borders, however crowded the roads are, too slow, too expensive, the excuses of people, to blame others for creating the traffic jams, serious lack of government investment, terrible delays, when things go wrong, to fail to invest, to bring the Tube up to the 21st century standards, one particular failure, considerable embarrassment.
5. Give English equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
Быстро расти; терять доминирующее положение; в целом; болезненно; приспособиться к ситуации; решение проблемы; явление, отмеченное экспертами; много раз и ранее; строительство новых дорог приводит к увеличению потока машин; психологический эффект на людей; городской человек; сесть за руль автомобиля; избитая тема юмористов; начать драку с другим водителем; дышать выхлопными газами; с одной стороны; с другой стороны; фактически; различные причины; современные автомобили; фары И тормоза; одна очевидная причина; какие бы ни были причины; другой значимый фактор; одна из немногих стран мира; как Япония; левостороннее движение; в любом случае; маленькие странности; найти причину; не переходить на общественный транспорт; во многих случаях; предсказуемые последствия; лондонское метро (2); первая линия метро в мире; исключительно быстрая и эффективная; ломаться; открытие тоннеля под Ла-Маншем; триста километров в час; вынужден замедлить скорость; высокоскоростная линия.
6. Make word combinations, translate them and find them in the text.
| dominant natural |
| solution beings |
Английский язык для турбизнеса и сервиса
| rural over-crowded simple massive dramatic generate overloaded traffic psychological human Canadian aggressive urban get behind common road start commit exhaust road underground various modem better significant seat belt |
| traffic jam shell role philosopher effect process motorway roads immediately communities example |
| rage reasons the wheel accident law fights line man record fumes cars factor murder theme |
reason
consequences
embarrassment
nation
trains
culture
investment
delay
lack
traffic
line
| driving island road little find a public serious government predictable terrible electrical considerable |
story
Unit 5. Travelling By Car
| Eurostar high-speed sad |
| engineering oddities transport |