Unit 2. How Traffic Problems Can Be Solved

Vocabulary

advertisement - реклама

be stuck - застревать

car owner — владелец машины

cope (with) - справляться

employer - работодатель

every other day — через день

freedom - свобода

get caught (in) - попадать

head — направляться

(bus) network - сеть (автобусных) маршрутов

number plate — номерной знак

on foot — пешком

pedestrian-only street — пешеходная улица

resident - местный житель

solution - решение

traffic - движение

traffic jam - пробка

transport - перевозить

travel - путешествовать

wealth — богатство

You must have seen some advertisements for cars. Are you sure they can show the reality of driving?

Big cities and small towns all over the world have a huge problem: traffic jams. Of course cars can be symbols of freedom and wealth for some people. As they can represent a personal choice to go when and where you want to. At the same time when you are stuck in a traffic jam, a car may become just a little metal box one can sit in for hours.

There are millions of cars on the road today. How can cities cope with this? Some of them have found solutions to their traffic problems.

The city Curitiba in Brazil has very few traffic jams. This must be the result of an efficient bus network service. Main roads there have special lanes for buses only, so that they do not get caught in traffic jams.

In Milan, cars need a permit to enter the city center. Only residents and some employers can obtain a permit, not everyone can drive in and out. People park on the edge of the restricted area and head for the center on foot. As a result, there must be many pedestrian-only streets in Milan.

Car owners can enter the city centre every other day in Athens. They must match the final number of their car number plate to the day’s date – if the date is an even number, the final number of the number plate must be even too. If it is not they can't drive into the central area. The same goes for odd number plates and odd dates. So half of all cars must stay at home every day.

Answer the questions to the text:

1. What is a huge problem of cities and towns all over the world?

2. Have some cities found solutions to their traffic problems?

3. Why does the city Curitiba have very few traffic jams?

4. Milan now has many pedestrian-only shopping streets, hasn’t it?

5. How many cars must stay at home each day in Athens?

Exercises:

1) Find the equivalents:

реклама машин, дорожная пробка, символ, благосостояния, представлять, застревать, справляться, находить решение, разрабатывать, сеть автобусных маршрутов, выделенная полоса движения, постоянные жители, получить разрешение, предприниматель, пешком, через день, в результате, (не)четное число

2) Translate:

show the reality, traffic jams, personal choice, stuck in, efficient network, to transport rapidly, to enter the city center, to head for, pedestrian, car owner, number plate, stay at home, inner-city area

3) Complete the sentences choosing the proper variant:

Only residents and some employers can obtain a permit, so …

a) car owners are only allowed to drive into the city centre every other day

b) very little traffic now drives in or out

c) they do not get caught in traffic jams

4) Translate using modal verbs:

1) I can ride a horse. 2) With a burst of adrenaline, people can pick up cars. 3)You must have a permit to enter the city center. 4) I can drive Susan's car when she is out of town. 5) You must not park here. 6) With a sudden burst of adrenaline, he was able to lift the car off the child's leg. 7) May I borrow your car?

References: Контрольная работа 2. Вариант 3. Задание 10.Английский язык. Контрольные задания.учеб.-А647 метод. пособие / Л.В. Лукина, Л.Н. Крячко, О.Ф. Нестерова, Н.В.Сидорова;