Best cars of the year.

4-Wheel Drive.

The latest 4-wheel drive combines the best features of an off-road vehicle with the styling and smooth drive of a sports car. The new suspension system ensures a comfortable ride, no matter how bad driving conditions are. The 4-seater model has divided rear seats that fold down for increased storage space. The two front seats can be folded back to form a bed. The new features of this model make it a much better buy than last year's, and the improved fuel performance of 12.6 kilometers per litre makes it far more economical to run.

V850.

The V850, the Swedish car maker VARB’s top-selling model, comes with a unique feature: a side air bag. After extensive crash tests, technicians estimate that the side airbag will reduce personal injuries in a crash by 25 percent. The company has also changed the style of the interior, with leather replacing the older style fabric. What hasn't changed is the classic style of this vehicle, which has remained essentially the same for the past twenty years.

P.

P, the Malaysian automobile manufacturer, is bringing its new line of cars to continental Europe for the first time at the Paris Auto Show. P cars were introduced in the UK in 1989 and some 70,000 are already on the road. Malaysia, like the UK, is a right-hand drive country. The cars selling in Britain, called the 400-series, are a line of mid-size family cars with Mitsubishi technology. The engine is light and very economical on petrol. Features the car offers include generously padded seats with good back support and a device to reduce engine noise for peaceful motoring.

F.P. Range.

The F.P. Range of super minicars has been expanded to include 3 new versions the P.C., the P.S. and the P90. All have powerful engines with a top speed of 170 kph and feature fog lights. If the weather is on the bright side, the roof folds down electronically. The F-P Range is being marketed as easy-to-drive city cars and is available in a variety of bright colours. Power-steering is useful for fitting into tight corners in the city. However, for long journeys the lack of space might be an inconvenience.

Space Gear.

MM has responded to the public demand for multi-purpose vehicles, with a range of exciting new models including the Space Runner. Space Wagon and L300. Now with the Space Gear (L400), MM goes a step further, offering a vehicle that combines the versatility and practicality of a van with the performance and comfort of a top-of-the-range car. The Space Gear comfortably seats up to seven adults, with seats that can be positioned in a variety of ways. Notable in the Space Gear’s design is a "semi-cabover", with the front of the passenger compartment situated over the engine. This allows for greater protection in a crash and very little wind noise. The front engine plan also allows for a totally flat floor, which makes the most of the interior space.

The road to ruin.

Reading and gap-filling

Read the text and fill each gap with one of these words.

Choice, stuck, century, crashes, huge, person, way, timetable, too, race.

The M25, the motorway around London, opened in 1986. Today people call it the biggest car park in Europe. Every morning on the radio we hear about jams, and road repairs, and (a) , and which parts of the M25 to avoid. One day soon we will hear 'There is a traffic jam all the (b) round the M25 in both directions. If you are driving to work, we advise you to go back home.

Winston Churchill described the car as the curse of the twentieth (c)______. This will probably be true of the next century, (d) . It can be very funny to compare advertisements for cars with the reality of driving them. Cars are symbols of freedom, wealth, and mascu­linity. But when you are (e) in a traffic jam, all cars are just little metal boxes to sit in.

5,000 people a year are killed on Brutish roads, and 40,000 are injured.

Cities and towns all over the world have a (f) problem, and no government really knows what to do. For once it is not a matter of technology which is stopping us. If we want to build two-level roads, we can do it. If we want trains which can travel at hundreds of miles an hour, we can build them.

The problem is a question of principle. Should we look to road or rail for our transport needs? Should the Government, or private companies, control them? And either way, who should pay?

The people who believe in roads say that cars represent a personal (g) to travel when and where you want to. But on trains and buses - public transport - you have to travel when the (h)____ says yоu can. These people think that if you build more roads, the traffic will move more quickly, but research shows that if there are more roads, there will be more cars to fill them.

By 2010, the number of cars on our roads will double. Environmentalists are saying that we should put more money into public transport. Cars often carry just one (i) the public transport system works, more people will use it. If trains carry more people, the roads won't be so crowded, and cars pollute the air more than trains.

By 2025, just to park all the cars in Britain will need an area larger than London.

One characteristic of the people of the twentieth century is that we are a (j) on the move. But it is just possible that soon we won't be able to move another inch, and we'll have to stay exactly where we are!