Unit 1 city and city transport

The problem of urban transportation has become very important. A large number of new transport systems is known to have been proposed in the past decade or so. But before describing the new systems and their applications it is necessary to look back briefly to see how cities got their present layout? And what are the factors that have caused the present problems of urban transport.

The first factor is the growth of population. The cities developed as a rule because of the need for people to gather for mutual protection, for commerce and for education. In England since 1801 the rural population remained almost constant, while the urban population has grown by more than twenty times. The population growth of the last two decades has greatly enlarged the movement of passengers in big cities.

The second factor is changing distribution of population within cities. There has been a steady drift of population from the high density centre to the lower density suburbs. The increase and improvements of transport are believed to be the main reasons for this drift.

The third factor is the growth of private cars. To own a car has become not only pleasant, but in many cases simply necessary. However, car ownership leads to road congestion. The congestion is partly the result of the peaks in demand for travel to and from work and school, and at present it is usual for 25% of the whole day’s travel to occur in a two hour period.

Of course, transport is only a service industry, and must be coordinated with developments in communications and with planning. The first thing to do is to develop transport systems which are cheaper to install, cheaper to operate and aesthetically more acceptable than some of the existing ones.

Завдання 1. Прочитайте текст та надайте відповіді на запитання.

1. How many factors have caused the present problems of city transport?

2. How much has the urban population grown in England during the last two centuries?

3. Where is the density of urban population higher: in the centre of the city or in the suburbs?

4. When is the flow of travelers the biggest during a day?

5. How must transport be coordinated with?

Завдання 2. Доповніть речення згідно зі змістом.

1. The problem of urban transportation has become _____________.

2. What are the factors that have caused the present problems of ____________.

3. The steady drift of population is from the high density centre to __________.

4. To own a car has become not only pleasant but in many cases ____________.

5. Transport is a kind of ___________.

Завдання 3. Знайдіть у тексті a)синоніми та b)антоніми до наступних слів.

a) b)

синоніми:	антоніми:
1. many	1. expensive
2. 10 years	2. unacceptable
3. to increase	3. collection
4. necessity	4. stillness
5. to possess	5. low

Завдання 4. Виберіть речення, які відповідають змісту тексту.

1. The problems of city transport are always very important.

2. The number of urban population becomes less with each passing year.

3. The number of rural population increases greatly during the last two decades.

4. To have a car is convenient and sometimes necessary.

5. There are much more passengers in the city transport in the rush hour.

Завдання 5. Складіть речення з поданих слів.

1. The growth, the first, of, is, population, factor.

2. Population, the distribution, cities, of, factor, the second, is, within.

3. Of, cars, the growth, is, private, the third, factor.

4. Road, to, car, leads, congestion, ownership.

5. Must, systems, transport, developed, be.