Table of numerical data (the first has been filled in for you)

City	Percentage of people using public transport	Percentage of people using a private car	Percentage of people using a bicycle
Detroit	1 %	99 %
Sydney
Frankfurt
London
Paris
Copenhagen
Toronto

Phrase bank

1. I can’t say for certain, but I believe….

2. I strongly believe that…

3. In my opinion/in my view…

4. Let me say, first of all, that…

5. I’m afraid I have to differ on this point/to disagree about/on…

6. To tell you the truth, I have very strong reservations/doubts

about…

7. I just don’t see the logic behind…, especially if one takes into

consideration that…

8. I would like to point out that…

9. I think I’m speaking for a lot of us when I say…

10. I don’t see the point in using/taking trips by…

11. To my mind…

12. It seems/appears to me that…

13. I am totally against/I strongly disapprove of/I completely

disagree with (the idea/suggestion/statement that)…

14. I completely/fully agree with/that…

15. I fully support the idea of…

16. I am entirely in favour of…

17. My personal feeling is that…

18. I think this idea deserves very careful consideration…

19. I suppose we should take advantage of …

20. That’s true up to a point, but…

TEXT 3

Travelling to Work in Britain (Presenting a survey results)

Scan the report on the results of a survey showing how British people travel to work every day. While scanning through the report fill in the gaps in the table.

As far as public transport is concerned, of all male respondents, thirty-three percent said that they preferred to use the train to get to and from work, which differs very slightly from a figure of thirty-two percent for women. Of course trains represent only a small part of all commuter services because the vast majority of people are employed in their own locality. Now, when it comes to that other great British commuting tradition – the bus – thirteen percent of men were willing to queue for the bus, as opposed to just seven percent of women. And for those who envisage themselves as needing to travel to work in luxury, taxis polled a mere two percent of male respondents, as opposed to seven percent of women who were willing to go to the expense of being driven to work, while the percentage of men that preferred to drive themselves to work was fifty-one, slightly higher than the figure of forty-nine for women. As for pedal power, men seem to be more inclined to go to work on two wheels, with eleven percent of them responding affirmatively to the question as to whether they would be prepared to get slightly breathless on the way to work, with a corresponding figure for women being only five percent. It would seem as though men, at least as far as the results of this survey bear out, are more willing to expend physical energy, rather than money, on their daily commuting.

When it came to the level of general satisfaction with public transport, men were generally “very satisfied” with the rail service, while women recorded a verdict of “moderately satisfied”. Respondents were less favourable to buses than to trains, with men being “moderately satisfied” with services in contrast to “total dissatisfaction” in the case of women. Of course it can’t be overstated that public opinion surveys of this type are extremely susceptible to erroneous results and are rarely a good basis on which to base public transport policy in isolation; there’s a whole range of social and other factors to be taken into consideration.

How do you travel to work every day?			How satisfied are you with the means of public transport you most regularly use?
	MEN	WOMEN		MEN	WOMEN
TRAIN	1)…………	32 %	TRAIN	very	5)…………
BUS	13 %	3)…………	BUS		not at all
TAXI
CAR	2)………….
BICYCLE		4)

When reporting the survey’s findings in front of the class use the following prompts and the suggested answer key patterns.

• most/least popular among(st)…

• more /less frequently used by…

• rarely used by either group

• satisfaction levels among(st) … are high/low/moderate

Suggested Answer Key Patterns

• According to the survey, the least popular way of getting to work for women is by … and for men by… .

• Buses are more frequently used to travel to work by… than by… .

• Bicycles are rarely used by… to get to work.

• Satisfaction levels amongst men are … with regard to rail transport

What do you think the results of a similar survey would be in your city or in Russia as a whole? As part of your independent reading home assignment present your own table in front of the class. Participate actively in discussion. Make use of the prompts and the suggested answer key below.

• would (not) be as/less/more popular…

• the corresponding figure would probably be in the region of…

• satisfaction levels would probably (not) be as high/low…

Suggested Answer Key

• Travelling to work by bicycle would not be as popular in Russia/my city as it is in the British survey.

• In my country, the percentage of men who travel to work by taxi is probably around 10 %. For women, the corresponding figure would probably be in the region of 3–4 %.

• The British survey indicates that men are moderately satisfied with the means of transport they use most regularly. In Russia/in my city, satisfaction levels would probably not be as high.