38 When you say “traffic problem”, what do you mean? Explain in one or two words:

a) read the text and fill in the gaps with one of these words.

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

TEXT 6B

The road to ruin

The M25, the motorway around London, opened in 1896. Today people call it the biggest car park in Europe. Every morning on the radio we hear about jams, and road repairs, and (1)____, and which parts of M25 to avoid. One day soon we will hear “There is a traffic jam all the (2)_____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 twenties (3)_______.

This will probably be true of the next century, (4)_____. 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 (5)____in a traffic jam, all cars are just little metal boxes to sit in.

5000 people a year are killed on British roads, and 40000 are injured. For children road accidents are a major cause of death.

Cities and towns all over the world have a (6)____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 twp-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 (7)____to travel when and where you want to. But on trains and buses – public transport – you have to travel when the (8)______says you 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 (9)____. If 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 0.people of the 20^th century is that we are (10)_____ 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!

curse – проклятие, бедствие

inch – дюйм

masculinity – мужественность

b) say whether the following sentences are true or false.

1 You can park your car on the M25.

2 There is often a jam all the way round the M25.

3 Winston Churchill thought cars were an awful invention.

4 Advertisements for cars don’t show the reality of driving.

5 We don’t have technology to find a solution to the traffic problem.

6 We need to decide what our principles are if we want to solve the traffic problem.

7 Some people think that the traffic will move more quickly if there are more roads.

8 Environmentalists think that public transport should be more expensive.

c) answer the questions:

1. What do these figures stand for? – 1986; 5000; 40000; 2010; 2025.

2. How is M25 called by people?

3. What information do people hear on the radio every morning?

4. How did Winston Churchill describe the car?

5. What have you learned about car accidents on British roads?

6. Does the government really know what to do?

7. Did the article mention any of the advantages and disadvantages of cars and trains?

8. What are the reasons for building more roads?

4. find key words and phrases in each paragraph;

5. fill in the chart below with the things about the car

Good things

Bad things