2. City and town

The English have always been very particular about the words “city” and “town”. A city is a town which has a city charter (special right in self-government) given to it by the king, or is the seat of a bishop and has a cathedral. Thus, comparatively small places like Wells in Somerset and Chichester in Sussex are cities; and big industrial centres like Oldham in Yorkshire and Wolverhampton in Staffordshire are towns.

In America, all large towns are called cities.

3. Driving on the left

Do you know why Britain, Australia, Japan, Iceland and some other countries drive on the left? The British are said to drive on the left because in the days of highwaymen, the British traveler had to ride on the left to keep his sword arm ready and his unprotected side against the bank of the road.

On the Continent, a carriage had a position rider - a man who rode on the left-hand horse of the front pair when there were four horses drawing a carriage, or on the left-hand horse of a pair when there was no coachman. But usually he rode on the left rear horse, as it was easier to control the team from this position. If another coach approached, the position pulled to the right to view the clearance between the two vehicles.

4. The problem of transport

What are cities for – car or people? Do people without cars not matter at all? In some cities, such as Los Angeles, it is impossible to live without a car. A friend of mine used to live opposite a supermarket in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, the road was a six-lane motorway, and there was no way of crossing it. She had to drive two miles to a cloverleaf junction, where she was able to turn round, drive two miles back and buy her food. By the time she reached her home again, she’d driven eight miles to cross the road!

All large cities have the problem of transport. In some of them people think that the only way out is to forbid cars coming into the centre of the city. But then what will all the people do? There must be better public transport, with more buses and underground trains. Perhaps we will have monorails like in Tokyo. In London, Oxford Street, one of the most important and busy roads in the capital is closed to private cars, and lots of roads have special lanes for buses. This helps traffic to move more freely, and stops traffic jams.

Task I. Answer the questions.

1. Is it possible to live without a car in a big city?

2. Where does one need a car more, in a city or in the country? Why?

3. What is a traffic jam?

4. Do all large cities have the problem of transport?

5. Is it exciting to have a car?

6. Speak for or against cars and give your reasons.

Task II. Fill in the blanks with the given words.

Public transport, sliding doors, double-decker, destination, single-decker, escalator, platform, bus stop, inspector, taxi-rank, conductor, rush-hour, subway, driver, fare, tube, hail, coach, crew, metro check, meter, cab, lift, tip, rack.

A taxi, sometimes called a ___, is the most comfortable way to travel. You simply ___ the taxi in the street or go to a ___, where there are several taxis waiting, for example at a station. At the end of your journey, you can see how much the __ is by looking at the ___. You add a ___ to this, and that’s it. Very simple. But expensive!

What about taking a bus? If it has two floors, it’s called a ___ and you can have a good view from the top. If it has only one floor, it’s called a ___. Most buses have a two-person ___: the ___, who drives, of course, and the ___, who takes your money. Keep your ticket because an ___ might want to ___ it. You catch a bus by waiting at a ___. But try to avoid the ___.

Quicker than the bus is the underground (called the ___ in London, the ___ in New York and the ___ in Paris and many other cities). You buy your ticket at the ticket –office. Go down to the ___ on the ___ or in the___. The train comes. The ___ open. You get on. You look at the map of the underground system. Very simple.

For long distances take a train or a long distance bus, usually called a ___, which is slower but cheaper. The train is very fast. Put your luggage on the ___, sit, and wait until you arrive.

Task III. Find the Russian sentence in the right-hand column, which is close in meaning to the English sentence in the left-hand column:

1. Go straight as far as the first turning to the left.	а. Вы выходите на следующей остановке?
2. Take a No.2 bus.	б. Проходите вперед, пожалуйста.
3. You should get off at the next stop but one.	в. Сойдите на Театральной площади и садитесь на автобус № 2.
4. Ask the conductor to put you down in Park street.	г. Это прямо за углом.
5. A No.41 bus will take you right there.	д. Вам нужно выйти через остановку.
6. It’s a five minutes’ walk from here.	е. Боюсь, что это далеко отсюда.
7. It’s just round the corner.	ж. Садитесь на «двойку».
8. I’m afraid it’s a long way from here.	з. Идите прямо до первого поворота направо.
9. It’s very far from here.	и. Попросите водителя сказать вам, где нужно выйти, чтобы попасть на Парковую улицу.
10. It’s just two steps from here.	к. Это в пяти минутах ходьбы отсюда.
11. You’d better go by the underground.	л. Вам лучше проехать на метро.
12. Get off in Theatre square and change on to a number 2 bus.	м. В середине есть место.
13. Take the second turning to the right.	н. Это в двух шагах отсюда.
14. Go straight ahead till you come to Anichkov bridge.	о. Платите за проезд, пожалуйста.
15. Are you getting off at the next stop?	п. Идите прямо до Аничкова моста.
16. There is some room in the middle.	р. Второй поворот направо.
17. All fares, please.	с. Отсюда очень далеко.
18. Move to the front please.	т. 41 автобус довезет вас прямо туда.

Task IV. Read and translate the jokes.

1. Teacher: Johnny, why are you late for school every morning?

Johnny: Every time I come to the corner, a sign says “School. Go Slow”.

2. The woman motorist was trying to navigate a traffic jam. She rammed the car in front of her, then tried to back and knocked down a pedestrian. Then she tried to move over to the kerb and smashed into a hydrant. A policeman came up. “Okay, lady, let’s see your license”, he demanded. “Don’t be silly”, she grunted, “Who’d give me a license the way I drive?”