Unit 13. Traffic Part 1. Vivien

Ex. 1 Read the text and pick up the terms referring to the topic.

I think public transport in Budapest is pretty good. It certainly compares very well with the public transport in London. Whenever I go to London, I always com­plain about the transport. Last time I went to London, I was stand­ing waiting for buses thinking “If this were Hungary there would've been three buses here by now”.

I went with a Hungarian friend and I think she was quite dismayed by the really poor service. Hungarian buses are pretty good I think. I like the old style ones, the big ones with the articulated middle. You seem to be able to get anywhere in the city by using the transport system, as each tram connects with a bus or connects with an underground station. It's really well organized.

As I said before, the tube in London is really dirty, dangerous and deep. I always prefer to go overground rather than underground, and if I can avoid using the underground, I do. It may be quicker, but not necessarily, as often you have to wait for a long time at the station, or stuck in a tunnel, and sometimes it can be an hour before a tube comes and there’s just no explanation for why and, generally, London transport just seems badly organized.

Also, south of the river, there aren’t very many tubes stations, for example, if you live somewhere in Peckham in south-east London or even Blackheath, where a lot of people live, there're only buses, there's nothing else, no other public transport, and they say you always wait for hours for a bus and then five come along at once. I like the red double-deckers, but they've changed them recently. They used to be open at the back, and you could just leap on and off, so if you got stuck in a traffic jam you could just leap off, or if you saw one you could just run for it and jump on. They used to have a driver and a conduc­tor, but to save money they’ve decided to have only a driver now, so you have to pay the driver as you get on and this takes more time, because the driver has to stop and give the tickets. Also there are doors now so you can't jump on and off. So, I’m not so in favor of them.

There are no trams in London. There used to be, and I think they are talking about bringing them back again. Trams are an excellent idea, because they don't pollute as they are on electric cables, and they go quite slowly but are always so reliable, in Hungary at least. You only have to wait for five minutes and a tram comes along. It would be a really good idea in London, I think, to get some of the cars out of the city and convert parts of the road back into tram lines. Taxis are really expensive in London, black cabs especially. I hardly ever take taxis these days. Occasionally I do in Budapest, but cer­tainly not in London. I think my favorite form of public trans­port is the tram. Trolley buses are quite good as well, quite fun. I like being on them in the middle of thunderstorms. I always think the trolley is about to become live and get a streak of lightning through it and everyone will be electrified, but it hasn't happened yet.

When I was working recently near Octogon, my way to work would be either to walk to Deak Ter and then take the little underground, the oldest underground, which I quite like, or to walk up Andrassy ut, because it's a really nice walk and it takes 10 minutes to walk the whole distance to Octogon. At the moment I'm working at Deli Station, so I have to take the red underground line from Astoria to Deli.

That’s not very nice. It reminds me of when I worked in London and I commuted to Kilburn, to a translation studio, and I just felt like a part of a rat race. We all piled into the tube going like lem­mings over a cliff. It was always really full and people were so aggressive and anxious. I suppose it's not too bad to go to Deli Station. It’s always full at 9 o'clock in the morning, but if you get on at the back, you get a seat and the journey is very quick.

I learned to drive a car when I was 17, as soon as it was legally possible. My mum taught me. She gave me a lot of lessons. A couple of times, I went into the wall at the side of the garden but it was usually quite successful. We went to a local airfield, a disused airfield near our house, and I would drive around that and go along a kind of circular route through the villages where there wasn’t too much danger of knocking an old lady down.

Then I had four lessons with a profession­al driving instructor, so I learnt the tricks to pass the test and then I passed it and he said I was quite unusual having had so few lessons, but I learnt all the right things to do and when I had my test, it was in the middle of the rush hour, in the morning at 9 o’clock, and I think the examiner was quite impressed 'cause I drove quite fast through town, and he said that usually people are very cautious and they drive slowly, whereas the best thing to do is to drive more quickly, as it’s actually more dangerous to go slowly.

I would like to have a car in Hungary, particularly for the weekends, to go out on day-trips to the countryside or to go to Transylvania, to the places which you can’t get to by public transport. It’s different, however, living right in the center of town, because there’s no garage. I believe cars get stolen quite often, or vandalized. Also, of course, they pollute a lot.

There was a competition recently, a raffle, with a prize of a Trabant, and I hoped to win. When they eventually announced the winner, it wasn't me, but they suggested that whoever won the Trabant traded it for two years’ free public trans­port. I don’t know what I would've done if I'd won. They are really dirty and smelly, but I still think they're quite cute cars, quite dinky.

When I used to go to school, it was a long way away. The school was in town, so I had to walk up the road about a mile, or maybe cycle and leave my bicycle in a friend’s garden, and wait for the bus to come, the school bus. I had a season ticket for the school bus. It took maybe 20 minutes to get into town. Occasionally, I cycled all the way into town if I had time, if it was a nice summer morning and I was feeling energetic. It shows how fit I must have been then, to cycle 8 miles and then do my classes. I think it was downhill all the way into town, so it was worse coming back, going back up the hill.

Ex. 2 Suggest the Russian equivalents to the English ones: public transport, to stand­ waiting for, to be dismayed by something, articulated, to go overground rather than underground, to avoid, to come along, red double-deckers, to be stuck in a traffic jam, to be badly organized, to be open at the back, to leap on or off a bus, to be in favor of, electric cables, to convert roads back into tram lines, rat race, to go like lem­mings, a streak of lightning, to be anxious, to remind somebody of something, to be electrified, to get a seat, a disused airfield, rush hour, to be impressed, to learn the tricks, to go along a kind of circular route, through the village, to drive quite fast through town, to be very cautious, to get stolen, a danger of knocking an old lady down, to go out on day-trips to the countryside, to have cars vandalized, free public trans­port.

Ex. 3 Suggest the English equivalents to the Russian ones: жаловаться на что-либо, плохое обслуживание, обязательно, станция метро, ездить на работу в город, вваливаться толпой, крутой склон, вспышка света, предусмотрительный, лотерея, в конечном счёте, кто бы ни, застрять в метро, добираться наземным транспортом, уловка, тогда как, однодневная поездка, привлекательный, маленький, склон.

Ex. 4 Fill in the gaps in the sentences.

1. Everybody seems to be able … by using the transport system.

2. Vivien always prefers … rather than underground.

3. If Vivien can avoid …, she does.

4. It may be quicker to get anywhere by underground but not necessarily, as you …, and sometimes it can be an hour before…

5. If you got stuck … you could just …, or if you saw one you could…

6. It would be a really good idea in London to get … and convert…

7. The examiner was quite impressed …, and he said…, whereas…

8. …, it was a long way away.

9. The school was in town, so Vivien …, and wait for the school bus to come.

10. It shows how … to cycle 8 miles and then do her classes.

Ex. 5 Complete the sentences.

1. Whenever Vivien goes to London, she…

2. Vivien’s friend was quite dismayed by…

3. Transport in Hungary is really well organized because…

4. Transport in London is really badly organized because…

5. The red double-deckers used to be…

6. They’ve decided to have only a driver now because…

7. Vivien went along a kind of circular route through the villages because…

8. Vivien learnt the tricks during her driving lessons to…

9. It was in the middle of the rush hour when Vivien…

10. Vivien would like to have a car in Hungary to…

Ex. 6 Are these statements true or false?

1. Vivien is not satisfied with the traffic in Budapest in compare with public transport in London.

2. Vivien’s friends liked traffic service in London.

3. Vivien prefers going by underground as it’s the best service.

4. London transport is organized well. People who live on outskirts can use all kinds of traffic without any problem.

5. She is in favor of buses with doors. She thinks buses with doors are more comfortable.

6. Her favourite form of public transport is the bus. She thinks buses are an excellent idea.

7. Vivien is only learning to drive. She couldn’t learn earlier as it was legally impossible.

8. Taking driving exams is very stressful for Vivien, especially in the middle of the rush hour.

9. She doesn’t need a car in Hungary.

10. As her school was nearly she used to walk there.

Ex. 7 Answer the questions.

1. Why does Vivien always com­plain about the transport in London?

2. Why is Hungarian transport system really well organized?

3. Does Vivien always try to avoid using the underground?

4. Why did Vivien like the red double-deckers?

5. Why isn’t it efficient to have a driver instead of conductor for saving money?

6. Trams are a very fast transport, aren’t they?

7. Why are trams an excellent idea?

8. What about trolley buses?

9. What is her favorite form of public trans­port?

10. How does Vivien get to Deli?

11. Where did she work in London?

12. What does Vivien call a rat race?

13. Who first taught Vivien to drive?

14. Where did Vivien learn to drive a car?

15. What does she want to have a car in Hungary for?

16. How did Vivien impress her driving instructor?

17. Vivien won the Trabant in a raffle and sold it, didn’t she?

18. How did Vivien get to school?

19. Did she always cycle all the way?

20. Did she like cycling?

Ex. 8 Translate the sentences into English.

1. Она всегда жалуется на головную боль.

2. Экзамены пугают многих студентов.

3. Отвратительный сервис в гостинице расстроил меня.

4. Игорь опоздал на занятия, т.к. попал в “пробку”.

5. Нам не пришлось долго ждать трамвая. Он подошел довольно быстро.

6. Ребятам пришлось запрыгивать в трамвай на ходу.

7. Они целый год экономили, чтобы летом поехать в отпуск.

8. Ольге не по вкусу рок музыка.

9. Транспорт очень сильно загрязняет воздух.

10. Это была достоверная информация.

11. По крайней мере, они были правы.

12. Квартира была полностью переделана.

13. Многие москвичи живут за городом и ежедневно ездят на работу в Москву.

14. Она подготовилась к экзаменам по вождению и сдала их.

15. Вы должны быть очень осторожны, когда переходите улицу.

16. Мне бы хотелось иметь машину, чтобы по выходным на целый день выезжать за город.

Ex. 9 Give a summary of the text.