Getting Around
Reading 3 While you read
1 Vocabulary: How long does it take you to get to work Read this text about getting to work and see if it
(or university)? mentions things you thought of.
Complete the questions above with the words in the It drives me mad!
box.
I share a flat with a friend from work - Kate. She’s a
nice woman and we get on well, but there is one thing
close late trains
we always argue about: cars! She loves her car. She
goes everywhere on it. She’s even given it a name –
cycle traffic underground she calls it Jenny! Every day Kate drives to work and I
cycle. Kate thinks I’m mad. She says cycling is
1. It takes me 20 minutes on a good day, when there’s dangerous and dirty – you get all hot and sweaty – and
not much _____________. she thinks it’s hard and boring. Of course, the one
thing she never says is it’s slow. That’s because every
2. It take about 40 minutes. I have to change day she leaves the house 20 minutes before I do on my
__________ twice. bike. Most days, though, we arrive at work around the
same time, but quite often she arrives later than me,
3. I __________ most days. It takes half an hour. because the traffic lights weren’t working or because
there were road works or because of a car crash on the
4. It only takes me 5 minutes. I can walk it. I live very main road into town or because she couldn’t find a
_________. parking space. I can always cycle past these traffic jams
and problems, so it takes me more or less the same
5. It usually takes me about 20 minutes, but the bus time every day. I guess it can be a bit dangerous
isn’t very reliable. It often comes _________. sometimes, but only because there are so many cars,
and anyway, I’ve never actually had an accident or
6. It takes me half an hour if there are no problems on fallen off my bike. And of course, cycling keeps me fit,
__________. which is why I’m still a size 10 and she’s a 14, although
Kate doesn’t like it when I say it!
Now ask some other classmates How long does it take If I don’t travel to places by bike, I prefer to go on the
you to get to university? Try to use some of the bus or the train. It’s just more relaxing then going in
expressions above in your answers. the car. In the car, all you can do is listen to the radio
or listen to music, but on public transport, you can
2 Before you read read, listen to your mobile or watch videos, write
notes, watch lots of different kinds of people, or just
Make a list of the good and bad things about: sleep! Anyway, the thing Kate and I have been arguing
about most recently is the new charge car the council
1. cycling to work or university is going to introduce. They want to charge car drivers
2. driving to work or university £5 a day to go into the town centre. That’s £25 a week
3. using public transport to get to work or university if you work there! They say this will stop people
making journeys that they don’t really need to make. It
Compare your list with your classmates. Do you agree will make the streets safer, it’ll make the city safer to
with all of their ideas? Which do you think is the best walk in and it will cut pollution. Also, the council have
way to get to work or university? Why? promised to spend the money they make on improving
public transport. I think it’s a great idea. Kate, of
course, is really angry about it. She calls it robbery and
has said she’s not going to pay it!
Source: Innovations Pre-Intermediate (some adaptations)
Getting Around
4 Vocabulary focus Complete the answers with It’ll be +
comparative.
Match these verbs from the text with the
nouns they collocate with. 1. How shall we get there?
a. Let’s get the bus. _______________.
1. listen to a. public transport (cheap)
2. fall of b. your mobile b. Let’s get a taxi. _______________.
3. find c. my bike (quick)
4. improve d. a parking space c. Let’s walk _______________ and it’ll
5. go on e. at work probably be as quick as the bus. (nice)
6. share f. the bus
7. cut g. a flat 2. Do you want to go away this weekend?
8. arrive h. pollution a. No, let’s stay here. ______________.
(relaxing)
Can you remember what the writer said b. Yes. _______________ than sitting
about the eight things above? around here, doing nothing. (exciting)
c. Yes. _______________ than watching
5 Speaking football all day Saturday! (good)
Discuss these questions with a partner. 3. Where do you want to go on holiday in the
summer?
1. What’s the traffic like in your town or city? a. Let’s just go and see your family.
_______________. (easy)
2. Is there much pollution in your town or b. Let’s go to England. _______________
city? than here at that time of the year. (cool)
3. Do you think introducing a £5 charge for c. Let’s wait till winter. _______________
drivers would help the situation? Why/Why and it won’t be as crowded. (cheap)
not?
4. Can you think of any other ways to make Now respond to these questions using It’ll +
things better? comparative.
1. A: Do you want to get the train or shall we
6 Using grammar: comparatives fly?
B: Let’s _______________.
We often use comparatives when explaining
decisions. For example: 2. A: Do you want to go out for dinner tonight
or shall we cook something?
A: Do you want to write him a quick e-mail? B: Let’s _______________.
B: No, I’ll just phone him. It’ll be quicker.
3. A: Do you want to go to the cinema later or
A: We should call an Uber now. shall we just in and watch TV?
B: No, let’s wait until after six. It’ll be cheaper B: Let’s _______________.
then.
Source: Innovations Pre-Intermediate (some adaptations)
