The Road to Ruin

The M 25, _______________, around London, was opened in 1986. Today people call it the biggest car park in Europe. Every morning on the radio we hear about jams, __________________, crashes, and which part of the M 25 to avoid. One day soon we will hear: ‘There is a ___________________ all the way round the M 25 in ______________________. If you are driving to work, we advise you to go back home’.

Winston Churchill described the car as the _____________________ century. This will probably be true of the next century too. It can be very funny to compare _______________________ with the reality of driving them. Cars are symbols of freedom, wealth and _________________. But when you are ________ in a traffic jam, all cars are just little metal boxes to sit in.

5,000 people a year a killed on British roads, and 40,000 are ______________. For children, road accidents are a _______________________ of death.

Cities and towns all over the world have a huge 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 ___________________, we can do it. If we want trains, which can travel at _________________________, we can build them.

The problem is a question of principle. 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 choice to travel when and where you want to. But on trains and buses – public transport – you have to travel when the timetable 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 ______________. ___________ are saying that we should put more money into _________________________.

Cars often carry just one person. If the public transport system works, more people will use it. If trains carry more people, the roads won’t be so _________, and cars pollute the air more than trains.

By 2025, just to park all cars in Britain will need an area larger than London.

One characteristic of the people of the XX th century is that we are a race on _____________. 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! [Headway; p. 69].

XIV. Comprehension check. Answer the following questions:

1. Why is the text called ‘The Road to Ruin’? Give your reasons.

2. Why is the M 25 called the biggest car park in Europe?

3. Why does driving a car add masculinity to a driver?

4. Why do advertisements for driving a car differ gradually from the reality of driving it?

5. Why are the cars called ‘little boxes to sit in’ in the text?

6. What measures does the author of the text offer to make traffic on British roads less busy?

7. Will putting more money to the public transport solve the situation with overcrowded roads?

8. Discuss all possible ways to improve the situation on busy roads.

9. Write a complaint to your City Mayor about transport situation in Mariupol. In your complaint enlist every detail you would like to improve and possible ways to change the situation for the better.

10. Tell about the most usable and popular kind of transport among students. How do you get to your University? Is it the best way?

PART 2