Transport. Vehicles is a general word for all types of road transport, e.g. buses, bicycles(bikes), coaches, motorbikes, vans, lorries etc

Railway stations

You may hear this announcement: The train now arriving at platform 3 is the 8.45 to London Paddington, calling at Swindon and Reading. Passengers for Didcot change (= change trains) at Swindon. We apologise to passengers for the late arrival of the 8.52 to Oxford. This train will now arrive at platform 6 in approximately 20 minutes. The next train due to (= timetabled to) arrive at platform 4 is 9.06 to Birmingham.

Buses

Sometimes buses are not very punctual (= they don’t arrive at the correct time). Where I live buses should run(= come) every ten minutes, but sometimes I wait at the bus stop for half an hour with a long queue (US= line) of people , and then three buses come together, and they are full up (= full of people, and no more people can get on). On the other occasion the bus is early and I miss it (= I don’t catch it. NOT I lost it.).

Words at sea

Traditionally sailors use different words at sea - a bedroom is a cabin, a bed is a bunk, the kitchen on a ship is a galley, right is starboard and left is port and the group of people working on a ship is called the crew. These terms are now used in the context of an aircraft. Sailors also refer to their vessels as «she» rather than «it».

Some more words connected with travel.

Last week he flew to New-York. It was an early-morning flight. The plane was to take off at 6 a.m. and land at 7 a.m. local time. He was stranded at the airport overnight. The plane was delayed by fog. Air passengers often suffer such delays.

Trains always run on time here. You have to change trains at Crewe.

We are sailing on the QE2. It sets sails at noon. It will dock in New-York at 6 p.m. and we shall disembark as soon as we can.

The ship was wrecked and the passengers were marooned on a desert island.

Our car does 10km to the litre. It goes quite fast and we can usually overtake other cars.

The car swerved into the middle of the road to avoid the cyclist.

He backed the car into the drive and parked it in front of the house.

Exercises

a.   Cross out incorrect words in these sentences:

b.   You mustn’t drive/ ride a motorbike without a crash helmet.

c.   She told him to get on / get in the car and fasten  his seat belt.

d.   Bus fares/ tickets are getting more expensive.

e.   Trains to the airport run/ travel every half hour.

f.   The pilot couldn’t drive/ fly  the plane in such a bad weather.

g.   Have a look at  the train timetable/ schedule to find out when the next one arrives.

h.   We were late, so we had to take/ catch a taxi.

i.   I left my house a bit late and I lost/ missed the bus.

j.   Write down two different words that can combine with each of the following words below.

Example: miss  the bus; the train

c.   Fill the gaps with the correct word.

d.   Our train leaves from ______________ 7.

e.   I waited at the ______________ for ten minutes, and then two buses arrived.

f.   I couldn’t get on the first bus because it was _________.

g.   The train was half an hour late. I think the reason for the late  ______________ was bad weather.

h.   Buses are not very _________. Sometimes they come every five minutes, then other times you have to wait  for forty minutes.

i.   When I got to the ____________  there was a long __________ of people.

j.   The flight was fine but we had a terrible __________ from the airport to our hotel.

k.   I think the next train is ________ to arrive in about ten minutes.

l.   Are these statements true or false in your experience?

m. Trains are more reliable than buses.

n.   Train fares are more expensive than bus fares.

o.   Train journeys are more interesting than bus journeys.

p.   Railway stations are usually more comfortable places than bus station.

q.   You get to the place you are going faster by taxi than by the underground.

r.   1. Here are some lines from conversations on different kinds of transport. Where does every conversation take place? Choose from the box:

    car   train   bus   taxi   underground   plane  ferry

e.   2. Match each above statement  with a reply.

a.  Look! You drive and I’ll navigate from now on! Right?

b.   Yes, of course. Hop in!

c.   Would you mind getting me a sandwich as well?

d.   I’m terribly sorry. We didn’t notice that they were reserved.

e.   Yes. We beginning our descent soon.

f.   Well, the forecast is good, so it should be very smooth.

g.   One pound eighty, please. Just sit near me and I give you a shout.

h.   The Jubilee Line to Green Park. Then change to the Victoria Line.

i.   Thanks a lot. Do you want a hand with those bags?

Advantages and disadvantages

1.   Read these notes about travelling by train.

2.   Now read the text and put  the linking words on the right in the correct place in each paragraph. The linking words are in the right order. What is the purpose of each paragraph?

The advantages and disadvantages of travelling by TRAIN.