Bite Sized English

This is an entry in the “Public Transportation” series. You can find more information at the series’ main page. This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class. This entry includes a listening exercise. You can dowload the MP3 or play it using the button below. (MP3)

I told you yesterday that I was a big fan of public transportation. And I’m a big fan of learning the English used to describe public transportation, because it’s a big part of life for many people. Today, we’ll learn the vocabulary that we use to describe the public transportation that we use to get around.

Before You Listen to the Recording
Do you use public transportation? Think about the possibilities you have to get around in your city. Think about the possibilities that you have seen in other cities. How many of them can you name? How many of them do you use? In the recording, you’re going to hear some vocabulary. How many of these words can you use? Read the list of words, and then start the recording.

• Bus

• Tram

• Train

• Subway

After You’ve Listened to the Recording
How did you do? Was all of this review for you? They’re pretty basic words and you might have already known some—or all—of them. Can you use these words? Which of these forms of transportation do you prefer to use? Which do not like using?

Remember, if you post your answers as a comment here at Bite Sized English, I’ll correct your English for you.

Vocabulary

Bus: In many cities, there is public transportation offered by ‘long cars’ that can hold fifty to a hundred people. These buses travel on the road like cars do, and normally burn diesel fuel just like any other truck, but some are electric. Buses are, I think, the most common form of public transportation.

Train: Most of my students already know the word ‘train.’ A train is normally long, travels on metal wheels, and on metal rails. (Think of ‘rails’ as a ‘metal street’ made of two long strips of metal for the wheels to roll on.) Trains are a great way to get from one city to the next, if there’s a direct connection, and many countries have ‘high speed’ trains to help you get between big cities quickly. Sometimes, you’ll hear the term ’suburban rail’ to describe slower trains that run more often as part of a public transportation system. Suburban rail helps you get from the city to your home at the edge of or just outside the city.

Tram: In some cities there are special rails and special trains that run right on the street. These only go as fast as cars can go in the city, and they run like buses inside the city. We call them trams. I think a tram is more comfortable than a bus, and they seem to hold more people.

Subway: In New York, London and Paris, it’s possible to ride a train that runs underground, in tunnels. These trains are called subways. ‘Subway’ is the term for any train that mostly runs in tunnels (most subways run over the ground outside the city) but many cities have their own names for their subways. In Paris and Washington, they’re called the “Metro” and in London it’s called the ‘Tube’ or ‘Underground.’ In Berlin, they call their subway a ‘U-Bahn.’

May 19th, 2009 | Tags: bus, public transportation, subway, train, tram | Category: English One, Vocabulary, listening | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL