Unit 20 :
Driving on the Freeways

 Pre- intermediate

Summary

To test your patience in terms of traffic.

  • Brain Storm : Share your ideas with your teacher. Try to make sentences.

Do you think people in your country follow the traffic laws that your government impose?

Vocabulary

Repeat the following words and phrases with your teacher and use them in a sentence.

  • battle(n)
  • aggressive(adj)
  • commute(v)
  • stoplights(n)
  • speed limit(n)
  • drawbacks(n)
  • passing lane(n)
  • pileup(n)

Dialogue

Read the dialogue aloud with your teacher.

Antonette

Anthony

Driving in a big city like L.A. can be very difficult. It sometimes feels like I’m doing battle just to get to the grocery store. 

What is it about getting behind the wheel that brings out people’s aggressive side? 

The most mild-mannered driver becomes crazy when they get on the road.

In L.A., people rely on the freeway to commute to their jobs or just to get around town.

I think driving on the freeway has its good and its bad.

On the one hand, there are no stoplights and the speed limit is over 55 miles per hour so you can get somewhere quickly. 

 On the other hand, there are drawbacks, too. People like to gun their engines and cut off other cars to get ahead.

If you’re driving in the passing lane, for example, you’d better be driving very fast, since most people are speeding. 

With all of these speeding cars, it’s not unusual to see a pileup every day of the week!

As an alternate to the freeway, I sometimes take surface streets. Of course, surface streets have their drawbacks, too.

If you have a long commute to work or school, it can take you a long time to get there. There are a lot of stop signs, stoplights, and crosswalks. 

And, people sometimes tailgate if they think you’re not going fast enough.

Now that I think about it, there’s sometimes even more congestion on surface streets than on the freeways!

It’s tough living in L.A. unless you never leave your house!

Let’s practice

Arrange the jumbled letters to come up with a word/ words. Definitions pf each word/words are given.

 1. etumocm
to make the same journey regularly between work and home

2. uplipe
traffic accident involving several vehicles

3. sackbward
a disadvantage or the negative part of a situation

4. ivessgreag
behaving in an angry and violent way towards another person

5. milti deeps
the fastest rate  at which you are allowed to drive in a particular area

Discussion：

Share your  ideas with your teacher. Choose ONE of the topics below then express your opinion on topic.

1. Do you prefer driving or riding public transportation?

2. What kind of car do you prefer?

3. Do you like drive at night?

4. Do you think cars should be banned from city centers?