Tiếng anh chuyên ngành 2 urban transportation

UNIT 2 Urban Transportation PRE-READING TASKS
1. What does the expression “owning a car” make you think of?
Write several words or phrases that come to your mind.
……………………………………………………………………………………………
2. Discuss these questions with a partner.
• Is traffic a problem in your country?
• Does your country/ city have any laws or regulations to ban cars from the city centre?
• Why do you think the authorities introduce regulations to limit the number of cars? READING FOCUS
Focus on the newspaper: KEEPING TRACK OF EVENTS
A reporter often begins a news story by discussing a problem related to earlier events to
give background information or explain what caused or led up to the recent event. To
understand what happened, and why it is important to keep in mind the order in which things actually occurred.
1. Scan the article for time expressions. Write five more expressions with the para- graph number. in the 1960s, para. 1
2. Scan the article to find the information about the past and the future of traffic in Birmingham
Banning Cars from City Centres Will Enable Our Roads to Blossom
By Simon Jenkins January 16, 2020 1
By making inner Birmingham car-free,
council, all through-traffic is now to reach
the city has the chance to make amends for
a dead end or be rerouted to “an upgraded
the terrible mistakes made in the 1960s. ring road”.
5 The question, then, is what happens to
the acres of motorway crossing the city,
much of which must eventually go
begging? For that matter, what happens to
the similar roads that have long adorned the
downtowns of Liverpool, Glasgow,
Newcastle, Nottingham and elsewhere in a car-less future?
2 The great god Car is dead. The former
6 During the 1990s in the US, Boston faced
acolytes assembled in the British petrolhead’s
a similar challenge. Its elevated highway, a
chief city of Birmingham this week and
concrete slash across the historic downtown,
announced they never want to see bumper,
had become a congested disaster, dubbed
bonnet or wheel spoke again – with most
“one long parking lot”. After much debate
cars to be banned from a centre they hope
the city decided to cover it over, close
can become uncongested, unpolluted and
its exits and plant trees along the route,
green. This is true revolution.
naming it Rose Kennedy Greenway after
JFK’s mother. In England at the same time,
3 But what about the mess left behind?
Norwich radically reorganised its streets to
Birmingham in the 1960s and 70s savaged
make it impossible to drive across the city
its city centre to make way for cars. The
centre. It was a transformation. London’s
council razed at least half of its great
boroughs likewise “mazed” their residential
Victorian metropolis to the ground,
neighbourhoods. More recently, with
replacing it with a maze of flyovers,
traffic redefined from necessary nuisance underpasses and gyratories.
to toxic menace, Oxford, Bristol and York
have introduced bans on motor vehicles of
4 For several years in the late 80s it even varying degrees of severity.
staged the Superprix, a not-quite Formula
One motor race round the city’s inner road
7 London overall was saved from
circuit. Birmingham was car mad. Under
Birmingham’s fate by the sheer scale of
draft proposals from Birmingham city
its original ambition. Its post-war
planner, Patrick Abercrombie, declared the
linking Brindley Place – a rare truly
metropolis “obsolete, drab and dreary”,
handsome work of modern architecture –
and decided at least half of it should be
to its “creative” jewellery quarter with a
rebuilt to start again, with orbital and radial
version of New York’s High Line. But
motorways, and towers. The transport
most of Birmingham’s post-war roads are
expert, Colin Buchanan, proposed all
so wide they could accommodate whole
London pedestrians should go on to
avenues and squares of traditional terraces.
“podiums”, with the ground level dedicated
Or they could go informally medieval, with to traffic.
camping sites, street markets, displays and
entertainments, like Germany’s now
8 Podiums were tried at the Barbican in the
ubiquitous Christmas markets. Medieval
City, and have been largely deserted ever
towns around Europe are prospering.
since. People do not like being forced to
walk in the air. In 1973, public anger at
11 This urban revolution could precipitate
plans to turn Covent Garden and Piccadilly
a grand experiment, to show the world how
Circus into more Barbicans brought a halt to
a city with fewer cars can reinvent itself.
Abercrombie’s plans, but it was a close call.
British town planning has still not come to
terms with its category mistakes,
9 Birmingham is the city of my birth, and
performed at the twin altars of internal
I hate being ashamed of its appearance.
combustion and architectural modernism
Owen Hatherley, master geographer of the
in the second half of the 20th century. It has
UK’s “new kind of bleak”, calls the nation’s
staged no inquiry, there has been no apology
second city “a national embarrassment”.
for the staggering cost, both financial and
Now surely it has a golden opportunity.
communal, it inflicted on urban Britain to
Assuming it is successful in excluding make way for cars.
through traffic from its core, the obvious
next step is to use the bonanza of freed
12 There is no better time to make amends,
space for something else. If highways are
and no better starting point than
no longer sacred but heretical, the task is to
Birmingham. The city needs no longer be release their latent value. slave to the car.
10 Birmingham could go down Boston’s
route and simply plant trees. It could thread
its downtown with linear parks, perhaps
UNDERSTANDING THE ARTICLE
Read the complete text. Where do the following incidents happen? Write the names of
the cities/countries in the blank. 1.
The city centre was cleared to make room for cars. 2.
Motor vehicles of different degrees of severity were banned. 3.
Highways and a concrete slash are constructed across the historic city center. 4.
Motor race around the city happened. 5.
The streets were reorganised to make the downtown car-free. 6.
Pedestrians are proposed to go on to podiums. 7.
Medieval towns are prospering with markets, displays and entertainment. VOCABULARY WORK
1. Word search. In the article, find the words that share the same meanings as following words/phrases.
a. a dramatic change in appearance
b. a very large, often the most significant city c. too crowded or blocked d. completely e. a town
f. no longer used, needed or fashionable g. empty h. not obvious i. seeming to be everywhere
j. very shocking and surprising
2. Complete the sentences with one of the words you have found from Exercise 1. a. It takes a
cost to keep the museum open to the public.
b. Traditional retailing is in danger of being rendered by the internet. c. They propose a
different way of measuring economic progress.
d. The Swedes are not alone in finding their language under pressure from the spread of English.
e. As the world’s first great industrial , London was also one of the first to be badly polluted. EXAM PREPARATION TASKS
1. Words and phrases explanation
Explain the following words and expressions, as used in the article. a. the great God car
………………………………………………………………………………………… b. go begging
……………………………………………………………………………………………
c. from necessary nuisance to toxic menace
…………………………………………………………………………………………… d. sheer scale
…………………………………………………………………………………………… e. close call
…………………………………………………………………………………………… f. come to terms with
……………………………………………………………………………………………
2. Comprehension questions
Read the article and answer the following questions.
a. What was the terrible mistake made in the 1960s in Birmingham?
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
b. How did Boston solve its congested disaster?
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
c. How was London saved from Birmingham’s fate?
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
d. What options are they considering for the space of unused highways in Birmingham?
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
e. What does the author mean by stating “The city needs no longer be slave to the car”?
……………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………… READING FOR THE GIST
Summarize the article in ONE sentence using your own words.
……………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………… DISCUSSION PROMPTS
1. Do people in your country complain about traffic?
2. Do you think nowadays people are more dependent on cars than other types of vehicles? Why?
3. How does transportation affect the environment? How to reduce its negative effects? EXTRA READING
Free Public Transport is Great News for The Environment But It’s No Silver Bullet
By Ansgar Wohlschlegel January 18, 2019 1
When Luxembourg announced recently
car ride imposes costs on other people by
that all public transport in the country will
polluting the air and congesting the roads.
be free from next year, this radical move
Few of us would want to fully account for
was received with astonishment. After all,
these social costs when deciding whether
most nations would surely shy away from
to use the car to do the school run or the
putting such strain on public finances and
groceries. Therefore, people will often find
from antagonising those taxpayers who
that the benefit of another car ride exceeds don’t use public transport.
the private cost, even when social costs –
that pollution and congestion – exceed any
2 But supporting public transport is almost
social benefit. In other words, people will
always good for the environment. So, if the
use their cars too much from society’s point
finances add up, does this mean that the of view.
case for free public transport is a no- brainer?
6 The same reasoning applies for a person’s
choice between private and public
3 Economists like me view subsidies (or
transport. If I think about whether to take
taxes) on specific goods as ways to better
the car to get to work, I will compare the
align people’s decisions with what is best
benefits and costs to me with the next best
for society as a whole. The key question is
alternative, which may be to take the bus or
whether free public transport is a good way train. of achieving this.
7 Trains and buses emit far less CO2 per
4 When thinking about whether to buy any
passenger-kilometre (though a full car is
item such as a book or an apple, we usually
cleaner than a half-full bus). EEA
compare how much we enjoy using this
item with what we must pay for it. In most
8 But my use of public transport affects
cases, if the item is supplied within a
other people much less than if I travelled by
competitive market, the price that we pay
car: per user, public transport causes much
for something largely reflects society’s cost
less additional road congestion and air
of producing it, such as the use of natural
pollution than a car. Yes, if too many people resources or labor.
take the bus it may get overcrowded, but
once a specific service is consistently over
5 This is not the case for driving a car,
capacity, the bus operator can add more
however. In addition to our own private
services. But as most people base their
costs for petrol and wear and tear, every
decisions on their own cost on benefits
rather than those they impose on other
Furthermore, when cheap public transport
people, the decision between public and
induces commuters to leave their cars at
private transport will typically be biased
home, roads get less congested. However, against public transport.
this may make driving into the city more
attractive for people who otherwise would Why we have subsidies
have stayed at home, or more people may
choose to live on the outskirts rather than
9 The economic idea of subsidising
in the city centre if commuting gets more
public transport is to level the playing field convenient or cheaper.
between these options. If the subsidy is 12
equal to the difference in other people’s
This demonstrates a fundamental
cost of me driving the car versus taking the
dilemma of transport policy: as soon as
bus, my decision on the mode of transport
traffic problems are relieved, even more
will be aligned with society’s best interest.
people will want to travel. Therefore,
So, are the environmentalists right after
those who are sceptical of entirely free all?
public transport do have a point. An
alternative way of levelling the playing
10 Let’s have a look at Luxembourg.
field between car driving and public
Public transport in the small, wealthy
transport without inducing even more
country is already dirt cheap – a two-
people to travel is to increase the petrol
hour ticket with unlimited journeys is just
tax. Indeed, petrol prices in Luxembourg
€2 – but road congestion is still among
are markedly lower than in neighbouring the worst worldwide. It seems
Germany, Belgium and France, which
Luxembourgish commuters are still
may well contribute to Luxembourgers’
choosing to spend hours on a congested reliance on cars.
road, even though they could easily afford
13 In times of ever more alarming news the train.
about global warming, every car that
11 Partly this is because, in general,
won’t be driven as a result of free public
individual traffic is more convenient than
transport is an achievement. However, an
public transport, as car drivers can travel
optimal policy needs to carefully balance
independently of timetables, train lines or
subsidies for public transport use with
bus routes. Therefore, a denser network
petrol taxes and investments in the public
or more frequent timetable may be a more transport network.
effective way of getting people out of
their cars than an even higher subsidy. FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of free public transport in Luxembourg. Do
the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
Document Outline

• UNIT 2
  • Urban Transportation
    • PRE-READING TASKS
      • 1. What does the expression “owning a car” make you think of?
      • 2. Discuss these questions with a partner.
    • READING FOCUS
  • Banning Cars from City Centres Will Enable Our Roads to Blossom
    • UNDERSTANDING THE ARTICLE
    • VOCABULARY WORK
      • 1. Word search. In the article, find the words that share the same meanings as following words/phrases.
      • 2. Complete the sentences with one of the words you have found from Exercise 1.
    • EXAM PREPARATION TASKS
      • 1. Words and phrases explanation
      • 2. Comprehension questions
    • READING FOR THE GIST
      • Summarize the article in ONE sentence using your own words.
    • DISCUSSION PROMPTS
  • Free Public Transport is Great News for The Environment But It’s No Silver Bullet
    • Why we have subsidies