W 11 - Elem

Elementary – Week 11 – How do you get there?

I)            Vocabulary: using transport

1)   Match the questions with Vijay’s answers a-e

1.   How do you get to the city centre?

2.   How do you get to the shops?

3.   How do you usually get to work?

4.   How do you get to your closest friend’s home?

5.   How do you get to the airport?

a.   Well, it’s a bit difficult to get there by public transport, so I usually walk. He rides a motorbike and that’s how he gets to my place.

b.   Well, I usually get the underground because it’s cheaper. But if it’s a business trip, I get a taxi.

c.    I drive because I usually buy more than I can carry.

d.   I get the train. I hate driving on crowded roads and it’s difficult to park in the centre.

e.   I cycle most days if I’m late, I get the bus.

II)         Listening:

1)   Listen to Vijav talking to his cousin Meera living in Lucknow, India. 

Is this his first visit to Lucknow?

2)   Are these sentences True or False?

1.   There are cash machines near Meera’s house.                                T / F

2.   Vijav wants to buy an English book.                                               T / F

3.   Universal Booksellers opens very early.                                          T / F

4.   It takes about twenty minutes to walk to the centre of Lucknow.      T / F

5.   Meera and Vijav decide to walk to the city centre.                            T / F

3)   Complete the questions from Meera and Vijav’s conversation with these words:

best       know             near        nearest             take             can

-      Asking where something is:

Is there a cash machine _____________ here?

Are there any bookshops here?

Where’s the ___________ rickshaw stop?

-      Asking how to get there:

What’s the ___________ way to get there?

____________ we walk?

Is there a bus?

-      Asking how far away it is:

How long does it ____________?

-      Asking when it’s open

Do you ______________ when it’s open?

III)       Reading:

1)   Joe Marshall rides a unicycle to work. Why do you think he rides a unicycle to work?

1.   He enjoys it

2.   It’s quick and safe

3.   He likes people looking at him

4.   It’s good exercise

5.   It’s good in traffic jams

6.   It’s cheap

2)   Read the article to check your ideas.

One-wheeled Wonder: the unicycle is the real king of the road

Forget public transport. For computer programmer Joe Marshall, the daily journey to work across one of the most crowded cities in the world is fun. “It’s like playing on the way to work,” he says.

It takes Joe 50 minutes to travel the nine-mile journey across London by unicycle. That’s about the same as it takes on the bus or the underground, and ten minutes quicker than by car. “Unicycles are slower than bikes,” he says, “but they’re the best thing in traffic jams because you can turn in a really small space. It’s great exercise, too, because you can’t stop moving. I have to jump up and down at traffic lights.”

But aren’t unicycles more dangerous than bikes? Marshall doesn’t think so. “Unicycles are safer than they look and easier to ride,” he says. “And drivers are more careful with me than with cyclists.” Long-distance unicycling is more common than many people think. “Someone rode across America a few years ago,” Marshall says. “That’s the longest trip ever on a unicycle. And last year a group of people rode across Norway.”

But what about all the looks you get? “You can’t worry about what people think,” he says. “Most of them are all right but I get a lot of comments, like ‘Where’s the other wheel?’ A few days ago, an old lady came up to me and said, ‘That’s really stupid. Buy a car!’”

3)   Who thinks unicycles are fun? Dangerous? Stupid?

4)   What do you think of Joe’s form of transport?

5)   Read the second paragraph and answer the questions

To get across London, what’s:

-      Quicker than a unicycle?

-      Slower than a unicycle?

-      The best form of transport when there’s a lot of traffic?

IV)        Grammar: Comparative and superlative adjectives

Complete the table with comparative and superlative adjectives from the article

adjective	comparative	superlative
1 syllable Quick Safe Long	+er ________________ ________________ Longer	+est The quickest The safest The ____________
2 syllables or more Careful Crowded Dangerous 2 syllables -y Easy	More … _________________ More crowded _________________ +-ier _________________	The most … The most careful The ______________ The most dangerous +iest The easiest
Irregular Good Bad Far	Better Worse further	The ____________ The worst The furthest

V) Homework:

What are the comparative and superlative forms of these adjectives?

Cheap ________________________

Busy _________________________

Clean_________________________

Expensive_____________________

Interesting____________________

Nice _________________________

Comfortable ___________________

Slow _________________________

Good_________________________

New__________________________