Episode 82 B

EPISODE 82 B
LEVEL B2

 

READING COMPREHENSION 

 

UNDERGROUND           

While skyscraper (=  a very tall modern building) offices and elegant apartment blocks remain the public face of most major cities, these cities also have a mass of secret tunnels and hidden pipes below ground which keep everything working. This other world exists beneath (below or under)many of our greatest cities, forgotten or neglected (= not to give enough care) by all but a tiny number of engineers and historians.

For instance, there are more than 150 kilometres of rivers under the streets of London. Most have been covered over, all that remains in their names. Perhaps the greatest loss to the city is the River Fleet, a once great river which previously had beautiful houses on its banks (= sloping raised land esp along the sides of the river). It now goes underground in the north of the city and flows into the River Thames.

The London Underground has 1000 kilometres of underground railway track winding (= to follow a route which bends repeatedly in different directions) under the capital and more than 100 stations below street level. Along some underground railway lines, commuters can sometimes catch a brief (= quick) glimpse (=  seeing sth )of the platforms of more than a forty closed stations which have been left under the city. Although some are used as film sets , most lie forgotten. Some have had their entrances on the street turned into restaurants and shops, but most entrances have been pulled down (= destroyed).

 Interestingly (= it is interesting), there is also a special underground post office railway that provides a link between east and west London postal centres. On 9 January 2013, London Underground celebrated 150 years since the first underground journey took place between Paddington and Farringdon on the Metropolitan Railway. During 2013 Art on the Underground will present a programme that includes a major commission (= formally chosen to do a particular piece of work) by artist Mark Wallinger whose project Labyrinth brings a new artwork to every station on the Underground. It will also commission 15 leading contemporary (= modern) artists to create an image as one in a set of 15 artworks as a lasting visual legacy (= something that is a part of a history) for the anniversary (= a celebration of the day on which an important event happened). Other activities include screenings of London Underground themed films from the British Film Institute (BFI) archive at Canary Wharf station and two new Tube map cover commissions.

 

EXERCISE 1 

Decide if the sentences below are true of false. Correct the false ones.

1. The London Underground has 2000 kilometres of underground railway track winding under the capital.
2. There are more than 100 stations below street level.
3. There are more than 1500 kilometres of rivers under the streets of London.

 

EXERCISE 2

Typical verbs of transport:

BOARD   DISEMBARK (FROM)   GET INTO   GET OUT OF   GET ON   GET OFF

Fill in the sentences with an appropriate verb:

1. When the bus finally arrived, I wasn’t able to ……………………… because it was full.
2. The quickest way to get to Harrods is by Underground. Take the Piccadilly line and ……… at Knightsbridge.
3. Passengers can …………………… from the front or rear doors of the aircraft.
4. ………….. the taxi, She told the driver where she wanted to go.
5. Kate …………………. her car, locked the doors and walked into the shop.
6. Will any remaining passengers for BA flight 456 to Nice please ……….. the plane now.

 

ENGLISH IN USE  

In English you can use a lot of COMMENT ADVERBS to include a comment or opinion about what is being said or written.

Interestingly (= it is interesting), there is also a special underground post office….

It was probably a misunderstanding.

Surprisingly , he failed.

I’ll refund the cost, of course.

Obviously, someone forgot to lock the door.

Fortunately, no one was injured.

We’re seriously thinking about moving to the countryside.

 

Other COMMENT ADVERBS:

ACTUALLY, APPARENTLY, CERTAINLY, FRANKLY, HONESTLY, NO DOUBT, PRESUMABLY, SADLY

 

EXERCISE 3

Think about travelling by train, bus or plane the last time and tell a story using all possible adverbs of comment.

 

IDIOM CLOSE-UP

 

A TRAIN OF THOUGHT = A SERIES OF CONSECUTIVE THOUGHTS

Oh no, I’ve lost my train of thoughts. Can you repeat, please?

 

PHRASAL VERBS CLOSE-UP

EXERCISE 4 

BLOCK SB IN = stop sb from moving their car out of a place
CUT IN = (of a vehicle) move suddenly in front of another vehicle, leaving little space between the two cars.

You came out of the shop to find that another car has double-parked and blocked you in.

You are in a steady stream of traffic, but there is always someone trying to cut in in front of you.

 

NEWS

„50 Interesting Facts about the London Underground

The London Underground is an institution in London, and anyone who’s ever been to the city has undoubtedly used “the tube” at some point or another. Love it or hate it, here are 50 facts you probably didn’t know!

1. An average of 2.7 million tube journeys are made on the tube each and every day.
2. With a statistic like that, you’d think many people might have inadvertently given birth while travelling on the tube. Yet only three babies have ever been born in the London Underground. The first (a girl) was in 1924, the second (also a girl) on the 19th of December 2008 and the third, the first boy to be born in the Underground, in May 2009.
3. The busiest station is Victoria, with 76.5 million passengers a year.
4. During the three-hour morning peak however, Waterloo is busiest, with around 50 000 people entering. 
5. Around 19 000 people work at the London Underground. 
6. Early in 1987 smoking in the stations and trains was banned for a six-month trial period and then permanently after a discarded match started the King’s Cross fire in November 1987, killing 31 people.”

Undoubtedly = there are no doubts
Inadvertently = done unintentionally
Peak = the time when sth happens at its highest or greater level
Trail period = a period of time to test sth
Discard = to get rid of sth you don’t need , here- thrown

 

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