#0287 – A Traffic Jam, - Ang, mater, ESL Podcast McQuillan Jeff mp3+PDF
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English as a Second Language Podcast
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ESL Podcast 287 – A Traffic Jam
GLOSSARY
traffic jam –
when there are so many cars on a road that they move very slowly,
or cannot move at all
* There are traffic jams every morning on many of the freeways in Los Angeles.
congested –
with many cars that are moving very slowly, without very much
room between cars
* Main Street is congested at this time of day. Let’s drive on a different road.
bridge –
a part of a road that is built over water or another road so that cars or
people can cross over
* The city of Eugene is building a new bridge over the Willamette River.
to have no choice but to… –
to be forced to do something; to have no other
option but…; to have no choice to do anything except…
* We were lost in the forest, very hungry and tired, but we had no choice but to
continue walking to try to get home.
bumper-to-bumper –
with very little space between cars, so that their “bumpers”
(the long pieces of metal on the front and back of a car) are almost touching
* When I’m driving in bumper-to-bumper traffic, I have to pay attention because if
the car in front of me stops suddenly, I’ll have to stop very quickly, too.
shoulder –
the side of a road, where cars should not drive; the side of the road,
where cars can stop if there is an emergency
* Too many people throw their garbage onto the road’s shoulder.
backup –
the area where cars are moving slowly or not at all because there is
too much traffic
* We heard on the radio that there’s a big backup on the freeway, so we’re going
to wait a few hours before starting to drive home.
to bypass –
to go around something
* You can bypass the construction if you drive down Lincoln Street.
stalled car –
a car that has stopped working while it is on the road
* The other cars are honking because there’s a stalled car in the intersection and
it’s blocking traffic.
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ESL Podcast 287 – A Traffic Jam
rubbernecker –
a person who slows down his or her car to look out the window
and see an accident, making the cars behind it slow down
* Let’s not be rubberneckers! When we pass that accident, let’s look straight
ahead and continue driving at a normal speed.
road construction –
the process of fixing a road, usually requiring that all or part
of the road be closed temporarily
* There’s a lot of road construction on Highway 58, because the government is
making it wider.
lane –
the space between painted lines on the road that is meant for one line of
cars
* Slower cars should be in the right-hand lane, and faster cars should be in the
left-hand lane.
stop-and-go traffic –
cars that move a short distance, then stop, then move
another short distance, then stop, and so on
* In the stop-and-go traffic, it took me 50 minutes to get home, when it usually
takes only 15 minutes.
at my wit’s end –
very frustrated; desperate; feeling like one will go crazy
* After spending more than eight hours in a classroom with 30 noisy six-year-
olds, I was at my wit’s end!
recklessly –
not carefully; without being cautious; dangerously
* Timothy was in a car accident because he was driving recklessly.
to make up for lost time –
to do something quickly because one was delayed
and wasn’t able to do it earlier
* The team had to work on some other things last week, so now it’s making up for
lost time, staying at the office very late to finish the project.
to stand (someone) up –
to not meet someone when one is supposed to,
especially if the two people arranged a romantic date
* Tanya waited at the restaurant for 30 minutes before she realized that Dorian
had stood her up.
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English as a Second Language Podcast
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ESL Podcast 287 – A Traffic Jam
COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
1. Why was there a traffic jam?
a) Because the bypass was closed.
b) Because people were fixing the road.
c) Because the rubberneckers had an accident.
2. Why was the man in the story at his wit’s end?
a) Because he was frustrated about the slow traffic.
b) Because he was at the end of Wit Road.
c) Because he wanted to take the bridge downtown.
______________
WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?
bridge
The word “bridge,” in this podcast, means a part of a road that is built so that cars
or people can cross over water or another road: “Everyone has to cross a bridge
to get into Manhattan.” “Bridge” is also a card game: “Do you want to come over
for a game of bridge tonight?” Another meaning of “bridge” is something that
connects two things: “Junior high school is a bridge between elementary school
and high school.” As a verb, “to bridge” means to build a bridge: “Let’s use this
log to bridge the stream.” The phrase “to bridge the gap between (something or
someone)” means to make the difference between two things or people become
smaller: “The Internet is bridging the gap between people who traditionally had
access to information and those who didn’t.”
shoulder
In this podcast, the word “shoulder” means the side of a road, where cars
shouldn’t drive: “When there isn’t a bicycle lane, cyclists usually ride on the
shoulder.” A “shoulder” is also the part of one’s body at the top of one’s arm and
next to one’s neck: “Casey is carrying a heavy backpack on his shoulders.” As a
verb, “to shoulder (something)” means to accept doing something even though
it’s difficult: “When her Mom died, Beth shouldered the responsibility of taking
care of her younger brothers and sisters.” Sometimes people offer a friend “a
shoulder to cry on,” meaning that he or she feels sympathetic toward another
person and is willing to listen to him or her talk about a problem.
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these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
English as a Second Language Podcast
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ESL Podcast 287 – A Traffic Jam
CULTURE NOTE
Large U.S. cities have many traffic jams, especially during “rush hour,” when
there are more cars than usual on the road because people are driving to and
from work. Some cities are trying to “address” (find solutions for) these problems
by building more and bigger roads, but this is expensive. Other cities are trying
to “reduce” (decrease) traffic by using toll roads, carpool lanes, and/or mass
transit.
“Toll roads” are roads where drivers must pay a “toll” (an amount of money paid
to do something) to drive on them. These tolls may be a few dollars, so poorer
drivers often decide to use a different road. This means that there are fewer cars
on the toll roads, and therefore fewer traffic jams.
Some cities want people to “carpool,” or share their cars with other people who
are going to the same place. In these cities, people who carpool by having a
certain number of people in their car are allowed to use “carpool lanes.”
Because few people carpool, the carpool lanes have fewer cars than the regular
lanes do, so there are fewer traffic jams and these people can drive more quickly.
Cars that use the carpool lanes without having enough people in the car can be
stopped by the police and forced to pay a “fine” (an amount of money paid as a
punishment).
Finally, other cities are trying to improve their “mass transit” systems of busses,
trains, and subways that move people around a city. Most U.S. cities do not
have good mass transit systems. People have to wait a long time for busses,
and busses go to only a few places in a city. But cities are trying to find the
money to make their mass transit systems better.
______________
Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – b; 2 – a
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English as a Second Language Podcast
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ESL Podcast 287 – A Traffic Jam
COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 287: A Traffic Jam.
This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 287. I'm your host, Dr.
Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in
beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Remember to visit our website at eslpod.com to download a Learning Guide for
this episode.
This episode is called “A Traffic Jam.” It’s a story about someone who gets on
the road to drive, and finds that there are many other cars there that are slowing
traffic down. Let’s get started.
[start of story]
I was on my way to a restaurant to meet my date for dinner when I hit a traffic
jam. I saw that the road was congested, but since I had to take the bridge to
reach downtown, I had no choice but to stay on that road.
The traffic was bumper-to-bumper. One crazy driver even tried to drive on the
shoulder to get around the backup. But as it turns out, there wasn’t any way to
bypass it because the backup wasn’t due to an accident, a stalled car or some
rubberneckers. It was because of road construction and only one lane was open.
After 25 minutes of stop-and-go traffic, I was at my wit’s end. My date was sitting
at the restaurant waiting for me and I didn’t have her cell phone number. What’s
more, I was really hungry.
Finally, I got past the road construction and was on my way again. I drove a little
recklessly, but I had to make up for lost time. I really liked this girl. The last thing
I wanted was to make her think that I stood her up!
[end of story]
Our story is called “A Traffic Jam” (jam). A “traffic jam” is when you have too
many cars on a road, and that causes them to move very slowly or not move at
all. So, if you have too much traffic – too many cars – you have a “traffic jam.”
Here in Los Angeles, we have lots of traffic jams almost every day.
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These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2007). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
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