Elementary podcasts -> Podcast 07 Home -> Our person in ...
This page has the online practice materials for:
LearnEnglish Elementary Podcast Magazine No. 07
Section 4 -Our Person in...
You can listen online or download the podcast at Podcast 07 Home
You can also get print versions of the practice materials below in our Podcast 07 Support Pack (pdf file - 372 KB)
Need help?
This section begins when the counter on your audio player is on (approximately) 09mins.50secs
Section 4 is based on 'Our Person in...'. It helps you to listen to other people speaking for a little longer than they speak in a conversation, like a radio or television news report. When people prepare written reports, they are often a little more formal, and use more complex words and structures.
Suggestion: The notes here are to help you to think of things to say, and the best order to say them. Make notes and then join these together to make a paragraph. Why not send it to us?*
You listened to Susan Harold talking about the taxis in Cairo.
Can you tell people about the transport in your city or town? Maybe your city has trams, or ferry boats across a river, or a more unusual form of transport.
Think about these questions:
• What forms of transport do you have in your city?
• Describe the transport. Is it cheap? Expensive? Fast? Slow?
Modern? Traditional?
• How do you usually travel?
• How do most people get to work? By train? By taxi? On bicycles?
• If you have tourists in your city, how do they travel?
• What are the taxis like in your city? How do people pay?
Now put your ideas together to write a paragraph about the transport in your city or town. Go to the bottom of the page to do this.
Transcript
Our Woman in Egypt.
Susan: When I first arrived in Cairo, the capital of Egypt, 10 years ago, I was working as a teacher. I had lessons in different parts of the city and I had to take a lot of taxis – the underground in Cairo doesn’t cover many areas of this huge city. Black and white taxis are a familiar sight here and it’s a cheap way to travel but I found it very difficult.
The big question was – how much do I have to pay? I watched my Egyptian friends in taxis. They didn’t ask the driver “how much?” at the start of the journey, there was no meter in the car to say how much and they didn’t ask ‘how much?’ at the end of the journey – they just handed over the correct amount of money and walked away. “But how do you know how much to pay?” I would ask. A shrug of the shoulders, “We just know.”
Gradually, over the years, I have started to understand the payment system in Cairo taxis. There are several things to think about. How far are you going? How long will you spend in the car? What time of day is it? How many people are in the car? My Egyptian friends can make all the calculations and know exactly how much to pay without a word being spoken.
Unfortunately, the rules can be different for tourists. You might have to pay more if you travel to or from one of the big international hotels in the city. In fact, you might have to pay a little bit just because you’re a tourist. But don’t let that stop you taking taxis in Cairo. In my opinion, there’s no better way to really see the life of this amazing city.
Next:
Continue to: Practice materials: Section 5: your turn
Return to: Elementary Podcast 07 Home Page
top
| 
