Read the text.
Busy roads
Drivers in the UK are very angry at the moment! This is because they are soon going to have to pay more to use the roads.
In the UK, as in many countries, there are more cars on the roads every day and this is causing problems. People want to live in the country and travel to work in the towns and cities but the result is busier roads and more traffic jams.
One way to help the problem is for drivers to pay for the different roads they drive on. For example, a driver on a motorway will pay more than a driver on a country lane. But drivers are not happy. One driver, Harry Smith, says, ‘We have to use these roads to get to work. The trains and buses aren’t very good so we don’t have a choice. We have to drive. We already pay a lot for petrol. The government just wants more!’
Busy roads are definitely a problem but drivers certainly don’t think that this idea is the answer.
Are the sentences true or false?
1 Cars are going to be more expensive. ___
2 More people are using country roads. ___
3 A lot of people travel a long way to work. ___
4 Drivers think paying to use roads is a good idea. ___
Read the text.
A gift to remember
Are you looking for a gift that is different? Perhaps you don’t want to give your best friend or your mum and dad the same presents as everyone else does. What can you buy that they will always remember? Why not get them an ‘experience gift’?
The presents that people give have changed a lot in recent years and there has been a big rise in the number of people giving ‘experience gifts’ to celebrate those special occasions. This can be a flying lesson in a helicopter, a day on a race track, an afternoon in a hot air balloon or one of many other experiences that companies are advertising.
These experiences are usually very exciting. An 80-year-old man celebrated his birthday by flying a Tiger Moth, an aeroplane from the 1930s. When he landed he said, ‘That was a fantastic experience! I’ve always wanted to go in a Tiger Moth. I never thought I could learn how to fly one. For my 90th birthday I want to drive a Ferrari round a race track!’
Luckily, the cost of an ‘experience gift’ always includes insurance!
Choose the best answers.
1 People today look for presents
A the person will like.
B the person needs.
C the person will remember.
D they would like themselves.
2 An ‘experience gift’
A is a special party.
B is a book about the person’s life.
C is very expensive.
D is usually something the person hasn’t done before.
3 You can
A buy an ‘experience gift’ from a shop.
B buy an ‘experience gift’ from a company.
C arrange an ‘experience gift’ yourself.
D buy some very cheap ‘experience gifts’.