Hello and welcome to the Real Exam English podcast, this episode is about transport. It´s not the sexiest of topics this one, but it is definitely something that can come up in an exam and let´s face it, all of us use some form of transport in our day-to-day lives so it’s actually quite a good topic to cover. You´ll hear some great transport vocabulary, some nice idioms, tips on pronunciation and organizing your speech, plus a very interesting way of using the word really.
As usual you will hear a bunch of different accents and you can find details of how to get the transcripts over on the website realexamenglish.com
Ok, let´s get this show on the road:
What would improve public transport in your area?
I think, to be fair, London is quite good with public transport. We have trams and buses and tubes and you know and all this kind of stuff. So we are very lucky, but I think what would make it better from a kind of qualitative standpoint is if they could put some air conditioning in because winter, it gets ridiculously hot and it's not pleasant, but I think what would also be generally quite good is that the way that our tube system is set up. It's very easy to go from north….Northwest to northeast if you go into town, into the center and come back out again, but you can't just go straight across. It's much harder to get kind of a decent transport system that takes you from northwest to northeast without going into the center. So I mean, you can do it via buses, but that takes ages because London is massive. So it would be really nice to have some kind of network system that, that, that takes you from Northwest to northeast and similarly, from southwest to southeast without having to go via the center.
Ok, so London is a great place to start off today. She said they have trams and buses and, of course, the tube, which is the name of the underground system there. At the start, she said, I think, to be fair, London is quite good with public transport. This phrase to be fair is often used when explaining or making an excuse for why something doesn´t go well. For example, I didn´t pass my B2 exam, but to be fair I only had a week to prepare, or she lost her temper with the kids, to be fair she had only one hours sleep the night before, and her kids are little rascals.
We also heard some nice cleft sentences here, or what emphasis, by another name. So this is using What and the verb to be, like her examples what would make it better is if they could put some air conditioning, and what would also be quite good is the way the tube system is set up. This phrasal verb set up, in this context, means arrange or organise. Like, the classroom was set up for students when they got in in the morning, or it took a lot of effort to set up the concert.
Lastly, just some nice vocabulary to point out. She said the tube could be better from a qualitative standpoint. I love this, it sounds so much fancier than just saying the quality could be better. This would sound super in a formal writing like an essay, or maybe a formal letter, and definitely in a report or a proposal, make a note!
What type of transport is popular in your country?
Well, Australia is a massive country and there is a bit of public transport, but basically the most popular is cars. You, you drive yourself, or if you, you know, have a long way to go to visit people, or we need to go and then it's flying, you know, we do have some trains, but you know, you just can't get trains all over the place. So yeah, definitely cars and planes.
Which way of travelling would you choose in order to be more environmentally friendly?
Well, the way I see it is when we travel in Australia, if you wanna go overseas, you know it's always a long flight. So there's no avoiding that, but I would like to think that I make my footprint a little bit less, because we don't move around a lot when we get to a country, we like to stay in one place. And so that's my way of, you know, not driving or using short flights in in other countries, so.
Wow, so many fillers in these answers. She started off both answers with Well, then she followed up quite a few you knows, and also a few sos, and a so yeah. These are perfectly natural to use in everyday speech and it´s fine to have some of these in an exam, just don´t overdo it.
I liked her expression for giving her opinion in the second answer, the way I see it, really handy that one. She had this phrasal verb, to move around a country, it´s quite literal this one, to move from place to place within a country. Another similar one you hear a lot is to get around, a common exam question is what is the best way to get around your city, meaning what means of transport is best, like by car or bus or whatever. She mentioned she likes to make her footprint a bit less and not move around, her footprint here refers to her carbon footprint or her impact on the environment. Essential vocabulary these days.
What type of transport is popular in your country?
Car is number one I would say. We don't have a very good public infrastructure with….regarding transport. Probably in this area where I live in Cork City it's only buses. We don't have any metro system or any underground system and the bus schedule and system doesn't suit all areas and all people living in the city or county. So, I would say car is probably king, really.
Why do you think some people spend a lot of money to fly first class?
Oh I always wonder about that actually. I suppose for a lot of people they travel a lot and if you're traveling a lot with business or if you're in, you know, highly, well-paid job, highly lucrative profession, I suppose you need that level of comfort to be able to perform your job on the other end of the flight. I think that is probably why people would choose to 1st Fly First class and probably others just because they have too much money. I don't know, but I think for a lot of business, for a lot of business professionals and people going in different places for conferences and talks they need to be able to perform on the other side, so they need to be able to have a degree of comfort.
We had some transport vocabulary in the first answer, public infrastructure, the metro system, underground system, the bus schedule. This last word schedule is one that is pronounced differently in the US and the UK. And actually pronounced differently in different parts of the UK. In general, in the UK they say schedule and in the US schedule, schedule. This speaker is from Ireland and says schedule, however I´m from Ireland and say schedule. To make it even weirder she is actually my sister so god knows why we both ended up pronouncing it differently. Anyway, there is no right or wrong pronunciation, both are fine.
It should be pointed out that in the UK when you are talking about buses you would usually say the bus timetable, and in the US it´s more common to hear the bus schedule, but again there is a degree of flexibility with this.
Another interesting aspect of her answer was the use of really at the end of a sentence. I would say car is probably king, really. It´s almost like she is realizing something or admitting something she doesn´t really want to. Another example would be dinner wasn´t that nice, really. Or I´d prefer to stay at home, really. It´s a kind of softer way of giving the information, dinner wasn´t that nice is quite direct and cold, dinner wasn’t that nice, really, makes it a bit less definitive, a bit softer, and nicer.
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What's the best thing about public transport where you live?
The best thing about public transport where I live, Brussels in Belgium, is firstly the sheer amount we have, buses, we have trams, we have trains. Secondly, it's the reliability. Things are normally on time when something isn't running, normally there is a substitute. And thirdly, the frequency. You know, it's not perfect. It's not a 24/7 kind of public transport system, but near where I live buses and trams go often until after midnight during the week, which is fantastic, and it's actually a place where I've never had a car despite having lived here for 10. While the cycling lanes and ease of cycling isn't perfect, it's also a very hilly city. It is a, it is a place where I also cycle a lot, so I feel very privileged in that respect.
Which way of travelling would you choose, in order to be more environmentally-friendly?
My favorite way of travelling in an environmentally friendly way is travelling by train. This is because on buses and cars, I get travel sick when I do any kind of reading. On trains, that doesn't happen. And while I love flying and don't get travel sick, unfortunately the way it works right now is that it's not very environmentally friendly. I am increasingly trying to take trains more often as opposed to flying, but it's a bit difficult sometimes because often flying is not only quicker, but also much, much cheaper. But this is something that I definitely want to change in future.
Super answers here. The first one is organized really well. She introduces different ideas with firstly, secondly and thirdly. She also has a few relative pronouns, which, where and when. She has a whole bunch of linking words, so, but, while, because, not only….but also, despite…none of these are that fancy but the fact that there are so many of them adds a lot of complexity to her language.
I love this adjective sheer that she used in her first answer, the sheer amount of transport there is. Sheer is used to emphasize a feeling or a quality, like the performance from Taylor Swift last night was sheer genius, or your argument is sheer nonsense, I completely disagree, when I passed my C2 exam I felt sheer joy.
Lastly, some transport vocabulary to pick up on. She said she gets travel sick when she reads in the car. As the name suggests this is the feeling of nausea some people get while travelling, particularly on a bumpy road, or flight, or reading like she said. If it happens when you are on a boat or a ship then it is called being seasick, ugh I´ve been unlucky enough to experience that a bunch of times before, sheer hell!
Do you think we’ll see cities without cars in our lifetime?
I think that's going to be a reality we're already seeing. You know London, the last city I was in and Bristol, we're already seeing congestion charges there, bans on certain models of vehicles already. I think it's coming. Yeah, certainly. There's areas now you know they're pedestrianising more. And with pollution rising and I know we've got electric cars now, but I think, you know, we've had in many cities for a long time now we've had park and ride schemes. You know, you leave your car just outside the city and you jump on the bus or a tram to take you in and I think that's going to be more common. I think city centres are generally closing down, so there needs to be more, more to encourage people to go in there. You know, perhaps more pedestrian areas and things like that where…to encourage inner city shopping because it's all out of town and online.
Why do you think some people pay a lot of money to fly first class?
Because they don't like being cooped in like battery chickens I think. I haven't done it for a while, but I've flown to Australia and I've flown to the far coast of Canada, and they're long old hauls. And if I could afford it, if I had the money for first class, I would have taken it for the extra room. But if you're if, if you're just flying, I don't know say from Berlin to London, I think a fool and his money are easily parted.
Some nice transport vocabulary here, congestion charges firstly. These are the charges some cities have when you drive the car into the city centre, as a way of discouraging people to drive there. There are also bans on certain models of vehicles, like when big SUVs or older cars are prohibited from entering a city centre. Other cities are pedestrianizing more, nice verb, meaning, of course, to have more pedestrian areas, and then we had park and ride schemes, which is, as we heard, when you leave your car outside the city centre and get the bus or tram in.
There we heard a lovely metaphor, cooped in like battery chickens. To be cooped in or cooped up also, means to be confined in a small space. Battery chickens are chickens which are industrially farmed and are packed into a small space. So in the economy class of airplanes people are cooped in like battery chickens. Then right at the end he said a fool and his money are easily parted meaning foolish people spend money carelessly and will soon be left with no money. Another variation of this is a fool and his money are soon parted. Language like this is what is required at a really high level, like in a C2 exam, so if that is what you are aiming for make sure to study plenty of idioms and similes, as that is really one of the big differences between C1 and C2.
Ok guys, that´s about all for today. If you are already at that C1 or C2 level, good for you, that´s pretty amazing, give yourself a pat on the back. And if you´re not there yet then keep on working hard and no doubt you´ll get there. Keep the faith!
Trevor
