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B1 - Simple technical English


The Car of the Future ?


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         Is this "snail car" the car of the future ?  It does not resemble any of the cars we use today, and indeed it is very different.... and totally high-tech.  But you won't see a car like this on the roads tomorrow. The future is coming, but not quite so fast.

Car of the future?    Is this "snail car" what tomorrow's car will look like ?
    Here is the car of the future!     This car is the opposite of todays' cars; today's cars are noisy and dirty, this one is silent and clean. Today's cars have wheels, this one does not. It moves like a snail, but much faster than a snail !
    This car will use electric energy, not petrol or gasolene; it will have batteries that can be recharged instantly from chargers in the road. It will also be very easy to drive.
    In fact, you won't need to drive it; it will drive itself. You will just need to tell the computer: "Go to X" and the car will go there. Also, it will reach X very quickly, much faster than today's cars. It will also be very safe and comfortable.
    A lot of the technology already exists, but it is very experimental.  Already today scientists are developing new materials for the surface of roads: In fifty years from now, perhaps sooner, some new roads will capture solar energy : they will store this energy under the road, and some cars will be able to use it.
    However you probably won't ever drive a "snail car", even if you're under 20 today. This, perhaps, is the car of the year 2100, the car that your grandchildren will maybe drive.
    Driving will be nice in the 22nd century ! No pollution, no traffic-jams, no stress.
    If, of course, we reach the 22nd century....With all today's problems of global warming, pollution, viruses and natural resources, nothing is certain any more. Scientists have lots of ideas about the car of the future: but the future itself is perhaps less sure.....


Word guide
WORDS
are noisy : they make a lot of noise - snail: look at the picture - petrol or gasolene: In Britain people say petrol, in the USA they say gasolene. It is the same. - capture : catch, absorb - traffic jams: when there are so many cars that they all stop.


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Student Worksheet

The Car of the Future?

Interactive exercise
Put back the twenty missing words in this extract from the article.  Some test your vocabulary, others will test your grammar !


Here are the words you will need to use. However take care; this list contains twenty-five words, so there are five words that you will not need to use.  You can select a word with your mouse or fingers and slide it into a box.

as  already   always   can  dirty    easy   even    ever   experimental   faster  from   itself  like  maybe  of  say     silent   tell   than  that  there  this  to   today's   today's   wheels 
     This car is the opposite of cars; cars are noisy and , this one is and clean. Today's cars have , this one does not. It moves   a snail, but much faster  a snail !
    This car will use electric energy, not petrol or gasolene; it will have batteries that be recharged instantly from chargers in the road. It will also be very   drive.
    In fact, you won't need to drive it; it will drive . You will just need to the computer: "Go to X" and the car will go . Also, it will reach X very quickly, much than today's cars. It will also be very safe and comfortable.
    A lot of the technology  exists, but it is very .  Already today scientists are developing new materials for the surface of roads: In fifty years  now, perhaps sooner, some new roads will capture solar energy : they will store   energy under the road, and some cars will be able to use it.
    However you probably won't drive a "snail car", if you're under 20 today. This, perhaps, is the car of the year 2100, the car that your grandchildren will drive.

   

Ideas for teachers

The Car of the Future?

Comparing: Have students take a sheet of paper, and divide it into two columns. In one column, they should write down characteristics of one of today's cars; in the other, comparable features of the "car of tomorrow". Some are mentioned in the text, others can be observed from the photo; still more can be imagined.
Explaining: Ask students to describe or define: dirty, silent, a wheel, electric energy, petrol, a battery, a charger, a computer, great-grandchildren,  global warming, natural resources, the ozone layer.
All these words, or the concepts they represent, are understandable; defining them is altogether a different task! Some are easy, others not!
Creative writing: Leading to an oral presentation.  We are in the year 2100, and the snail car has just been shown to the media. Working in pairs, students should write a short report about the new car. They have one minute (or at most two) on "classroom radio" to present it.

 



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This teaching resource is © copyright Linguapress
Revised 2021 . Originally published in Freeway, the intermediate level English newsmagazine.


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EFL teachers: Help develop this resource by contributing extra teaching materials or exercises.
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A Linguapress.com
easy intermediate English resource
Level - Intermediate.
CEFR LEVEL :   B1 intermediate
IELTS Level 4 -  5 
Flesch-Kincaid  scores
Reading ease level:   74  Easy  
Grade level: 6.5


Target readers: teenagers, young adults




A selection of other resources in graded English
from Linguapress
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Elizabeth II, the Queen who almost wasn't with audio
Just who are the English ?
Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night
USA - Who killed Martin Luther King?  with audio
USA - Midnight basketball
USA - Discovering Route 66   with audio
USA - Los Angeles - city on the brink with audio
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Advanced level short stories:
From the USA  For Elise with audio
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Short story: The girl in the denim jacket   with audio
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Online English grammar
Prepositional verbs in English
Word order in English
Reported questions in English
Miscellaneous
Language and style 
Themed crosswords for EFL
The short story of English


Copyright notice.
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This resource is © copyright Linguapress - renewed 2020
Originally published as a Freeway Focus in Freeway magazine. Updated 2020.
Multi-copying of this resource is permitted for classroom use. In schools declaring the source of copied materials to a national copyright agency, Linguapress intermediate level resources should be attributed to "Freeway" as the source and "Linguapresss" as the publisher.


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