Progress Test Term 3

PETROVIETNAM UNIVERSITY
FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTRE

TEST BOOKLET GROUP 2

Course: ENG4190
READING
Name......................................................
Group ...................................................
Read the text below.

Test duration: 20 minutes

Please write your answers on the answer

A They are noisy, smelly and dirty, and
H While road congession grows, the
cost more and more every year. We
study shows, the cost of alternative
moan about them all the time, yet we
forms of transport is rising sharply.
are hopelessly addicted.
Brightons pay some of the worlds
most expensive bus and train fares for
services that are crumbling through
lack of investment.
B

Brightons love their cars more than

any other Europeans, a major new EU
study shows. The number of
commuters cycling and walking in this
country is declining, while the number
of cars and lorries on the road has
tripled in the last 30 years.

In the last twenty years publis

transport fares have risen by an
average of 65 per cent. Only 10 per
cent of our fares are subsidized,
compared with an average of 40 per
cent on the Continent.

The report, The Hour of Choice- the

first major transport study by the
European Commission for a decade

In an attempt to ease overcrowding in

the skies, the EU is to consider forcing
airlines to pay a tax on aircraft noise
and greenhouse gas emissions, which
could raise the air fares.

But UK sources says Brussels will

avoid recommending large rises in
petrol and dissel taxes after the
protests in Britain and France last
autumn.

E. In Britain that means trying to cut the

need to travel said David Begg,
chairman of the Commission for
Integrated Transport- the
Governments Advisory body: We rely
far too much on the car.

Congestion charging forcing

motorists to pay to drive into city
center is seen as more effective .
The report will encourage other cities
to follow Britain in allowing local
authorities to adopt such measures.

M Enviromental compaigners hope a

strong endorsement at the European

says congestion costs Europe up to

85 billion a year.
D The road traffic in the EU is forcast to
increase by 50 percent by 2015 and air
travel by 70%. Europe is being
asphyxiated by congestion, the study
says. Transport chiefs will use its
findings this week to urge Ministers to
do more to reduce road traffic.

Begg blamed the increase in traffic on

the growth of out-of-town shopping and

Progress Test Term 3

PETROVIETNAM UNIVERSITY
FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTRE
business parks in the Eighties. Bad
policies have increased car and truck
use which makes people demand more
roads, but that only leads to more
congestion. Its a bit like a heroin
addict always looking for another fix.

level will bolster what they see as

Britains weakening resolve to push
congession charging and other green
measures.

G Brussels wants to cut traffic and

pollution with extra taxes on motorists
and hauliers. The money would help
the rail and the bus services.
1. Find a word in the text that means the same as:
1. person who regularly travels a (long) distance to get to work (paragraph B)
commuter
2. ten years (paragraph C)
.........................
3. full of traffic (paragraph C)
.........................
4. unable to breathe (paragraph D)
.........................
5. given financial aid by the government (paragraph I)
.........................
6. mainland Europe (paragraph I)
.........................

2. Read the text again and answer the questions. Write NO MORE THAN
THREE WORDS AND/OR NUMBER for each answer.
1. How many more cars and lorries are there in Britain now compared with 30

2.
3.
4.
5.

years ago.
......................... .........................
How much does the congestion cost Europe each year.
......................... .........................
By how much will road traffic in the EU rise by 2015.
......................... .........................
By what percentage have public transport fares risen in the last 20 years.
......................... .........................
What percentage of public transport fares are subsidized in Britain?
......................... .........................
The end

Reading
1.
2

PETROVIETNAM UNIVERSITY
FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTRE

Progress Test Term 3

2.