Ami, the tiny cube on wheels that French 14-year-olds can drive

Level 2 l Upper intermediate

1 Warmer
Are you thinking of buying a car? Put these factors in order from 1 (most important) to 6 (least important).

1. ________________________________ a. its colour

2. ________________________________ b. its top speed
3. ________________________________ c. how ‘green’ it is
4. ________________________________ d. the price
5. ________________________________ e. the make (the company that produces it)
6. ________________________________ f. how expensive it is to use

2 Key words
Complete the sentences using these key words from the text. The paragraph numbers are given to
help you.

scooter affordable doddle range envious

legendary spacious unnerving cute chassis

1. If you are _________________________, you are unhappy because you want to have something that
someone else has. (para 1)
2. A vehicle’s _________________________ is the distance it can travel before it needs more fuel. (para 3)
3. If something is a _________________________, it is extremely easy. (para 4)
4. If an interior is _________________________, there is a lot of room in it. (para 4)
5. An _________________________ experience makes you feel worried or frightened. (para 5)
6. A _________________________ is a vehicle with an engine and two wheels that looks like a small
motorcycle. (para 5)
7. A vehicle’s _________________________ is its frame and wheels. (para 5)
8. If something is _________________________, it is attractive, usually small and easy to like. (para 8)
9. A _________________________ product has been famous or well known for a long time. (para 9)
10. If something is _________________________, it is cheap enough for ordinary people to buy. (para 9)

3 Find the information

Find the following information in the text as quickly as possible.
1. How many Citroën Amis were sold in the first two weeks?
2. What is the top speed of the Citroën Ami?
3. What is the range of the Citroën Ami?
4. How much does its basic model cost?
5. What is the top speed limit in Paris?
6. When was the Citroën 2CV first produced?
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NEWS LESSONS / Ami, the tiny cube on wheels that French 14-year-olds can drive / Upper intermediate
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Ami, the tiny cube on wheels that French 14-year-olds can drive
Level 2 l Upper intermediate
Ami, the tiny cube on wheels that
French 14-year-olds can drive
Jon Henley
11 September, 2020
1 The vehicle is cheap and produces different
reactions. Some people cannot believe what they
are seeing, while others laugh. Some look envious
as if they would like to buy one, and a few give it a
look of pity (well, this is Paris).
2 At first sight, Citroën’s new Ami does not seem
the kind of car to excite the passions of France’s
drivers. But, perhaps because it is not a car, that
is just what it is doing. “We sold 500 in the first
fortnight,” says Citroën’s Sylvie Krygier in the
carmaker’s showroom in the 15th district. “It’s
a recognition our transport habits and
requirements are changing, and it’s accessible
to almost everyone.”
3 The Ami is a light quadricycle and is, Citroën says,
an “urban mobility object”. All-electric, 2.4 metres
long and 1.4m wide, with a top speed of 45km/h
and a range of 75km, anyone aged 14 or over
in France can drive it without a full licence. You
can recharge it at home in three hours, and its
basic edition costs €6,000 to buy or, with a €100
down payment, €78 a month – roughly what most
Parisians pay for an all-zone metro and suburban
rail pass.
4 Driving it is a doddle. You sit under a panoramic
roof in the spacious interior, turn the key, select
‘D’ for ‘drive’ from the three buttons to the left of
your seat, release the handbrake and depress the
accelerator pedal – and you start moving. In front
of you is a simple display showing speed, battery
level and kilometres remaining before the next
charge. There is no boot but plenty of neat storage
nets for small items and room for shopping in front
of the passenger seat.
5 If the idea of letting a 14-year-old loose on it
seems unnerving, Krygier points out that unlike
with a scooter – the most likely alternative for
many of the Ami’s younger potential customers
– you get the stability of four wheels on a proper
chassis and are safely inside a solid tubular
steel frame.
6 The Ami reaches 45km/h pretty quickly and can go
no faster, but in the traffic jams of Paris – where
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NEWS LESSONS / Ami, the tiny cube on wheels that French 14-year-olds can drive / Upper intermediate
speed limits vary from 20km/h to a theoretical
50km/h – that is neither necessary nor, most of
the time, even possible. The brakes are very
efficient, and you can fit two Amis into a standard
parking space.
7 “You could keep it in the corridor,” said one man as
we were taking photographs. “Perfect for Paris,”
said a lady on the Boulevard de Grenelle. “Even I
could drive that. Why would you need more?”
8 Some remarks were less friendly. “Shouldn’t you
be in the bike lane?” shouted one driver. But on
the rue Saint-Lazare, two young women stared
open-mouthed. “How did you manage to get it?”
asked one. “I’ve been trying to book a test one for
days and it’s just impossible. I really want one. I
love it. It’s practical, it’s environmentally friendly,
it’s compact, it’s just really … cute.”
9 In its inspiration and innovative design, says
Krygier, the Ami most closely resembles Citroën’s
legendary Deux Chevaux, or 2CV, the very small
car invented in the 1930s as a cheap, utilitarian
model to make driving affordable to the masses.
Produced from 1948 to 1990, nearly 4m of them
were sold. Like the 2CV, the Ami has flip-up
windows, while other simple, money-saving
ideas include identical doors (meaning one
opens backwards and the other frontwards) and
interchangeable front and rear panels.
10 The Ami can be bought from Citroën but also
from France’s big electronic and electrical goods
retailers. Krygier says all sorts of people are
buying and using the vehicle, but it is really
popular with families with teenage children.
According to the company’s data, about half of
all Ami buyers have one car and at least two
children. More than 40% of those driving Amis
are under 18. Most users say they like it because
it is green, while for more than 30% of users, not
taking public transport – in a time of Covid – was
an important factor.
11 The Ami will be available in several other
European countries from early next year, but there
are no immediate plans to launch it in the UK.
“Although, if people want it, that could change,”
Krygier said.
© Guardian News and Media 2020
First published in The Guardian, 11/09/20
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Ami, the tiny cube on wheels that French 14-year-olds can drive
Level 2 l Upper intermediate
4 Comprehension check
Are these statements true (T) or false (F) according to the text?

1. The Citroën Ami isn’t a car.

2. You need a full driving licence to drive a Citroën Ami.
3. The display in front of the driver is quite complicated.
4. With a steel frame and four wheels, the Citroën Ami is safer than a scooter.
5. The Citroën 2CV was first produced in the 1950s.
6. Most Citroën Ami users like it because it is environmentally friendly.

5 Find the word

Find the following words and phrases in the text. The paragraph numbers are given to help you.

1. a two-word noun phrase meaning the deposit that you pay when buying something and are going to pay the
rest later (para 3)
2. a noun meaning the covered space at the back of a car used for carrying things in (para 4)
3. a three-word verb phrase meaning allow someone to do what they want to do without watching or controlling
them (para 5)
4. a two-word phrasal verb meaning tell someone something (para 5)
5. a verb meaning look at someone or something very directly for a long time (para 8)
6. an adjective meaning small but arranged in a way that uses space very effectively (para 8)
7. an adjective meaning designed to be useful rather than attractive (para 9)
8. a plural noun meaning ordinary people who are not rich or famous (para 9)

6 Driving instructions
Match the verbs in the left-hand column with the nouns or noun phrases in the right-hand column to make
phrases from the text.

1. turn a. the handbrake

2. select b. the battery
3. release c. the key
4. depress d. the car into a parking space
5. recharge e. the accelerator
6. fit f. the ‘drive’ button
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NEWS LESSONS / Ami, the tiny cube on wheels that French 14-year-olds can drive / Upper intermediate
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Ami, the tiny cube on wheels that French 14-year-olds can drive
Level 2 l Upper intermediate
7 Word-building
Complete the table using words from the text.

verb noun
1. recognize
2. require
3. store
4. inspire
adjective noun
5. stable
6. mobile

8 Discussion
Discuss the following statements.

• It is dangerous to allow 14-year-olds to drive on busy streets.

• Public transport should be free to encourage people to drive less.

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Published by Macmillan Education Ltd. © Macmillan Education Limited, 2020.

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NEWS LESSONS / Ami, the tiny cube on wheels that French 14-year-olds can drive / Upper intermediate
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