The Silence Is Deafening
This is a well-known story from Britain about a world-famous car company. The vehicle was not just a fast, reliable, comfortable mode of transport, it was a sign of wealth and the best of British engineering. A newspaper advertisement, which is still remembered to this day, printed the words of a test-driver. He thought the car was wonderful and wrote in his report: 'At sixty miles per hour, the loudest noise comes from the electric clock'.
This was something to make people sit up and take notice. Nowadays we are used to driving and travelling in cars with extremely quiet engines (Sometimes they are so quiet that that people have been killed, walking in front of one when they were not looking). In the 1960's though, it was another story. Cars were noisy things to drive. Who ever heard of a car with a silent engine? Surely this was just what every rich motorist wanted, even those who took a loan to buy those cars.
But not everyone was happy. The day after the advertisement appeared, the car company called an urgent meeting with its staff. They came into the conference room and wondered what the problem was. The manager entered and showed all the engineers the quotation. The engineers looked back at their boss. They were puzzled. What had they done wrong? The manager asked: 'Why is the clock so noisy?'
Glossary
deafening ogłuszający
well-known znany
reliable niezawodny
a mode of transport środek transportu
wealth bogactwo
to this day do dzisiaj
a test-driver kontroler samochodu
wonderful wspaniały
something to make people sit up and take notice uderzający
nowadays ostatnio
surely na pewno
urgent pilny
a quotation cytat
a boss szef
puzzled zdziwiony
Questions
Why did people buy this car?
Because it was fast, reliable, comfortable and showed you had money.
What did the test-driver think of the car?
He thought it was wonderful.
Why can quiet cars be dangerous?
Because if you don't look where you are going, you can walk in front of one and be killed.
How were cars different in the 1960's?
They were noisier.
How did the manager misunderstand the advertisement?
He thought it was a complaint about the car's clock.
Transport: Verbs and nouns
Which mode of transport goes with which verb? Which one does not go with any of them (and which verb should it go with)?
Catch Drive Ride
a tram a bus a train an aeroplane a bicycle
a motorcycle a car a horse a trolleybus a taxi
a moped a van
KEY:
Catch a tram, a bus, a train, an aeroplane, and a trolleybus.
Drive a car and a van
Ride a bicycle, a motorcycle, a horse and a moped.
You take a taxi. You can also hail a taxi (when you put your hand up to stop one).
Anagrams
Here are some more words about transport but the letters have been mixed up. What are they?
Example: vrerid driver
ralftampo srapsegne torp depes armace
maletrin nestpeirad cartiff shtlig dooturbanu
KEY
platform, passenger, port, speed camera, terminal, pedestrian, traffic lights, roundabout
Sounds
Clocks tick (they make a ticking sound, going: 'tick-tock').
Here are some words that describe noises and the things that make them. Can you match them up?
buzz
roar
patter
rustle
squeak
splash
crash
rumble
knock
scrape
1) Jumping into water,
2) A fly, a bee,
3) Glass breaking, two cars hitting each other,
4) Rubbing pieces of paper together, walking on leaves,
5) A mouse, a bicycle that needs oil,
6) Rocks falling down a mountain, a truck driving over tram lines,
7) Pulling a chair across a solid floor, running your nails across a wooden table,
8) A lion, a jet engine,
9) Rain falling on a soft surface, a cat running on a kitchen floor,
10) The sound someone makes at a door when they want to enter a room,
KEY
1) splash 2) buzz 3) crash 4) rustle 5) squeak 6) rumble
7) scrape 8) roar 9) patter 10) knock