An Accident

There … (to be) a serious accident on one of the main roads into Stuttgart yesterday. An old lorry … (to break down) in the middle of the road, and the driver couldn’t move it. It was eight o’clock, the middle of the rush hour, so it soon … (to create) a terrible traffic jam. Drivers … (to get) angry and a man in a Mercedes … (to try) to go round the lorry. Unfortunately another car was coming in the opposite direction. The driver … (to brake) hard and tried to stop, but he … (can/ not) prevent the accident – the Mercedes … (to crash) into the front of his car. The driver of the Mercedes was OK, but the other driver … (to injure) and both cars … (to damage).

main road - главная дорога, шоссе, магистраль rush hours - часы пик

Exercise 2. Complete the sentences using the given words.

1. Don’t forget to fasten your seat belt, … (you, the car, when, to get in). 2. It was raining so when I braked the car didn’t stop quickly enough, and … (into the back, I, to crash, of the car). 3. I was going on the inside lane, and … (a car, to overtake, suddenly, me).

Exercise 3. Translate the sentences using the words of the lesson. Mind your grammar.

1. Размер автомобиля – тоже средство пассивной безопасности. Чем больше автомобиль, тем безопаснее он. 2. Ремни безопасности являются лучшим устройством защиты водителя и пассажиров. 3. Подушки безопасности разработаны специально, чтобы работать вместе с ремнями безопасности. 4. Подголовники практически не защищают от травм. 5. Результаты краш-тестов многих современных автомобилей вы можете найти в Интернете. 6. Электроника удерживает колеса от блокировки на льду и на мокром асфальте. 7. Крутые повороты и, особенно, на дороге, покрытой снегом, следует проходить очень медленно.

Exercise 4. Translate into Russian.

I was just about to cross the road at the zebra crossing on East Street when a red car came speeding down the road. As I turned to watch, I saw a yellow car crossing the junction. The driver didn’t have time to brake and collided with the yellow car. The lights were red so the accident was definitely the red car’s fault, but I don’t think anyone was injured although both cars were badly damaged.

Exercise 5. Choose the right word from the list below. You have to change the word form some of them. For example: exhaust – exhausted (fumes)

Acceleration, engine, cars, line, noise, fuel, to redesign, cost, automotive, to burn, to minimize, drivers

2005 Honda Civic

Few carmakers offer the range or diversity Honda builds into the Civic (1) …. There are sedans, coupes and a hatchback, with an emphasis on convenience, performance or fuel efficiency and low (2) … of operation. All are notable for their excellent (3) … economy, free-revving engines and solid handling, including the electrically assisted Hybrid. Up-level Civics come with powerful VTEC engines that deliver (4) …. The Si hatchback is the flagship performance model, and a favourite among young enthusiast (5) … for good reason. All provide superb comfort for front-seat passengers.

Three specialized Civics are designed specifically to (6) … environmental impact and deliver better fuel economy than all but a few cars currently available. The Civic HX coupe drives on regular unleaded. There is also a Civic HX sedan that (7) … natural gas. Honda claims it has the cleanest internal combustion (8) … in the world.

Subtle styling changes were made for 2004 when bumpers, hoods, headlights and grilles on the coupe and sedan were (9) … to emphasize a baby-brother resemblance to the slick, smooth Honda Accord. The sporty Si hatchback was trimmed with new head- and tail lamps. All Civics were improved with less visible updates that reduced (10) … and vibration inside.

Nearly four decades after its introduction, the Honda Civic can be called an (11) … icon. It remains one of America’s best-selling small (12) … for good reason.

to rev - ускорять, повышать, увеличивать