TEXT 50 1 The title of the text below is a warning given on some stations in the London Underground. What do you think it means? Read the text to check your answer. Mind the gap! The London Underground 1s the world’s oldest underground system and covers most of Greater London. Although it is called the Underground. about 55% of the network is actually above ground. It has 275 statrons and 12 interconnecting lines. Each line has a name and a colour to represent it on the underground map, for example the Victoria Line is blue. The London Underground is also one of the longest underground systems in the world, with over 408 kilometres of track. Its first passenger trains started running in 1863. on the Central Line. and today three million passengers travel on it every day. Londoners call the Underground ‘the Tube’, after its tube-shaped tunnels. During the Bhtz, the aerial bombing of London in World War II. Londoners 76 hid from the bombs by using the underground stations as shelters dunng air raids and slept on platforms overnight. Air-rad sirens were a signal of approaching planes and for Londoners to go down to the stations. The Underground does not run 24 hours a day. Track maintenance is done at night, after the system closes. The first trains start operating shortly after 5 a.m., running until around | a.m.; rush hour is from 7.30 to 9.30 in the morning, and from 4.30 to 6.30 in the evening. London is divided into six travel zones. Zone one is the most central zone and zone six is the outer zone which includes Heathrow Airport. The more zones you cross, the more you pay on the Underground. To travel on the Underground. you can buy a daily ticket, a daily travel card, of an Oyster card. This is a smart card with an electronic chip that you charge with credit. and use to pay for travel on the Underground and on buses. It is the cheapest way of travelling in central London. Some Underground stations have lifts; most have escalators and stairs. The longest escalator in Europe is at Angel station on the Northern Line: it is 60 metres in length, with a vertical mse of 27.5 metres. People using the escalators stand on the right-hand side, so those in a hurry can walk past them on the left. There are several safety announcements given to passengers who travel on the Underground. When the doors of the trains are about to close, you hear ‘stand clear of the doors please’. When the train stops in a station where there 1s a gap between the train and the platform you will hear the famous phrase, “Mind the gap!". 2 Read the text again carefully and decide whether statements 1-8 are true or false. Write T (True) or F (False) for each statement. 1 Most of the Underground 1s below the surface of London. 2 Victoria Line stations are all painted blue. 3 The Underground is used by three milion people a day. 4 When London was being bombed dunng the Second World War, people slept in the Underground. 5 The Underground is open 24 hours a day. 6 You pay the same amount to travel any distance on the Underground. 7 To use an Oyster card, you have to pay before you travel. 8 People who are not walking up of down the escalators should stand on the left. 3 Find the words in the text that mean: 1 time when many people are going to or from work (2 words) 2 place where trains stop 3 an upward movement 4 people who are travelling by train 5 the complete system of lines 6 moving stairs that take people up and down 7 one every day 8 Underground route 9 machine that cares people straight up or down 10 local name for the London Underground 11 metal lines that trains travel on 12 make journeys (train) 13 area of the city 14 long hole under the ground 4 The BBC TV programme Top Gear held a race across London using four means of transport: car. boat, bicycle, and Tube. Which do you think proved the fastest? Find out by reading this review of the programme. Top Gear: The race across Londoa The traffic in London, as those of us who five here know only too well, is at an almost permanent standstill, so last night's episode of the BBC TV motoring programme Top Gear organized a race to discover the fastest way of getting across the city: from West London to City Airport in the east. Each of the four presenters was given a different means of transport. James, the posh one, opted for a car — though quite why he chose a giant Mercedes GLS00 remains a mystery. Richard, the cute one, who survived that hornfic high-speed accident on a car-testing circuit, wisely went for a bicycle this ume. Jeremy, true to form, decided on a powerful speedboat to use on the Thames: while the show's pet racing driver, ‘The Stig’, who tumed up for the event in full Formula | gear, was given ... an Oyster card. The result must have been a shock for many of the petrol-head viewers of Top Gear. By the time Jeremy came charging into the airport. Richard was already sitting comfortably in the first-class lounge. ‘The Sug’. after receiving some curious looks on the Underground, was third. And James's luxury, gas-guzzling car came in a thoroughly deserved last. 5 Answer the questions about the text. 1 What do you think ‘at an almost permanent standstill’ means? 2 Who is James? Why did he decide to cross London in a big car? 3 Why do you think the text says Richard ‘wisely’ chose to nde a bicycle? 4 How was ‘The Stig’ dressed? $ What do you think ‘petrol-head’ means? Why would these viewers be shocked by the result of the race? 6 What do you think ‘gas-guzzling’ means? Why did James deserve to come last? TEXT $3 1 In past centuries, European countries took control of, or colonized, other parts of the world. These colonies included Australia (colonized by Britain), Algeria (France), and Argentina (Spain). Match the countries (1-6) to their former colonies (a—f). 1 Belgium a Senegal 78 2 Holland b India 3 Portugal ¢ Brasil 4 France d Indonesia 5 Spain e Congo 6 Britain f Mexco < O