DRIVING TO WORK AND BEING LATE

1. 45 perc

2. az időjárás és az
utak

3. két teherautó

4. motoros férfi

5. a tömegközlekedés
hátrányai

6. kompromisszumos
megoldás
 Driving to work and being late
Jane: Hi, George. Finally, you’re here. Everyone’s been waiting for you.
Whatever happened again?
George: Hi, Jane. You won’t believe what happened. You know, it
normally takes about forty-five minutes to come to work. Now it took
more than two hours. That has been the longest since I started to work
here.
Jane: I’m not surprised, considering the terrible weather we are having
today. With the freezing rain and the icy roads what did you expect?
Didn’t you check the weather forecast last night?
George: Actually, I did. And I left home half an hour earlier than usual.
Things were more or less all right until after junction 12, where there was
this enormous traffic jam. For half an hour I could make hardly any
headway. Two lorries crashed and were blocking two lanes. After that it
wasn’t so bad although I was extremely nervous and nearly ran over a man
on a motorbike who suddenly appeared from nowhere in front of me. I
had to brake really hard. Imagine, riding a scooter in this weather! Some
people are strange.
Jane: I see. That’s a valid excuse but such things seem to be happening all
too often to you. Have you ever thought about taking the public
transport? You could just relax on the way to and from work instead of
getting all nervous because of the complications in the traffic.
George: Of course and you have reminded me of that before. But you
know, I just hate the crowd, the pushing, the smells and having to stand
when I can’t find an empty seat, which can often happen during rush
hours when I would have to travel. It’s also a hassle having to change
twice and walking through the dirty and busy underpasses. It works for
you, I see, but I still prefer the privacy of my car.
Jane: You could make a kind of compromise. You know, there is a park-
and-ride at the end of the new underground line. You could drive and
park your car there and take the underground to the city. That could be a
good solution. Why don’t you give it a try? For example tomorrow when
more snow is forecast? I don’t think the boss will put up with you being
late again.
George: All right, stop it. I’ll think it over. But now I think I’d really
better get down to work.