AN UNUSUAL COMMUTE

A. Pre reading: Guess the answers to questions 1-4. Then read the article
quickly to check.
1) What’s the man in the photo 3) How far is his commute to work
doing? and home?
a) He’s going to work. a) Seven kilometers
b) He’s training for a marathon. b) Fourteen kilometers
2) What’s his job? 4) Why does he commute like this?
a) He’s a sports teacher. a) He can’t drive and is afraid of
b) He’s a doctor. cycling.
b) He wants to stay in shape.

Most people commute by bus, or they drive, but not Jaime Rojas, from the outskirts of Talca. Dr. Rojas always
runs to his internal medicine practice in Talca from his home in San Clemente, and back again every day. It’s about
seven kilometers there and seven kilometers home, but he runs when it’s sunny, when it’s raining and even when
it’s close to 0° celsius degress in winter, he loves to see the landscape with farms, animals and crops on the way
to work. He runs if it’s hot or cold, if it’s light or dark.

He always runs with a big backpack, where he carries his clothes, his stethoscope, his phone and about a kilo of
fruits and vegetables.

Dr. Rojas eats a lot of fruits and vegetables because he believes fruits are good for our bodies and he says that
vegetables help with memory. His full backpack weights about five kilos. For many years Dr. Rojas rode his bike to
work, but he started to gain weight, so he decided to run instead.

When Rojas gets to work he uses alcohol to remove perspiration. But sweat is not really a problem, he says,
because “your sweat is clean”.
B. After- reading: Read the sentences and write TRUE (T) or FALSE (F). Justify
the false ones.
1) Dr. Rojas lives in a different town from his workplace. _______
2) He takes the bus to work if it rains. _______
3) The backpack he carries is empty. _______
4) Dr. Rojas likes to eat fruit and vegetables. _______
5) The doctor went by bicycle to work before he started running. _______
6) The sweat on his body is dangerous. _______

C. Vocabulary: Read the text again and use context to match the words with their
definitions. More than one answer is possible in some cases.

1) Commute ______Rural scenery (noun)

2) Outskirts ______ Path, route (noun)
3) Landscape ______Travel to work (verb)
4) Farm ______Nearby (adverb)
5) Crop ______Outlying areas (plural noun)
6) Way ______Cultivate (verb)
7) Close to ______Land (noun)
______Something cultivated (noun)
______Journey to work (noun)