UNIT 5: READING
1 Look at the eight categories of transport listed in the first column of the table. Read
the text quickly in about 30 seconds. Don’t stop, even if there is something you
don’t understand. Try to identify which of the eight categories are NOT mentioned in
the text.
Year 1
Bus 49%
Car 33%
Train 5%
Foot 4%
Motorbike
/ Moped 3%
Bicycle 3%
Taxi 1%
Other 2%
The data in the table shows the most recent
results of a survey in the UK which aims to
trace the main methods of transport used by
commuters in large British cities over the last
ten years. For the purposes of the survey,
commuters are defined as people working
within a five-mile radius of the city centre who
travel to work from outside that area. Other
variables such as the number of hours worked
in a week, salary and distance between home
and work are also being gathered, although
this information is not presented in this table.
The data is being collected from a selected
group of cities in the UK excluding London. The
study started ten years ago and is planned to
continue into the foreseeable future, to provide
the government with information regarding the
trends and changes in commuter behaviour.
As can be seen from the table, the most
popular mode of transport used by commuters
in the UK’s largest cities was the bus at the
start of the survey. However, the percentage of
people taking the bus to work has steadily
declined from 1 % to 2 % in year 10.
In contrast to this, car usage by commuters has
seen a steady increase over the ten years of
the survey, starting at 3 _% in year 1, rising
to 4 _ % in year 5 and then to 5 % increase in car usage may be due to a rise in
this year.
At the current time, the reasons for these
trends are not clear. However, these figures
demonstrate that although the government may
be trying hard to encourage British workers to
use public transport and leave private cars at
home, the policies which have been put in
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Year 5 Year 10
42% 36%
36% 39%
7% 9%
3% 2%
4% 5%
5% 6%
1% 1%
2% 2%
place and the promotional campaigns which
have been launched are clearly not working.
While buses and cars are clearly the favoured
methods for commuting in cities in the UK,
there are several other interesting trends to
note. The number of commuters taking the train
continues to grow with an increase of 6 %
over the duration of the study so far. This may
reflect the improved quality of service in local
and regional trains over the last ten years. The
number of commuters cycling to work has also
shown a healthy rise of 7 %, going from
8
_ % to 9 % in the same time
period, perhaps reflecting tax incentives which
were introduced by the government to favour
employees who purchase bicycles. Motorbikes
and mopeds are the other forms of transport
which seem to be taking people away from the
buses as they have seen an increase of
10
_% over the ten years. In other words,
these methods of transport, along with cars,
continue to grow while the number of bus
passengers falls.
Although the statistics presented here are
interesting, there clearly needs to be more
detailed information released in order for
conclusions to be drawn. For example, the
the number of employees car sharing with
colleagues at work. This in turn may affect the
number of bus passengers. Nevertheless, it
offers an interesting insight into the travel
habits of British workers in major cities.
2 Use the information in the table to help you fill each of the ten gaps in the text with
the correct number.

3 Answer the following questions.

1 Paragraph 1: ‘Other variables such as the number of hours worked in a week, salary
and distance between home and work are also being gathered ...’. What is the tense
of the verb in italics? Why is it used here?
2 Paragraph 3: ‘the most popular mode of transport used by commuters in the UK’s
largest cities was the bus at the start of the survey.’ What is the tense of the verb in
italics? Why is it used here?
3 Paragraph 3: ‘However, the percentage of people taking the bus to work has steadily
declined ...’ What type of word is the word in italics? Which word does it give more
information about?
4 Paragraph 3: ‘In contrast to this, car usage by commuters has seen a steady increase
over the ten years of the survey ...’ What is the tense of the verb in italics? Why is it
used here?
5 Paragraph 5: ‘The number of commuters taking the train continues to increase ...’
Which word is the main verb in this clause?

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