📙 Part 2: Describe a bike/motorbike/car trip you would like to have

This episode's vocabulary

● Consistent (adj.) - always behaving or happening in a similar, especially positive, way.
(nhất quán)
● The height of sth - the time when a situation or event is strongest or most full of
activity.
● Acquaintance (noun) - a person that you have met but do not know well. (ng quen)
/əˈkweɪntəns/
● A good/great deal - a large amount.
● Tie in with sth (phrasal verb) - to match or work well with something. ( xảy ra cùng
lúc )
● Autonomy (noun) - the ability to make your own decisions without being controlled
by anyone else. ( quyền tự chủ)
● Road-bound (adj.) - connected to the road.
● Versatile (adj.) - (of people) able to do many different things or to adjust to new
conditions, or (of things) able to be used for many different purposes.
● Versatility (noun) - the quality of being versatile (= able to change easily or to be
used for different purposes).

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Questions and Answers

M: Are you ready, Rory? Rory, ready? Ready, Rory.

R: I am ready.

M: Bring it on.

R: It looks like this is another one I'll have to totally make up since I've been everywhere I
wanted to go already. So hopefully this will be consistent. But if it's not, then you
understand why. I'd like to or I'd quite like to take a motorbike along Route 66 in America.
United States of America, first of all. That's a road which runs across a significant portion of
the country, and lots of tourists go there every year. Even at the height of the pandemic, I
think, people were traveling along it. I think there's even a clothing brand named after it,
now that I'm talking about it. As I said, I'd like to go there by motorbike just by myself and
make friends and acquaintances along the way. This is kind of like what I used to do when I
traveled around a lot more. This idea appeals to me because it gives you a good deal of
freedom of action and the chance to make connections you might not otherwise make if
you are with a friend or with a group of friends. Of course, it's not like that for everybody
though. And to be honest, it could even be a little bit dangerous. But what's life without a
little bit of danger? That idea of freedom ties in quite nicely with why I'd like to go there by
motorbike or at least to travel on it by motorbike. I like the idea of riding around with
complete autonomy and the ability to leave the road if I like and motorbikes tend to be a
bit less road-bound in this sense. I mean, you could take them up and down hills, down the
mountains. I don't think there are many mountains on Route 66, but it just goes to show
the kind of versatility that's involved in motorbike riding. To be honest, I'm not sure if I'll
ever do it, but it would be great to try. Even if it's only part of the way, it would still be
something unique that I could remember forever.

M: Do you think you'll do it anytime soon?

R: Well, like I said, I'm not sure if I'll ever do it. And definitely not anytime soon. I'm in
Britain and Route 66 is in America.

M: Yay. Thank you Rory for your super answers!

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Discussion

M: So the card, describe a bike trip that you'd like to have. And it's interesting that it's
about the future, right, dear listener? So this is something interesting because usually, the
prompts are about past or present, but this one is about future. So a bike trip, a motorbike
trip. So a motorbike is like by motorbike, or a car trip, so you can choose any. So Rory talked
about a motorbike so you'd like to have a motorbike, right? A bike? A bike?

R: Well, I'd like to take a motorbike along Route 66.

M: Yeah, like riding a motorbike, yourself. Cool. And Rory was making it up on the spot. And
he said, like, I'll have to totally make it up.
R: Yes. And you could probably even say that to the examiner like, I'm gonna totally make
this up. And so I apologized that it's not very consistent. Because like I say, I've done
everything I wanted to do. I've been everywhere I wanted to go. So this is it.

M: Yeah, yeah. So feel free to do that. Oh, I have to make it up.

R: And you could say like, I'll have to make it up. I'll - I will. And I've been everywhere I
wanted to go. I've been. Present perfect.

M: Been there, done that. Got my T-shirt.

R: Got the T-shirt.

M: So you go like, I'd quite like to take a motorbike route. Right? So a motorbike trip alone.
Right? And then you go with the country, the name of the road. That road runs across. So
when you talk about roads, roads, they run across a town.

R: Or you could say they go.

M: They go, but better run. Right? So also if you describe an IELTS map in writing. So a new
road will run across the city center. Yeah, that's like super vocabulary. Then you go like in
the height of the pandemic.

R: Yeah, that was like at the maximum peak of the pandemic.

M: Yeah, so this route is really popular, Route 66 in the States. So even in the height of the
pandemic, people were traveling along it right. So, the topic is about the future but worries
us in the past, right. So in the height of the pandemic, back like in 2020, people were
traveling alone. Then you go with the next part of the story. As I said, I'd like to go by
motorbike.

R: Just by myself, only me.

M: And make friends and acquaintances along the way.

R: I couldn't think of like, get to know people. You make friends and make acquaintances.

M: Yes. So get to know random strangers in dodgy places along the way. Travel around, you
can say I'd like to travel around.
R: Like I used to do. Then I explained more with I quite like the idea because...

M: Yeah, it gives you like a good deal of freedom. Also, if you're talking about a bicycle trip,
right, so yeah, it gives you quite a good deal of freedom. So I went traveling by bicycle for
like three months. So yeah, you feel like freedom.

R: Scotland freedom.

M: Oh, we forgot about Scotland freedom.

R: We did and then I reminded you.

M: Why don't we do Scotland freedom anymore?

R: Because...

M: We should do Scotland freedom more often.

R: Well, actually we were talking about Italy. So it was more like Italy freedom.

M: No, no, no, no, you can't do this, Scotland freedom.

R: Well, what would Italy be? Italy Pizza?

M: Why Italy?

R: Because pizza is for Italy. Because you took your bike ride in Italy.

M: No, it's not. It wasn't only in Italy, it was in Crimea, then Italy, then Greece and Turkey.
So several countries. Right, now, I like the idea of riding around. But if you talk about a car
trip, you can say driving around.

R: You can also ride around in the car.

M: Oh, ride? But yeah, you don't say ride a car, you say drive a car. The question was, what
does it mean to be a bit less road-bound.

R: But that just means you're on the road less. Like, if you have a car, you can only really
take your car on a road. Unless it's like a special car. So it's bound to the road, it's part of
the road it's on there, it can only be on the road. But if you are less road-bound, then you
can go off the road, you can go off-road.
M: Yeah, if you go on a bicycle trip, you can go a bit off-road. So you are less road-bound
than if you travel by car. So you travel by bicycle, you travel by motorbike, you travel by car,
and then you go on foot. And then to wrap it up, you said I'm not sure if I'll ever do it. But it
would be great to try. Or to try it out. So because again, it's about the future, what you
would like to have. So that's really good language.

R: And then I round off, finally, finally with even if it's only part of the way, yeah.

M: Nice. So we can say that I go on a bike trip, right? Or I'd like to go on a car trip around
Italy, for example. Yeah?

R: I'd quite like to.

M: Or I'd like to go on a bicycle trip around Russia in winter. Hey-hey.

R: Because I have lost my mind.

M: Yes. Can you imagine a bike trip around Russia? Gosh.

R: I can imagine dying on a bike trip around Russia.

M: Oh, yeah, totally. Dear listener, don't do this, please. Well, you can just hypothetically
talk about it in the exam, like oh, yeah, you know what. I've been dreaming of going on a
bike trip around Russia, in winter especially, like to enjoy scenic views of Russia in the
middle of nowhere, forest. Yeah, so yeah. And bears running wildly around me, that will be
fun. So yeah, dear listener, if you do tell such a story, the examiner would have a laugh. So,
dear listener, now you should make a decision what you're going to be talking about. Okay?
And talk about it.

R: Make a decision what you wanna talk about and then talk about it. Thank you. Good
night.

M: Just talk about it. Yeah? So thank you very much for listening. Bye!

R: Bye! See you next time.