What do you hate about long distance airplane travel?
How would you feel about a train that could take you to New York faster than an airplane?
Have you ever wondered about the future of international travel? . What has held you back you from traveling to far away places to do business or to be able to go to some new exotic destination? Perhaps you hate those long 10 hour flights that wear you out. Perhaps you hate getting somewhere and have to spend two days getting over
Picture this: you could get from New York to Beijing in four hours! It might seem like a science fiction dream, but a company in the U.S. says that in the near future it could be a reality. Evacuated Tube Technology or ETT say that with their tubes, you will eventually be able to get from New York to Beijing in 2 hours and from New York to London in less than an hour. What if you could live in New York and work in London. Basically how it works is that passengers travel in a capsule that is floating on air. In order to do this you would be in a 6-passenger capsule suspended by magnets so that there is no friction, this means you would be traveling on air. And because of this the capsule could travel at 7000kph, eight times faster than a commercial jet plane. It really does bring a new meaning to the phrase, “I’ll be there in a blink of the eye.”
Guessing meaning from context
Try to guess the meaning of the words in bold and match them with their closest meaning from the choices in the right. The answers are below the table.
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Unusual, different, desirable because it is not normal |
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Very sleepy and tired because of a long air flight and very different time changes |
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Very short time, a moment |
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Not touching anything but sitting or floating in a place |
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Stopped you from doing something |
A=7, B=1, C=6, D=2, E=3, F=5, G=4
Some example sentences using the new words to help you to better understand their meaning.
1. One of the things that has held me back from visiting South Africa is the long flying time.
2. I think The Maldives is one of the most exotic places on the Earth.
3. My mother said I used to wear her out because of my constant noisy music and untidy bedroom.
4. Most people need a day or more to recover from jetlag after flying 12 hours.
5. I picture myself as a senior manager in ten years.
6. The Moon appears to be suspended high above the Earth.
7. The poker player had fast hands; he could change the cards in the blink of an eye.
Some discussion questions using the new words to help you better understand the word meaning and how to use them correctly. Try to use the words in your answer.
1. If you could use this new transport, then what would hold you back from using it?
2. If you could go to any exotic place in the world, where would you go?
3. If you have flown a long time in an airplane, what seems to wear you out the most?
4. Have you ever suffered from jet lag? Tell me about it, or what you imagine it would be like.
5. What do you picture this new capsule travel would look like?
6. Can you imagine a capsule with 6 people suspended in the air? Try and describe what you might feel?
7. If you could go to anyplace in the world in the blink of an eye, where would you go and why?
ECK Education
