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Ga$

Ga$

Date: Aug 01 2008

Themes: News

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

It’s all over the news in the US. But Americans don’t need the news to tell them that gas is more expensive than it ever has been. They can see it at every fuel station.

But what Americans haven’t seen yet is fewer cars on the road. It will take time for people to adjust to the high price of gas (although fuel in Europe is still more expensive than it is in the US) and for cities to provide more public transportation. At the moment, people are feeling the increased costs, and everyone’s talking about it.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

Log in to Listen

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Jason

Jason

Beren

Beren

Jason:  If I see one more headline with the phrase “at the pump” in it, I’m going to shoot somebody.

Beren:  “At the pump”? Like, “Prices at the Pump…

Jason:  “Prices at the Pump”

Beren:  ...Blowing up

Jason:  Pinched at the Pump.”

Beren:  “Pinched at the Pump.” What’s another one?

Jason:  It’s like, yeah, gas is expensive, I know. I’ve been buying gas, I can see that it’s expensive.

Beren:  What’s kind of mind boggling though is that gas is so expensive but it doesn’t seem to be…at least here, it doesn’t seem to be affecting who’s driving. I see just as many cars now as I did before.

Jason:  Back when it was half as much a few years ago, you’d see just the same amount of cars.

Beren:  Yeah, it’s weird. Especially since you’d think people would be like, “Oh, this is perfect opportunity to start biking or using public transportation.” Because it’s so expensive. I put $10 in my car which usually, like before this, used to get a quarter of a tank. Like, I’d drive to work and home or whatever. And now it lasts me a day, if that, if I’m driving. $10!

Jason:  And like…what is it going to take? Like how expensive is it going to have to get for driving to taper off a little bit?

Beren:  I don’t know. Like I feel like the people that drive a lot probably can’t afford to in a sense so maybe they’re cutting out other things. Like, “I want to drive so I guess we won’t eat out as much.” I don’t know. It’s weird.

Jason:  A lot of people don’t have a choice. We really kind of messed up here because we built an infrastructure that pretty much makes it impossible to not drive in a lot of cities.

Beren:  Yeah.

 

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Discussion

Jason says that he’s tired of reading news about gas prices. He says he’s aware of how expensive it is because he has to pay for it all the time.

Beren is surprised that she doesn’t see fewer cars. She spends as much as $10 a day on gas right now and wonders how many people can afford to drive at all.

But do they have a choice? Jason thinks it’s a shame that US has built its entire transpiration system around cars, so much so that there aren’t other options for getting to certain places.

Has the cost of fuel gone up where you live? What’s the main form of transport you use? Why?

 

Comments

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NIJ321655

NIJ321655

United States

gAS IS ALOT.

05:57 PM Apr 30 2015 |

Duran-198523

China

fuel means a lot to modern people in nowaday world !it happens that price of fuel rising up causes inflation all over the world ,which affect costs of other industry! meanwhile it also promote to research and develop another energy in entire world!

09:09 AM Aug 08 2008 |

1 person likes this

renemex

renemex

Mexico

It´s OK Zoe (what a nice name, signify something in special?)

I think the chinese people have a big advantage in this kind of issues (gas for example) cause you (the chinese people) are the most big economy at this point togheter with the USA, so you can require your authorities for vehicles more environmentaly accountable, i mean you are millions of consumers, imagine what can you do if you are united? you, chinese people can create a movement or trend that can influecy the whole world.

don´t waste such a big and historical opportunity!

04:32 PM Aug 06 2008 |

zoe.wu

zoe.wu

China

I agree with you. i didn't think this that way,though. well, thank u for let me know sth. more than i thought.

04:07 PM Aug 06 2008 |

renemex

renemex

Mexico

Hi, Chinese Girl…

The high prices of gas must to worrying to everybody, cause no matter if you have a car or not, everythig what you consume travel with gas in one or other way, so if you want to buy tomatoes or rice or whatever, this increasigly escalade of prices afect directly to that products and almost everything!

you need to expand your point of view (i say this respectfully)

04:57 PM Aug 05 2008 |

sentor

sentor

Turkey

Money or life

01:05 PM Aug 05 2008 |

sentor

sentor

Turkey

yes l agree . many or life

01:05 PM Aug 05 2008 |

maggie200888

China

We should make a banlance between the two , shouldn’t we?
I’m sure if everyone do a little ,the world will change a big~

12:59 PM Aug 05 2008 |

sentor

sentor

Turkey

people dont protest enough and care. Gasses both pollute  enviroment and drive states to war

12:04 PM Aug 05 2008 |

賧*杍~@%…%鄴

賧*杍~@%…%鄴

China

  i am poor,i have no car of my own,i am dying to have my own car.but the salary is so little,i even can't sustain my life confronting the advance in price of everything….

  i think the increase in price of gas haven't affect my life,because often the car we use is my company's,haaaaa…...

03:15 AM Aug 05 2008 |

zoe.wu

zoe.wu

China

Most of cities in China have good government-sponsored public transportation policies. In Beijing, the fare is extremly low.and it's even lower for students.  We are lucky.

01:55 PM Aug 04 2008 |

7Day

7Day

China

we can't live without car! so we can't live without gas !!

And then we have to afford the price of gas whatever how expensive it is !

06:06 AM Aug 04 2008 |

minjie1988

China

I don't have a car now and maybe won't have one in the futrure.So I don't worry about the price of gas>

04:14 AM Aug 04 2008 |

christina.7

China

The possibility of the dropping of the gas price will be very slim in the short term, as the reserves of the fuel is becming smaller and smaller.Facing this unchangeable fact,two important measures should be taken to make peoples’ life more convinient.that is,First,the government must pefect the system of the pubilc transportation,second,everyonne should change the concept of the travel.

02:31 AM Aug 04 2008 |

jennfier

jennfier

China

maybe we can use biological to instead of gas.
but it needs food .and food is important too.
oh my gosh ,what could we do ?
Many people are starving in the world now….
it is like a coin have two side ,hard to choose.

12:47 AM Aug 04 2008 |

SÉRGIO

SÉRGIO

Brazil

The issue is not just about the gas price but alternatives of transport, example: public transport or even bike. Unfortunately we live in big cities without alternative of getting around, I'd like to go work by bike but it's not too safe, there isn't cycle path anywhere, and then we ended up being dependents of cars everytime, which is so bad! Today in Brazil it's about US$ 1,80 and it always up more and more even though we have our own production company. We really need new projects linked to new way of urban architecture quickly!!

07:55 PM Aug 03 2008 |

alogigi

alogigi

United States

especially if u live in Southern california it s kinda weird gad is up up nd up.. and in LA area  life can be  something complicated with no car, long distances to go anywhere.. the public transportation is not enough to cover all routes and  if u missed a bus the next one will be coming in 45 min lol so what can we do ?

05:01 PM Aug 02 2008 |

Christoph07

Germany

What a nice topic. -Congratulation.

The way of brazil is to respecting. But the other developed countries needs an international moratorium for producing ethanol from corn. Because we have a food crise in the world. Every day – 40,000 people are dieing because they have nothing to eat! And the WTO meeting in Genf last week was a terrible accident. (Perhaps these kinds of meetings with many secrets will be also a topic one time here.) I think 'renemex' from Mexico is right mostly. To developing new technology costs a lot of money. And You need a pressure like high prices for oil. For some days I read a headline in business news: our car company with the star (Mercedes) is ready to offer hydrogen cars but the people have no infrastucture to getting Hydrogen (H2) at gas stations. To offer Hydrogen at whole gas stations it will be very expensive. So what will be necessarry? The egg or the chicken? Hydrogen will be perfect in cars, planes and so on because You have absolutely no pollution and you become clean water after burning H2. In the other hand: to produce Hydrogen – you need also much of energy. So nothing is easy but scintific is colourfully. Danmark has a program for electric vehicles but this is not possible for hugh countries. The developing of better batteries is one important target. In moment in Germany we have to pay 1.50€/l -1.60€/l.

12:25 PM Aug 02 2008 |

sophie shen

China

it nessary in our life.

 

11:57 AM Aug 02 2008 |

VOLTS

VOLTSSuper Member!

Brazil

Hei, mexican dude, i must agree with you… i think you are right.

02:46 AM Aug 02 2008 |

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