Vocabulary: BBC Two - Top Gear - India Special - World's Most Dangerous Roads
A. Previewing
Familiarize yourself with the following entries before watching a video about the traffic in India.
- Delhi - India's second-most-populous city after Mumbai and the largest city in terms of area
- provincial - in or from the parts of the country that are not a city
- highway - an important road that joins cities or towns
- dual carriageway - a road that has a division in the middle, dividing the lanes of traffic that are moving in opposite direction
- tractor - a motor vehicle with large back wheels and thick tires, used on farms for pulling machinery
- chap - a man
- wide-load – also called oversize/ overweight load, a load that exceeds the standard or ordinary size and/or weight limits for a specified portion of road, highway or other transport infrastructure
- bloody hell - a rude way of expressing great anger
- Ganesha - is one of the best-known and most widely worshipped deities (gods) in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India and Nepal.
- strewth – an exclamation, expressing surprise or disappointment. Generally used to add emphasis.
- holy moly – a slang, used as an exclamation to express surprise or astonishment
B. Comprehension
Watch the video and answer the following questions.
Click here to watch the video
Video ©BBC.co.uk
| 1. | The journey to Delhi would give us our first taste of life on provincial Indian highways. What does ‘taste’ refer to in this context? | ||
| flavor | Incorrect | ||
| experience | Correct | ||
| judgment | Incorrect | ||
| 2. | The number of ____________ in India is almost a double of that in the UK. | ||
| lorries | Incorrect | ||
| vehicles | Correct | ||
| traffic accidents | Incorrect | ||
| 3. | Is the traffic-related death rate in India twice as high as that in the UK? | ||
| yes | Incorrect | ||
| no | Correct | ||
| not given | Incorrect | ||
| 4. | “This was a problem for us. Because as night fell, our overnight halt was still 80 miles away.” ‘overnight halt’ is most likely referring to… | ||
| the solution to their problem. | Incorrect | ||
| the town where they will be staying the night. | Correct | ||
| the place to watch the sunrise. | Incorrect | ||
| 5. | “Jesus Christ! That car is going on the wrong side of the road.” In the above context, ‘Jesus Christ!’ is an expression of … | ||
| faith in god | Incorrect | ||
| frustration or anxiety | Incorrect | ||
| shock or anger | Correct | ||
| Remark: Please note that some people might consider this expression offensive. | |||
| 6. | Complete the following sentence with the word which is used in the video: “In England, when a child is badly behaved the mother says, ‘Your father will be very cross with you he gets home!’” | ||
| if | Incorrect | ||
| when | Correct | ||
| after | Incorrect | ||
| 7. | “Two nerve-jangling hours later, we arrived.” What does ‘nerve-jangling’ mean in the above context? | ||
| noisy | Incorrect | ||
| irritating | Correct | ||
| confusing | Incorrect | ||
C. Synonym
In the exercise below, three synonyms are provided for each bolded word in the following sentences taken from the talk. Watch the video again and observe how these words are used in a larger context. Select the synonym that best fits that context. Consult a dictionary when necessary.
| 1. | An experience which was about to take place would be terrifying. | ||
| frightening | Correct | ||
| heavy | Incorrect | ||
| mean | Incorrect | ||
| 2. | Let me give you some alarming statistics. | ||
| disturbing | Correct | ||
| dangerous | Incorrect | ||
| awful | Incorrect | ||
| 3. | Throughout India there are now 74 Million vehicles, roughly twice what we have in the UK. | ||
| approximately | Correct | ||
| badly | Incorrect | ||
| deeply | Incorrect | ||
| 4. | Because as night fell, our overnight halt was still 80 miles away. | ||
| interruption | Incorrect | ||
| end | Incorrect | ||
| pause | Correct | ||
| 5. | That's completely unlit! An unlit wide load. | ||
| cloudy | Incorrect | ||
| no street lights | Correct | ||
| no street surface | Incorrect | ||
| 6. | "Your father will be very cross with you when he gets home!" | ||
| furious | Correct | ||
| confused | Incorrect | ||
| lost for words | Incorrect | ||
| 7. | The next morning, the dual-carriageway madness continued. | ||
| craziness | Correct | ||
| delusion | Incorrect | ||
| stupidity | Incorrect | ||
D. Using vocabulary
Complete the following sentences using the words in the box. Use the correct grammatical form of the words.
Click here to show answers
Answers:
BBC Two - Top Gear - India Special - World's Most Dangerous Roads
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ8SxeL2CmA (with 2:28 to 3:10 removed)
0:09 – 0:14 An experience which we've been told would be terrifying.
0:18 – 0:21 Let me give you some alarming statistics.
0:21 – 0:25 Throughout India there are now 74 Million vehicles
0:25 – 0:27 roughly twice what we have in the UK.
0:27 – 0:30 So, you'd expect the death rate to be twice as high.
0:30 – 0:35 In Britain around about 3000 people a year are killed on the roads.
0:35 – 0:41 Last year in India, it was 196,000. That's 22 an hour.
0:45 – 0:52 This country has the most dangerous roads in the worldand they get worse at night.
0:52 – 0:54 This was a problem for us.
0:54 – 0:59 Because as night fell, our overnight halt was still 80 miles away.
0:59 – 1:04 …and we were on the most dangerous kind of road …a dual carriageway...
1:10 – 1:13 Jesus Christ! That car is going on the wrong side of the road.
1:16 – 1:18 Unlit tractor up ahead chaps.
1:22 – 1:26 That's completely unlit! An unlit wide load.
1:26 – 1:28 In the dark on an unlit road.
1:30 – 1:33 Whoah! A man on the road... God!
1:35 – 1:37 Ooh this is tight...
1:40 – 1:43 Whooah! Oh that was scary!
1:44 – 1:46 Bloody hell!
1:47 – 1:50 You know in England, when a child is badly behaved the mother says,
1:50 – 1:52 "Your father will be very cross with you when he gets home!"
1:52 – 1:54 Here it's different. It's always,
1:54 – 1:58 "Your father will be very cross with you, IF he gets home!"
1:59 – 2:01 Oh God! Oh God!
2:05 – 2:07 Jesus! Look at that!
2:10 – 2:12 I mean Ganesh look at that!
2:14 – 2:15 Blinded!
2:16 – 2:18 Yep, can't see a thing!
2:20 – 2:22 That lorry is very close!
2:25 – 2:29 #@!&... Road narrows for no obvious reason.
2:31 – 2:37 God's Truth! ...Two nerve jangling hours later, we arrived
2:37 – 2:39 at the town where we'll be staying the night.
2:39 – 2:45 And as we re-fuelled, I took my revenge!
2:54 – 2:58 Funny! Very Funny!
2:58 – 3:01 What James has done is turned my heater up to full
3:01 – 3:04 and then removed the heater knob
3:04 – 3:07 so I can't turn it back down again.
3:07 – 3:09 What a monumental bell end he is!
3:14 – 3:19 The next morning, the dual-carriageway madness continued.
3:19 – 3:23 Only, now we could actually see what was going to kill us.
3:24 – 3:27 Oh! Ah! Oh God! Now look!
3:27 – 3:31 Holy Moly!
3:32 – 3:36 A man here just got out of his lorry in the middle of the road!
3:36 – 3:39 Whoooooah!
3:44 – 3:47 I wonder how much else we missed last night
3:47 – 3:50 What else was going on that we never saw!
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