6 Minute English: future transport Intermediate shadowing lesson
Rob and Neil from BBC Learning English talk about the future of transport, from driverless cars to the Hyperloop, where pods are pushed through a metal tube at high speed. Its lead engineer says there is nothing scary about it, a BBC correspondent doubts it will take off, and Neil guesses where the fastest train ever was recorded.
What you practise by shadowing it
- A choice question, rising on each choice and falling on the last: Is it in... a) China, b) Japan, or c) France?
- Big numbers and speeds: at 1,123 kilometres per hour, at 200,000 feet, at a speed of 603 kilometres per hour.
- Stress on the words set against each other: in minutes rather than hours, on magnetic track rather than conventional rails.
- Intermediate
- Video
- 6:08
- 87 sentences
Practise it in the app
Free, no account needed. The app plays one sentence and waits for you to say it.
First sentences
Hello. I'm Rob and this is 6 Minute English, the show that brings you an interesting topic,
authentic listening practice and some vocabulary to help you improve your language skills.
And hello, I'm Neil.
Our topic today is transport.
How do you think you'll be travelling to work in, say, 30 years' time, Rob?
The video has 87 sentences. The rest are in the app. Practise them all
Words and phrases
- commonplace
- not unusual; often seen
- automation
- using machines to do work instead of people
- driverless
- moving with no person driving it
- prototype
- the first version of something, made to be tested
- far-fetched
- so unbelievable it is unlikely to happen
- maglev
- a train that floats on magnets
- vacuum
- a space with all the air taken out
- according to
- as said by
- rather than
- instead of
- take off
- become popular and successful
- look back
- think about the past
How to practise this clip
- Listen to a sentence before you read it.
- Say it right after, at the speaker's pace, with the same pauses.
- After the first round, hide the text and practise from the sound alone.
Want to practise every day? See the 15-minute routine.
Source
BBC Learning English, 6 Minute English, on YouTube
