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.
Is it possible to have a world with safe transportation for all people? Is this possible even if some people don’t know how to drive? How do you feel about seeing a car drive past you on the road with no driver behind the wheel? Self-driving cars will soon be on roads all over the world. Automated cars use GPS and computer technology to drive. They look friendly and drive cautiously on the road.
People see the development of self-driving cars as a milestone in technology, but the fact that there is no human controlling the car often scares them. They are worried about the reaction time of these automated vehicles. They don’t know if the self-driving cars can drive safely in changing weather conditions and around dangerous drivers.
Jessica and Gary discuss their thoughts on self-driving cars. Find out what they think in today’s English lesson.
Dialog
1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.
2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.
Jessica: I was reading an article about self-driving cars.
Gary: I am so excited about those.
Jessica: I am too, but I’m worried they might be a little dangerous.
Gary: It’s true. I have to agree with you. I am a little worried about that. They’re fully automated. How will they handle rain, or snow, or conditions that they haven’t been programmed for.
Jessica: And what about the reaction time with other drivers. If somebody is racing in and out of traffic, I don’t know?
Gary: Yeah, that could be really dangerous.
Jessica: It really could be.
Gary: I have seen some video of some self-driving cars though. And their reaction time is actually better than the driver.
Jessica: Wow, see that’s impressive. That’s quite a milestone with technology. I sometimes get road rage, and I feel like, if I happen to be driving around a self-driving vehicle, it might provoke that road rage a little bit.
Gary: It’s really interesting. I feel like the self-driving cars are teaching each other, and it compounds all of the data, so they keep reaching these better milestones every day to just become safer on the road. So, maybe your road rage can be covered by these self-driving cars.
Jessica: Alright, I’ll look into this.
Grammar Point
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Discussion
Jessica read an article about self-driving cars, and she tells Gary about it. She is worried that they may be dangerous on the road because there is no human controlling them. She is afraid that their reaction time will be poor when weather conditions change. She also thinks automated cars will provoke her road rage.
Gary is excited about self-driving cars. He agrees that they could be dangerous but explains to Jessica that, after watching a video about them, he found out that their reaction time is better than the reaction time of human drivers. He tells Jessica that these cars reach better milestones every day to become safer on the road.
How do you feel about self-driving cars? Would you feel safe driving next to one?
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