Train Travel

Intro

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

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• passive
• pay attention
• social hour
• me-time

• Route 66
• rail system
• underrated
• Amtrak

• get around
• little

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The Rolling Stones sang “Get your kicks on Route 66,” not “Have fun while riding the train.” The US is a country of car-lovers, and driving and the open road occupy a special place in American pop culture.

But some Americans would prefer to travel by train, as is common and convenient in many other parts of the world. Unfortunately, the US doesn’t have a very extensive or efficient rail system. So it’s much more common for people to fly or drive between cities than to take the train. Find out how Marni and Mason feel about this underrated form of transportation.

Dialog

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

Marni

Mason

Marni:  You know what I love to do more than anything?

Mason:  I do not know.

Marni:  Travel on a train.

Mason:  Do you do that often?

Marni:  No, not often enough. And I think in America we don’t really have that opportunity, because we don’t really have a rail system that connects us easily from one city to another like in Europe and Asia.

Mason:  Yeah the last time I was on a train it was in Europe, so…

Marni:  Right. And they have such a great system there, you know, it’s so fast. But here we have Amtrak, which I love. I used to travel on the train a lot when I was little. I sort of associate that with my youth. And I’ve taken it up to Canada a few times. It’s beautiful, it’s a great way to travel.

Mason:  So, I mean it’s a much more passive thing. Like, it’s gonna take a long time, kinda like driving, but you’re not engaged like you are when you’re driving, where I actually have to pay attention to stuff.

Marni:  Right. You get to just sort of sit back and relax, and the trains are very nice.

Mason:  So when you go do you go with other people so it’s like social hour, or do you go with a good book and it’s like me-time?

Marni:  I’ve done both. And so I think there’s merit to both. It’s a fun way to travel with a lot of friends, but it’s a great way to get around just by yourself.

 

Grammar Point

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Lesson MP3

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