Learn English with English, baby!

Join for FREE!

Social_nav_masthead_logged_in
 
Roadwork
Roadwork

Learn English with this roadwork English lesson

Date: May 02 2018

Themes: Travel

Grammar: Relative Pronouns

Intro

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

Go Super to Listen Go Super!

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

Go Super to Listen Go Super!

What’s more frustrating than being stuck in traffic? You’re on your way to work or to an appointment, when suddenly you see a sign on the side of the road: roadwork ahead.

Even if you’ve planned your route well, it’s tough to avoid unexpected roadwork. Sometimes, you can get the information ahead of time. People who are with it look up regular maintenance and find out where there’s going to be extra traffic. It’s clear that roads need repairs since nothing stays in pristine condition for long, but you definitely don’t want roadwork to make you late.

Gary seems to get around all the roadwork. Learn his secret in today’s English lesson about driving.

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.

Gary

Gary

Jeff

Jeff

Gary:  Jeff, I’m so sorry. That must have been really frustrating getting to work so late because of the traffic.

Jeff:  Tell me about it. Year-round maintenance.

Gary:  You know, I couldn’t agree with you more. There is maintenance on 84 here, on the back road to get here. There is so much of a hassle that you have to avoid everything because there’s traffic. There’s just traffic everywhere!

Jeff:  You always seem to be on time and kind of with it.

Gary:  Yeah.

Jeff:  What’s your secret?

Gary:  So, I actually have a family member who works for the Department of Transportation, and I have an application on my smartphone that tells me which route to take because, to be perfectly honest with you, I am so impatient in traffic. My tempers just flare up. It’s awful.

Jeff:  Well, I don’t blame you. The weather year-round is constantly beating up the roads around here. They’re not going to be in pristine condition, so it’s…

Gary:  This is one road, actually, that is in pristine condition. And there is never any traffic on it. I’ll tell you about it on our way out, because you’re definitely going to want to take this to get home. It’s a secret. I’ll definitely keep it quiet.

Jeff:  All right.

 

Grammar Point

Go Super to learn "Relative Pronouns" from this lesson Go Super!

Quizzes

Go Super to take Quiz Go Super!

 

Lesson MP3

Go Super to download full lesson MP3 Go Super!

The iTEP® test

  • Schedule an iTEP® test and take the official English Practice Test.

    Take Now >

Discussion

Go Super to Listen Go Super!

Jeff was late to work, and Gary knows why. There’s traffic everywhere!

Jeff says the delay is caused by road maintenance. It’s happening all over, and Jeff can’t avoid the traffic.

Gary, on the other hand, never seems to be late. Jeff wants to know what his secret is. Gary tells Jeff that he has a relative who works for the Department of Transportation, and he uses his smartphone to plan routes that go around the traffic.

Gary’s not very patient in traffic, so he tries to keep his tempers controlled by missing as much traffic as possible. Although he tries to keep it quiet, Gary does have one secret road he wants to share with Jeff. Then they can both make it to work on time.

How much roadwork happens where you live? Can you plan a different route ahead of time, or do you always get stuck in traffic?

 

Comments

Log in to Comment

txbluebee

txbluebeeSuper Member!

United States

I hate traffic! Before I go out, I always check google map first to find the faster route to get me to the destination. However, it’s difficult to avoid unexpected accidents or roadworks sometimes. 

03:41 PM May 02 2018 |

Crizsearch

Crizsearch

Indonesia

Jakarta is the capital of my country and you know it’s no 1 the city with terrible roadwork. Traffic jam everywhere, I think it’s because there are many people who have their own car, and public transportation is not work well. Luckily I don’t live there.

02:03 PM Feb 06 2015 |

mehdimansiz

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

we sometimes see the roadwork in our area


08:04 AM Apr 28 2014 |

oroba

oroba

Yemen

we all sicj from road maintenance , it’s really  driving me crazy 

02:19 PM Apr 23 2014 |

1 person likes this

Aojin

China

In China , the roadword happen worse. not only more and more vehicle are sold, but also the road is poor quality, need to be maintenced  frequently.

12:44 PM Apr 23 2014 |

2 people like this

hatamian

hatamian

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

Sometimes , we are in a hurry for doing our task and time is of importance or of the essence and we don’t think about unanticipated issues which take our time for instance the road worker that causes to traffic jam  ahead of us .I feel anxious about it and trying to change my route for getting to my destination but we should accept where our road goes or each things that is used by persons needs maintenance one other hand  sb or group are responsible for repairing must start work in the best time which people aren’t very involved.

11:08 AM Apr 23 2014 |

Likes (17):

See all >

Share this lesson:

  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Bebo
  • Share on Myspace
  • Share on Twitter
  • Email this to a friend
  • Share on Sina

Post Ebaby! lessons on your blog:

Ebaby! Cast