LAST DAYS OF THE RICKSHAW
Kolkata (previously known as Calcutta) is the famous capital of West Bengal in India and the home of nearly 15 million people. The traffic jams and engine fumes begin early in the morning with long lines of private cars, public buses, taxis, three-wheeled scooters and pedicabs.
There are not many alternatives. You can catch a train through the city or take the underground but sooner or later you have to go on foot and walking in Kolkata is a dangerous activity. As the drivers race towards pedestrians, they blow their horns. The sound never stops from morning to night.
So when I crossed a small road on my first day in the city, I was surprised because I heard a bell – not a horn. It was a tiny man pulling a rickshaw. He stopped and picked up two children from the front door of their house and then, with the great strength, pulled them to school. For many people, the rickshaw is a symbol of Kolkata and they have many advantages.
When the traffic is bad, rickshaws find a way through the traffic. If you miss your bus and there are not any taxis, you can always find a rickshaw in Kolkata. Rickshaw are also very popular with local shoppers. The driver takes you from your house to the market and waits for you. Then he loads all of your purchases, drops you off outside your home and helps you unload. No other type of public transport offers this kind of service.
You also see lots more people getting on and off rickshaws during the monsoon season.
That is the period from June to September hen Kolkata gets heavy rainfall. Sometimes it rains for 48 hours without a break. In the older parts of the city, the roads flood. The water can rise as high as people’s waist in the worst part. When it is this bad, anything with an engine is useless.
But the rickshaw drivers never stop working, even with water all around them.
But not everyone thinks rickshaws are a good thing. Some local officials and politicians want to ban rickshaw on “humanitarian ground”. They believe it is wrong for one man to pull another person when there is modern transport in the city. However, there is a problem with this plan. Many of the rickshaw drivers come from the countryside with no job and no qualifications.
The only job they can find in Kolkata is pulling a rickshaw. If the city bans the rickshaw, these men will not have a job or income. So for the moment, the people of Kolkata still go with rickshaw.
Read the article and answer the questions correctly and completely!
1. What are the advantages of a rickshaw compared with other type of transport?
2. Why do not local officials and politicians ban rickshaws?
3. What do the underlined words refer to?
a. As the drivers race toward pedestrian, they blow their horns.
The underlined word refers to_______________
b. They believe it is wrong for one man to pull another person when there is modern transport in the city.
The underlined word refers to ____________________
c. He stopped and picked up two children from the front door of their house….
He refers to ______________
4. What is the main idea of paragraph 3?
5. Complete the sentences below with the correct form of the adjectives (comparative, superlative or as…as)
a. China has the (large) _________________ population in the world.
b. The capital city, Beijing, has some of the (bad) _________________ traffic problems.
c. A few decades ago, China’s streets were not as (polluted) _______________they are now because most people rode bicycles.
d. The air Guangzhou is much (clean) _________________________ in other cities.
e. The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) works with cities to make city life (good) ________________.
6. Rewrite the transcript from a telephone voice mail as shorter message.
a. ‘I’m sorry but I’m stuck in a traffic jam. I’ll see you in half an hour.’
b. My first flight is an hour late. Meet me at the arrivals terminal at five o’clock.’
c. Thank you for booking the train tickets. I’ll pay you when we meet at the station.’
d. Peter wants to come with us in the taxi. Can you call him and tell him where to meet us?
