2Nd Conditional

2.Read the examples. Complete the grammar rules.

If motorists had to pay to drive in cities, they would use their cars a lot less.

If I were the Transport Minister, I would stop building motorways.

We could make some of the money if we charged people for driving in cities.

To make the 2nd Conditional, use//+Past Simple, + or

could * infinitive.

Use the 2nd Conditional to express an unlikely or unreal condition and its probable result, in the present or future.

Is it also correct to say If I was the Transport Minister...

What is the difference in meaning between these sentences?

If I have more time, I’ll travel more.

If I had more time, I’d travel more.

2. Read an extract from a radio phone-in programme called Viewpoint. Four callers talk about traffic congestion. Write 1, 2, 3, or 4 next to the solution each caller suggests.

Caller

a. stop building motorways

b. charge motorists for driving in city centres

3. improve public transport in cities

4. ban cars completely from city centres

P=Presenter of radio programme, Cl/C2/C3/C4=Callers to radio phone-in programme

P: Good morning, and welcome to Viewpoint. Today’s programme is about the problem of traffic congestion in our cities and on our roads. In the next twenty years the number of cars will double. Already traffic jams cost industry billions of dollars a year and there are 50,000 road deaths a year in Europe. What do you want the government to do about this problem? We’re waiting for your calls. Call us now. Yes, we have our first caller on the line...

Cl: Hello. Well, I’d like the government to spend money on improving public transport in cities. If we had a really good public transport system, we wouldn’t need to use our own cars so much. We could park outside the city centre, and then use public transport inside the city. If we did that, we could all move around a lot more quickly.

P: Right, so you think the answer is a better public transport system. Thank you, and let’s hear from our second caller...

C2: Yes, well, I agree with the last caller, but good public transport costs a lot of money. I think we could make some of that money if we charged people for driving in cities. Make car drivers pay a fee! If motorists had to pay to drive in city centres, they would use their cars a lot less. And that would also mean fewer traffic jams.

C2: Yes, well, I agree with the last caller, but good public transport costs a lot of money. I think we could make some of that money if we charged people for driving in cities. Make car drivers pay a fee! If motorists had to pay to drive in city centres, they would use their cars a lot less. And that would also mean fewer traffic jams.

P: A good point, yes. Make drivers pay a fee. What do you think? Call us now. Ah, we have our third caller on the line... Hello?

C3: Well, I’m against building more and more motorways. This government thinks that if we had more motorways, we wouldn’t have traffic jams on our roads, but that’s just not true. More motorways mean more cars. If I were the Transport Minister, I would stop building motorways and spend the money on railways.

P: Yes, I’m sure other listeners would agree with you on that. What does our fourth caller think? Hello?

C4: Good morning. Well, I would ban cars completely from city centres. If we didn’t have all those cars, u . wouldn’t have all that pollution and noise. We ne^v to think more about the people who live and work in cities, and their health. We want cities for people, not cities for cars.

P: Right, thank you to those listeners. And now to discuss your ideas we have on our panel...