CAE Gold TB

Photocopiable activity 9 Travel and transport idioms

Worksheet 1

SetA

1 His career really .... .. ... ........................ .. .. after his first television appearance.

(His career is like a plane which has now started to fly successfully.)

2It'sgood that we live so near the park. The children need a nice big open space where they can run around and ........... .. .................. ... ... .

(The children are like trains whose engines may become overheated if they are not active.)

3If you don't take this opportunity now, you may find you've...... .............. ...... .. ......... .

(Taking this opportunity would be like beginning a journey by sea.)

4Despite all the predictions about a stock market crash, the situation now looks more hopeful and I'm confident we will have a ...... .... ........... ... ............. .

(The stock market is like a plane. Instead of the flight ending in a crash, it will now end safely.)

3They were business partners for five years before they decided to ........ .. .. ........... .............. .

4Unless all the team are fully committed to the projects, you won'tbe able to .. ............. .. ........... .. ....... .

5After Mr Grove's poor performance in parliament yesterday, the democrats must be wondering if they

have the right leader .. ........ " ................... ...... .

6 He's frustrated with his job and feels he's going nowhere. He's really stuck .. .. .. .. ...... ........ .......... .. .. . .

Photocopiable activity 9 Travel and transport idioms

Worksheet 2

SetA

1 His career really ... ... .. .. .... .. .. .. ................. after he joined the new marketing department.

2It'sgood that we live so near the park. The children need a nice big open space where they can run around and ..................................... .

3If you don't take this opportunity now, you may find you've ... ........ ......... .. ..... .. ........ .

4Despite all the predictions about a stock market crash , the situation now looks more hopeful and I'm confident we will have a ...... .. ...... ....................... .

(The investigation is like a train taking us where we want to go.)

Version 1

PICKLES AND THE WORLD CUP

Among England football fans, 1966 is remembered as the year in which the world cup trophy was stolen. Fortunately, it was recovered in time for the game, not by a detective but by a black-and-white terrier called Pickles.

The famous Jules Rimet trophy was stolen from an exhibition hall on 20 March 1966 despite the poor security arrangements. The police immediately began an urgent investigation yet they completely failed to track down the missing cup. Later that week, Joe Mears, Chairman of the Football Association, received a call from a soldier called Edward Bletchley. Bletchley offered to return the cup for a sum of £15,000 as long as nothing was said to the police. Mears agreed to pay the ransom, but did not keep his promise to say nothing. Consequently, when Bletchley turned up at a secret location to collect the money, the police were ready to move in. He was arrested and charged with theft, although he later claimed to have devised the whole plot to steal the trophy himself.

Bletchley soon found himself in prison but the cup was still missing. Then, a few days later, a man called David Corbett was taking his dog Pickles for a walk when the dog dragged him over to a corner of the garden. Under the hedge was a parcel wrapped in newspaper. David thought immediately that it might be the missing trophy but when he pulled off the newspaper, there was the world cup. As a result of his find, hardly anyone realised that the dog was responsible. Because he had saved the world cup, the Football Association did not even mention him at their banquet. Moreover, David soon dropped from the public eye as well.

Although Pickles has been dead for many years, David stm enjoys telling the story and is proud to have been the owner of one of the most famous dogs in history.

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Version 2

PICKLES AND THE WORLD CUP

Among England football fans, 1966 is remembered as the year in which the world cup trophy was stolen. Fortunately, it was recovered in time for the game, not by a detective but by a black-and-white terrier called Pickles.

The famous Jules Rimet trophy was stolen from an exhibition hall on 20 March 1966 despite the tight security surrounding it. The police immediately began an urgent investigation yet came very close to finding the missing cup. Later that week, Joe Mears, Chairman of the Football Association, received a call from a soldier called Edward Bletchley. Bletchley offered to return the cup for a sum of £15,000 as long as nothing was said to the police. Mears agreed to pay the ransom, but kept the second part of the bargain too. Consequently, when Bletchley turned up at a secret location to collect the money, the police knew nothing about it. He was arrested and charged with theft, although he later claimed to be only a middle man who would receive just £500 for his trouble.

Bletchley soon found himself in prison but the cup was still missing. Then, a few days later, a man called David Corbett was taking his dog Pickles for a walk when the dog dragged him over to a corner of the garden. Under the hedge was a parcel wrapped in newspaper. David's first thought was that it might be a bomb but when he pulled off the newspaper, there was the world cup. As a result of his find, Pickles became an instant celebrity.

Because he had saved the world cup, he was allowed to attend the players' banquet and finish up the scraps. Moreover, David and Pickles went on to make a number of television appearances.

Although Pickles has been dead for many years, David seldom thinks about him now and has all but forgotten that he once owned one of the most famous dogs in history.

Commas

1Commas are used in place of a link word if it has moved to the beginning of the sentence.

2Commas are used after or around some adverbial words and phrases.

3Commas are used before some conjunctions.

4Commas are used around short phrases which define or clarify the noun before them.

a)Mike Robinson, the famous film director, is currently holidaying in the Caribbean.

b)Most reality TV has no merit at all. It is, however, very popular with viewers.

c)Men used to be more reluctant to apologise, but this is changing.

d)Although I apologised to Susan, she still hasn'tforgiven me.

Colons and semicolons

a)There are four castes in traditional Indian society: priests, warriors, businessmen and servants.

b)I remember James as a little boy; now he'sjust become our member of parliament.

c)I am reading Universal Man: an Introduction to Anthropology by Peter Rowe.

d)Modesty is usually considered a virtue; however, extreme modesty can prevent people from fulfilling their true potential.

Part one

First of all, I'd like to highlight just a few of the catastrophic decisions that the local council has made affecting people in this city since the last election.

situation where many of our older citizens are still having to pay for their bus passes whereas in some well run cities, pensioners have had free travel for years. This surely cannot be right. Council officials put this down to

Anever have I heard such a lame excuse.

Bno sooner had they got into power than they made cutbacks in the financial help given to public services, especially public transport.

CUnder no circumstances can we allow this council to be re-elected.

DAt no time in living memory have we had such poor concessions on public transport for the elderly.

Part two

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Photocopiable activity 11 B Eureka moments

Worksheet 1

Worksheet 1

1 The Montreal Stadium

Montreal's Oly mpic s ta dium was built for the 1976 Olympic Games. The design was extremely ambitious, and featured a retractable roof, which could be closed up around a tall tower, like a huge umbrella .

It wa s originally forecast to cost 120 million Cana dian dollars but by the time of the Olympics it had already cost 250 million. To make matters worse, it was far from finished because the tower and the famou s roof were missing. The long-anticipated retractable roof did not even arrive from its origin in Paris until 1981 and then it sat idle for several more years until the city found the money to install it. It was then found that the retracting mechanism did not work properly.

In 1991, part of the roofs support gave way, causing a 55-ton slab of concrete to crash to the ground. Miraculously, no one was hurt. It was then decided to give up on the idea of the retractable roof and hopefully solve the problem once and for all by fixing on a permanent one. This project cost another 57 million dollars but the new roof was finally attached in 1998. Then in January 1999, a large part of this new roof fell in, due to the weight of the snow and ice on it.

The stadium is now closed during the winter months for safety reasons and it sits vacant for most of the rest of the year due to its inconvenient location. The total cost of the project, a massive 1.47 billion dollars, was finally paid off in 2006. The locals refer to it as 'the Big 0' or 'the Big Mistake'.

2 The Saro Princess

The Sara Princess was a large fl ying boat, built by the British company Sanders-Roe Ltd.

Before the Second World War, it seemed obvious that journeys across the Atlantic would be made by fl ying boats. Mter all, it was reasoned, aeroplanes were not very reliable and you would need to be able to make an emergency landing on water. Accordingly, work on the Sara Princess began in 1946. It w a s intended to be a supreme sea plane that could serve the British Empire.

Unfortunately, people were not aware of just how rapidly the technology for flying would develop. The Sara's ambitious design also took much longer than anticipated to complete. The finished model was finally unveiled at an air show in 1952 but by that time many international airports were already operating and the design was already obsole te. In all, three models of the Sara were built but only one of them ever flew.

Sentences to complete

It was going to be ................... .................................... ............. .

It was to be ... .. .... ..... .... ..... ... .. ........ ........ .. ... .. ........... ..... ..

It was hoped that it ... .. ........................ ... ....... .... .. ......... .............. .

People had no idea that ......... ... ...... ....... ........ .. ... .......... ..... ........... .. .. .

No one suspected that ... .... ...... .... .... .. ..... .. ... ... ... ........ .... .... ........... .. .

People did not foresee that ... ... ............. ............. ............ ... ........... .......... .

In the event it was ...... .... .... .... .... . .... .... ... ..... ... ... .... ...... ..... ..... ....

As it turned out, the costs were to be .. .. ........... .. .......... ..... ........ .. .. ... .......... .......... ..

If ............ had known ............ , he/she/ they ...... .. ......... .... .......... ..... .......... .. ......... .... .. ..... .

Worksheet 2

1 The Waterloo Vase

The Waterloo Vase is an enormous vase, five metres high and weighing about 20 tons.

When Napoleon was passing through Italy on his way to the Russian front, he was impressed by the enormous blocks of marble that had been hewn from the mountains. He ordered one of them to be saved so that it could be turned into a victory trophy for himself. Unfortunately, of course, his dreams of victory came to an end at the Battle of Waterloo. The marble was therefore offered to the king of Britain, George IV, instead. The king also liked the idea of having a war trophy and commissioned the sculptor, Richard Westmacott, to turn it into a massive vase. The hope was that this would become a widely admired work of art to celebrate Britain's victory over France.

The facts turned out rather differently. The vase was originally intended to stand in Windsor Castle, but it was so heavy that the floor could not bear its weight. It was decided to give it to the National Gallery instead. However, they did not want it either and eventually returned

it to the monarchy, to King Edward VII in 1906. The vase was finally placed in a secluded area of the garden in Buckingham Palace, where it stands today.

2 The Sydney Cross City Tunnel

The Sydney Cross City Tunnel links Darling Harbour on the western edge of the city with the suburbs on the eastern side. It was first opened in August 2005 and the hope was that it would ease traffic congestion in the city centre.

Unfortunately, the original projection for the number of cars using the tunnel turned out to be wildly optimistic. It was forecast that 85,000 vehicles a day would drive through it but the real figure was only about 25,000. In an attempt to encourage motorists to use it, a toll-free period was declared. At the end of this period, the number of cars had increased to 53,000. The organisers then reinstated the charge and the figure promptly dropped again.

As it was so expensive, the tunnel failed in its intention to reduce congestion because scores of motorists started to drive through the back streets of Sydney to avoid paying the toll. To make matters worse, a number of roads had been closed due to the construction of the tunnel, which made the gridlock even worse. Eventually, the government was forced to reopen some of the closed roads at further expense.

With debts of over 500 million Australian dollars, the tunnel has now gone into receivership. Who will finally foot the bill is uncertain.

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Photocopiable activity 13 Gapped sentences quiz

Worksheet 1

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Worksheet 1 answers

Photocopiable activity 13 Gapped sentences quiz

Worksheet 2

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Worksheet 2 answers