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Train Travel

Train Travel

Date: Dec 04 2009

Themes: Travel

Grammar: Used to Do vs Be Used to

Intro

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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

Marni

Mason

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.

 

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Discussion

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Marni loves taking the train, and she wishes there were a better rail system in the US. Mason agrees that train travel isn’t as common or convenient in the US as it is in other parts of the world. Both he and Marni have had good experiences riding trains in Europe.

Marni used to take Amtrak when she was younger, and she’s continued to take the train in the US occasionally as an adult. She likes how relaxing train travel is, and she enjoys seeing the scenery. It can be a fun way to travel with friends, meet new people, or spend some quality time with yourself.

Do you like to travel by trains? Is train travel common in your country?

 

Comments

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vincentlove

China

I like train travel. i can share the nice landscape that the train sent for me. so i always hope a long holiday, but i want to ask a question: when i will have a long holiday?

03:57 AM Mar 28 2013 |

1 person likes this

Rashida567

Rashida567

United Arab Emirates

I don’t like the train travel 

11:53 PM Mar 27 2013 |

1 person likes this

Yuci

YuciSuper Member!

Japan

I like train travels. But when I have to take a crowded train, I feel really nervous. I used to be jostled in a train when I went to high school…

04:04 PM Jan 21 2013 |

DominikLi

DominikLi

China

To travel by train is a good choise for people like me,who feel both sick when travel by plane or ship.You don’t have to worry about “oh maybe next second my world will shake badly,and I will throw up:P”

07:53 AM Jan 21 2013 |

1 person likes this

snnemr

snnemr

Turkey

i love travel with old train. still have many old train in turkey and travel so excitement with this trains…

03:00 PM Dec 24 2010 |

1 person likes this

poko

Antigua and Barbuda

I use to  travel by train. I love train journey.

04:10 PM Nov 07 2010 |

hooda_love

hooda_love

Egypt

i like this

 

03:18 AM Jul 17 2010 |

Marcelolic

Marcelolic

Brazil

Yeah Brazil is a country where people are used to take train to move to place to place…But it is different than Europe…There people take train to cross coutries and here people take train to cross neighborhood and districts ;)

I really feel like to travel by train in Europe and knowing many countries,this is one of my dreams :)

04:13 PM Dec 15 2009 |

sveta1209

sveta1209

Taiwan

I like traveling by train. Just like Mason said that when you are driving you are not really engage in your trip, you are engage in driving. I have done both of train travel and driving travel. If just only myself in the trip I prefer train travel.

 

01:08 AM Dec 11 2009 |

Idarela

Idarela

El Salvador

xD i´ve never traveled by train either :s here trains aren´t working anymore, public transportation are buses and most of people travel by car. I have a car and if i had a personal driver i´d enjoy my way but unfortunately i have to drive :s it makes me lazy :s :s that´s why i´d like to have trains here..

10:15 PM Dec 10 2009 |

kukuka

kukuka

Ukraine

Train travel is more than common in  my country, actually it's probably one of the most popular methos for people to get from one part of the country to another, and that's quite clear because Ukraine is a relatively big country, it's territory is about 600 thousand square kms, and at the same time there are no highways here. If you choose to go by car you have to be ready for the fact that your average speed won't exceed 70 km/h or less. And the airplane tickets are quite expensive and airports are situated just in cities, there are not many of them, in a word. At the same time I can't bring myself to call train travel cheap either. I mean the cost of the railway, carriages and stations is probably considerable. To put it briefly, I don't see any obvious reason why we have such a widely developed railway system, I think it has been established historically.

11:33 AM Dec 10 2009 |

Youky Yeung

China

I do not like travel by train, because it is uncomfortable, it smell bad, and the noise made by wheels hit rail is awful, i don't like it, if i have a car, i'd like to travel by car, i can enjoy the beauty slowly, enjoy the wind, and so on

11:43 AM Dec 09 2009 |

freewilly87

Germany

I also use the train everyday in order to drive to my uni but I do not like it very much. Sometimes it smells awful and often people listen to their mp3 players and do not care about other people.

06:21 PM Dec 08 2009 |

burcinyo

Turkey

yes i travelled train a lot when i was a student.but now if i go somewhere i use my car to travel..in our country we have a good rail system.generally you can go where you want.the goverment stage trains by own.i like travelling it but the way is more longer than car so if i have time i will prefer to travel with train again.

01:20 PM Dec 08 2009 |

soundoflove

Yemen

I travelled by train once in my life , i hope to try it again . it's nice for me.

06:08 AM Dec 08 2009 |

ADRIANELA

ADRIANELA

Mexico

In Mexico, there's no a train system for passengers, only for cargo and some touristic routes.  And I don't think it will be confortable and efficient enough. Plus, the distances and diverse geography don't help too much.

But it would be great to travel by train making connections and discovering different places as it is possible in Europe.

04:45 AM Dec 08 2009 |

Vi Ya Kim

South Korea

Whenever I see the rail, it reminds me of the animation 'Galaxy Express999'.

When we take a trip by train, we usually eat tangerine and boiled eggs with soda in Korea. it's kind of a delicacy. We have pretty good train system. so please come to visit here!!!   

02:32 AM Dec 08 2009 |

FangChen

FangChen

Taiwan

I hope I can take a trip to anywhere I want someday. I think it will be a really wonderful experience for me to be in the train and travel by myself or with my best friends.

03:16 PM Dec 07 2009 |

caicaierfeng

China

train is a good way for a travel.on the train i can see the beauty through the window.it's great!

02:03 PM Dec 07 2009 |

THX_wallace

Brazil

well, i live on a big country so…we don't have a big rail system, on each states we have one rail system, but it's doesn't connected, so we can't travel for all country by train, and i don't like so much train, :D

01:56 PM Dec 07 2009 |

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