Unit 1. Eurostar tops 10 million passengers

Vocabulary

high speed - высокоскоростной

ridership - пассажиропоток

to handle - перевозить

a milestone - контрольный ориентир, этап, рубеж

a joint venture - совместное предприятие

low-cost - недорогой, дешевый

economic downturn – экономический спад, рецессия

a stand-alone company – автономная/независимая компания

a trial - эксперимент, пробный тест

EUROPE: Cross-Channel high speed train operator Eurostar International carried more than 10 million passengers during 2013, setting a new ridership record. The annual total was slightly up on the 9.9 million handled in the previous year.

Announcing the milestone on December 30, Eurostar reported that it had now carried more than 140 million passengers since the start of services between London, Paris and Brussels in November 1994.

At that time Eurostar was a joint venture between the three national railways of Britain, France and Belgium, and was predicting that ridership would reach 10 million passengers/year by 1998. In the event, traffic growth was slowed by competition from low-cost airlines and later by the economic downturn. Eurostar was subsequently restructured as a stand-alone company although still owned by three state-owned bodies.

Eurostar attributed the increased ridership in 2013 to 'recent signs of a recovery in the UK economy, along with a busy summer for leisure travel'. The year also saw the operation of additional services, including the trial Route du Soleil direct service between London and Aix-en-Provence in the south of France which ran on selected summer weekends. The trial is to be repeated this year, and Eurostar says the route will be introduced 'on a permanent basis from 2015'.

Commercial Director Nick Mercer said '2013 has been a record-breaking year for Eurostar. With a leap in passenger numbers as well as the introduction of new routes and new destinations, we are seeing growing demand from customers across Europe and indeed around the world. As we enter our 20th year of operation, we have a year of activity planned on the run up to our 20th birthday in November.'

Read the text again and answer the questions:

1. What sort of company is Eurostar International?

2. How many people have been carried by Eurostar since the start of services?

3. Why did the ridership decrease in the 1990s?

4. What were the reasons for increasing the number of passengers in 2013?

5. How many years has Eurostar been operating in the market?

Exercises:

1) Find the English equivalents in the text:

1) высокоскоростной поезд

2) увеличение пассажиропотока

3) перевозить по железной дороге

4) этап в развитии

5) новое совместное предприятие

6) недорогой авиаперевозчик

7) ежегодный спад

8) автономный источник энергии

9) экспериментальное направление

2) Word formation. Translate the words into Russian and fill in the gaps with the proper word:

a) cross-examination, cross-action, cross-country, cross-Reference;

b) low-fat, low-key, low-tech, low-poly;

c) easy-going, long-standing, time-consuming, foul-tasting

1) Mag has gained 7 pounds so she is on a _______________ diet now.

2) Making pottery is very ________________ work.

3) Every year we take part in __________________ skiing.

4) During the economic crisis this company faced the demand for the ____________ cars.

5) It would be a mistake to suppose that the _________________ pleasure-seeking student carries an empty head.

6) The attorny`s _______________ was particularly aggressive.

3) Use the or no article with the geographical names:

"From Sea to Sea"

Occupying 1) _____ northern-half of 2)____ North American continent, Canada has a land mass of 9,970,610 km, making it the second-largest country in the world after 3) ____ Russia. Canada's motto, "From Sea to Sea," is geographically inaccurate. In addition to its coastlines on 4) _____ Atlantic and Pacific, Canada has a third sea coast on 5) _____ Arctic Ocean, giving it 6) ______ longest coastline of any country in the world.

If you fly over 7) _____ Manitoba or 8) _____ Ontario in summer, you will see more water than land: lakes, big and small, so many that they could not possibly be counted. In addition to 9) ______ Great Lakes, which it shares with 10) _____ United States, Canada has many large rivers and lakes.

Canada's highest peaks are not in 11) _____ Rocky Mountains, but in 12) ______ St. Elias Mountains. The highest point in Canada, 13) _____ mount Logan (6050 m), rises amid a huge icefield in 14) _____ southwest corner of Yukon, the largest icecap south of 15) _____ Arctic Circle.

Discussion Corner.

1) The first high-speed railway in the world

2) The history of high-speed rail lines in Russia

3) Socio and economic benefits from creating high-speed railways

4) The most popular tourist destinations in Russia

5) The journey of your dream

References: