Choose one of the following transportation vehicles and explain why you think it has changed people’s lives. • automobiles • bicycles • airplanes Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
If it were not for the invention of the Wright brothers, we would not have been able to fly like birds in the sky. Airplanes are certainly unique flying machines that have conquered the skies. As a result, they have changed people’s lives in many ways.
To begin with, before airplaines were invented, people used to travel by ship to reach far off places located across the oceans and seas. Ships are slower means of transportation, because it takes many days to complete a journey. With the advent of aeroplanes, trips are become faster and more comfortable. Airplanes save further time, because you can be in one location and appear at your destination in a couple of hours. It is really pleasant to fly on plane, as you are assisted by flight-stewards during the whole journey.
On top of that, some studies have shown that airplanes are further safer than automobiles. There is one accident for every 1.4 million flights. Certainly, it is less probable to have a fly accident than a car accident. So, you do not have to worry about traffic lights and signs when you take a flight.
What is more, people have a whale of a time by experiencing what it is to fly like birds. It is like a dream that comes true. You feel powerful and wonderful by attaining such heights in the skies. Everything looks much tinier from above. You can delight yourself by flying above clouds. It is just like reaching heaven.
In addition, traveling by airplane provides you with a sense of proximity. You can visit exotic tourist spots, attend business meetings or familiar reunions in other locations, whenever there is an available airport. Moreover, goods from one area can be shipped to other regions much easier and quicker. For instance, although flowers have little life spans, Holland is a great exporter of tulips.
All in all, admittedly, an airplane is such an outstanding innovation, which has dramatically changed the way in which people and goods travel longer distances. It leads to flourishing economic and social developments.
TOEFL listening lectures: A university lecture by a professor of Physics