Topic : You need to travel from your home to a place 40 miles (64 kilometers) away. Compare the different kinds of transportation you could use. Tell which method of travel you would choose. Give specific reasons for your choice.
With the advent of different types transportation, travelling has become much easier today than never before. Nowadays, most of us make our choice out of different modes of transportation based on their luxury, timing and availability. While air planes and ships are used for long distance travel, different modes of transportation like buses, cars and trains are used to cover short distances. Buses and trains are considered as public transport whereas car is a private transport.
According to me train journey is not only safer but also cost effective. By booking a train ticket in advance, we know exactly when it starts from our place, when it will reach our destination. While travelling by a bus or by a train, instead of being bothered by highway traffic and by pain of self driving, we can sit and enjoy the music or read a news paper.
On the other hand, if we go by a car we can stop wherever we want. We need not bother about bus or train timings. After reaching our destination, we may not sit idly at one place. Situations may demand us go to different places. Then having car in our hand is more than helpful. As and when we are done with our work straight we can head back home. We don’t have to wait for a bus or a train.
Although using a car is advantageous in some ways, I always prefer to use public transportation whenever and wherever possible. Driving on highways filled with heavy traffic is not only tiresome but also cumbersome to me. By using a bus or train, rather than concentrating on driving, I can relax myself by reading books, by listening to music or by looking, through the windows, at the panoramic view of the beautiful terrain. Public transportation is much safer than driving our own car in heavy traffic. By using public transport I can easily avoid vehicular pollution and noise.
Global warming has reached to such a dangerous level that it is threatening the existence of many species on the earth. Humans are facing many problems due to increased pollution levels in the atmosphere. Hence it is not only a responsibility but also a necessity to join our hands together to wage a war against pollution. First step in that war is to use public transport whenever and wherever possible.
TOEFL listening lectures: A lecture from a social sciences class (2)