The Reading / Listening - Electric Scooters - Level 5

Electric scooters are all the rage across the world. The electric-powered two-wheelers help people nimbly zip through traffic to get about town. However, they also have safety concerns. Many scooter riders disregard road rules, ignore traffic lights and ride on sidewalks illegally. A scooter maker has made a speaker that will alert pedestrians and other road users of a scooter's presence. Segway is selling a speaker accessory that can add V12 engine noises to its scooters. Additionally, the user can plug in their music and the speaker will play the rider's favourite tunes.

Segway's $150 Engine Speaker can play music or sounds for 23 hours when fully charged. The speaker syncs with the accelerator. The faster the scooter goes, the louder the sounds are. Segway said its speaker will warn anyone in earshot that a scooter is approaching. Road safety analysts believe the speaker could cut the number of collisions between scooter riders and pedestrians. However, critics are worried about noise pollution. They say the beauty of electric engines is their silence. They believe a simple beeping sound is enough to alert other road users.

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Electric Scooters - Level 4 or  Electric Scooters - Level 6

Sources
  • https://www.theverge.com/2022/4/14/23025585/segway-ninebot-engine-wireless-speaker-engine-noise-v8
  • https://gizmodo.com/segways-strap-on-speaker-makes-your-scooter-sound-like-1848783531
  • https://hiconsumption.com/segway-superscooter/


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Phrase Matching

Paragraph 1

  1. all the
  2. nimbly zip
  3. Many scooter riders
  4. ride on
  5. a speaker that will alert
  6. Segway is selling a speaker
  7. the user can plug
  8. the speaker will play the rider's
  1. sidewalks illegally
  2. in their music
  3. through traffic
  4. favourite tunes
  5. disregard road rules
  6. pedestrians
  7. rage across the world
  8. accessory

Paragraph 2

  1. when fully
  2. The speaker syncs
  3. its speaker will warn anyone in
  4. cut the number of
  5. critics are worried
  6. the beauty of electric engines
  7. a simple beeping
  8. alert other
  1. about noise pollution
  2. sound is enough
  3. with the accelerator
  4. road users
  5. earshot
  6. charged
  7. is their silence
  8. collisions

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Electric scooters are (1) ___________________ across the world. The electric-powered two-wheelers help people (2) ___________________ traffic to get about town. However, they also have safety concerns. Many scooter (3) ___________________ rules, ignore traffic lights and ride on sidewalks illegally. A scooter maker has made a speaker that (4) ___________________ and other road users of (5) ___________________. Segway is selling a speaker accessory that can add V12 engine noises to its scooters. Additionally, the user (6) ___________________ their music and the speaker will play the rider's favourite tunes.

Segway's $150 Engine Speaker can play music or sounds for 23 hours (7) ___________________. The speaker syncs with the accelerator. The faster the scooter goes, the louder the sounds are. Segway said its speaker will warn (8) ___________________ that a scooter is approaching. Road safety analysts believe the speaker could cut the (9) ___________________ between scooter riders and pedestrians. However, critics are worried (10) ___________________. They say the (11) ___________________ engines is their silence. They believe a simple beeping sound is (12) ___________________ other road users.

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

Electricscootersarealltherageacrosstheworld.Theelectric-powere
dtwo-wheelershelppeoplenimblyzipthroughtraffictogetabouttow
n.However,theyalsohavesafetyconcerns.Manyscooterridersdisrega
rdroadrules,ignoretrafficlightsandrideonsidewalksillegally.Ascooter
makerhasmadeaspeakerthatwillalertpedestriansandotherroaduser
sofascooter'spresence.Segwayissellingaspeakeraccessorythatcana
ddV12enginenoisestoitsscooters.Additionally,theusercanpluginthei
rmusicandthespeakerwillplaytherider'sfavouritetunes.Segway's$1
50EngineSpeakercanplaymusicorsoundsfor23hourswhenfullycharg
ed.Thespeakersyncswiththeaccelerator.Thefasterthescootergoes,t
helouderthesoundsare.Segwaysaiditsspeakerwillwarnanyoneinear
shotthatascooterisapproaching.Roadsafetyanalystsbelievethespea
kercouldcutthenumberofcollisionsbetweenscooterridersandpedestr
ians.However,criticsareworriedaboutnoisepollution.Theysaythebea
utyofelectricenginesistheirsilence.Theybelieveasimplebeepingsoun
disenoughtoalertotherroadusers.

Student survey

Write five GOOD questions about this topic in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper. When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

(Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

Discussion — Write your own questions

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

(a) ________________

(b) ________________

(c) ________________

(d) ________________

(e) ________________

(f) ________________

(g) ________________

(h) ________________

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

(i) ________________

(j) ________________

(k) ________________

(l) ________________

(m) ________________

(n) ________________

(o) ________________

(p) ________________

Free writing

Write about this topic for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

Help Support This Web Site

  • Please consider helping Breaking News English.com

Sean Banville's Book

Thank You