Listening

Warm Up

Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. expand
    • ex. The convenience store owner decided to expand the business into other cities.
  2. around-the-clock
    • ex. The patient needs around-the-clock care.
  3. an expansion
    • ex. The company is planning an expansion to other countries.
  4. malfunction
    • ex. Machines in the factory can malfunction. So, employees should check them regularly.
  5. suspension
    • ex. The suspension of his business permit meant he couldn’t open his store for three months.

Article

Read the article below and answer your tutor's questions.

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Waymo is introducing its robotaxi service in Los Angeles. It’s offering free rides to people who have signed up for the driverless taxi service. Waymo announced that it will not charge for rides in the meantime, but it will do so in the future. Waymo decided to expand to Los Angeles after receiving approval for around-the-clock services in San Francisco earlier this year.

The free rides offered by Waymo in Los Angeles will cover a 63-square-mile area from Santa Monica to downtown. This expansion has the approval of the California Public Utilities Commission. However, city transportation officials didn’t agree as they were concerned about the possible risks brought by driverless vehicles. For example, robotaxis could suddenly stop and block roads. More importantly, they could malfunction and result in more serious accidents.

In San Francisco last year, a vehicle from General Motors’ Cruise driverless taxi service was involved in a serious accident. It affected a pedestrian who was then hit by another car. This led to the suspension of Cruise’s license and caused a lot of changes within the service. Waymo’s robotaxis have not been in any major accidents so far.

This material was based on an article by The Associated Press.

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

Robotaxi

  • Would you ride a robotaxi for your daily travel? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • What features would you expect or want in a robotaxi (ex. good sound system, comfortable seats)? Discuss.
  • Imagine that robotaxi services are available in your country. Do you think people would be using robotaxis often? Why or why not? Discuss.

Public Transportation and Driverless Vehicles

  • What’s the public transportation situation in your area (ex. very busy, the bus, subway, and train systems are reliable)? Discuss.
  • What improvements in public transportation do you think the people would welcome (ex. driverless buses, 24-hour public transportation schedules)? Discuss.
  • What could be done to make sure driverless public transportation is safe (ex. strict policies, increase the testing of driverless vehicles)? Discuss.