Listening

Warm Up

Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. invest
    • ex. My parents invested their money in a small business.
  2. an investment
    • ex. The big company made an investment in a small company to help it grow.
  3. certification
    • ex. The company’s product received certification from an international organization.
  4. collaboration
    • ex. The collaboration between the departments led to high sales.
  5. transportation
    • ex. In my city, there are many types of transportation, like buses and trains.

Article

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

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Recently, Toyota announced that it will invest an extra $500 million (about ¥74 billion) in Joby Aviation, an American air taxi company. The partnership between Toyota and Joby Aviation aims to help the American air taxi business become successful. The investment will be used for the certification and production of Joby’s electric air taxis.

According to JoeBen Bevirt, CEO of Joby Aviation, the collaboration between the two companies began nearly seven years ago. He said that Toyota’s help has been very important for Joby’s success. He hopes the two companies will grow their relationship as they work on the future of air travel. Joby recently finished its third air taxi and said that it’s working on the fourth of five certifications.

Besides the investment, Toyota also shares its design and production methods with Joby. Toyota’s engineers are working with Joby’s team in California. Last year, Toyota agreed to provide Joby with important parts for its air taxis. Toyota and Joby’s collaboration marks an important step forward in the development of electric air transportation.

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

Air Taxi Business

  • How do you feel about flying in an air taxi? Discuss.
  • Do you think the air taxi business will be successful in your country? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Would you like to work in the air taxi business? Why or why not? Discuss.

Traffic Problem

  • What is the common situation of traffic in your city/town? Discuss.
  • What do you think causes traffic jams in your city/town? Discuss.
  • Imagine that you are in charge of improving traffic in your city/town. What would you do? Discuss.