By Ajarn Helen Jandamit
Photos courtesy of Bangkok Post
University Tips is here to help you prepare for the English exams and tests that are coming your way. It gives you practise answering questions similar to those you may have at school and also on the University Entrance Examination.
Read the following story by Supoj Wancharoen from the Bangkok Post. Then, answer the questions that follow.
A revived water transport system gives hope to long-suffering Bangkok commuters. Gridlocked in the morning, gridlocked during the day and gridlocked at night, Bangkok’s roads promise only more problems with additional cars and lane-blocking electric rail constructions.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has begun to experiment with new form of canal transport. The BMA is encouraging commuters to use the canals by making water transport more attractive, with new routes and pleasant riverside views.
One new route on Khlong Saen Saep linking Wat Sibunrueang in Bang Kapi district and Min Buri district in eastern Bangkok opened on January 15. The BMA is offering free rides until August 13 while they survey passengers’ views about water transport.
Amorn Kitchawengkul, managing-director of Krungthep Thanakom Co. (KT) said the results of the trial period will be sent to city administrators. KT, which is part of the BMA, is running the trial route. It has hired a private company to run 10 boats, each of which can carry 60 passengers.
The boats run from 6 am to 9 am, then from 4 pm to 7:30pm. Almost 20,000 people used the service between January 15 and March 20. The maximum number of passengers in one day so far was 940.
The BMA knows that it needs to make canal transport more attractive by starting new routes and improving the scenery along the canals. The officials are setting up workshops for residents of canal-side communities to educate them and exchange views on how they can help the city draw people to water transport.
Six communities located along Khlong Saen Saep, Khlong Phra Khanong and Khlong Prawet Burirom are using advice from the workshop to improve and beautify their districts.
If the Wat Sibunrueang to Min Buri boat service is approved by city administrators, it will be the first route to link with the existing Phan Fa Bridge-Wat Sibunrueang ride on Khlong Saen Saep. This 18 kilometre route is now a popular form of travel among city folk.
The BMA hopes the Wat Sibunrueang to Min Buri boat service project will lead to more use of the capital’s 1,161 canals which were the main and fastest form of transport for Bangkok residents a hundred years ago.
Exercises
Section 1
Read the story. Then, answer the following multiple choice questions.
1. Where are boats that you can see in the photographs on this page?
a. They are in the sea.
b. They are in canals.
c. They are in a public transport museum.
2. According to the story, when are the roads in Bangkok gridlocked?
a. In the morning when people are going to work.
b. All the time.
c. During the school holidays.
3. What is this article about?
a. A new train system for Bangkok commuters.
b. A new bus system in Bangkok.
c. A new boat system to help Bangkok commuters.
4. Who has begun to experiment with new form of canal transport?
a. The State Rail Authority.
b. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.
c. Min Buri district in eastern Bangkok.
5. Which public transport canal system is currently being tested?
a. The Wat Sibunrueang to Min Buri boat service.
b. The Bangkok to Ayutthaya route.
c. The story does not say.
Section 2
Read the story again. Then, decide whether the following statements are true or false.
6. The Krungthep Thanakom Co. is part of the BMA.
…………………………
7. Wat Sibunrueang is in Bang Kapi district.
…………………………
8. Supoj Wancharoen is the managing-director of Krungthep Thanakom Co.
…………………………
9. There are 1,161 canals in Bangkok.
…………………………
10. Officials are setting up workshops for residents of canal-side communities to teach them how to swim.
…………………………
Section 3
Underline the misspelled word in each of the following sentences and write down the correct spelling in the space provided.
11. The BMA believes that it is neccessary to attract more people to canal transport.
…………………………
12. The largest number of people who travelled by the new cannal service on a single day was 940.
…………………………
13. During the trial period, the boat serwice will be free.
…………………………
14. It seems inevitable that problems on Bangkok’s roads will imcrease.
…………………………
15. Ten boats, each of which has a capacity of 60 passengors, have been hired from a private company.
…………………………
Section 4
Find words in the story that are antonyms of the following words.
16. Minimum ………………
17. Slowest ………………
18. Disapproved ………………
19. Unpopular ………………
20. Less ………………
Section 5
Fill in the blanks in the following passage with the correct words from the choices given.
On March 17, more than 100 members of the communities were …..21….. to meet and talk with experts on issues ranging …..22….. ways to solve traffic congestion to how to make …..23….. homes more pleasant to people in their communities and …..24….. in the canals.
21.
a. invites
b. inviting
c. invited
22.
a. for
b. among
c. from
23.
a. their
b. they’re
c. there
24.
a. by-pass
b. passers-by
c. passing by
Vocabulary
- gridlocked (adj): used to describe a situation in which there are so many cars in the streets of a town or city that the traffic cannot move at all
commuter (n): a person who travels into a city to work each day, usually from quite far away
trial (n): the process of testing the ability, quality or performance of somebody or something, especially before you make a final decision about them
beautify (v): to make somebody or something more beautiful
