Easy exercises

Here is a news story that recently appeared in the Bangkok Post. It has been shortened, but is otherwise unchanged. There are some words you will probably not be familiar with. We have explained some of them, but others you can probably guess just by reading the story. Read the story and answer the questions that follow.

Think before you drive

Superstars, victims join campaign to reduce road toll

Story by Yuwadee Tunyasiri

caption

A new road safety campaign aimed at reducing accidents over Songkran is launched at Government House by actresses Atima Thanaseniwat, left, Suwanan Kongying, Banthita Tharnwiset and Pattarada Patcharaveerapong. � Apichit Jinakul

Accident survivors and superstars are joining a new road safety campaign aimed especially at reducing traffic deaths during the Songkran festival.

Deputy Prime Minister Chaturon Chaisaeng said the campaign � �Tang Sati Kon Start (Concentrate before Starting the Engine)� � will enlist the help of a network of groups campaigning against irresponsible and drink-driving nationwide.

The campaign will focus on about 20 high-risk provinces. More than 100,000 volunteers will be involved in activities at petrol stations and in assisting police at checkpoints set up to catch drink drivers and speeders during the Songkran holiday.

He said that accident survivors and famous stars like Suvanan Khongying, Banthita Tharnwiset, Atima Thanaseniwat and Pattarada Patcharaveerapong will help.

During the Songkran festival, water throwing on roads, which is especially dangerous to people on motorcycles, will be banned and speed limits will be strictly enforced on pick-up trucks.

Scary statistics

The number of deaths is expected to rise this year in proportion to the increased number of vehicles on the roads. There are more than 2.2 million registered vehicles

in Thailand, with 7-8 deaths from road accidents per 10,000 vehicles. Drunk driving accounted for 60-70 percent of all deaths from road accidents during the Songkran festival last year.

Chaturon admitted that, �Frankly speaking, even if we can keep the toll at the same level as last year, it would still be very frightening, as Thailand�s road accident toll would be 100 times higher than the bird flu toll and more than 10 times higher than the SARS death toll.�

About 800 new breathalysers will be used at checkpoints nationwide during Songkran.

Questions

There are some words in the story above that may be unfamiliar to you. However, if you look at them closely you should be able to guess the meaning from the context. Try to guess the meaning of these words.

1. Enlist.
2. Checkpoint.
3. Speeder.
4. Frankly.
5. Toll.
6. Breathalyser.

Vocabulary

campaign (n): a series of planned activities that are intended to achieve a particular social, commercial or political aim
irresponsible (adj): (of a person) not thinking enough about the effects of what they do; not showing a feeling of responsibility
enforce (v): to make sure that people obey a particular law or rule
proportion (n): (of something to something) the relationship of one thing to another in size,  amount, etc.