Easy riders

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 from the Bangkok Post. Then, answer the questions that follow.

More than 14,000 cyclists turned up at an event to mark the recent Bangkok Car-Free Day, which was organised by the Thai Cycling for Health Association.

Weeks before the car-free day, thousands of members of the popular www.thaimtb.com website worked out the 10 or so meeting points where cyclists could gather in groups before going to the official venue at the Royal Plaza at 8 am.

“Without an online meeting room on my website, it would have been difficult for them to gather that morning,” webmaster Nobita said. He was one of the cyclists joining the campaign, which aims to reduce the use of motorised vehicles and support environmental protection.

Nobita started his website as an archive called Nobita’s Home Page about 13 years ago. It has played a crucial role in enabling thousands of cyclists to stay connected. Many also buy new and used bicycles through the website. Groups of cyclists, mostly living in the city, exchange new routes, riding techniques and experiences, as well as swap used bike parts on the website. With more than 40,000 registered members, the website attracts around 50,000 visits every day.

Nobita is happy that there are more cyclists in the city now, but distressed that more bikes are being stolen. With that in mind, he is currently working on a system to archive bike ownership. The archive, which will hopefully be complete in a few months, requires owners to send photos and serial numbers of their bikes to the website. The registered information can be used as evidence of ownership if the bikes are stolen.

Despite the large gathering on Car-Free Day, Nobita feels that the cyclists, who were wearing red, white and blue shirts and who filled almost every lane of the road, blocked the traffic. Nobita believes that probably gave a negative impression to drivers, instead of promoting cycling. However, he explained that the roads weren’t made for any particular group of people, but to be shared among all commuters, no matter what type of vehicle they use. He disagrees with the idea of having separate bike lanes on the roads. For him, the best and simplest solution is to share the road.

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Exercises

Section 1

Read through the story. Then, answer the following reading comprehension questions.

1. What is story about?

a. The reasons for establishing Bangkok Car-Free Day.
b. Nobita’s advice about buying and selling bicycles.
c. The way that www.thaimtb.com supports and coordinates events for cyclists.

2. How did cyclists communicate before the Car-Free Day parade?

a. They sent texts to one another.
b. They communicated online using the www.thaimtb.com meeting room.
c. They phoned one another.

3. According to the story, how many people participated in the Bangkok Car-Free Day event?

a. 140.
b. 1,400.
c. More than 14,000.

4. Why is Nobita working on an archive for bike ownership?

a. Because his hobby is cycling
b. So that it can be used as evidence of ownership if bicycles are stolen.
c. To create an online market for two-wheeled vehicles.

5. What does Nobita feel about city roads?

a. He thinks city roads should be shared by all types of vehicles.
b. He thinks city roads should have separate bike lanes.
c. He thinks cyclists should not use city roads.

Section 2

Read the story again and decide whether the following statements are true or false.

6. Nobita is the webmaster of www.thaimtb.com.

………………………………………………………

7. Nobita started his website as an archive called Doraemon's Home Page.

………………………………………………………

8. Bangkok Car-Free Day was held by the Thai Cycling for Health Association.

………………………………………………………

9. Nobita’s website has about 500,000 visits each day.

………………………………………………………

10. The www.thaimtb.com website has more than 4 million registered members.

………………………………………………………

Section 3

Choose the words from the choices given that are correct synonyms of the vocabulary words used in the story.

a. upset	b. needs	c. computers	d. intends
e. reforms	f. no matter how	g. essential	h. proof

11. Aims ……………

12. Requires ……………

13. Evidence ……………

14. Crucial ……………

15. Distressed ……………

Section 4

Find words in the story that are anonyms of the following words.

16. Worst ………………

17. Agrees ………………

18. Positive ………………

19. Receive ………………

20. Unused ………………

Section 5

Write down the verb forms of the following words used in the story.

21. Commuters ………………

22. Ownership ………………

23. Impression ………………

24. Association ………………

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