3.1 Means of transport

Match the halves of the compound nouns in boxes and complete the sentences.

cable dirt public rush shot suspension traffic winding

bridge car cut hour jams path track transport

1 There's no road to get to my aunt's house but we can use the            if you drive slowly and don't mind getting the car muddy.
2 The Tibetan saint Thangtong Gyalpo built a                   with iron chains as early as 1433 in Bhutan. However, earlier designs using rope and wood were also used to cross rivers and valleys.
3 The longest journey made by a           is 7,455 metres. It's in China and goes from Zhangjiajie city centre to the top of Heaven's Gate Mountain.
4 If more people used                  like buses and trams, there'd be less traffic on the roads and less pollution in the air.
5 Sorry we're late. It's           and there are always awful              at this time of day.
6 There's a wonderful              through the forest. It turns left and right and then left and right again - all the way to the lake at the end.
7 We can save ten minutes on our walk to the centre if we take the          across the field.

Choose the correct verbs.

Last night I had a very strange dream. I decided to       [catch, miss] the bus to school because I was feeling too lazy to cycle          [downhill, uphill] like I usually did for my regular morning exercise. But because it was raining really heavily, a boat came along instead. I got on the boat, in fact, I was the only passenger, and it began to       [swim, cross] the river. But the journey was very rough and the captain ordered me to sit down and        [fasten, close] my seatbelt. Then suddenly there were lots of other boats and we were        [caught, stuck] in traffic. It took ages for the boat to make any progress, and all the time it was raining. When I finally arrived at school, I noticed I was         [going, walking] barefoot. And I was completely wet and shaking from the cold. The teacher looked confused and asked me why I was late. I simply told her I’d        [lost, missed] the bus. Very strange.

Complete the sentences with the verbs catch, cross, get or miss in the correct form.

1 Marco Polo was the first westerner to       the continent of Asia. In total, he travelled through the area for 24 years.
2 We     stuck in traffic and that's why we're a little late.
3 My school bag was so heavy this morning that I     a lift in the car from my mum.
4 Janet        the train and there isn't another one until tomorrow morning. She'll have to stay the night in a hotel.
5 Before bridges existed, the only way to       a valley was to climb down one side and then climb up the other.
6 I        the train from Waterloo and got here as soon as I could.