©Macmillan Publishers Ltd
Taken from the News section in
www.onestopenglish.com
Find the following information in the text as quickly as possible:
1. What are SUVs?
2. What are Navigators, Excursions, Expeditions and Pathfinders?
3. What is SUVOA?
4. What is a Hummer?
5. How far does an SUV travel on a gallon of petrol?
6. How much does petrol (gasoline) cost in the USA?
7. How many litres are there in a gallon?
Match the words with their meanings:
1. fake
2. controversial
3.
wealthy
4. patriotic
5. environmentalist
6.
reputation
7. slogan
8. violation
a. someone who wants to protect the environment
b. a short phrase used by a political party or movement
c. made to look like something real in order to trick people
d. an action that is in opposition to a law or principle
e. causing a lot of disagreement
f.
very rich
g. the opinion people have about how good or bad something is
h. feeling a lot of love and respect towards your country
©Macmillan Publishers Ltd
Taken from the News section in
www.onestopenglish.com
Axles of evil
Arnold Schwarzenegger has
five. Mike Tyson has four. A
third of all cars sold in the US
are now sports utility vehicles,
or SUVs. But now
environmentalists are going to
war against the SUV.
It's Tuesday night on the
Upper West Side in New York
and Adam Weinstock has a
lot of work to do. As we turn
the corner on 68th and
Lexington, we see a whole
street full of sports utility
vehicles. SUVs are half car,
half truck and they have
names like Navigators,
Excursions, Expeditions and
Pathfinders - names that
provide an image of the great
outdoors. But they are parked
in the wealthy heart of New
York. Weinstock approaches
each vehicle critically. "Look
at the metal bars on the front
of the vehicle,” he says.
"They're particularly important
for all the trees you're going
to run into when you drive
around New York City." And
then he puts a fake parking
ticket on them. "Violation:
Earth," it says. "Open your
eyes, take a few deep
breaths, and get honest with
yourself… Why do you need
such a huge car? This is not a
militarized zone."
Ron DeFore, the
communications director of
SUV Owners of America
(SUVOA), says if anyone like
Weinstock touched his SUV,
he would "hire a private
detective to find him and have
him thrown into jail for
damaging private property."
He is tired of
environmentalists criticising
Americans for their choice of
vehicle.
He believes their
arguments about the
environment and safety are
wrong. His message to them?
"Get on with your life and stop
complaining."
SUVs, and their military
equivalent, the Hummer, have
made "light trucks" the most
successful category the US
car industry has ever known
and one of the most
profitable. But they are also
extremely controversial,
mainly because of their
reputation for using large
quantities of petrol. SUVs are
hated by environmentalists.
SUVs were set alight by
protesters in Pennsylvania; in
Washington state they have
had their windshields
smashed; in Massachusetts
they were spray-painted with
the slogan: "No Blood for Oil".
The message from SUVOA's
founder on its website begins:
"Is this a Great Country or
What? Yes it is." Why?
"Because we have the
freedom to own and operate
the vehicles of our choice and
to express our belief that
freedom must not be
diminished because some
people dislike SUVs." During
the war in Iraq, Hummer
drivers regarded their choice
of vehicle as a patriotic act.
"When I turn on the TV, I see
Humvees everywhere, and
I'm proud," Sam Bernstein
told the New York Times.
“American soldiers in Iraq are
not driving Audis!”
According to the
environmentalists, SUV
drivers do not care about the
environment. Once again, it is
all about oil. Federal statistics
show that four-wheel-drive
SUVs average 17.3 miles per
gallon and on some larger
models that goes down to just
12 miles a gallon. Hummers
are even worse. In
comparison, the average
petrol-fuelled saloon
manages 30mpg. Each
person in the USA consumes
about 4.5 times more energy
©Macmillan Publishers Ltd
Taken from the News section in
www.onestopenglish.com
than the world average, so
the debate over SUVs is
linked to what responsibility
America has to the rest of the
world and how it should fulfil
that responsibility. "You could
say that the American way is
to do what you want when
you want," says Weinstock.
"But there's another American
way where people work
together for the good of
everyone and we try to set an
example for the rest of the
world."
So far the protests have had
little effect on the American
conscience. Sales of SUVs
continue to grow faster than
those of any other type of car.
One of the reasons that the
protests have had such little
effect is that while the SUV's
fuel consumption makes a big
difference to the environment,
it has little effect on the
pocket. At about $1.67 a
gallon (3.8 litres), gasoline in
America is so cheap that an
extra five miles to the gallon
would save the average
American only $135 a year.
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