088　distance and speed

Words
Near/close far rush hurry crawl pace velocity wide tall long short length deep narrow broad high depth shallow short-cut long-distance rapid slow fast quick height low faraway

Phrases
Take…(time)
A … drive/walk
A distance of
In the distance
Stretch for (distance)

Beginner
A: how long will it take us to drive to London?
B; I think it’s a distance of 180 kilometers from here to London, so it should be a two-hour drive on the motorway.
A; that’s unless there is a traffic jam. It could take three hours.
B; you’re right. We will be able to travel at high speeds at the beginning and end of the journey, because we will be in built-up area.
A: so, shall we allow three hours to cover the distance?
B; ok. You haven’t seen my company car, have you?
A; no. let me take a look….it’s longer than my car.
B: I think it’s over five meters long. I can’t remember exactly. It has a maximum speed of over 200 kilometers an hour.
A; wow! That’s fast! I don’t think we will be traveling that fast on the motorway.
B; we can’t. if we went that fast, we would break the speed limit.

Intermediate
A: how are the children doing at sport?
B: I’m very pleased with their performances. Timmy can cover the 100 meters in 12 seconds. That’s very fast for a kid his age.
A: he’s not very good at the long jump though, is he?
B; he’s not bad. He can jump a distance of over four meters. I think he just prefers running to jumping. Jimmy’s very good at the high jump. He can jump over two meters. Again, that’s fine for someone his age.
A; two meters? That means that the high jump bar is above his head! Are any of them good at long-distance running?
B: the longest race we run is the 1500 meters. A few of the boys and one girls can do it in less than five minutes.
A: how are they at swimming?
B; they’re ok. I ask them to swim 500 meters each day. That’s 20 lengths of the swimming pool. They’re not very fast, but that’s ok. I just want them to build their strength up and keep in shape.
A; kate is very good at diving from a height of 10 meters.
B: I’d be afraid to jump from that height!
A: I think that these kinds haven’t learnt to be afraid yet. She started diving from a lower height, but she soon wanted to go higher.
B; it seems that they really enjoy to go faster, higher and further.