photo Tara Benwell Listen to News with Tara Benwell - Instructions:
1. Preview the vocabulary and read the gapfill text.
2. Play the news report and try to fill in the blanks.
3. Answer the comprehension questions by writing full sentences.
4. Use the discussion question to write an essay or discuss the story with other students.
5. Click "show Answers" to see the full text.
6. Pretend to be a news anchor by reading each story out loud.

dateline: 21 March 2018

NB! For WEEKLY audio stories check out LISTEN & LEARN 🔈

Self-Driving Car Kills Pedestrian

Pre-Listening Vocabulary

  • pedestrian: a person on foot (not in a vehicle)
  • Uber: a ridesharing company that is similar to a taxi service
  • fatality: death
  • detect: to sense
  • halt: to suddenly stop
  • fleet: a number of vehicles operating together

Self-Driving Car Kills Pedestrian

A self-driving Uber car that was part of a project hit and killed a pedestrian in Arizona this week. Neither the car nor the human safety driver braked for the woman who was pushing her bike on the . This is the first known fatality caused by a self-driving car in the US. Experts believe the sensors did not detect that the was a person, since the woman was pushing a bike that was carrying bags. Uber and a few other companies have halted their fleet as investigators look into who or what is .

Comprehension Questions

  1. What tragedy occurred?
  2. According to experts, what likely caused the accident?
  3. How did Uber respond to this tragedy?

Discussion Questions

Do you think this tragedy will make people doubt the technology that is being used in autonomous vehicles? How long do you think it will be before roadways in your region are filled with driverless vehicles?

show Answers

Written and recorded by Tara Benwell for EnglishClub
Tara Benwell is a Canadian freelance writer and editor who specializes in materials and articles for the ELT industry.
© EnglishClub.com
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