Businesses are experiencing booming sales as consumers turn to electric transit but their own rising costs for transportation and materials has been a drag on profits.
Read:
https://www.inc.com/christine-lagorio-chafkin/gas-prices-e-bike-scooter-companies.html
Glossary
- double-edged sword – something that has both good and bad parts or results
- drag – something that retards or impedes motion, action, or advancement
- spike – a very high amount, price, or level, usually before a fall
- windfall – an unexpected, unearned, or sudden gain or advantage
- to jump on board – to join a group, activity, etc., especially one that has been functioning for some time
- surge – a surge is a sudden large increase in something that has previously been steady, or has only increased or developed slowly
- to blow sth out of the water – to destroy something completely
- to hover – to remain in one place in the air
- volatile – changeable; tending to fluctuate sharply and regularly
- to ease – to reduce in degree, speed, or intensity
True or False?
1. One would expect higher income for companies selling e-bikes, e-scooters, and electric moped.
2. Higher and higer petrol prices have triggered intense interest in e-bikes.
3. A week before gas prices rose, 30% more clients had visited the website.
4. The profits of outdoor clothing, footwear companies usually fall in the beginning of spring.
5. For electric-transit startups, expenses have never before been so unstable.
6. The prices charged by Khakshouri’s company haven’t been affordable through the pandemic.
7. One can get a free e-bike if he/she supports a campaign showing gas companies in an offensive way that one is angry with them.
Key: 1T; 2T; 3F; 4F; 5T; 6F; 7T
Practice Makes Perfect
WORD FORMATION: Change the word in CAPITALS to fill in the blanks.
Can E-Bikes Displace Cars? (…)
The 21st-century equivalent of the cavalry has come charging in to rescue cities in China and South Asia in their battles against air pollution and global warming. And it’s also beginning to help out on the traffic-choked streets in London, New York, São Paulo and Los Angeles.
This is the electric bicycle, or “e-bike,” a technology that blends the 1. [SIMPLE] ……….. and 2. [MOBILE] ………….. of a traditional bicycle with the speed of a moped or motorized scooter, but without the internal combustion engine.
Transportation experts say e-bikes — along with electric cars, light-rail trains and more pedestrian-friendly cities — could become one of the primary drivers of cleaner air and reduced global greenhouse 3. [EMIT] ………. across much of the urbanized world, with China, India and Southeast Asia leading the fight to clear the air.
“The bicycle is an 4. [ENORMOUS] ………..efficient vehicle,” said Ed Benjamin, managing director of eCycleElectric, a consulting firm to the light electric vehicle industry with offices in the United States, China and Taiwan. “The rolling 5. [RESIST] ……….. is minimal. They cost very little in terms of materials and the energy needed to build them compared to other vehicles. They don’t require gasoline and can be parked almost anywhere.”
“The problem,” Benjamin added, “is we could say a bicycle is only good for 6. [HEALTH] ………. , strong people who are willing to get out in the weather. And there are large populations around the world that don’t fall into that category.”
Still, e-bikes — defined as two-wheeled vehicles equipped with a traditional bicycle drivetrain but enhanced with an electric motor capable of propelling a bike as fast as 20 mph — have solved the mobility problem for hundreds of millions around the world.
In China alone, more than 100 million e-bikes have been sold over the past decade, accounting for “the single largest 7. [ADOPT] …….. of alternative fuel vehicles in history,” said Christopher Cherry, a University of Tennessee engineering professor and 8. [LEAD] ……….. scholar on e-bikes.
In 9. [ADD] ……….. to being light and relatively inexpensive, e-bikes are also more climate-friendly than other modes of transportation, including gasoline- or diesel-powered cars and buses, and even electric passenger vehicles. (…)
To read the whole article, go to: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-ebikes-displace-cars/
Key: 1. simplicity; 2. mobility; 3. emissions; 4. enormously; 5. resistance; 6. healthy; 7. adoption; 8. leading; 9. addition
Discuss
- Is your country a bicycle-friendly country?
- Do you remember learning to ride a bike?
- Have you ever fallen off of a(n) (e-)bicycle?
- Have you ever had your bicycle stolen?
- Do you always wear protective gear when riding a (e-)bike?
- Are there any disadvantages of e-bikes?
Explore it more to create your own teaching-learning experience!
E-scooter, E-bike Safety, Convenience Tech Revealed
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