Topic: The charts below show reasons for travel and the main issues for the travelling public in the US in 2009.

The bar chart and pie chart (1) _________ about why US residents travelled and what travel problems they experienced in the year (2)______.

It is clear that the principal reason why Americans travelled in 2009 was to commute to and (3)_______. In the same year, the primary concern of Americans, with regard to the trips they made, was (4)________ of travelling.

Looking more closely at the bar chart, we can see that (5)_______ of the trips made by Americans in 2009 were for the purpose of commuting. By contrast, only 6% of trips were visits to friends or relatives, and one in ten trips were for (6)_______reasons. Shopping was cited as the reason for 16% of all travel, while unspecific ‘personal reasons’ accounted for (7)________ 19%.

According to the pie chart, price was the key consideration for 36% of American travellers. Almost (8)_______ people cited safety as their foremost travel concern, while (9)_______ and highway congestion were the main issues for 17% and 14% of the travelling public. Finally, (10)_______ of 14% of those surveyed thought that access to public transport or space for pedestrians were the most important travel issues.

(201 words, band 9)

ANSWERS KEY

1. give information/ illustrate

2. 2009

3. from work

4. the cost/ the price

5. 49%

6. social or recreation

7. the remaining

8. one in five

9. aggressive driving

10. a total