Page 123 - English Vocabualry In Use 3 (Upper Intermediate)

58 Movement and speed

A Particular types of movement

Move isthebasicverbforallmovement,butdon’tforgetitalsomeans‘tomovetoanewhouse/flat’,
e.g.We’vemoved.Doyouwantournewaddress?
Cars,lorries,etc.travel/drivealongroads.
Trainstravelalongrails.
Boats/shipssailonrivers/acrossthesea.
Rivers/streamsflow/runthroughtowns/villages.

Thingsoftenhaveparticularverbsassociatedwiththeirtypesofmovement.Youshouldlearn
theseastypicalcollocationswhenyoumeetthem,andrecordthemwithaphraseorsentence,
forexample:

Thecarswerved/swɜːvd /toavoidadogwhichhad
runintotheroad.[movedsuddenlytotheside]
Whitecloudsdriftedacrossthesky.[movedslowly]
Theflagflutteredinthewind.[movedgentlyfrom
side to side]
Theleavesstirred/stɜːd/inthelightbreeze.
[movedslightly]
Thetreesswayedbackandforthasthewindgrew
stronger.[movedslowlyfromsidetoside]

B Verbs to describe fast and slow movement

Thetrafficwascrawlingalongbecauseoftheroadworks.[movingveryslowly]
Stopdawdling!/ˈdɔːdlɪŋ/We’llbelate![movingmoreslowlythanisnecessary]
Suddenlyacarcameroundthebendandtorealongtheroadathighspeed.
Secondslater,apolicecarshotpastafterit.
Everyonewashurrying/rushingtogettheirshoppingdonebeforeclosingtime.
Thetrainwasjustcreepingalongatabout20milesperhour.Iknewwe’dbelate.
[movingveryslowly]
Thedonkeywasploddingalongtheroad.[ploddingsuggestsheavy,oftentired,movement]
Theplanewascruisingataheightof30,000metres.[travellingatasteadyspeed]

C Nouns to describe speed and their typical contexts

speed isageneralwordusedforvehicles,developments,changes,etc.,e.g.Weweretravellingat
highspeed.
rate isoftenusedinstatisticalcontexts;therateofincrease/decrease,e.g.Thebirthrate isgoing

down.
pace showshowyouexperiencesomethingashappeningfastorslow,e.g.Thelessonwasgoingata
veryslowpace.
velocity /vəˈlɒsɪti /isusedintechnical/scientificcontexts,e.g.Thevelocity ofamovingobject.

Common mistakes

We say at a speed/rate/pace. (NOT in or with a speed/rate/pace)
The train was travelling at a speed of 120 kph. (NOT The train was travelling with a speed of 120 kph.)

122 English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate