8 Think English Educazione Stradale © OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS • PHOTOCOPIABLE

Warm-up

1 Do the quiz.

1 Can you describe the following signs?

a A Stop sign. b A No Entry sign. c A Pedestrian Crossing sign.

2 Look at these road signs. What do they tell us to do?

4 Road signs

BA

C GIVEWAY

80

Reading 2 Read the facts about road signs and match

the different categories of signs (1–6) to the correct description (a–f) in the text.

1 Temporary signs2 Right-of-way signs3 Signs giving orders4 Warning signs5 Traffic lights6 Additional plates

How did road signs come about?The ancient Romans had road signs called mile stones. The Romans erected signs throughout their empire giving the distance to Rome. In the medieval period people used signs at crossroads to give directions to cities and towns.

Road signs became more important with the introduction of the car. International road signs were first regulated by the International Road Congress in Rome in 1903. Since then there have been many changes to road signs: they are now made of metal instead of wood, and materials are used which make them visible at night. In some parts of the world, for example in Canada, road signs are bilingual or even trilingual – in English, French and native American.

Today, there are over 400 signs in the Highway Code, and they have different shapes, colours and symbols to show their different meanings. Some signs are warning signs, some give orders or information, and some show you the way. Here are the main categories.

Signs which:a are triangular in shape with one

point of the triangle at the top which tell you about dangers ahead or to pay attention.

b have red, amber and green lights.c are yellow and show diversions or

road works.d are usually underneath another sign

to clarify their message by giving extra information.

e tell you to do something, e.g. Stop.f tell us who has priority to go.

9 9© OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS • PHOTOCOPIABLE Think English Educazione Stradale

Think Road Safety

Vocabulary 3 Complete the table with the English

translation of the different categories of signs.

Italian English

1 Segnali di pericolo Warning signs

2 Segnali di

prescrizione

3 Segnali di

precedenza

4 Panelli integrativi

5 Segnali temporanei

6 Semafori

Say it! 4 a Think of your journey to school. How

many road signs do you see? Choose three signs and describe them. Include information on shape, colour and the symbol.

b In pairs. Student A: Describe your signs. Student B: Guess the meaning of the signs.

c When you finish, change roles.

5 (In pairs.) Anwer the question.

In some Italian cities traffic lights are turned off between 23.00 and 07.00. Flashing amber lights indicate that you must slow down as you pass through the lights in case of other oncoming traffic. Do you think this is a good idea? Does this system help to make the roads safer. Why?/Why not?

Project 6 Read the Highway Code and find out more

about road signs in Italy. Design a poster for your class. Include pictures of the road signs on roads near your school, and write their English translations next to each picture.

4

Keys p.15