A British mother gave birth on a New York street after she tried to hail a cab – only to see another woman steal her ride.

Polly McCourt, 39, went into labour and tried to flag down a taxi outside her Manhattan apartment at the junction of 68^th Street and Third Avenue with the help of her doorman. She said: ‘He was trying desperately to hail a cab and a lady walked out five metres in front of him and hailed a cab and got into it. I went: “That’s my cab, I want that cab!”’ Her baby’s head was showing and Mrs McCourt, originally from Black Bourton in Oxfordshire, had to give birth on the pavement with help from passers-by and her doorman.

Her husband, Cian McCourt, 40, was reportedly stuck in traffic when he found out she was in labour and arrived just after she gave birth to their healthy daughter. The scene was caught on camera by a passing news crew, capturing the moment the 3350g newborn was successfully delivered. The pair were kept warm with coats and scarves until an ambulance arrived to take them to Lennox Hill Hospital. Mrs McCourt named her girl Ila Isabella McCourt, the middle name honouring a woman who helped her through the ordeal.

source: www.metro.co.uk, skynews

to hail a cab – taxit leinteni
labour – vajúdás
junction – kereszteződés
doorman – portás
pavement – járda
passer-by – járókelő
to be stuck in traffic – dugóban elakadni
scene – jelenet
news crew – hír forgatócsoport
newborn – újszülött
to deliver a baby – baba megszületésében segédkezni
middle name – második keresztnév
ordeal – megpróbáltatás

Fill in the gaps with the words in the table. There is one extra.

1. Kate found a purse full of money lying on the ……………….. outside her house.

2. I’m sorry I’m late, I ……………….. .

3. Take a left turn at the next ……………….. .

4. I wanted to ……………….. but Kate offered to take me home.

5. Only a few ……………….. stopped to help my grandmother when she fell.

answers: 1-pavement 2-was stuck in traffic 3-junction 4-hail a cab 5-passers-by

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Coventry taxi maker LTC sends white cabs to Australia

Nearly 100 London cabs have been sent to Australia, but painted white rather than black.

The Coventry-based London Taxi Company has exported 98 TX4 taxis to Perth where they will be used on a trial basis over the coming weeks. If successful, more will be ordered, with the state of Victoria expected to be the next area to take the cabs. It is one of the first orders to be fulfilled since production restarted in September at a factory in the city. Previously known as LTI, the firm went into administration in October 2012 and was bought by Chinese firm Geely.

The company’s chief executive Evan Simeon said the response had been "phenomenal". He said: "One Perth operator who purchased a fleet of the 50 bright, white, used TX4s has already had a stampede of drivers who want to be the first ones to buy a cab and partake in the trial. We’ve had a lot of positive interest from ex-pats, both prospective customers and drivers. What has been especially gratifying are the offers from ex-pat London Taxi drivers who not only want to buy one, but have also offered their services to train our Australian drivers on everything from the service to vehicle operation.”

source: www.bbc.co.uk

cab – taxi
trial – próba
successful – sikeres
order – megrendelés
to fulfil – teljesíteni
production – termelés, gyártás
to go into administration – csődbe menni
response – válasz, reakció
to purchase – megvásárolni
fleet – flotta
to have a stampede – lerohanják az érdeklődők
ex-pat – kivándorló
gratifying – örömteli
to offer – felajánlani
to train – kiképezni

Fill in the sentences.

a) trial
b) to offer
c) ex-pat
d) to fulfil
e) order
f) to purchase

1. Your _________________ has arrived. The parcel is in the kitchen.
2. This year I can’t afford to _______________________ a house. I don’t have enough money.
3. It was really nice of you to _________________ to help Maria out.
4. There are many British ______________________ living in Spain.
5. Before buying the car I would like to go on a ________________ drive.
6. I cannot __________________ your request at the moment. I can order the books for Wednesday.

1.e, 2.f, 3.b, 4.c, 5.a, 6.d

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Norway’s prime minister says the best place to find out what people are thinking is in a taxi. So Jens Stoltenberg disguised himself as a taxi driver one day and transported passengers around Oslo.

Footagefrom the prime-minister-as-taxi-driver scheme in June was posted Sunday on a daily newspaper‘s web site and the prime minister’s Facebook page.

The stunt, planned by an advertising agency as part of Stoltenberg’s re-election campaign, was taped with hidden cameras to catch Norwegians’ views on politics and their reactions when they realized their driver was their prime minister.

The hidden cameras also caught a confession from the prime minister – he has not driven a car in eight years. One passenger was not impressed with Stoltenberg’s driving skills, saying "this driving is not exactly the best I have seen."

Stoltenberg’s Labour party is trailing in the polls against the opposition Conservatives for the September election.

prime minister – miniszterelnök
to find out – megtudni valamit
to disguise oneself – álcázni magát
to transport passengers – utasokat szállítani
footage – filmfelvétel
scheme – cselszövés, terv
daily newspaper – napilap
to be planned by – valaki által kitervelve lenni
advertising agency – reklámügynökség
re-election campaign – újraválasztási kampány
to be taped – filmszalagra véve lenni
hidden camera – rejtett kamera
view on something – valamiről alkotott nézőpont/vélemény
confession – vallomás
to be impressed – lenyűgözve lenni
driving skills – vezetési képesség
exactly – pontosan
Labour party – munkáspárt
to trail – nyomon követ, vonul
poll – szavazás
opposition – ellenzék

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