Integrated Writing
The United States currently has high-speed railway lines on the East Coast of the country. The East Coast high-speed trains have been very successful, and some experts believe that a similar high-speed rail system to connect the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles in the state of California on the West Coast would have many benefits as well.
First, maintaining roads is expensive, and because of budget constraints, the state of California has had great difficulty in ensuring that the repairs needed to keep the roads in top condition are made. Advocates of the high-speed rail proposal point out that when people who would have driven to their destination take the train instead, there will be less damage to the roads. The amount of maintenance needed on roads will therefore decrease.
In addition, traffic congestion on one of the major roads between San Francisco and Los Angeles is already at record levels, and transportation experts predict that it will double over the next 25 years; clearly, this problem must be addressed. In some areas of the East Coast where traffic congestion has been a problem, high-speed trains have helped relieve the congestion, and they have become the most popular way to travel between some East Coast cities. A high-speed train between San Francisco and Los Angeles could become just as popular and could play a major role in helping to lower traffic congestion.
Finally, high-speed trains are one of the most environmentally friendly forms of transportation. Trains running at a high rate of speed are very fuel efficient: about five times more fuel efficient than cars and twice as efficient as regular trains. A high-speed rail line between San Francisco and Los Angeles could eliminate many billions of pounds of harmful fuel emissions produced by car engines and regular trains every year.
Directions
You have 20 minutes to plan and write your response. Your response will be judged on the basis of the quality of your writing and on how well your response presents the points in the lecture and their relationship to the reading passage. Typically, an effective response will be 150 to 225 words.
Essay Topic
Summarize the points made in the lecture, being sure to explain how they challenge the specific points made in the reading passage.