The German public transport is so efficient that you won't need a car in Germany.We have two cars back home in Canada ，so we decide to give German public transport a try.

From our home，we have access within 10 minutes' walk to the S­Bahn(equivalent to city trains)．During rush hours it is faster to use a train than a car.As we glide by in the S­Bahn，we can see the cars sitting in long，long traffic jams.

Many major cities also have the subway.Again，if you live in a big city or near it，it is faster and less troublesome than the car.It is also，of course，far less expensive；no maintenance，no parking to find and pay for，and no gas and expensive insurance to buy.And as the price of gas is already pretty high in Europe，the use of public transport makes more sense to us.

You can buy tickets for the day or a monthly pass or a yearly pass.They also have special prices for groups or families good for one to three days，and weekends specials too.

The long­distance train system is also very efficient and usually punctual.People will start to be impatient if the train is one or two minutes late.There are four main types of trains in Germany：the S­Bahn，the regional，the old­fashioned inter­city train and the new­age ICE(Inter­city Express)that looks like the front of a plane and can go faster than 400 km/h.You can go just about everywhere by train from Germany throughout the whole of Europe and I know of no village or small town that is not accessible either by train or other public transport in Germany.

1．give...a try 试试

2．traffic jam交通堵塞

3．troublesome adj.麻烦的

4．long­distance adj.长距离的

5．regional adj.原始的

6．accessible adj.可到达的

Period One　Welcome to the unit & Reading