New York cabbie picks up $5,000 fare to California

New York taxi driver Mohammed Alam has picked up the fare of a lifetime - $5,000 (£3,000) to drive across the US to Los Angeles. He got a shock when he was asked to drive the two friends. Investment banker John Belitsky and friend Dan Wuebben wanted to do something "magical".
They decided on a cab ride to LA and struck the deal with Mr Alam after finding him at LaGuardia Airport.
The 2,448-mile trip took six days and included a stop in Las Vegas where the friends won $2,000. On 22 April, after their winning streak in Las Vegas, he tweeted: "Woke up Alam to a shower of $100 bills at sunrise."
Mr Belitsky, of Leonia, New Jersey, and Mr Wuebben, of Queens, New York, haven't yet said how they intend to get back to the East Coast. But Mr Alam says a mate will help him make the drive back home from their destination.
New York news blog NYU Local estimated that the trip would have cost $17,000 (£10,000) if the meter had been running for the whole trip.

Match the words below to their definitions

destination / trip / magical / mate / meter /shock

emotional reaction to something you don’t expect
the act of travelling from one place to another one
friend
special and exciting
place that you are going to
device that measures the amount of something

True or false?
1. Los Angeles is near to New York.
2. The trip cost less than if it has been on the meter.
3. You can drive from New York to Los Angeles in less than a week.
4. John and Dan were enemies.
5. John Belitsky works in a bank.
6. Dan Wuebben drove the taxi.
7. The meter was not running during the trip.
8. The journey actually cost ten thousand pounds.

Which word or phrase means the same as the one in italics?
1.whole
a) the same as missing
b) the same as partial
c) the same as entire
2.asked
a) the same as requested
b) the same as told
c) the same as demanded
3.running
a) the same as walking
b) the same as turned on
c) the same as dripping



KEY

shock emotional reaction to something you don’t expect
journey the act of travelling from one place to another one
mate friend
magical special and exciting
destination place that you are going to
meter device that measures the amount of something

True or false?
1. False
2. True
3. False
4. False
5. True
6. False
7. True
8. False

Which word or phrase means the same as the one in italics?
1. c) the same as entire
2. a) the same as requested
3. b) the same as turned on