Spain May Stop High-Speed Trains Between Madrid and Barcelona for Upgrade Work
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Spain's government may stop the AVE train between Madrid and Barcelona. The AVE is a fast train. Minister Óscar Puente said this. He is the Transport Minister. He wants to fix the train line faster.
The train line needs work. This is called modernization. The government wants to make the line better. Stopping the trains could make the work go faster.
The line also goes through Zaragoza. Zaragoza is a city in Aragón. The leader of Aragón is Jorge Azcón. He is not happy about this plan.
Azcón wants more information. He asked Puente to explain the plan. People in Aragón want to know why the government wants to stop the trains.
The government has not made a final decision yet. Puente only said it is possible. Many people are waiting to hear more news about this plan.
Vocabulary15 words
- AVE
- a very fast train in Spain
- Transport Minister
- a government person in charge of trains, roads, and travel
- modernization
- making something new and better
- Aragón
- a region in Spain, near Madrid and Barcelona
- halting
- stopping something
- upgrade
- making something better
- line
- the train track between two places
- region
- a big area of a country
- plan
- an idea for what to do
- decision
- a choice someone makes
- government
- the people who run a country
- criticism
- saying something is wrong or bad
- officials
- important people who work for the government
- justify
- to give a good reason for something
- rule out
- to say something will not happen
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Quiz
Answer key
1. Stopping the AVE train between Madrid and Barcelona 2. To speed up modernization of the line 3. Jorge Azcón
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Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
Spain's government may stop the _____ train between Madrid and Barcelona. The AVE is a fast train. Minister Óscar Puente said this. He is the _____ Minister. He wants to fix the train line faster.
The train line needs work. This is called _____. The government wants to make the line better. Stopping the trains could make the work go faster.
The line also goes through Zaragoza. Zaragoza is a city in _____. The leader of Aragón is Jorge Azcón. He is not happy about this plan.
Azcón wants more _____. He asked Puente to explain the plan. People in Aragón want to know why the government wants to stop the trains.
The government has not made a final _____ yet. Puente only said it is possible. Many people are waiting to hear more news about this plan.
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