1 Which city was Samuel Johnson describing when he said that when a man is tired of it, he is tired of life?
2 Which city was founded over 2,000 years ago on seven hills?
3 Which city has a famous statue of Christ overlooking a bay?
4 Which city is famous for its opera house and large harbour?
5 Which city has a large square with St. Basil’s Cathedral and the GUM department store?
6 In which city would you find gondolas?
7 In which city would you find a huge square and a section called ‘The Forbidden City’?
8 What is the capital city of Australia?
KEY
1 London
2 Rome
3 Rio de Janeiro
4 Sydney
5 Moscow
6 Venice
7 Beijing
8 Canberra
Ex 1A
teem with something (also be teeming with something) to be full of people, animals, etc. moving around. E.g. The streets were teeming with tourists. a river teeming with fish.
swings and roundabouts
(British English, informal) used to say that there are advantages and disadvantages whatever decision you make. E.g. If you earn more, you pay more in tax, so it's all swings and roundabouts. What you gain on the swings you may lose on the roundabouts.
swings and roundabouts
benefits and drawbacks: E.g. Many families and individuals consider the benefits and drawbacks of living in a city or country, and make decisions accordingly. Gridlocks are one of the major drawbacks of living in a city.
merits and demerits: E.g. the merits and demerits of living in the city over the country.
a stone’s throw
a very short distance away. E.g. We live just a stone's throw from here. The hotel is within a stone's throw of the beach.
a stone’s throw
outskirts: the parts of a town or city that are furthest from the centre. E.g. They live on the outskirts of Milan.
suburb: /ˈsʌbɜːb/ an area where people live that is outside the centre of a city. E.g. a suburb of London. a London suburb. They live in the suburbs.
leafy: (of a place) having a lot of trees and plants. E.g. leafy suburbs.
slum: an area of a city that is very poor and where the houses are dirty and in bad condition. E.g. a slum area. city/urban slums. She was brought up in the slums of Leeds. slum clearance schemes. a plan to rehouse slum dwellers. a kid from the slums. born in the slums of East London.
shanty town: an area in or near a town where poor people live in shanties.
shanty: a small house, built of pieces of wood, metal and cardboard, where very poor people live, especially on the edge of a big city. E.g. Nearly 20% of the city’s inhabitants live in shanty towns. The whole family lives in a shanty made of wood, mud and tin.
bustling: /ˈbʌslɪŋ/ full of people moving about in a busy way. E.g. a bustling city. bustling with something The market was bustling with life.
the hustle and bustle:
hustle: busy noisy activity of a lot of people in one place. E.g. We escaped from the hustle and bustle of the city for the weekend.
traffic jam:
a long line of vehicles on a road that cannot move or that can only move very slowly. We were stuck in a traffic jam.
tailback: a long line of traffic that is moving slowly or not moving at all, because something is blocking the road. E.g. It took a couple of hours for the two-mile tailback to clear. There are five-mile tailbacks on the M25 this morning. There are reports of severe tailbacks in both directions.
gridlock: a situation in which there are so many cars in the streets of a town that the traffic cannot move at all. E.g. It’s gridlock between 6.30 and 9.00. The protest march created gridlock.
bumper to bumper: with so many cars that are so close that they are almost touching each other. E.g. By eight o'clock the traffic was bumper to bumper.
Amenity: /əˈmiːnəti/ (plural amenities) a feature that makes a place pleasant, comfortable or easy to live in. Sp. Servicio. E.g. The campsite is close to all local amenities. Many of the houses lacked even basic amenities (= baths, showers, hot water, etc.). The city has all the amenities.
Facility: /fəˈsɪləti/1. facilities [plural] buildings, services, equipment, etc. that are provided for a particular purpose. Sp. Instalaciones. E.g. sports/ leisure facilities. Conference facilities. Shopping/ banking/ cooking facilities. The hotel has special facilities for welcoming disabled people. All rooms have private facilities (= a private bathroom). 2. a place, usually including buildings, used for a particular purpose or activity. E.g. the world's largest nuclear waste facility. A new health care facility.
Mod cons: /ˌmɒd ˈkɒnz/ the things in a house or flat/ apartment that make living there easier and more comfortable. The amenities and appliances characteristic of a
well-equipped modern house that contribute to an easier and more
comfortable way of life. Sp. comodidades. E.g. The property has many interesting features and all mod cons.
Creature comforts: all
the things that make life, or a particular place, comfortable, such as
good food, comfortable furniture or modern equipment. Material comforts that contribute to physical ease and well-being, such as good food and accommodation. Sp. comodidades. E.g. you’re a long way from home and the only creature comforts you have are a television.
Commodity: /kəˈmɒdəti/ 1 (economics) a product or a raw material that can be bought and sold. Sp. Materia prima, mercancía, producto. E.g. rice, flour and other basic commodities. A drop in commodity prices. Crude oil is the world's most important commodity. Commodities such as copper and coffee. 2 (formal) a thing that is useful or has a useful quality. E.g. Water is a precious commodity that is often taken for granted in the West.
Ex 1B
Vocabulary
Environmental Psychology: is an interdisciplinary field focused on the interplay between humans and their surroundings.
team up (with somebody): to join with another person or group in order to do something together. E.g. he teamed up with the band to produce the disc.
loiter: stand around somewhere for no clear reason. Hang around. E.g. Teenagers were loitering in the street outside.
catch on: become popular, of an idea. E.g. He invented a new game, but it never really caught on.
Dip: (of a level or amount) become lower or smaller, typically temporarily. E.g. the president’s popularity has dipped. Audiences dipped below 600,000 for the match.
pickpockets people who steal from your pockets
clutter: a lot of things, not stored in a tidy way. E.g. There's always so much clutter on your desk! There was a clutter of bottles and tubes on the shelf.
navigate: /
to travel regularly by bus, train, car, etc. between your place of work and your home. E.g. She commutes from Oxford to London every day. He spent that year commuting between New York and Chicago.
real time: the actual time during which a process or event occurs. [as modifier] Computing relating to a system in which input data is processed within milliseconds so that it is available virtually immediately as feedback to the process from which it is coming, e.g. in a missile guidance system: real-time missile guidance systems.
Ex 2A
KEY
1 amenities
amenity: /əˈmiːnəti/ a feature that makes a place pleasant, comfortable or easy to live in. E.g. The campsite is close to all local amenities. Many of the houses lacked even basic amenities(= baths, showers, hot water, etc.).
2 infrastructure
infrastructure: the basic systems and services that are necessary for a country or an organization to run smoothly, for example buildings, transport and water and power supplies. E.g. the social and economic infrastructure of a country.
3 abandonment
abandonment: the act of leaving a person, thing or place with no intention of returning. E.g. their childhood abandonment by their mother. She had a feeling of utter abandonment and loneliness
run-down: in very bad condition; that has not been taken care of.
undergo something: to experience something, especially a change or something unpleasant. E.g. to undergo tests/ trials/ repairs. My mother underwent major surgery last year. Some children undergo a complete transformation when they become teenagers.
regeneration
regeneration: the action or process of regenerating or being regenerated. E.g. the regeneration of inner cities. Economic regeneration. The regeneration of cells in the body.
4 congestion,
congestion: the state of being crowded and full of traffic. E.g. traffic congestion and pollution
tolls
toll: money that you pay to use a particular road or bridge. E.g. motorway tolls. A toll road/ bridge.
Ex 2B
KEY
congestion comes from congest
abandonment comes from abandon
regeneration comes from generate
Ex 3A
The idea is to introduce ‘cycle hubs’ in the city centre. The speaker proposes getting everyone together to discuss the advantages and disadvantages.
Hub: the central and most important part of a particular place or activity. E.g. the commercial hub of the city. The kitchen was the hub of family life. To be at the hub of things (= where things happen and important decisions are made). A hub airport (= a large important one where people often change from one plane to another). A cycle hub (a social enterprise that promotes and facilitates cycling).
Ex 3B
1 five
2 bicycle
3 centre
4 safer
5 cheap
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