Analysis of ideas and relationships. Circle the letter next to the best answer.

1. Expert A’s main idea is:

a. megacity’s growth is a well-managed process

b. megacity’s growth is a self-regulated process

c. megacity’s growth is an infrastructure-dependent process

d. megacity’s growth is a transportation-dependent process

2. Expert B’s main idea is:

a. Japan builds separate cities for scientists

b. Japanese government may be moved out of town

c. Tokyo transport system is inefficient

d. Japan has found a new way to solve megacity’s problems

3. Expert C argues that:

a. cities are environmentally damaging

b. there is no land for farming left

c. urbanization has its own advantages

d. sprawl helps to combat air pollution

4. Expert D comments on:

a. disadvantages of metropolises

b. disadvantages of traveling by car in metropolises

c. disadvantages of air pollution in metropolises

d. disadvantages of high murder rate in metropolises

 

Explain the meaning of the following words and word-combinations in the texts.

built-in limits (A); metropolitan area (A); annual growth rate (A); edges of metropolises (A); satellite city (A); sister city (B); Science City (B); from scratch (B); vacant (B); lush (B); satellite (B); Space Center (B); environmentally (C); environmentally damaging (C); planet’s resources (C); move people around (C); tract house (C); filter the air (D); commuter (D); substandard housing (D).

 

Complete the sentences below with the word from Activity 3.

1. This big chemical plant is_______. 2. We should remember that the_____are not endless. 3. Is there a_____room in the house? 4. The city planners are concerned about the_____of this_____city. 5. Tomorrow they’ll be taken on the excursion about the______in_____. 6. The inhabitants of the_____often live in______. 7. A thick smog was hanging in the air over the_____. 8. Her dream has always been to have a plot of land and a_____surrounded by picturesque scenery. 9. The majority of the village dwellers are_____. 10. It is getting harder and harder to_____the growing city. 11. There are hundreds of weather______orbiting the Earth. 12. The car has its own_____, so it cannot move faster than it was designed to. 13. It was months since he had played tennis, so had to start_____. 14. It was a really_____house – very beautiful and expensive. 15. The term_____is just another name for a “satellite city”. 16.______, this plant does not make any sense – it’ll be a permanent source of air pollution, and we’ll have to_____coming into our homes.

Find in the text the words meaning.

 

Utilities and services (5 words and word combinations);

Transportation (4 words and word combinations);

Negative aspects of life in the recently emerged megacities (7 words and word combinations).

 

Complete the sentences below with the words from Activity 5.

1. _____is one of the most serious problems with the youth, it’s dangerous for their health. 2. Having spent more than 3 hours in a_____, he was furious. 3. Hurry up! You’ll be late for school if you miss the_____! 4. Even today many country houses have no_____, so the people have to bring water in and take the garbage out every day. 5. This is a new town, and its_____has not been sufficiently developed yet. 6. Due to the efficient work of the police_____has decreased by 12 per cent. 7. The children were taken to school by______to avoid the rush-hour_____. Little John enjoyed this quick_____-an excellent means of_____. 8. ______make people’s lives more comfortable – telephone, radio, television make the process of sending and receiving messages much easier. 9._____is much worse in industrial areas, the well-heeled even install special equipment to filter the air. 10._____made him start working at a very early age. 11.______and______are often connected, people living in the street often violate the law.

 

 

Study the collocation table and then proceed to the tasks.

Noun Adjectives	Verb + Word	Word + Noun	Preposition	Phrase
neighbourhood	friendly, nice, respectable, select, poor, run-down, residential, middle-class, Asian, entire, whole	move into	police, school	around/ round the ~ in a/the ~ outside a/the ~
community	large, small, close, close-knit, lively, international, local, ethnic, immigrant, religious, farming, rural, village, business, scientific, world		center, college, work, spirit, relations, group, leader	in/within a/ the-	a~as a whole/ at large a member of the-part of a-a sense of ~
suburb	outer, outlying, inner, northern, Cincinnati, comfortable, prosperous, wealthy, poor, respectable, quiet, leafy, industrial, ' residential, sprawling	move out to, grow		from the ~s in a/the ~ in the ~s

 

Translate using the collocation table.

1. Округа, район, місцевість, сусіди: район для мешканців, що належать до середнього класу суспіль­ства; район для бідних/обраних, привітні/приємні сусіди, житловий район, переїхати до району, район для вихідців з Азії, пристойний район, увесь район; поліційний відділок/школа, що відповідає за даний район; у цьому районі, в цілій окрузі, поза межами району.

2. Суспільство, громада, група людей, колектив, населений пункт, мікрорайон/мешканці мікрорайо­ну: громадський дух, сільськогосподарська община, етнічна група, наукові кола, громадська робота, ко­лектив коледжу, велика/мала громада, приміщення для проведення громадських культурних заходів, згур­тована громада, сільська громада, громадські відносини, колектив працюючих на підприємстві, громада в цілому, міжнародне співтовариство, громадський лідер, відчуття громади, місцева громада, іммігрантські кола, ділові кола, релігійна община, член громади, світова громада, частина громади.

3. Передмістя: переїхати з міста до передмістя, ближнє передмістя, з передмістя, віддалене передмістя; передмістя, що розростається; південне передмістя, промислове/житлове передмістя, багате/бідне передміс­тя, передмістя Лондону, спокійне/тихе передмістя, зелене передмістя, пристойне передмістя, у передмісті.

 

9. Find in the text the words related to:

1. the dynamics of the megacities' growth rate:

2. alternatives to living in a megacity:

3. advantages of living outside a megacity:

4. advantages of concentrating people in megacities:

5. disadvantages of recently emerged megacities:

 

10. Work in pairs. Use Activity 9. What are the dynamics of a megacity development? Why? What are the alternatives to living in a megacity? What are the advantages and disadvantages of living in a megac­ity? What are the advantages and disadvantages of living outside a megacity? Where would you like to live? Why?

Work in pairs. How many “million cities” are there in Ukraine? What kind of problems do they have? Give some examples. What kind of problems are there in the town you live in?

Write a 200-word essay on the prospects of the city/town you live in.

 

READING AND SPEAKING

The world's first megalopolis

Pre-reading.

Are these statements about China true / or false?

• China is a communist country.

• One in five people in the whole world is Chinese.

• Chinese families can only have one child.

• Chinese people love tradition.

• Chinese people prefer bicycles to cars.

• The biggest city in the world is in China.

 

2. Read the newspaper article about Pearl River City, by Jonathon Glancy.

 

Answer the questions.

1 Has this city got a name yet?

2 Why is it ugly? Why is it exciting?

3 What are some of the statistics about Shenzhen that make it a remarkable place?

4 In what ways is China changing? Why were Deng Xiaoping's words significant?

5 How are the people changing? Why do they want to own a car?

6 What does Shenzhen look like?

7 Why will this city be important in the 21st century?

8 What do these numbers refer to?

 

1982 thousands

3 million six months

less than ten years two hours

40 million four hours

 

What do you think?

• In groups, write what you think are the ten largest cities in the world. Compare your list with the class. Your teacher will tell you the answer.

• Make a list of some of the problems that these cities face. Decide which are the three most important problems. Compare your ideas with the class.

 

To the north of Hong Kong, the world's biggest city is growing. It hasn't got a new name yet, but it will probably be і called Pearl River City.

 

MEGALOPOLIS

The town of Shenzhen, just forty kilometres north of Hong Kong, is the world's biggest building site. In 1982 it was a fishing village with two main roads, fields, and a population of 10,000. Now it has a population of 3 million. It is growing at an incredible speed. It is spreading north towards Guangzhou (also known as Canton) and west towards Macau. The Chinese government hopes that in less than ten years this area will be the biggest city on earth, with a population of 40 million people.

China is changing. It is no longer a country where absolutely everything is owned and controlled by the state. Developers are welcome. As Deng Xiaoping, the Chinese leader, said in 1992, 'To get rich is glorious'. The old China of bicycles and Little Red Books is disappearing. A world of mobile phones and capitalism is arriving. The Chinese people seem to welcome dramatic change. They don't worry about losing traditional ways of life. They want the new. As the posters on the sides of the highways shout, 'Development is the only way.' Shenzhen is a shocking place, like nowhere else on earth that I have ever seen. It is a city with no boundaries and no centre. There are new concrete office blocks, factories, and housing blocks as far as the eye can see. Not just dozens of new buildings, nor even hundreds, but thousands. And it is all happening so fast. It takes just six months to design, build, and finish a 60-storey, air-conditioned skyscraper. As one architect said to me, 'If you move too slowly here, someone will walk over you.' The new Hopewell Highway runs from Shenzhen to Guangzhou, and it takes just two hours to do the 123 kilometres. This superhighway will become the main street of a huge new city, as it gets bigger and bigger until the east meets the west, and the countryside in the middle disappears under concrete. There will of course be more and more cars on the road. People don't want bicycles. If you have a car, it means you have made money. So the traffic will be like in Bangkok, where people spend four hours commuting every day. People eat and work in their car.

Pearl River City very nearly exists. It will probably be the world's First City, the greatest city on earth. It won't be beautiful, but its power, energy, and wealth will be felt in all corners of the world.