UNIT 1: GREAT PLACES TO BE

LESSON 1 - HOMEWORK : READING

READING 1
1. You are going to read a passage about some of the cities above. Read the passage quickly
and answer these questions.
a. Which of the cities above are mentioned?
b. How many advantages are given for each city?

The best cities in the world

In a recent internet survey, tourists and business travellers were asked to rate 50 cities around
the world, from the best to the worst. Of the top three cities, two were in Europe and one was
in Australia.

In third place was London, scoring highly mainly because it was the most famous city on the
list of 50 surveyed. It was also seen as a very good place to do business, and was an important
cultural centre. However, it lost points because people believed it was an extremely expensive
place to live.

Sydney was also a very popular destination, achieving second place on the list because people
believed it had the friendliest inhabitants, as well as the best standard of living and the nicest
climate. It failed to make the top spot, however, because people thought there were very few
things to see there, and many also thought it was too far away from other business and cultural
centres.

At the top of the list was Paris. Despite problems such as the large amount of traffic, it beat
other cities to first place because people considered it to be the most interesting city, with more
museums, art galleries and places of interest than anywhere else. People also thought it was the
best city to take a holiday in.

2. Find words or phrases in the passage which have a similar meaning to the underlined
words and phrases in the table below.
a. well-known

b. excellent
 c. very

d. residents

e. quality of life

f. most pleasant

g. not many

h. a lot

3. Now complete the table. Choose ONE word from the passage for each answer.
City Overall Advantages Disadvantages
position in
survey

London (a) ● Is more well-known than the ● Is very (c)

………………… other cities. …………………

● Has excellent (b)

………………… opportunities.

Sydney Second ● Residents are the (d) ● Not many things to

………………… see.
● Has the best quality of life
● Has the most pleasant (e)
…………………

Paris (f) ● Is more (g) ………………… than ● Has a lot of (h)

………………… other cities. …………………

READING 2
1. Complete the passage with words from the box.
inhabitants, reputation, expensive, friendly, influence, diverse, lifestyle, quality of life, places
of interest, visitors,
 The city where I live has a bad (a) ____________ because of its high (b) ____________. If
you believe everything you read in the newspapers, you might (c) ____________ that everyone
who visits the city has their wallet stolen or gets attacked in the street the moment they arrive.
In recent years, this has had a negative (d) ____________ on the number of tourists who come
to the city, since news stories can really (e) ____________ people when they are thinking of
visiting a place. I won’t pretend that my city is the best place in the world. It’s noisy and
crowded, and there are very few (f) ____________. It’s not the most (g) ____________ city
either, but for most (h) ____________, their first reaction is, ‘Oh no, what a horrible place!’

However, I think this is unfair. There are some attractive old buildings in the city, and the (i)
____________ population gives the place a colorful, international feel. Most of the locals are
(j) ____________, and because prices are low, people can afford to enjoy a (k) ____________
that is considerably better than in many other cities.

2. Each of these sentences contains a mistake. Cross out the mistake and write the correct
word or words at the end of the sentence. One has been for you as an example.
a. Living in the countryside is having many advantages. → has

b. I’m feeling that cities are dirty, noisy and expensive places.
c. Winters in my city are hard because it’s snowing a lot.
d. City life becoming more and more expensive.
e. I’m study English at a language school in my home town.
f. People generally are believing that country life is healthier than city life.
g. The city council is build lots of new apartment blocks in the suburbs.
h. I’m not liking small towns because there’s nothing to do.

3. Complete the passage with the correct form of the verbs in the box (present simple or
present continuous). One has been for you as an example.
be (x3) become have (x2) like live look
meet play rise sit stay think watch

I (a) live in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. I (b) __________ a small flat in the suburbs,
but at the moment I (c) __________ with my parents in the city centre because my mother (d)
__________ ill and I (e) __________ after her until she gets better.
I (f) __________ that Buenos Aires is a really lively and exciting city, and I (g) __________ it
here a lot. City life in general (h) __________ lots of advantages. There (i) __________ always
so many things to see and do.

One of the things I enjoy the most is something called ‘people watching’. So right now I (j)
__________ my parents’ balcony and (k) __________ on people in the street below.

In the evenings I (l) __________ meal, or sometimes we (m) __________ my friends for a
volleyball in one of the city parks. Of course, there (n) __________ bad sides to the city as well.
It (o) __________ more and more crowded, for example, and the crime rate (p) __________
because there are a lot of people out of work.