Episode 81 B

EPISODE 81
LEVEL B2

 

READING COMPREHENSION 

 

CITY TALKS…                                                                                                  

A: How was your trip?
B: Great! Really amazing. Have you been there?
A: No, what’s like?
B: It’s really wild. It took me by surprise (= it surprised me a lot), actually. I didn’t know what to expect, but the nightlife is totally mad.
A: Really?
B: Honestly, the people there party like there’ s no tomorrow (= to have a lot of parties and fun). We went out with these people and ended up in a place at about 4 in the morning and it was absolutely packed.
A: Wow!
B: Seriously, you couldn’t move. In fact, the whole city was still buzzing (= full of people and life). You can still get stuck in traffic at that time of night.
A: oh !
B: Actually, that was a bit of a downside (= disadvantage), the congestion (= a lot of traffic).
A: Is it so bad?
B: Unbelievable! You just spend hours and hours in the car crawling (= to move forward very slowly) along with honking (= to make a lot of sound with a horn of your car) their horns. You’d be quicker walking.
A: So did you?
B: No, it’s unbearably (= impossible to stand) humid (= wet in the air). Honestly, you only have to walk out of your hotel and you’re dripping in sweat…
A: There must be a fair amount of pollution!
B: That’s as well. There’s an appalling (= awful) cloud of smog that constantly hangs over the city.
A: Sounds pretty grim (= gloomy, sad)…

 

Is there any place in your city /town which …

• has stunning views = amazing
• has unspoilt landscapes = natural
• is very tranquil = calm, peaceful
• has many run-down buildings = destroyed
• was very packed = crowded
• was bustling with tourists = packed
• is good to stroll around = go for a walk
• is overrated and overpriced = too expensive
• is culturally diverse = with many cultures
• is not all it’s cracked up to be? = not as good as many people recommend

 

EXERCISE 1 

Decide if the sentences below are true of false. Correct the false ones.

1. When you are disappointed with a place, you can say it is not all it’s cracked up to be.
2. When you say that your city is overrated, you are made to pay too much for everything.
3. When the place is grim, you wouldn’t choice it as your holiday destination.
4. When the city is bustling it is totally empty.
5. When it is unbearably humid, you need to take an umbrella.

 

ENGLISH IN USE  

 

Emphasizing and reinforcing:

We can emphasise by:

– using extreme words: appalling, packed, crawl,…
– adding adverbs: incredibly modern, ridiculously expensive, …
– using like: like crazy, like there’s no tomorrow

 

We often reinforce what we say using words like:

– honestly
– seriously
– actually
– I swear and …

 

EXERCISE 2

Write a reinforcing sentence:

1. The amount of building work is incredible.
2. It’s an absolutely huge sprawling city.
3. The city is a complete dump.
4. It’s ridiculously cheap there.
5. It’s like war zone in some parts of the city.
6. It’s an incredibly vibrant place.

 

IDIOM CLOSE-UP

 

CITY SLICKER = SOMEONE WHO LIVES AND WORKS IN A CITY.  This word is usually used by people from the countryside who dislike people from the city.

GENTRIFIED = we used this word to describe what happens when a poor area changes as more middle class people buy the cheap properties and do them up to live there.

 

 

PHRASAL VERBS CLOSE-UP

 

TURNOUT = THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO ATTEND AN EVENT

GO AHEAD = TO HAPPEN

PAVE THE WAY FOR STH = CREATE A SITUATION WHICH MAKES IT EASIER FOR STH TO HAPPEN

 

EXERCISE 3 

Match the sentence halves.

1. An estimated ………………………………of 50.000 demonstrators joined forces yesterday.
2. The march was not allowed to ………………………….. They were stopped just before the riots.
3. We are pressing ahead with plans for further action which could ……………………………. new possibilities of doing research.

 

 

NEWS

 

Pedestrian-friendly walkways, parks, landmarks and views make these urban centers the best for exploring on foot.

As any traveler worth their Nikes knows, to walk around a city is to experience its true essence—its soul, if you will. “Your brain functions quite differently when you walk,” says Scott Bricker, director of America Walks, a national nonprofit dedicated to promoting the health benefits of putting one foot in front of the other. “It’s good for your health, both physical and mental, and good for your fellow man, because you engage with the community you’re walking among.”

Pretty much any city can be experienced on foot, as the hordes of multilingual tour groups thronging the European capitals will attest. But what is it exactly that makes a city perfect for strolling? Is it a certain sort of pedestrian-friendly urban design? The streetscapes themselves, with their distinctive architecture and attractions? The climate? The warmth and vibrancy of the residents? Or is it perhaps something more ephemeral?

 

Essence = the most important part of something

Hordes = groups of people

Multilingual = speaking many different languages

Thronging = forming a crowd

Attest = to give proof, to be evidence of sth

Pedestrian-friendly = good for people going on foot

Streetscapes = city views

Ephemeral = lasting only for a short time

 

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