Unit 1 Great places to be D

B
A

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
Reading 1 best to the worst. Of the top three cities, two were in
Table completion Europe and one was in Australia.
In third place was London, scoring highly mainly because
1 You are going to read a passage about some of the it was the most famous city on the list of 50 surveyed. It
cities above. Read the passage quickly and answer
was also seen as a very good place to do business, and
these questions. was an important cultural centre. However, it lost points
1 Which of the cities above are mentioned? because people believed it was an extremely expensive
place to live.
2 How many advantages are given for Sydney was also a very popular destination, achieving
each city? second place on the list because people believed it had
the friendliest inhabitants, as well as the best standard
2 Find words or phrases in the passage which have of living and the nicest climate. It failed to make the top
a similar meaning to the underlined words and spot, however, because people thought there were very
phrases in the table below. few things to see there, and many also thought it was too
far away from other business and cultural centres.
well-known: famous quality of life:
At the top of the list was Paris. Despite problems such
excellent: most pleasant: as the large amount of traffic, it beat other cities to
very: not many: first place because people considered it to be the most
residents: a lot: interesting city, with more museums, art galleries and
places of interest than anywhere else. People also thought
3 Now complete the table. Choose ONE word from it was the best city to take a holiday in.
the passage for each answer.

City Overall position in survey Perceived advantages Perceived disadvantages

London 1 well-known than the other cities. very 3 .
excellent 2 opportunities.
Sydney Second Residents are the 4 . Not many things to see.
quality of life.
most pleasant 5 .
Paris 6 7 than other cities. Has a lot of 8 .

6 Unit 1
Reading 2 5 Match the words or phrases (1–7), which are
underlined in the passage, with the words or
Note completion phrases (a–g) which have a similar meaning.
4 You are going to read a passage about a type of 1 similar to a a number of
city survey. Read the passage quickly and answer
these questions. 2 each b every
3 total c get a job
1 What do ‘best city’ websites usually show?
4 several d helpful
5 useful e like
2
6 find work f local
7 regional g maximum

6 Now complete the notes below. Choose ONE

WORD OR A NUMBER from the passage for each
A city survey with a di erence answer.
ere are many websites on the Internet which provide lists of
the world’s best cities to visit, live or work in. ese lists usually
grade the cities in order, from ‘best’ to ‘worst’, and are based on The City Brands Index
facts and gures provided by local or national organisations. The CBI believes that cities are like 1
e City Brands Index (CBI) also provides a list of best and which people can buy when they go shopping.
worst cities. However, unlike other surveys, it is based on the
Surveys take place every 2 .
idea that cities are similar to products in shops. It asks ordinary
people in other countries to grade cities in the same way that A maximum of 3 cities are included in the
they would grade a product, like a so drink or a car. What is survey.
particularly di erent about the CBI is that the people who take A number of different 4 are included in
part in the survey may not have ever visited the cities. Instead, the survey.
they are asked to say what they think the cities are like, basing
The CBI list is helpful for:
their opinions on things like news stories, magazine articles or
television programmes they have heard or seen. people who are trying to decide where to
5 or get a job.
Each year, about 10,000 people in 20 countries take part in
the CBI survey, and they grade a total of 50 cities. ey do people who are looking for a good 6
this by lling in an online questionnaire. ere are several destination.
categories in the survey. ese include things like the economy,
local 7 who want to make their city a
education, the environment, local culture, climate and what
better place.
the city’s residents are like.
e CBI list is useful because it helps people choose a good
place to live, nd work or take a holiday.
It also helps regional governments to
understand why people and businesses
are, or are not, coming to their cities,
and so shows them areas which they
could develop or improve.

Great places to be 7
Listening
Form completion
Ben
1 02 Listen to four short conversations, and
complete these sentences by choosing the correct 1
word and/or number. 2
1 The man is moving house on Friday 3rd / 13th / 3
30th.
2 The man has come from Crawford / Crauford / 4
Crawsord. 5
3 The man’s mobile number is 0780 29227 /
0872 92702 / 0870 292720. 6
4 Sue lives at 70 Sydney / 70 Sidney /
7
17 Sydney Avenue.
8
2 03 Now listen to these short conversations, and
complete the sentences with no more than TWO
WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER.
9
1 The woman’s name is .
2 The woman’s mobile number is .
3 The man’s address is , 10
Fenton.
4 The woman arrived on April.

3 You are going to hear a woman calling an

Vocabulary
accommodation agency about an apartment she Collocations and prepositional phrases
wants to rent. Before you listen, look at the form
on the right and answer the following questions.

a a word (or words) only? 1 Which of these words are adjectives, and which
are nouns? Write the words in the box in the
b a number only?
correct columns.
c a word (or words) and a number?
festivals friendly food tasty inhabitants
4 04 Now listen and complete the form. Write no lively pretty scenery spectacular villages
more than TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for
each answer. Adjectives Nouns
friendly festivals

8 Unit 1
2 Complete the gaps in this passage with an 3 We spent two weeks in a small village in / on
adjective and noun pair from Exercise 1. the mountains.
My home city (Part 1) 4 Property prices by / in the city centre are
so expensive that only a few people can
1 friendly inhabitants . afford them.
Everyone smiles and says hello when you meet them.
5 The town of Wadi Musa is near / on the desert.
Then there’s the 2 which you can

or five times a year there are 3 6 by / in

where people celebrate important events with street be so quiet and boring there.
parties and other fun events. And if you get fed up
7 in /
with the city, you can get a bus into the countryside,
where there are lots of 4 . The hills on the suburbs.
and mountains there also provide some really 8 Our house was right by / near a river. There
5 . was even a place at the end of garden where you
could leave your boat.
3 Which of these words are adjectives, and which
are nouns? Write the words in the box in the
correct columns. Key vocabulary
apartments crowded city industrial 6 Complete the passage with words from the box.
lifestyle relaxed streets tiny
conclude crime diverse impact
Adjectives Nouns industrial influence lifestyle locals
ranks reaction reputation surround
crowded apartments
1 reputation
because of its high 2
everything you read in the newspapers, you might
3 that everyone who visits the city has
their wallet stolen or gets attacked in the street the
4 Complete each gap in the passage below with
TWO words from Exercise 3. a negative 4 on the number of tourists
My home city (Part 2) who come to the city, since news stories can really
5 people when they are thinking of visiting
1 , which means that there is a lot
of pollution, and there are also lots of ugly factories
everywhere. Most people live in 2 6 estates 7
because houses are too expensive. They work really fact, it 8 as sixth on a national list of the
hard, and they can’t afford to enjoy the sort of country’s worst places to live, and for most visitors,
3 that many people associate with their first 9 is ‘Oh no, what a horrible
my country. And it can take ages to walk along the
4 in the city centre because there attractive old buildings in the city, the 10
are so many people and so much traffic. population gives the place a colourful, international
feel, most of the 11 are friendly and
welcoming, and because prices are low, people can
5 Complete these sentences by choosing the best
preposition. afford to enjoy a 12 that is considerably
better than in many other cities.
1 My house is by / in the sea. You walk out of the
front door straight onto the beach.
2 in / on the outskirts of
the city.

Great places to be 9
Grammar 10 on
Present simple and present continuous my parents’ balcony and 11 people in the
1 Each of these sentences contains a mistake. Cross street below.
out the mistake and write the correct word or 12 my friends for a
words at the end of the sentence. meal, or sometimes we 13 volleyball in
one of the city parks. Of course, there 14
1 Living in the countryside is having many 15 more
advantages. has and more crowded, for example, and the crime rate
2 16 because there are a lot of people out of
expensive places. work.

3 Winters in my city are hard because it’s

snowing a lot. Writing
4 City life becoming more and more expensive. Task 1
1 Look at the pie chart and match sentence parts
5 1–7 with a–g.
home town.
6 People generally are believing that country life its museums and galleries 16%

is healthier than city life. its friendly inhabitants. 22%

7 The city council is build lots of new apartment
blocks in the suburbs. other 10%
8
its summer arts festival. 36%
nothing to do.

2 Complete the passage with the correct form of its cafés, bars and restaurants. 16%
the verbs in the box (present simple or present
Edinburgh visitors survey: What are the city’s
continuous).
best features?

1 The chart shows a choose its museums and

2 The largest galleries as the things they
percentage, 36 like the most.
percent, b choose its friendly
3 22 percent inhabitants.

4 16 percent of c choose other things.

visitors d think that its summer arts
5 The city’s festival is the best thing
cafés, bars and about it.
be (x3) become have (x2) like live look
restaurants were e think the city’s cultural
meet play rise sit stay think watch
popular with attractions are its best
1 live in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. 6 10 percent features.
2 a small flat in the suburbs, but at the f another 16 percent of visitors.
7 Overall, the
3 with my parents in the city g what visitors to Edinburgh
majority of
centre because my mother 4 like most about the city.
visitors
5 after her until she gets better.
6 that Buenos Aires is a really lively and
7 it here a lot. City
life in general 8 lots of advantages. There
9 always so many things to see and do.

10 Unit 1