6 Cities

Words associated with human geography I Recognizing positive and negative connotation I

Recognizing superordinate terms

Vocabulary

country. • industries that employ large numbers of illegal immgrants • Portugal.

•      amenity (amenities)

NOUN Amenities are things such as shopping centres or sports facilities that are provided for people's convenience. enjoyment. or comfort. • The hotel amenities include health clubs. conference facilities, and banqueting rooms,

•      commuter (commuters)

NOUN A commuter is a person who travels a long distance to work every day. • The number of commuters to London has dropped by 100.000.

•      congestion

UNCOUNTABLE NOUN If there is congestion in a place, the place is extremely crowded and blocked with traffic or people.

•      The problems of traffic congestion will not disappear in a hurry • Energy consumption, congestion and pollution have increased • housing

UNCOUNTABLE NOUN You refer to the buildings in which people live as housing when you are talking about thew standard. price, or availability. • a shortage of affordable housrng

•      resident (residents)

NOUN The residents of a house or area are the people who live there. • The Archbishop called upon the government to build more low cost homes for local residents, • More than 10 percent of Munich residents live below the poverty line,

•      immigrant (immigrants)

NOUN An immigrant is a person who has come to live in a country from some other

26        Vocabulary for IELTS

Spain and Italy all have large immigrant populations from Africa.

•    infrastructure (infrastructures) NOUN The infrastructure of a country, society. or organization consists of the basic facilities such as transport, communications, power supplies, and buildings, which enable it to function.

•    investment in infrastructure projects

•    a focus on improving existing infrastructure

•    inhabitant (inhabitants)

NOUN The inhabitants of a place are the people who live there, • on the inhabitants of Glasgow • Jamaica's original Inhabitants were the Arawak Indians.

•    neighbourhood (neighbourhoods) NOUN A neighbourhood is one of the parts of a town where people live. [US neighborhood] • [+ to-infl It seemed like a good neighbourhood to raise my children.

•    He was born and grew up in the Flatbush neighbourhood of Brooklyn,

Adjectives:

•    bustling

ADJECTIVE A bustling place is full of people who are very busy or lively, • the bustling streets of Salzburg • Oxford was bustling with students and tourists and shoppers,

• pioneering

ADJECTIVE Pioneering work or a pioneering individual does something that has not been done before. for example by developing or using new methods or

Unit 6

Practice exercises

Exam tip: In the IELTS Reading exam you may have to answer questions about the : writer's attitude.

Writers often convey the'r attitude by choosing words which have positive. negative or neutral connotations, for example:

- If a writer describes a solution as simple. they mean that it is obvious and straightforward (positive connotation). If a writer describes a solution as simplistic. they are criticizing it for being simpler than it should be [negative connotation).

1              Sentences I —5 contain pairs of words in italics which are similar in meaning. Underline the word in italics which has the more positive connotation.

I The shopping centre is normally crowded/bustling on a Saturday afternoon.

2              The roads are busy/congested during rush hour.

3              That housing scheme has won awards for its novel/pioneering design. 4 The city centre is surrounded by extensive/sprawling suburbs,

5 There are many old/historic buildings in the town centre.

Exam tip: In the IELTS Reading exam you may have to show that you can identify the writer•s main ideas by matching headings to sections of text.

The headings capture the main ideas, and the sections contain detailed information and examples. Superordinates (words that describe a group or category] can help you match headings.

For example. in the word seE summer, season, winter, and spring, the word season is the superordinate term because summer, winter and spring are examples of seasons,

Learn to recognize superordinate terms.

                                                                                                                                                                      Cities 27

              2    For each set of words or expressions 1—4, circle the superordinate term.

1                 underground train   public transport       tram   commuter rail

2                 housing flat bungalow council house 3 library leisure centre park amenity

4              power supply        roads  infrastructure            communications

3               Choose the correct superordinate term 1-3 for words a-h below. Write the correct number 1-3 next to words a-h.

d region e street party f resident g inha bitant h neighbourhood

4               Read the paragraph below. Which Of the superordinate terms 1—4 matches the words in bold?

1        Quantity of food consumed in New York     3 Origin of food consumed in New York

2        Quality of food consumed in New York        4 Types of food consumed in New York

As in many urban areas. seventy per cent of the food consumed in New York is imported from overseas. Most of the remainder is produced in rural areas elsewhere in the country. Only a tiny percentage of food is produced in the city 'tself — mainly soft fruit and vegetables grown in patches of ground between bu'ldings or on rooftop gardens- If New Yorkers used their green spaces more efficiently, they could produce up to twenty per cent of the fruit and vegetables they eat.

Exam practice: Reading — matching headings

The reading passage opposite has 5 paragraphs, A—E.

Choose the correct heading for paragraphs B-E from the list of headings below Write the correct numbers i-viii in spaces 1-4 at the top of the page,

NB There are more headings than paragraphs, so you Mll not use them all.

List of headings

28 Vocabulary for IELTS

Unit 6

Example: Paragraph A Answer.' v 1 Paragraph B

2        Paragraph C

3        Paragraph D

4        Paragraph E

The lure of the urban village

Many people dream of leaving the city and moving to the countryside, but in fact we are an overwhelmingly urban population. Over 80 per cent of UK residents now live in urban areas. Globally, ifs much the same; according to the United Nations. by 2012, well over half of the world^Vs population will be liv'ng in towns and cities.

Increasingly, people are living in towns, but what many really want is a piece of the countryside within the town. Three years ago a survey of 1.000 homeowners in the UK found that many of those who were planning to relocate wanted to live near gyms, shops and restaurants. Today.

according to a more recent report. the majority want a crime-free neighbourhood, a back garden, and theatre or gallery within reach. The report concludes that Britons are becoming more concerned about their quality of life and are Willing to prioritize tranquillity over status and salary.

c

However. what the report does not say is that, for people without a high salary the chances of buying the ideal house, or indeed any house at all in the city, are becoming increasingly slim, According to recent figures, even if we take inflation into account, average urban house values are four times higher than they were 70 years ago. A comparison Of average house prices and average incomes is even less favourable. Since 1940. home price rises have far exceeded rises in average salaries.

For those who can, moving to the countryside is an option. In most developed countries. the roads. power supply and communication facilities are adequate for their needs, Indeed, improvements in telecommunications make telecommuting an increasingly attractive proposition.

Those forced to stay behind in urban life are increasingly yearning for neighbourhoods that are •village' like in feel. Indeed those who market new homes are increasingly using such terms to attract buyers. Interestingly. the idea of urban villages is not a new one. The term was coined 50 years ago. by the American sociologist Herbert Gans in his study of the Italian-American communities of Boston. According to Gans, the communities he studied refashioned urban space in an attempt to recreate the intimate feel of the Southern Italian villages they came from. He argued that American cities as a whole could be seen as a patchwork of different villages in which non-urban immigrants attempted to shape the city to resemble the places in the old country that they had left behind, HIS findings may well resonate with today's native urbanites yearning for village l'fe.

Cities 29