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Capital Cities

I Vocabulary work

1. Study the following words.

Awe-inspiring, haphazard, tacky, grubby, clogged, bustling, soaring, in-your-face, to fall prey to, to work one’s magic, to get one’s bearings, exhilarating.

II Discussing the text

1. The following extracts from guide books describe five of the world’s most famous cities. Work in small groups. Read the descriptions and decide which city is being described in each text.

1. There is little point in portraying it as something it is not. Its beauty is not as awe-inspiring as other cities. It is not even particularly old, and much of what may have constituted its historical legacy has over the centuries been all too quickly sacrificed to make way for the new. It is a largely modern city, a product of the 19^th and 20^th centuries, and the expanses of its outer dormitory suburbs and peripheral high-rise apartment jungles are an oppressive introduction for anyone driving into the city for the first time.

It may lack the historical richness and sophistication of other European capitals, but it oozes a life and character that, given the opportunity to work its magic (it doesn’t take long), cannot leave you indifferent. Leaving aside the great art museums, the splendour of the main square and the Royal Palace, and the elegance of the city park, the essence of this city is in the life pulsing through its it streets. In no other European capital will you find the city centre so thronged so late into the night as here, especially if you go out at weekends. Everyone seems to stay out late, as though some unwritten law forbade sleeping before dawn. In this sense it is a city more to be lived than seen.

2. The city is like a history lesson come to life. As you walk among the long stone palaces or across the Charles Bridge, with the Vltava flowing below and pointed towers all around, you’ll feel as if history had stopped back in the 18^th century. Goethe called it the prettiest gem in the stone crown of the world. a millenium earlier in 965 the Arab-Jewish merchant Ibrahim Ibn jacob described it as a town of ‘stone and lime’. For these reasons the city is on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Today it is a city of over a million inhabitants, the seat of government and leading centre of much of the country’s intellectual and cultural life. Unlike other capitals in this region, which were major battlefields during WW2, it escaped almost unscathed and after the war, lack of modernisation prevented haphazard modern development. since 1989, however, the city centre has been swamped by capitalism as street vendors, cafes and restaurants take over pavements, streets and parks as they did prior to 1948.

How you feel about the city’s current tourist glut may depend on where you’re coming from. If you’re arriving from Western Europe it may all seem quite normal, but if you’ve been elsewhere in for a bit of a shock. as you’re being jostled by the hawkers and hordes of tourists, you may begin to feel that it has become a tacky tourist trap, but try to overcome that feeling and enjoy this great European art centre for all it’s worth.

3. This is a cosmopolitan mixture of the third and First worlds, of chauffeurs and beggars, of the establishment, the avowedly working class and the avant-garde. Unlike comparable European cities, much of it looks unplanned and grubby, but that is part of its appeal. Visiting the city is like being let loose on a giant-sized Monopoly board clogged with traffic. Even though you probably won’t know where the hell you are, at least the names will look reassuringly familiar. The city is so enormous, visitors will need to make maximum use of the underground train system: unfortunately, this dislocates the city’s geography and makes it hard to get your bearings.

4. The sheer level of energy is the most striking aspect of this capital city. It’s true the larger picture can be somewhat depressing – shoebox housing estates and office blocks traversed by overhead expressways crowded with traffic. But this is the country’s success story in action. The average suburb hasn’t fallen prey to supermarket culture though: streets are lined with tiny specialist shops and bustling restaurant, most of which stay open late into the night. Close to the soaring office blocks exist pockets of another time – an old wooden house, a kimono shop, a small inn, an old lady in a traditional dress sweeping the pavement outside her home with a straw broom. More than anything else, this is a place where the urgent rhythms of consumer culture collide with the quieter moments that linger from older traditions. It’s a living city and you’ll never run out of things to explore.

5. They don’t come any bigger than this – king of the hill, top of the heap. No other city is arrogant enough to dub itself Capital of the World and no other city could carry it off. It is a densely packed mass of humanity – seven million people in 309sq miles (800sq km) – and all this living on top of one another makes the inhabitants a special kind of person. Although it’s hard to put a finger on what makes it buzz, it’s the city’s hyperactive rush that really draws people here.

In a city that is so much a part of the global subconscious, it’s pretty hard to pick a few highlights – wherever you go you’ll feel like you’ve been here before. Bookshops, food, theatre, shopping, people: it doesn’t really matter what you do or where you go because the city itself is an in-your-face, exhilarating experience.

2. Read back through the extracts and point out the facts which helped you decide which city was being described.

3. Work with a partner and discuss these questions.

1. Which description appeals to you most? Why? Choose two or three phrases which you find evocative.

2. Have you been to any of these cities? Do the extracts reflect your experiences?

3. Do the extracts make you want to visit any of these cities?

4. Match definitions a-h to the adjectives 1-8 on the right. Then decide which of the adjectives you would use to describe the noun phrases in the box below.

5. Find the adjectives in the extracts. What are they describing?

6. Look at the verbs below. Without looking back at the extracts, match each one with an appropriate phrase from the list on the right.

7. Complete these sentences using the phrases in Ex. 6. Make any changes to the phrases that are necessary.

1. No matter how stressed you feel, once you let the beauty on the beach and the warmth of the sun ___ on you, you will begin to wind down and relax.

2. The old town is built on the edge of a cliff overlooking the gorge, using up every bit of spare space. Some houses are even built into the cliff face and people ___ in a warren of narrow cobbled streets.

3. The medieval clock tower offers a landmark which is visible wherever you are in the town, making it very easy ___.

4. It is difficult ___ exactly what makes this grey, industrial town such a popular tourist destination.

5. It’s very easy ___ the charm of the market stall holders and people often end up spending much more than they’d expected to.

6. Far too often historic town centres are carved up and charming old buildings torn down ___.

8. Look at the adverbial phrases below and decide which of them have negative or limiting meaning.

9. Rewrite the sentences below, starting with the word or words given.

Example: You will rarely see such a superb example of modern architecture.

Rarely will you see such a superb example of modern architecture.

1. I rarely visit a city more than once, but this place is really special.

Rarely…

2. I had never seen anything so breathtakingly beautiful before.

Never before…

3. You should not go out alone at night under any circumstances.

Under no circumstances…

4. You will only be able to see and feel the heart of this beautiful old town by wandering down its narrow side streets.

Only…

5. You will only begin to understand the special charm of this place after you have spent an evening there.

Only after you…

6. You can’t really understand exactly how beautiful the view is until you clomb to the top.

Not until…

Date: 2015-01-02; view: 2266