Angličtina pro geografy I
Course materials and homework week X.
Return to the Inner City ( adapted from Fictumova Jarmila, John Ceccarelli, Tony Long: Anglictina konverzace pro pokrocile
Over the last thirty years, a migration took place in most major American cities / a migration away from the inner cities. As cities expanded in both population and size, many people have decided to move away from city centers and out to the suburbs. There were many reasons for this change. Probably the most important was the opportunity of owning a house in the suburbs. Every day construction companies built more tract homes: cheap and often prefabricated houses which, although not very beautiful, were economical and within reach of middle/class families looking to own their own house.
Economic considerations, however, were not the only reasons for the migration to the suburbs. Many people were also trying to escape the negative aspects of the inner cities. They grew tired of living in cramped and expensive apartments, surrounded by noise and pollution. Another major concern was safety. With crime, especially violent crime, on the rise in many American cities, many people decoded that the inner cities were not a safe place to live, especially if there were children involved. Thus much of the upper and middle classes fled the inner cities, leaving the poor to inhabit the city centres.
In recent years, however, some American cities have seen a reversal of this trend. As more and more people move out to the suburbs, the freeways and public transportation systems that take these people to their jobs in the cities have become overcrowded, leading to all the miseries of heavy commuter traffic. Many of the suburbs have also become more expensive to live in, while the apartments in the inner cities have dropped somewhat in price. Also, the suburbs can often be sterile, boring places, faceless blocks of tract houses and shopping malls with no cultural life or entertainment. The result of these factors is that some middle-class professionals have started moving back into the city, bringing with them the resources and the initiative needed to revive the run-down city centres and help deal with some of the problems that decades of poverty and neglect have brought about.
a)Read the text and decide whether similar trends can be seen in this country or Slovakia.
b) Read the text and find word that means:
1) a major movement of people or animals …………………………..
2) grow ……………………………………………………………….
3) already partially built ……………………………………………..
4) run away from …………………………………………………….
5) crowded ………………………………………………………….
6) change in direction ……………………………………………….
7) things that make you very unhappy ………………………………
8) clean but lifeless ………………………………………………….
9) money and materials ……………………………………………..
10) lack of care ……………………………………………………….
c) Here are the answers to some questions. Try to work out the questions.
1) To find affordable housing. ………………………………………….
2) Over the last thirty years …………………………………………….
3) They do not look very nice. ………………………………………….
4) Noise, pollution, and violence. ………………………………………
5) Because so many people live in the suburbs and have to use them to get to work. ………….
6) Because they are cheaper and more interesting than the suburbs. ……………………………
7) Because they have the money needed to deal with the inner city’ s problems……………….
Majora Carter's tale of urban renewal
Pre-listening
1) What are the problems people face in big cities like New York?
2) What is sustainable development?
3) What do you think environmental justice could be?
Listen to the talk and choose the correct answer to each question.
1) Sustainable policy in large urban areas is difficult, because
a) people living there are not interested
b) there is not enough money
c) responsible people are not worried
2) Majora found an abandoned
a) cat
b) dog
c) horse
3) The area of New York where she lives has
a) many parks
b) lot of skyscrapers
c) lot of pollution and garbage
4) Majora managed to
a) collect money to establish the first waterfront park in the area
b) collect seeds to plant trees
c) save more animals
5) In autumn Majora
a) is going to move away from Bronx
b) is going to get married
c) is going to have a baby
Listen again and try to fill in the missing words.
you're here today -- and I'm very happy that you are -- you've all heard about how sustainable development will save us from ourselves. However, when we're not at TED, we are often told that a real sustainability policy agenda is just not 1 ……….., especially in large, urban areas like New York City. And that's because most people with decision-making powers, in both the public and the private sector, really don't feel as though they're in danger.
The reason why I'm here today, in part, is because of a dog: an abandoned puppy I found back in the rain, back in 1998. She turned out to be a much bigger dog than I'd 2 …….... When she came into my life, we were fighting against a huge waste facility planned for the East River waterfront, despite the fact that our small part of New York City already handled more than 40 percent of the entire city's commercial waste. A sewage treatment pelletizing plant, a sewage sludge plant, four power plants, the world's largest food 3 …………. center, as well as other industries that bring more than 60,000 diesel truck trips to the area each week. The area also has one of the lowest ratios of parks to people in the city.
So when I was contacted by the Parks Department about a 10,000 dollar seed grant 4………. seed grant initiative to help develop waterfront projects, I thought they were really well-meaning, but a bit naive. I'd lived in this area all my life, and you could not get to the river because of all the lovely 5………… that I'd mentioned earlier. Then, while jogging with my dog one morning, she pulled me into what I thought was just another illegal dump. There were weeds and piles of garbage and other stuff that I won't mention here, but she kept dragging me -- and lo and behold, at the end of that lot was the river. I knew that this forgotten little street-end, abandoned like the dog that brought me there, was worth saving. And I knew it would grow to become the proud beginnings of the community-led 6………… of the new South Bronx.
And just like my new dog, it was an idea that got bigger than I'd imagined. We garnered much support along the way. And the Hunts Point Riverside Park became the first waterfront park that the South Bronx had had in more than 60 years. We 7……….. that 10,000 dollar seed grant more than 300 times into a three million dollar park.
And, in the fall, I'm actually going to -- I exchange marriage 8……….. with my beloved. Thank you very much. That's him pressing my buttons back there, which he does all the time. (Laughter) (Applause)
But those of us living in environmental justice communities are the 9…………. in the coalmine. We feel the problems right now, and have for some time. Environmental justice, for those of you who may not be familiar with the term, goes something like this: no community should be saddled with more environmental 10……….. and less environmental benefits than any other
217 College Pasttimes
- Describe your typical day at university. (I usually get up at….., my classes last till….., I go home at……, in the evening I usually………….)
- What do you do when you play pool?
Listening: Alex talks about things students do for fun at university in the U. S.
Read the text and fill in the missing words. Then listen to the tape and check it.
would bar mystery pretty joke into allure though like next hang radio
Todd: So, Alex, you're still at university.
Alex: Yes, sir
Todd: So, what's a typical day at university 1………………?
Alex: A typical day at my school, let's see, well I would usually get up, well last semester, I would get up around 8 or so. My first class 2…….. be at 9:10. It'd be an hour so around 10:10 I'd get out of class, you know, have lunch, and I was actually a part of the college 3………. station.
Todd: Oh, really.
Alex: So yeah, I'd 4……… out there, play some music, you know, 5…….. around, play some pool, go to class. It wasn't too bad.
Todd: Yeah, where do you play pool?
Alex: Oh, well, anyplace that I can really. There's a pool table right 6………. to my radio station at school so I usually play a lot there - a place called Mr. Pockets, too, where I live. They're 7………. inexpensive so, I play there too, but I'm not very good. Like the pool table at my college was, it was a 8………. pool table so you have to pay money for it, 50 cents a game, and I must have put at least a hundred dollars in there and I'm not any better than when I started out, so I don't know.
Todd: That's OK you have other talents.
Alex: I guess.
Todd: What's the 9……….. of pool? Why do college kids like to play pool?
Alex: Oh, I have, it's really a 10……., it's very ambiguous. I don't know. It's just the pool tables there and something with hitting balls with a stick 11…… little holes, maybe, but it's a lot of fun. I don't know why I like it as much as I dobut even 12……… I'm not so good I like to play some pool.
Todd: So, Alex, you're still at university.
Alex: Yes, sir
Todd: So, what's a typical day at university like?
Alex: A typical day at my school, let's see, well I would usually get up, well last semester, I would get up around 8 or so. My first class would be at 9:10. It'd be an hour so around 10:10 I'd get out of class, you know, have lunch, and I was actually a part of the college radio station.
Todd: Oh, really.
Alex: So yeah, I'd hang out there, play some music, you know, joke around, play some pool, go to class. It wasn't too bad.
Todd: Yeah, where do you play pool?
Alex: Oh, well, anyplace that I can really. There's a pool table right next to my radio station at school so I usually play a lot there - a place called Mr. Pockets, too, where I live. They're pretty inexpensive so, I play there too, but I'm not very good. Like the pool table at my college was, it was a bar pool table so you have to pay money for it, 50 cents a game, and I must have put at least a hundred dollars in there and I'm not any better than when I started out, so I don't know.
Todd: That's OK you have other talents.
Alex: I guess.
Todd: What's the allure of pool? Why do college kids like to play pool?
Alex: Oh, I have, it's really a mystery, it's very ambiguous. I don't know. It's just the pool tables there and something with hitting balls with a stick into little holes, maybe, but it's a lot of fun. I don't know why I like it as much as I dobut even though I'm not so good I like to play some pool.