Task 2
Dr Matthew Belmont, who teaches at Manchester University, gives a lecture on the problems associated with cities today. Listen to his talk and for questions 11 - 20 choose the best option A, B or C. You will hear the extract twice.
11. Dr Belmont studies life in …
A. countries. B villages. C. cities
12. According to Dr Belmont problems of the cities in the 21st century are caused by their…
A. expansion. B. differences. C. lifestyles.
13. Which was not mentioned by Dr Belmont as a specific topic of his talk
A. healthcare B. pollution C. crime
14. People move to the cities looking for…
A. work. B. money. C. better healthcare.
15. People live longer
A. In the cities B. In the country C. Both in the cities and in the country.
16. According to Dr Belmont the crime rate may be explained by
A. unemployment B. overpopulation C. cost of living
17. The number of mobile phones snatched in Manchester in 2003 grew by ….. compared to 2002.
A. 400 B. 600 C. 900
18. According to Dr Belmont people have to spend on transport ….. every day.
A. £4 B. £14 C. £40
19. Dr Belmont’s talk implies that to improve the environmental situation people …
A. should pay special taxes.
B. shouldn’t bring their cars into city centres.
C. must use public transport.
20.In London last year
A. The number of cars increased.
B. People paid for bringing their car in the city.
C. The drivers were dissatisfied with the new tax.
Listening
KEY
1. Life for business managers
In the studio today we have Mike Holliday from the sociology department of Queensgate University.
A: Mike, you’ve been involved in an international survey into the quality of life enjoyed by business managers.
B: Yes, I have. It was a very interesting survey of over 1000 managers worldwide.
A: What kinds of managers were you investigating?
B: Well, we looked at managers in all branches of industry but we only looked at senior management. A further study will deal with middle management but it wasn’t our brief this time round.
A: How big was the range of countries involved?
B: We were able to conduct an extremely broad survey looking at conditions for managers in almost fifty countries. Nothing quite so large scale has ever been attempted before.
A: Well, the question that I’m sure our listeners are keen to have answered is “How do managers in the UK compare with those elsewhere”.
B: Actually, we found they did surprisingly poorly, even though the British economy is doing quite well at the moment. Britain ranked eleventh on our scale.
A: Were you just translating all salaries in US dollars and then seeing which was the biggest?
B: No, it was a bit more sophisticated than that. The actual amount you earn is not as important as what you can do with it. The US dollar or equivalent will buy you an awful lot more in some countries than others of course. We not only looked at the buying power of the salary, we also took into account how much would automatically go on taxes and on basic living costs like accommodation.
A: And did you make allowance for state provision of things like school and healthcare?
B: We’d have liked to do this but it was too complicated at this stage. We’ll do that in our follow up study.
A: So it was the relatively high levels of taxation and property prices that pushed British senior managers down to eleventh place?
B: Hmm, that’s right. In terms of actual money received they did quite well but we got a different picture when we took everything into account. It was a similar picture for managers in some other countries in the EU.
A: So, where do senior managers enjoy the highest standard of living?
B: Well, we found the three places where high flyers enjoy the best standard of living are Hong Kong, Switzerland and Ecuador. These were followed by Germany, the USA and Chile, in that order.
A: And where do managers do least well?
B: Actually, India, Bulgaria and Vietnam came out worst for managers. They got both the worst of both worlds in a way there, with the combination of relatively low pay and high taxation.
A: So, if your ambition is to become a member of a senior management team you should try first for a job in Hong Kong?
B: Well, certainly if standard of living is your first priority.
A: Thank you very much, Mike. I’m now going to…
2. British City in the 21st Century
Hello, I’m doctor Matthew Belmont and I lecture in urban studies at Manchester University. My specialist subject is The British City in the 21st Century and this is the title of my talk today.
I know that you have been discussing your own cities which you obviously know a great deal about. Cities like Beijing, Cairo and Rome are very different from Manchester and other British cities but as we move into the 21st century they face many of the same problems.
Many of these problems are caused directly or indirectly by the size of modern cities.
So, I will talk about this first and then go on to consider three specific topics: crime, the cost of living and environmental issues.
Cities have become much bigger over the last hundred years. One reason for this is that many young people find the urban lifestyle attractive and exciting and don’t want to live in the countryside. Also, because unemployment is rising many people cannot find jobs in smaller towns or villages. So they move to the cities to look for work.
The third reason is that because modern healthcare is so good people are living much longer than they did in the past. That means that the size of the population in general is increasing and many of these people, of course, live in cities.
When large numbers of people live very close together there is often more violent crime. Theft is unfortunately a major problem of the British cities today. The police advise people to be careful in urban areas, especially at night. Don’t walk home alone if you’ve been out in the evening.
Also, it is not a good idea to use your mobile phone whilst you are out in the street. In 2003 in Manchester alone almost 1600 mobile phones were snatched from people in the street that compares to just over 1200 in 2002.
Part of the reason for the increasing crime rates is the high cost of living in today’s cities. As we all know, cities are expensive places to live. Housing is usually very expensive as everyone wants to live near the theatres, cinemas and restaurants.
Because there is so much to do in the city people go out a lot and have to spend a lot of money on transport. Most people spend around £4 a day on bus or train fares.
Cities are often very dirty places and there are all kinds of environmental problems.
Many of these problems are caused by cars. As urban areas have got bigger more and more people want to bring their cars into city centres. This has led to worrying congestion levels as well as increased pollution.
Most British cities are very smelly places. The government is trying to find a solution to this problem and in London last year the mayor introduced a special tax, so people have to pay to bring their car into the city centre. This wasn’t very popular with drivers but it has cut down the number of cars in London…
Reading Comprehension Test for 10th Form Students 43 tasks
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