Class

By Pamela Linwood

in

Save Earls Court

[A2 pre-intermediate]

GETTING STARTED

A - Before you start

Answer the questions with a partner.
1) Have any old buildings been demolished in your
town recently?
2) If so, why were they demolished? What replaced them?
3) Have there been campaigns to save old buildings
in your area?
4) If so, were they successful?
B Read and answer
Read these statements and write T (true) or F (false).
1) The Earls Court Exhibition Centre was opened
after World War II.
2) The Centre is also used for music and
sporting events.
3) The mayor of London wants to save Earls
Court from demolition.
4) The mayor isnt a popular figure.
5) Duggie Fields says there are plans to demolish
other famous London buildings.
6) Some people think London is becoming a city
only for rich people.
C Read and answer
Read the article and answer the questions.
1) What kind of music events is Earls Court famous for?
2) When did some important sporting events
take place there?
3) What is Capco?
4) What does Capco plan to do if Earls Court
is demolished?
5) Whos Duggie Fields?
6) What does he think will happen to the area if the
Exhibition Centre closes?
D Learn it! Use it!
Complete these sentences with words from the
glossary. (You may have to adapt the expression in

some way, e.g. change the verb tense or change

from singular to plural.)
1) Some ________ animals are in danger of
extinction.
2) Most Londoners live in the suburbs and have to
________ every morning to get to work.
3) ________ _______ the weather forecast,
tomorrow will be cold and windy.
4) Which country is going to ________ the next
World Cup?
5) Last year an important conference _______
_______ here.
6) The story was reported in all the ________.

Answers on page 6

one 1

KET EXAM PRACTICE

E Ready for KET? (Paper 1, Part 5)!

Choose the best word for each space.
When Earls Court was 1________ (build/
building/ built), in 1937, it was intended to be
the 2________ (largest/large/larger) exhibition
centre in Europe. It was designed 3________
(for/by/from) architect C. Howard Crane with
more 4________ (that/than/ of) 40,000 square
metres of space over two levels and cost 1.5
million. The first
exhibition 5________
(ever/never/to)
held there was
the Chocolate
and Confectionery
Exhibition, on 1st
September, 1937.
Sixty years later,
6
________ (cause/

Cardiff

[B1 intermediate]

GETTING STARTED

A - Before you start

Answer the questions with a partner.
1) What do you know about Wales? (Where is it?
What is it famous for?)
2) Can you name any famous Welsh people?
3) Have you ever been to Wales?
READING

B Read and answer

Read the main article and the information boxes and
answer the questions.
1) Where is Cardiff situated?
2) Where can you see the remains of the fort
built by the Romans?
3) When did Cardiff become an important
town? Why?
4) What happens when the national rugby team
is playing at the Millennium Stadium?
5) Why is Cardiff an attractive city to shop in?
6) How has Cardiff Bay changed?
7) Where can you sample Welsh food this
Christmas?
8) What is Calennig?
2 two

why/because) of the need for more space, Earls

Court Two was built next 7________ (of/to/from)
the original building. The second building is
8
________ (as large/enough large/large enough)
to hold four jumbo jets. It was opened by Princess
Diana on 17th October, 1991.
AFTER YOU READ

F Check your pronunciation

Underline the stressed syllable in each of these words.
exhibition
landmark
venue
visible
campaign
ignorant
interest foreign
development
commute
G Write about it
Write about a campaign that you think is right.
- What is the purpose of the campaign?
- Who started it?
- Do you support it actively? How?
- Do you think it will be successful? Why (not)?

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LISTENING

C Listen and answer (Optional)

N.B. This interview is graded as C1, so dont
be discouraged if you find it difficult. Try to
understand the main points.
Read these statements. Then listen to the interview
with Robert Llewellyn, without reading, and write
T (true) or F (false).
1) Robert Llewellyn says Cardiff is less famous
than Edinburgh.
2) Roald Dahl, the author of Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory, was born in Cardiff.
3) The city has now lost its multi-cultural character.
4) The Tiger Bay area of Cardiff got its name from
French sailors.
5) Llewellyn warns visitors to avoid coming to
Cardiff in February and March.
6) He says Welsh rugby fans often become
aggressive when Wales lose.
D Listen, read and check your answers
Listen to the interview while reading the text.
(If you did Exercise C, check your answers
while reading.)
E Learn it! Use it!
Complete these sentences with words from the
glossary. (You may have to adapt the expression in
some way, e.g. change the verb tense.)
1) Many power stations still use ________ to produce
electricity.
2) The regatta was cancelled because the sea was
too ________.
3) At the end of the first half of the match, the
________ was three goals to one.
4) I decided not to buy a computer from a foreign
website because the cost of ________ it to the UK
was too high.
5) That car must be very old. Im sure its a ________
model.
6) After travelling around Europe for five or six years,
Dan finally ________ in Paris.
PET EXAM PRACTICE

F Ready for PET? (Paper 1, Reading: Part 5)

Choose the correct word in brackets for
each space.
Wales is a part of the United Kingdom and is one
of the three countries that 1_________ (make up/
make/compose/build) the island of Great Britain.

Its capital, Cardiff, is 2_________ (placed/seated/

posed/situated) in South Wales, on the banks of
the River Taff.
Much of Wales is mountainous, with the
3
_________ (higher/highest/highly/height)
mountains in the north and central areas. The
country 4_________ (is/has/was/did) transformed
from an agricultural society into an industrial
nation 5_________ (since/throughout/during/while)
the Industrial Revolution.
Wales was annexed 6_________ (from/by/of/for)
England in the 16th century and came under the
English legal system. However, the Welsh are a
Celtic people and have 7_________ (ever/always/
yet/still) had strong sense of national identity.
They descend from the Britons 8_________
(which/what/who/than) occupied most of Britain
before the Roman invasion.
In Wales there are two official languages.
Everybody 9_________ (speak/speaks/spoke/
spoken) English, but in the north and west of the
three 3

country the 10_________ (majority/most/more/

many) of people also speak Welsh, a Celtic
language.
AFTER YOU READ AND LISTEN

G Write about it
Write about a city that you know well.
Where is it?
When was it founded?
What is it like?
When is the best time to visit? Why?
What should visitors go and see?

Good Neighbours

[B2 upper intermediate]

GETTING STARTED

A - Before you start

Answer the questions with a partner.
1) Do you think its important to have a good relationship
with your neighbours? Why (not)?
2) What makes a good neighbour, in your opinion?
3) Do you like your neighbours? Why (not)?
READING

B Read and answer

Read the main article and answer the questions.
1) What kind of TV programmes are often based on
the relationship between neighbours?
2) What has determined the type of relationship people
have had with their neighbours through the ages,
according to Emily Cockayne?
3) Why were people forced to have close relationships
with neighbours in medieval times?
4) What social functions did neighbours carry out?
5) What contact did people often have with their
neighbours in Victorian times?
6) Why was the 1950s a time when relationships
between neighbours began to change?
7) Why are English people more distant neighbours
than people in other European countries?
8) Why does Emily Cockayne think neighbours will
continue to be important?
READING

C Read and answer

N.B. This interview is graded as C1, so dont
be discouraged if you find it difficult. Try to
understand the main points.
4 four

Read these statements. Then read the interview with

Emily Cockayne through once and try to answer
T (true) or F (false).
1) Emily Cockaynes book studies the subject of
neighbours, starting from Roman times.
2) She thinks the most important change in
relationships with neighbours involved the shared
toilet.
3) In the early 1950s, half the population still
shared a toilet with their neighbours.
4) In the 1950s, the state took over some of the
functions of neighbours.
5) Cars affected peoples relationships with their
neighbours, too.
6) Cockayne feels relationships with neighbours
are less genuine than in the past.

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D Read and check your answers

Read the interview again. (If you did Exercise C,
check your answers while reading.)
E Learn it! Use it!
Complete these sentences with words from the
glossary. (You may have to adapt the expression in
some way, e.g. change the verb tense or change
from plural to singular.)
1) Joe works till late every day so he only has the
weekend to do all the household ________.
2) I cant cut the grass today because the ________ isnt
working.
3) The car journey was an absolute ________! It took us
an hour to get here in the traffic.
4) This area has just been built so there arent many
leisure ________ yet.
5) You children must be thirsty. Theres a ________ of
fresh orange juice on the garden table.
6) On Saturdays, Chloe doesnt do any sport. She just
_______ _______ with her friends.
7) The doctor asked Jake how frequently his headaches
________.
8) This fish cant be fresh. Its really ________.
FCE EXAM PRACTICE

E Ready for FCE? (Paper 3: Use of English,

Part 3)
Use the word in brackets to form a word that fits in
the space given.
1) Emily Cockayne explains how _________
(NEIGHBOUR) relationships have evolved.

2) In Victorian times, terraces were the main form of

_________ (HOUSE).
3) Neighbourliness was _________ (PRIMARY) a
female concept.
4) English people want to have their _________
(PRIVATE).
5) Cockayne has found complaints about shared
toilets from 1542 _________ (ON).
6) She thinks the importance of the shared toilet
has been _________ (LOOK) up to now.
7) In the 1950s, _________ (RISE) affluence meant
that neighbours didnt have to share things any
more.
8) Cars took us _________ (FAR) away than before,
to visit distant friends and relatives.
9) Nowadays, we dont have to be friends with the
people _________ (NEAR).
10) If we form a _________ (FRIEND), its more
genuine than in the past.
AFTER YOU READ

G Talk about it
In pairs or groups.
1) What are the most frequent sources of conflict
between neighbours in your country?
2) Do you think living in a block of flats helps you to
know your neighbours better? Why (not)?
3) In what sort of circumstances do people ask their
neighbours for help nowadays?

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Answers
Save Earls Court
B Listen and answer

1) F It was opened before

World War II.
2) T
3) F He wants to demolish it.
4) F Hes loved my many
Londoners.
5) T
6) T
C Read and answer

1) Its famous for rock concerts.

2) During the 1948 and 2012
Olympics.
3) Its a property company.
4) It plans to build a luxury urban
village.
5) Hes an artist and a member of
the Save Earls Court Campaign.
6) The local economy will lose 1
billion a year.

Cardiff
B Read and answer

1) In South Wales on the

River Taff.
2) In the castle walls.
3) It became important in the 19th
century because of coal. It was
the biggest coal-exporting port
in the world.

D Learn it! Use it!

1) wild
2) commute
3) According to
4) host
5) took place
6) papers
E Ready for KET?

1) built
2) largest
3) by
4) than
5) ever
6) because
7) to
8) large enough
F Check your pronunciation

exhibition
landmark
venue
visible
campaign

ignorant
interest
foreign
development
commute

4) The streets of Cardiff are full

of people in red rugby shirts. A lot
of beer is drunk and theres a lot
of singing.
5) It has several Victorian shopping
arcades with unusual and
colourful shops.
6) It used to be the docks but now
its been regenerated and has become the citys entertainment zone.
7) At the Wales Millennium Centre.
8) Its the New Years Eve celebration.

5) F He says its particularly

colourful at that time.
6) F He says theyre still very
friendly when they dont win.

D Listen, read and check your

answers

1) T
2) T
3) F Theres a school in Cardiff Bay which has children who
speak 30 different languages at
home. The citys ethnic communities still exist.
4) F It got its name from Portuguese sailors.
6 six

E Learn it! Use it!

1) coal
2) rough
3) score
4) shipping
5) vintage
6) settled
F Ready for PET?

1) make up
2) situated
3) highest
4) was
5) during
6) by
7) always
8) who
9) speaks
10) majority

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Good Neighbours

B Read and answer

1) Soap operas.
2) The shape and style of housing.
3) Because cohabitation was
common and people often had
to walk through another persons
living space to reach their own
home.
4) They helped poor, sick and vulnerable neighbours.
5) They often shared water, toilets
and sanitation with them.
6) Because many women went
out to work so they spent less
time with their neighbours.
7) Because they want to have privacy.
8) Because we need our neighbours in times of crisis and we
continue to trust them.
D Read and check your
answers

1) F It starts from medieval

times.

2) T
3) F Twenty per cent still shared
a toilet.
4) T
5) T
6) F She feels they are more
genuine because we are not
forced to rely on our neighbours
help.
E Learn it! Use it!

1) chores
2) lawnmower
3) nightmare
4) facilities
5) jug
6) hangs out
7) occurred /occur
8) smelly
F Ready for FCE?

1) neighbourly
2) housing
3) primarily
4) privacy
5) onwards

6) overlooked
7) rising
8) further/farther
9) nearby
10) friendship

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