3

1 GRAMMAR
EXPLORING NEW CITIES
LESSON A Popular destinations

Underline the relative clauses in the postcard. Then add commas where necessary.

July 15
Dear Mom and Dad,
Greetings from Maine where the water
is too cold for us to go swimming, but the
scenery is beautiful. We’re having a great
time, and we’ve enjoyed every place that
we’ve visited. This week we’re in Bar Harbor
which is a lovely island town. The place is
absolutely full of tourists! Tonight we’re
going for a ride on a boat that will take us to
one of the nearby islands. Our friend James
who lives here has already taken us hiking
and to the Bar Harbor Music Festival. It’s
been fun! That’s it for now. We miss you.
Love, Sara and Eric

2 GRAMMAR
Join the following sentences using non-defining relative clauses.

1. Many tourists enjoy seeing the Kuala Lumpur skyline in Malaysia. It includes some of the
tallest skyscrapers in the world.
Many tourists enjoy seeing the Kuala Lumpur skyline in Malaysia,
which includes some of the tallest skyscrapers in the world.

2. People visit Washington, D.C., in the spring. They can see the cherry trees in bloom then.

3. The cherry trees in Washington, D.C., were a gift from the Japanese government to the
U.S. They are admired by everyone.

4. Thousands of years ago, people in Mexico began to grow corn. Corn continues to be a
very important food in Mexico today.

5. The tortilla is typically eaten in Mexico. It is a thin, flat bread.

LESSON A Popular destinations 13

 3 VOCABULARY
Choose the correct words to complete the sentences.

1. When preparing to host the 2012 Olympics, London updated its hotels /
climate / transportation system with improvements to its subway.

2. New York City has hundreds of restaurants offering a wide variety of

climates / cuisines / green spaces, including Italian, Chinese, and Indian.

3. Many people are moving from bigger cities to smaller towns because
the cost of living / landmark / climate is more affordable.

4. If you enjoy neighborhoods / shopping / nightlife, you’ll love the music

and live shows in Rio de Janeiro.

5. Some people think Reykjavik, Iceland, is cold in the wintertime, but

surprisingly, it has a very mild climate / cuisine / transportation system
during the winter months.

6. Some famous green spaces / neighborhoods / landmarks in Paris

include the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum.

7. Many cities are preserving green spaces / hotels / cuisines in their

downtown areas for people to have picnics, walk their dogs, and
enjoy outdoor concerts.

4 GRAMMAR
Use defining or non-defining relative clauses to write sentences about these topics.

1. Tourists in Rome like to visit the famous

squares, which have many beautiful
statues and fountains.

2.

3.

4.

14 UNIT 3 Exploring new cities

5 WRITING
A Look at the words and phrases in the box about Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Choose the main idea and write it in the center of the mind map. Then
write the supporting details in the mind map.

reasonable prices clothing

fruits and spices handicrafts
a wonderful night market jewelry

B Now read the paragraph about Chiang Mai. Answer the questions.

Chiang Mai is a city in northern Thailand that has a wonderful night market. In the evening,
the main street is lined with small stands and shops that sell almost anything you can
imagine. Some stands sell jewelry or clothing, others sell traditional Thai handicrafts, and still
others sell fresh fruit and spices. I love spicy Thai food. It’s easy to spend an entire evening
just looking at everything. If you decide to buy something, you won’t be disappointed. The
prices are very reasonable. There are a lot of wonderful attractions in Chiang Mai, but the
night market is a favorite for many people.

1. What is this paragraph about?

2. What is the topic sentence of the paragraph?

3. Which sentence does not support the main idea? Cross it out.

C Write a paragraph about one of the places you mentioned in Exercise 4 on page 14.
Include a topic sentence with the main idea and several supporting ideas.

LESSON A Popular destinations 15

 LESSON B My kind of town

1 GRAMMAR
Unscramble the words to complete the sentences about these cities.

1. a / with fascinating buildings / city / coastal / charming

Salvador is a charming coastal city with
fascinating buildings.

2. a / European / city / quaint / old / with a lovely castle

Prague is

3. a / lively / city / with huge skyscrapers / modern

Taipei is

4. a / dynamic / port / with trendy shopping malls / city

Singapore is

5. a / industrial / modern / large / city / with a beautiful lakeshore

Chicago is

6. an / with world-famous theme parks / tourist / exciting / destination

Orlando is

2 VOCABULARY
Choose the word that best completes each sentence.

border coastal college mountain port rural tourist

1. Ana lives in a rural town. The nearest big city is more than two hours away.

2. The local university employs most of the people living in this town.

3. towns are near an ocean, a lake, or a river where ships unload cargo.

4. People traveling from the U.S. to Mexico through towns must stop and
show their passports or other identification.

5. I work in a small town with great beaches and seafood places.

6. We stopped in a crowded town full of overpriced souvenir shops.

7. Nick lives in a town that is nearly 3,000 meters above sea level.

16 UNIT 3 Exploring new cities

3 GRAMMAR
Rewrite the sentences using the words in parentheses.

1. The streets are well lit, but it’s best to be careful at night. (in spite of)
In spite of the well-lit streets, it’s best to be careful at night.

2. There is a crime problem, but it’s still a wonderful place to visit. (despite)

3. The shopping malls are crowded, but people aren’t buying much. (although)

4. It snows a lot, but I still like living here. (even though)

5. My city is on the ocean, but the water here is too polluted for people to go
swimming. (however)

6. The city center is very picturesque, but there’s not much to do. (nevertheless)

7. There’s a lot to do here at night, but it’s a very noisy neighborhood. (on the other hand)

4 GRAMMAR
Complete the sentences with your own opinions about cities you know.

1. The worst thing about Los Angeles is the heavy traffic .

In spite of that, it is an ideal place to live .

2. The worst thing about is .

Nevertheless, .

3. The best thing about is .

However, .

4. Even though has a lot of ,

.

5. The weather in is .
On the other hand, .

6. would be a great place to live. However,

.

7. Although is a favorite tourist destination for many, it also has its

problems. For example, .

LESSON B My kind of town 17

 5 READING
A Match the words in the box with the photos. Then read two articles about megacities.

auto emissions carpooling a landfill public transportation

1. carpooling 2. 3. 4.

MEGACITIES: TWO VIEWS

1 2
The world’s population is not only growing, it is It’s true that megacities have problems, but
also becoming more urbanized. An increasing these have been exaggerated. The truth of
number of people are moving to cities in the hope the matter is that people move to cities to
of having a better life. The cities promise steady work escape their hard life in the country. Urban areas,
and higher salaries. With more money, people think even with their problems, offer people a better life
they can provide for their families more easily. than rural areas. The old ways of life in rural areas
As the population becomes more urbanized, have broken down, and it is now very difficult to
megacities are created. Yes, there are more jobs in make a living as a farmer.
urban areas, but is the quality of life better in People live longer in the cities.
these megacities? A quick survey of several megacity Medical care is better. And, of course,
major cities reveals some of their problems: employment opportunities can be
Pollution from auto emissions is poisoning
a city with found more easily in the city. We
the air; landfills are overflowing with garbage. a population should continue to develop city
With declining resources and growing of 10 million services so that people can enjoy their
competition, sometimes there is not enough or more lives in the world’s urban centers.
food. These are all very serious problems. Rather than limiting development,
We cannot get rid of megacities – they are here we should encourage it. Public transportation
to stay. What we should concentrate on, however, is systems need to be developed so that people
building “villages” inside the cities. These “urban can travel to and from work and school easily.
villages” could be self-sufficient and grow their Carpooling should be encouraged to cut down
own food. The members of these villages on pollution. The more we clean up and
would recycle more and do less damage develop our megacities, the more life will
to the environment. The villages would improve for the residents.
serve the needs of the local people, not
big business. We need to limit large-
scale development, not encourage it.

B Match the statements with the articles that support them.

1 2 1&2
1. “Megacities have problems.”
2. “Life in rural areas is hard.”
3. “We should recreate village life in the cities.”
4. “There are more chances to work in the cities.”
5. “Continued development will hurt the quality of life.”
6. “Continued development can improve the quality of life.”

18 UNIT 3 Exploring new cities