Comparing and contrasting Comparing two places Emily has been offered two different jobs. The jobs are fundamentally similar but they are in different towns — Alton and Belvlle. The two towns bear very little resemblance to! each other. Alton is a small town by the sea; Belville is entirely different as itis a large industrial town, Alton is a beautiful old town which attracts a lot of tourists. This is in marked contrast to Belville, ‘which is rather an ugly town. There is a wide variation in the cost of accommodation in the two towns. Emily could rent a flat much moze cheaply in Belville There is also a world of difference in the entertainment on offer in the two places. Both towns have several cinemas and theatres, but because there is a clear distinction between the types of people who live in each place ~ there are far more students and other young people in Belle ~ there is a yawning gap” between what the cinemas and theatres show. Belville tends to have a lot of foreiga films and original new plays, and those are much more to Emily’s taste. The options for eating out also differ widely. Although Alton is smaller, it has a lot of good restaurants, though they do tend to be rather expensive. Belvilleis the exact opposite, It has a small number of relatively inexpensive restaurants. To sum up, Alton and Belille are in many respects polar opposites Emily i finding it hard to make up her mind. As soon as she decides that the advantages of Alton outweigh its disadvantages then someone reminds her of the other side of the argument. Which of these two strikingly different places do you think she should decide to move to? ' don’t look at all alike 3 extreme opposites ? an enormous difference 4 are stronger than the disadvantages : How's work going these days, Karl? Are you still at the bank? : Didn’t you know I'd left? I decided to do something fundamentally different last year and retrained as a teacher. ‘Tom: Wow! That’s a bit of a change! Your salary as a teacher surely doesn't bear“ comparison with’ what you got as an investment banker, Karl: Yes, but in other respects teaching compares very favourably with banking. I find it very personally rewarding ~ the financial advantages of banking pale in comparison”, ‘Tom: So, what appeals to you so much about teaching? Karl: Well, a teaching friend of mine once drew a comparison between teaching and gardening. Teachers tend children in much the same way as gardeners tend flowers. Tlove gardening, so perhaps that’s why I love teaching so much! ‘Tom: But lots of people say it’s a very stressful job these days. Karl: Pechaps. When I first started, I found it hard to strike the balance between being firm and being friendly. I wanted to be my pupils’ friend but I soon learnt that you can never totally bridge the gap between pupil and teacher. Tom: Yes, I guess there’s a subtle distinction’ between being friendly and being weak. Karl: That's right. Anyway I think I've got the balance right now and I have no regrets at all about my career change ~ despite the growing disparity* between what I earn now and the salaries of my ex-colleagues still at the bank. ' can’t be compared with ? seem unimportant > also subtle difference * increasing differenceWRITING TASK 1 ‘You should spend about 20:minutes on this task. Tire maps below show the changes experienced by the town of Wetherby at the beginning of the 21st Century. ‘Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where necessary. Write atleast 150 words. " y Wetherby 2000 * Wetherby 2016 Nees 7 Describe the changes to the mapsin exervise 6 using the following wordsand phrases: 1 build in place of 8 gve wer to 2 givewayto 7 become 3. build on the site of 8 reconstruct to become 4 not change 9 replace/build 5 turninto 10 urban transformation 9 Lookatthe model. Insert items ag from exercise 8 into the correct spaces 17. ‘The maps illustrate the changes that took place in Wetherby between 2000 and 2016, Overall, itis clear that the town underwent a complete transtomattion with the conwersion of some areas and the replacement of others. ‘Over theperiod the neighbourhood north of Main Steet experienced a significant change. Forexample, 1_ was tumed into.a housing complex. while 2___remained thesame. 3____ was converted intoa techno park with the houses to the west being replaced with blocks of fats 4. ‘The house with gardens in the northwest of the area became a hotel with a spa. Moreover, by2016 5____, replacing all the cottages. The open-air market had gwen waytoa supermarket and 6 had become a mutti-storey car park Trees had alsobeen added to 7__.