English Language II

May 25, 2009

ONLY A MADMAN WOULD CHOOSE TO LIVE IN A LARGE MODERN CITY

"Avoid the rush-hour" must be the slogan of large cities the world over. If it is, it's
a slogan no one takes the least notice of. Twice a day, with predictable regularity, the pot
boils over. Wherever you look it's people, people, people. The trains which leave or arrive
every few minutes are packed: an endless procession of human sardine tins. The streets
are so crowded; there is hardly room to move on the pavements. The queues for buses
reach staggering proportions. It takes ages for a bus to get to you because the traffic on
the roads has virtually come to a standstill. Even when a bus does at last arrive, it's so
full, it can't take any more passengers. This whole crazy system of commuting stretches
man's resources to the utmost. The smallest unforeseen event can bring about conditions
of utter chaos. A power-cut, for instance, an exceptionally heavy snowfall or a minor
derailment must always make city-dwellers realise how precarious the balance is. The
extraordinary thing is not that people put up with these conditions, but that they actually
choose them in preference to anything else.
Large modern cities are too big to control. They impose their own living conditions
on the people who inhabit them. City-dwellers are obliged by their environment to adopt
a wholly unnatural way of life. They lose touch with the land and rhythm of nature. It is
possible to live such an air-conditioned existence in a large city that you are barely
conscious of the seasons. A few flowers in a public park (if you have the time to visit it)
may remind you that it is spring or summer. A few leaves clinging to the pavement may
remind you that it is autumn. Beyond that, what is going on in nature seems totally
irrelevant. All the simple, good things of life like sunshine and fresh air are at a premium
Tall buildings blot out the sun. Traffic fumes pollute the atmosphere. Even the distinction
between day and night is lost. The flow of traffic goes on unceasingly and the noise never
stops.
The funny thing about it all is that you pay dearly for the "privilege" of living in a
city. The demand for accommodation is so great that it is often impossible for ordinary
people to buy a house of their own. Exorbitant rents must be paid for tiny flats which
even country hens would disdain to live in. Accommodation apart, the cost of living is
very high. Just about everything you buy is likely to be more expensive than it would be in
the country.
In addition to all this, city-dwellers live under constant threat. The crime rate in
most cities is very high. Houses are burgled with alarming frequency. Cities breed crime
and violence and are full of places you would be afraid to visit at night. If you think about
it, they're not really fit to live in at all. Can anyone really doubt that the country is what
man was born for and where he truly belongs?

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VOCABULARY
avoid, avoids, avoiding, avoided
- If you avoid something unpleasant that might happen, you take action in order to prevent it from
happening.
"The pilots had to take emergency action to avoid a disaster ..."
rush hour, rush hours (also spelled rush-hour)
- The rush hour is one of the periods of the day when most people are travelling to or from work.
"Try to avoid rush-hour traffic ..."
slogan, slogans
- A slogan is a short, easily-remembered phrase. Slogans are used in advertisements and by
political parties and other organizations who want people to remember what they are saying or
selling.
"We'll take less of your money".
predictable
- If you say that an event is predictable, you mean that it is obvious in advance that it will happen.
"The result was entirely predictable".
boil over
- When a liquid that is being heated boils over, it rises and flows over the edge of the container.
"Heat a liquid in a large, wide container rather than a high narrow one, or it can boil over."
procession, processions
- A procession is a group of people who are walking, riding, or driving in a line as a part of a
public event.
"... a funeral procession."
tin, tins
- In British English, a tin is a metal container which is filled with food and sealed in order to
preserve the food for long periods of time. The usual American word is can.
"She popped out to by a tin of soup."
staggering
- Something that is staggering is very surprising. "The results have been quite staggering."
proportion
- If you refer to the proportion of something, you are referring to its size, usually when this is
extremely large, (used in written English.)
"In the tropics plants grow to huge proportions."
virtually
- You can use virtually to indicate that something is so nearly true that for most purposes it can be
regarded as true.
"It would have been virtually impossible to research all the information."
standstill
- If movement or activity comes or is brought to a standstill, it stops completely.
"Abruptly the group ahead of us came to a standstill..."
commute, commutes, commuting, commuted
- If you commute, you travel a long distance every day between your home and your place of work.
"McLaren began commuting between Paris and London ..."
utmost
- If you say that something is done to the utmost, you are emphasizing that it is done to the
greatest extent, amount or degree possible.
"The best plan is to continue to attack him to the utmost of our power."

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derailment
- A derailment is an accident in which a train comes off the track on which it is running.
precarious
- If your situation is precarious, you are not in complete control of events and might fail in what
you are doing at any moment.
"... Our financial situation had become precarious."
irrelevant
- If you say that something is irrelevant, you mean that it is not important in a situation,
"... irrelevant details ..."
premium
- If something is at a premium, it is wanted or needed, but is difficult to get or achieve.
.... "sunshine and fresh air are at a premium."
blot, blots, blotting, blotted
- If you describe something such as building as a blot on the landscape you mean that you think it
is very ugly and spoils an otherwise attractive place.
blot out
- If one thing blots out another thing, it is in front of the other thing and prevents it from being
seen.
"Tall buildings blot out the sun."
-exorbitant
- If you describe something such as a price or fee as exorbitant, you are emphasizing that it is
much greater than it should be.
'Exorbitant housing prices have created an acute shortage of affordable housing for the poor."

QUESTIONS:
1 What is one of the greatest problems of large cities?
2 Is it easy to get on the train or bus in the rush-hour?
3 What can bring about conditions of utter chaos?
4 Do people actually choose these conditions?
5 Are large modern cities too big to control?
6 Are city-dwellers obliged to adopt an unnatural way of life?
7 Do they lose touch with the land and nature?
8 What do tall buildings blot out?
9 Why is it often impossible for ordinary people to buy a house of their own?
10 What do large cities breed?

EXCERCISES:
I. WRITE DOWN THE OPPOSITES:
predictable ___________________
packed ___________________
unforeseen ____________________
unnatural ___________________
possible __________________
conscious ___________________
relevant

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II. USE THE DICTIONARY AND FILL IN THE TABLE BELOW WHERE POSSIBLE: WORD FAMILIES

Noun Verb Adjective

predictable
arrival
pavement
choose
rhyme
pollute
distinction
accommodation

III. FILL IN THE EMPTY SPACE WITH CORRECT TENSE OF THE FOLLOWING VERBS (BOIL,
REACH, BE, LOSE, POLLUTE, GO, LIVE, BREED, IMPOSE, TAKE, LOOK, DO, ARRIVE)

1. Twice a day, with predictable regularity, the pot ____________ over.

2. The queues for buses ___________ staggering proportions.
3. They ________their own living conditions on the people who inhabit them.
4. Even when a bus _______ at last ______ it's so full, it can't take any more
passengers.
5. They ___________ touch with the land and rhythm of nature.
6. Traffic fumes __________ the atmosphere.
7. It ___________ages for a bus to get to you because the traffic on the roads had
virtually come to a standstill.
8. In addition to all this, city-dwellers __________ under constant threat.
9. Wherever you __________ it's people, people, people.
10. Cities ___________ crime and violence and are full of places you would be afraid to
visit at night.
11. The flow of traffic ___________ on unceasingly and the noise never stops.

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