2
Match the words in bold in 1 with definitions a–l. Write
4 Descriptive verbs the infinitive form of the verb.
ways of walking
1 Read the urban legend about alligators a walk or travel around with no clear direction wander
living in the sewers of New York. Do b move slowly on your hands and knees
you think any parts of the story are c walk as if you are going to fall
true? Why?/Why not? ways of speaking
d talk with too much pride about something you can do or
have done
e make a long sound when you are in pain or unhappy
f say something is true although it has not been proved and
may not be believed
ways of looking
VOCABULARY PLUS:
g look at something with difficulty
Photocopiable
It was once a fashion among New Yorkers h look for a long time with eyes wide open
on holiday in Florida to bring back baby i see or notice a person or thing, suddenly or when it is not
alligators for their children to raise as pets. easy to do so
These infant alligators would wander freely ways of touching
around the New York apartments of their j cut your skin slightly with something sharp
owners until eventually they grew up and
k fight somebody by holding them
were no longer attractive pets. At that point,
their desperate owners flushed them down l take something quickly and aggressively
the toilet to get rid of them.
3 Choose the correct word in these sentences.
Some of these creatures managed to
survive and breed in the dark Manhattan 1 I lost my map, so I ended up wandering/staggering around
sewer system, so the story goes, producing the town.
colonies of giant alligators beneath the 2 When the passengers heard that the plane was delayed, they
streets of New York City. Their descendants all groaned/claimed.
live down there to this day, crawling along 3 I tried to spot/peer through the window, but it was so dirty
the sewers, completely hidden from human
I couldn’t see a thing.
eyes, apart from the rare heart-stopping
moments when sewer workers find 4 Many people disagree with grabbing/wrestling, but I think
themselves staring directly into the eyes it’s an entertaining sport.
of a sewer alligator. In the 1930s, a retired
sewer worker, Teddy May, claimed that he 4 a Fill in the gaps with the correct form of the verbs
saw – and got rid of – a colony of alligators from 2 .
in the sewers. Further sightings include 1 When was the last time someone boasted about an
some teenage boys who went into a sewer
achievement to you?
in East Harlem for a dare. The boy in front
was peering into the darkness when he 2 Have you ever been badly or bitten by an
spotted an eight-foot alligator. Encouraged animal?
by his friends, the boy grabbed the creature 3 How often do you at a computer screen for a
by the tail and wrestled with it. The long time?
alligator scratched the boy badly but didn’t 4 If a thief your bag and ran away, would you
bite him. It then crawled away, leaving the
chase after him?
boy – groaning in pain – to stagger away
and join his friends. The boys, unharmed 5 How old were you when you stopped and
by the encounter, then boasted of their started to walk?
adventure to all their school friends, and so
the story spread. b Answer the questions for yourself.
4 wrestling 4a 2 scratched 3 stare 4 grabbed 5 crawling
2 b crawl c stagger d boast e groan f claim g peer h stare i spot j scratch k wrestle l grab 3 1 wandering 2 groaned 3 peer
197 Instructions p191 © Cambridge University Press 2012 face2face Second edition Upper Intermediate Photocopiable 197
