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GENERAL ENGLISH · BREAKING NEWS · INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)

NEW YORK CITY

SINKING DUE TO
SKYSCRAPERS

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1 Warm up

Discuss the questions in pairs or small groups.

1. Do you live near the sea? If not, would you like to?
2. Has there been any extreme weather in your country recently?
3. Do you find storms scary? Why/why not?
4. Have some cities become too big? Would you like to live in a big city?
5. What will your city be like in one hundred years? Do you think that it will change a lot?

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2 Pre-listening task: vocabulary focus

Part A: Match words with the correct definitions.

1. calculate (v) a. a layer of stone, concrete, etc. that forms the solid underground
base of a building
2. structure (n) b. the state of being in a place or situation where there is no
protection from something harmful or unpleasant
3. foundation (n) c. have to deal with a particular situation

4. concern (n) d. use numbers to find out the total number, amount, distance, etc.

5. exposure (n) e. a thing, amount, word, etc. that is equal in value, meaning or
purpose to something else
6. face (v) f. a thing that is made of several parts, especially a building

7. issue (n) g. a problem or worry that somebody has with something

8. equivalent (n) h. a feeling of worry, especially one that is shared by many people

Part B: Complete the sentences with the missing words or phrases from Part A. You may need to
change the form of the word or phrase.

1. I was told I should see a doctor after to smoke during the fire.

2. Our company is all kinds of problems at the moment!

3. My salary is to around one thousand dollars a month.

4. There are that temperatures around the world will continue to

increase.

5. There are a number of that my organisation is worried about.

6. The of our house were built on the wrong type of rock, which has
caused problems for us over the years.

7. We used the data to how many people were going to the festival.

8. Several in our city were affected by the fire, including the old bridge.

Part C: Look at the following sentence. What does the underlined phrase mean? Discuss in pairs.

A passenger plane can travel at a rate of 575 miles per hour.

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3 Listening for specific information

Listen to the report. Match the items mentioned with the things they relate to.

140 million 2 2012 2021 22

1. the number of times New York City has been damaged by floods in recent
history;
2. when Hurricane Sandy hit New York City;

3. when Hurricane Ida hit New York City;

4. the amount (in centimetres) by which water levels have risen around New
York City since 1950;
5. the number of elephants that the total weight of New York City’s structures
is equivalent to;

4 Listening comprehension

Listen to the report again. Answer the questions true (T), false (F) or not given (NG).

1. New York City is the largest in the US.

2. The rate at which New York City is sinking is around 1-2 millimetres a year.

3. The water surrounding the city has risen because of heavy rain.

4. Some are worried that exposure to seawater due to repeated flooding could damage the
foundations of the city’s skyscrapers.

5. New York City’s first skyscraper was completed in 1889.

6. New York is the only major city to be sinking at the moment.

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5 Focus on keywords

Part A: Match the words in bold with the correct definitions.

Group 1:

1. During our science lessons, we had to measure different volumes of liquids.

2. The government is building a new barrier to keep the sea away from the town.

3. The town is built on wetlands, and when it rains, the water rises up and floods the buildings.

4. Scientists have estimated that temperatures will rise by over two degrees in some countries.

5. The concrete houses on our street aren’t very nice to look at.

a. (n) the amount of space that an object or a substance fills

b. (n) an area of land that is naturally wet most or all of the time

c. (v) form an idea of the cost, size, value, etc. of something but without calculating it exactly

d. (n) type of fence that prevents people, vehicles, water, etc. from moving from one place to another

e. (adj.) made of a building material that is created by mixing cement, sand, small stones and water

Group 2:

1. The population is growing every day.

2. During the break, we replenished our water supplies.

3. There are many beautiful beaches along the coastline.

4. The primary cause of climate change is human activity.

5. Our swimming pool had to be drained before it could be cleaned.

a. (adj.) main; most important; basic

b. (n) all the people who live in a particular area, city or country

c. (n) the land next to the sea

d. (v) fill something up again

e. (v) make something empty or dry by removing the liquid from it

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Part B: Complete the gaps with the words from Part A. You may need to change the form of the verbs.

1
When I moved here, I didn’t know about this problem. The was
beautiful, and at first, I felt very lucky to be living close to the sea. Unfortunately, my new town
2
was built on in between two rivers, and when it rained, a huge
3
of water would spread into the streets. I was told by residents that
4
the local government had tried all kinds of solutions. They one of
5
the rivers some years ago, but heavy storms it, and the water
levels were soon too high once again.

6
The cause of the flooding seemed to be a decision that had been
7
taken several decades ago to remove the that had kept the town
8
safe. Since then, the had grown, with new houses being built.
9
Some of the buildings were , and you could see where the water
had damaged them in past floods. A well-known scientist came to visit the region last month and
10
that, if nothing was done about the flooding, the town could
disappear completely within the next twenty years. I think I’ll try to sell my house!

Part C: For the discussion activity, students can complete the task in pairs or groups.

1. Have you ever been to your country’s capital?

2. Does your country have a coastline?
3. Are there many wetlands in your country?

6 Reading for general understanding

You are going to read a text about sinking cities (page six). Scan the text quickly and match the item
mentioned with the correct city.

1. island a. Venice

2. canal b. Dhaka

3. ruins c. Jakarta

4. wall d. Lagos

5. rivers e. Mexico City

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The sinking cities

New York isn’t the only sinking city in the world. We look at five examples of major urban areas that
could disappear over the next one hundred years.

1. Venice, Italy

An important tourist destination for hundreds of years, Venice is famous for its network of canals and bridges. It
attracts between twenty-two to thirty million tourists a year and is especially popular with couples, but the City
of Love may not be around forever. Built on a muddy lake, Venice is at risk of sinking because of poor foundations
and rising sea levels and has suffered from repeated floods which have increased in frequency over the last few
decades. Following concerns that the city’s historic buildings and monuments could slip away, officials are planning
a special barrier to try to slow down the process and prevent damage from future floods.

2. Jakarta, Indonesia

The Indonesian capital, which is home to around ten million people, is sinking quickly and has been flooded many
times. The practice of pumping large quantities of groundwater away from the city has led to changes in pressure
and volume, causing the surrounding land to sink. Jakarta’s many concrete buildings prevent the underground
aquifers from being replenished, despite the heavy rainfall that has become more and more common. With lives
and livelihoods in danger, the Indonesian President has announced plans to move the capital to a new city, which
is being built on the island of Borneo, around one hundred miles from Jakarta. The project could cost up to $33
billion and would take decades to complete.

3. Lagos, Nigeria

Africa’s largest city by population, Lagos faces an uncertain future. With the coastline disappearing and global
warming causing sea levels to rise, leading to frequent flooding. Sea levels around the world are estimated to see
a two-metre increase by the year 2100, meaning that low-lying cities like Lagos could be washed away. In one of
the richer neighbourhoods, a new city is being planned, along with the construction of an 8-kilometre-long sea
wall. However, there are fears that this could worsen the housing crisis and leave the rest of the city unprotected.

4. Dhaka, Bangladesh

Every day, 2,000 people move to Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. A flat country with many rivers, Bangladesh
has been named one of the countries most likely to be affected by climate change. Temperatures in the South
Asian nation are expected to rise by two degrees within the next thirty years, causing glaciers in the Himalayan
Mountains to melt. This could add to the problems Dhaka is already experiencing, such as saltwater mixing into
nearby rivers, which is making it difficult for residents to find drinking water. As the city sits on wetlands in the
mouth of the River Ganges, it is also at risk of flooding brought on by heavy rainfall. The population of the city
could double to thirty million by 2035.

5. Mexico City, Mexico

With the largest population of any city in North America, the Mexican capital is believed to be sinking rapidly,
with fears growing that the crisis could be unstoppable. Although part of the problem is the land on which the
city is built, the primary cause is thought to be the practice of pumping water from aquifers beneath the ground,
leading to the soil becoming too dry. The city’s aquifers have been repeatedly drained since the Spanish invasion
in the sixteenth century, which resulted in the founding of Mexico City on the ruins of the old Aztec settlement
of Tenochtitlan. As with Dhaka, there are concerns that millions may be unable to access safe drinking water in
the future, especially in poorer areas.

Sources: The Guardian, BBC, The New York Times

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7 Reading comprehension

Read the article again. Complete the sentences with between ONE to THREE words from the article.

Group 1:

1. Tourists come to Venice to see its famous network of .

2. A special fence is going to be built to try to the sinking process.

3. Around people live in Jakarta.

4. There are to move the Indonesian capital to the island of Borneo.

5. The future of Africa’s largest city is .

Group 2:

1. A is being planned in one of Lagos’s richer neighbourhoods.

2. Bangladesh is a with lots of rivers.

3. Dhaka’s is predicted to reach thirty million by the year 2035.

4. There are that it may not be possible to stop the Mexican capital
from sinking.
1
5. Mexico City’s aquifers have been since the city was first founded.

8 Scanning for vocabulary

Go back to the text that you have read and find a word that matches each definition.

Group 1:

1. (phr. v, para. 1); stop existing; disappear or die;

2. (n, para. 1); a person who is in a position of authority in a large organisation;

3. (v, para. 2); making water, air, gas, etc. flow in a certain direction;

4. (n, para. 2); means of earning money in order to live;

5. (phr. v, para. 3); removed or carried away by water;

6. (n, para.3) a time of great danger and difficulty, when problems must be solved
or important decisions must be made;

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Group 2:

1. (n, para. 4); a country considered as a group of people with the same language,
culture and history;
2. (n, para. 4); the place where a river joins the sea;

3. (preposition, para. 5); below or under something;

4. (n, para. 5); the act of an army entering another country by force in order to
take control of it;
5. (v, para. 5); being the first to start building and living in a country;

6. (n, para. 5); a place where people have come to live and make their homes,
especially where few or no people lived before;

9 Talking point

In pairs or small groups, discuss the following questions.

1. Look at the article again. Which of the cities on the list would you most like to visit?
2. Which of the five cities would you least like to visit?
3. Are you surprised that New York City is sinking? Why/why not?
4. Do you think that people in the future will prefer to live outside cities, such as in small villages?
5. Are you worried about climate change? Why/why not?
6. Which city will be the largest in the world by population in one hundred years?
7. Can you think of any ways to prevent flooding?

10 Let’s play!

Take turns selecting the underline words and describe them to your partner without using any of the
other words below them.

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