Underground

Montreal

The people of Montreal like being different.

In other big Canadian cities, like Toronto and
Vancouver, the first language is English.
In Montreal, people’s first language is French. And when
other people in Canada complain about the long, cold
winters, Montrealers smile. Their city is also very cold in
winter, and has a lot of snow on the ground for three or four
months every year. But that isn’t a problem. Why? Because
they’ve got an underground city in Montreal.
There are 32 kilometres of tunnels under Montreal’s city
centre, and some of them are fifty years old. The tunnels
link ten train stations, two bus stations, 1,200 offices, 2,000
shops, 200 restaurants, forty banks, forty cinemas, seven
hotels, two universities and many other important buildings.
500,000 people use the tunnels every day to escape the
winter weather.
‘My family’s flat has got an entrance to the underground
city,’ says music student Coralie Gauthier. ‘In winter, I never
go outside on my journey to university.’

insight Elementary Student’s Book Unit 3 p.40   © Oxford University Press 2014 1
 Everyone in Coralie’s family has got a favourite place in
the underground city. ‘Mine is the Maisonneuve Theatre,’
she says. ‘I go to lots of concerts there.’ And her family’s
favourites? ‘My sister’s into fashion, so hers is the Desjardins
shopping centre. My parents’ main interest is art, so theirs
is the Museum of Contemporary Art. And my brother loves
watching ice hockey, so his is the Bell Centre ice hockey
stadium.’
But the underground city isn’t popular with everyone.
Winter is Olivier’s favourite season. ‘Whose favourite place
is underground?’ asks fifteen-year-old Olivier Roy. ‘I can’t
understand that – it isn’t natural. There are lots of fantastic
winter sports in Canada, like skiing, ice-climbing and
snowboarding. At the weekend, I’m always outside. I hate
being inside in winter.’

A001998

insight Elementary Student’s Book Unit 3 p.40   © Oxford University Press 2014 2