Unit 1

great places to be
Complete IELTS bands 4-5
 Unit Objectives

• Reading
– Introduction to scanning skills, table-completion
and note-completion tasks.
– Looking for synonyms, and paraphrases
– Introduction to key ideas
 Starting off ...
A place A type of food An activity
I like …
I dislike …

Work in pairs (about 3 mins).

 New York

Let’s watch video.

 Rio de Janeiro

Let’s watch video.

 Dubai

Let’s watch video.

 Amsterdam

Let’s watch video.

 Sydney

Let’s watch video.

 Shanghai
Let’s watch video.
• Sample videos (speaking section)
Warmer activity:
Scientists have researched the above cities. And one of
them is the friendliest city. Which one do you think?
And why?
Suggested answers:
2. Good
3. Bad
4. Bad
5. Bad
6. Good
Which are aspects of
HCM city in VN?
Good aspects of cities
1. ................................
2. ................................
3. ................................
4. ................................
5. ................................
6. ................................
7. ................................
8. ................................
9. ................................
Bad aspects of cities
1. ................................
2. ................................
3. ................................
4. ................................
5. ................................
6. ................................
7. ................................
8. ................................
9. ................................
This is a scanning exercise. Scanning is moving your eyes quickly
over the passage to locate a particular word or phrase that you
may then need to read around more carefully.
Skill 1: it’s easier to scan for names of people or places, because
they start with a capital letter and usually stand out on the page.
Skill 2: One of the things candidates have to do in the IELTS tests is
read very quickly to find where answers are located.
Skill 3: at the same time, candidates will need to be able to pick out
key ideas in questions. What are the key ideas in questions 1 and 2
above?
1. four cities 2. friendliest
 Reading skills
• Candidates should not try to read the
whole passage carefully or try to
understand everything.
 Reading skills
• Instead, they should:
– Pass their eyes over the passage till they recognize
the names of the cities
– Underline them
– Read what is said about each city more carefully to
answer question 2
• Try to finish this task in less than 1 min.
Answers
1. Rio de Janeiro, Lilongwe, Amsterdam, New York
2. Rio de Janeiro
 This is another scanning exercise.
 It is a little harder as you are scanning for phrases.
 You are not going to find exact phrases in the reading
selection, but phrases which mean the same (paraphrases).
 You have about 2 minutes to scan for these phrases.

Good aspects Bad aspects

Friendly inhabitants A high crime rate
A relaxed lifestyle People in a hurry
Table completion is an IELTS Reading Task. It tests students’
ability to scan for information using words already in the table to
help locate answers.

Skill 1: it’s important to look at the task to see what parts of the passage
you need to read again in order to answer the questions. You don’t always
need to read the whole passage again.
Table completion is an IELTS Reading Task. It tests students’
ability to scan for information using words already in the table to
help locate answers.

Skill 2: you should use the names of cities in exercise (3) to help you find
the answer.
 have less

way of life population

known for

be short of

ignore

Skill 3: You should make the connection with the words in italics
in the table and words in the passage which express the same
meaning. In the real exam, words will not be in italics.
Skill 1: Should you write your own answer or should you copy a
word from the passage for each answer?
You should copy.
Skill 2: how many words can you write for each answer?
Only one
 money
relaxed
crime

time

strangers

What happens if you write two words?

The answer is wrong
 Speaking activity
1) Are cities good things?
2) What is your favorite city?
3) How are city people and country people different?
4) What are the biggest problems with living in cities?
5) What damage do cities do to the countryside?
6) When does a town become a city?
7) Which world city do you think would be the best to live in?
8) How will cities in the future be different from those today?
9) If you were city mayor, what changes would you make to
your city?
10) Which city would you choose as capital of the world and
why?
1) Do you prefer city or country life?

2) What do you like and dislike about the capital city of your
country?
3) What do you think are the world’s three greatest cities and
why?
4) Is the capital city of a country always that country’s best city?

5) Is it better to grow up in the city?

6) How are the cities in your country different?

7) Do you think there’ll be more and more cities in the world?

8) What’s the best way to deal with traffic problems in a city?

9) Are cities beautiful?

10) Is it possible for a city to escape social problems?

THE END