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Language activity. 1. Answer the questions. 2. Write 20 sentences describing big cities. Use the model below. 3. Describe life in a big city. Use the models and the adjectives below.
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LANGUAGE ACTIVITY
1. Answer the questions.
1. What town (village) do you live in?
2. Where is it situated?
3. Is it large or small?
4. What parts is your town divided in?
5. What is there in the city center?
6. What is the main street in your home town?
7. What is the population in your town?
8. When was it founded?
9. What is it known for?
10. What are the most interesting sights of your home town?
11. What are your favourite places in your town?
12. Are there any theatres or museums in your town?
13. What are educational institutions in your town?
2. Write 20 sentences describing big cities. Use the model below.
1. There is too much noise.
2. There are too many people.
3. There is (isn’t) enough accommodation.
4. There are (aren’t) enough flats and houses.
3. Describe life in a big city. Use the models and the adjectives below.
1. Cities are too crowded.
2. The traffic here is quite busy.
3. The air in big cities isn’t fresh enough.
Adjectives: polluted, noisy, busy, built-up, dirty, littered, dull, exciting, quiet, monotonous, expensive, hectic
4. Match the opposites.
| noisy | safe |
| dirty and polluted | boring |
| dangerous | quiet and peaceful |
| stressful | nothing to do |
| exciting | lots of open space |
| crowded | relaxing |
| a lot of things to do | clean |
5. Find a picture or a photo of a big city. Describe it using the following:
| Look at the picture / photograph. | The picture shows … |
| At the very edge / in the middle of … | In the top (bottom) left-hand |
| This photograph was taken … | corner of the picture … |
| If you look carefully you can see … | The general impression is … |
6. Make questions as in the model.
Model: Where’s the station? – Can you tell me where the station is, please?
1. How far is it to London?
2. Where are the shops?
3. Which direction is the railway station?
4. Which way is the theatre?
5. How can I get to the Art Museum?
6. Where’s the Samarskaya street?
7. How far is it to the park?
8. Which direction is the bank?
7. Give a talk about the place where you live (about your home town).
Remember to say:
- what your home town looks like;
- whether you have some favourite places in your home town, what they are;
- what you would do for your home town if you were the President of our country.
You have to talk for 1. 5-2 minutes.
CONVERSATION PRACTICE
1. Read and translate the dialogue.
My City
Renat: Hi, Alina. It's nice to see you. How are you?
Alina: Hi, Renat. I'm fine, thank you. And how are things with you?
Renat: I'm very well. Our teacher asked me to tell you about the Friday essay. Well, last time we had Russian, she set us creative home work: to write an essay about your city. As you were absent, you probably don't know about it.
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Alina: Ah, I see. Thanks for telling me. I will prepare a nice piece of work. I like writing essays.
Renat: As for me, I don't. If you helped me, that would be great.
Alina: No problem. What aspects of the city do we need to cover in this essay?
Renat: She said we should write a little bit about its history, some sentences about its sights and a couple of words about your personal attitude towards the city.
Alina: I see. At first we need to write the opening lines. For example, the city where I live is situated in the North Caucasian District of Russia. It derived its name from the fused Russian words “five mountains”. The city indeed is surrounded by five peaks of the Beshtau Mountain.
Renat: These are good lines for the beginning.
Alina: Further on we can mention that our city is one of the oldest spa resorts in Russia having 50 different mineral springs.
Renat: Another point is that a famous Russian writer Mikhail Lermontov was shot at Pyatogorsk.
Alina: Yes, that can be also mentioned. What about the history of the city?
Renat: All I know is that Peter the Great was the first to notice and to foster the earliest scientific studies of Pyatigorsk mineral springs. At the end of the 18th century on top of Mount Mashuk the first settlement was founded.
Alina: That's quite enough about the history of the city.
Renat: More than that, we should mention that these mineral springs are found not only in Pyatigorsk, but in other surrounding cities, such as Yessentuki, Kislovodsk, etc.
Alina: What about the sights? What else do we have except the springs?
Renat: Well, there is the State memorial estate of Mikhail Lermontov, which was founded in 1973, the Aeolian harp, Diana's grotto, the Necropolis at the Mashuk Mountain foot, and many other places of interest.
Alina: To conclude we need to express our own attitude towards the city. What can you say?
Renat: First of all, I really like this city and I'm happy to be born and raised here. Secondly, I'm proud to be living in the city where many prominent people have lived at certain stages of their life.
Alina: Who do you mean?
Renat: I know that Pyatigorsk has often been visited by Pushkin, Glinka, Tolstoy, Shalyapin, Griboyedov.
Alina: I see. That information will result into an excellent and well-structured essay.
2. Make up a dialogue with your partner about your home town.
WRITING PRACTICE
| 1. You have received a letter from your English-speaking pen friend Jane, who writes: ... My home town is rather small but I like it. The people here are very friendly and they try and keep our town clean and beautiful. And do you enjoy living in a big city? How do you spend your spare time there? Anyway, I'm thinking of travelling around Russia next summer. Could you tell me what weather to expect? Should I take warm clothes with me? Write back to Jane. In your letter: - answer her questions; - ask 3 questions about her home town. Write 100-140 words. 2. Write an essay on the topic “Some people prefer to live in a big city, while others would like to live in a small town or in the countryside”. |
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