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City or Country?

City or Country?

Date: May 01 2009

Grammar: Comparatives and Superlatives

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

When you think of life in a big city, do you picture crowds, traffic, noise, and pollution? Or do you imagine soaring skyscrapers, an exciting mix of cultures, and endless restaurants, nightclubs, museums, and shops to visit?

Cities usually offer plenty of entertainment and excitement. But country life has its attractions as well. In the country, everything moves a bit slower. You can relax, lead a simpler life, and feel closer to nature.

Jason is sick of the city and thinking about moving to the country. But Ella grew up in the country. Find out if she thinks moving there is a good idea.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Jason

Jason

Ella

Ella

Jason:  I just moved in to a new apartment downtown to save on my commute time. But I’ve been feeling so claustrophobic that I almost just want to leave the city altogether, get out of the rat race, go out to the country.

Ella:  I don’t know. I grew up kind of in the countryside, in Florida. There was one bus stop, we had a sheriff, you know, less than 5,000…Everyone basically knew each other, there was like one grocery store…

Jason:  Did you like growing up like that?

Ella:  It was a good childhood. But it took forever to get to the mall. I mean, the beach was only a couple miles away, so that’s all we did, was like play tag or go to the beach or go to school. But everything was pretty far away to get to.

Jason:  It must have been easy to go camping and stuff. You don’t have to go far to get back to basics.

Ella:  Yeah, exactly.

Jason:  I mean, but do you think it was simpler? Did you feel calmer?

Ella:  It was nice to know everyone. You felt safe. I feel like if you live in the city you always have to watch your back and you’re not sure who’s out to get you. You get this kind of paranoid like, “Someone’s gonna rob me, someone’s gonna try to kill me!” You didn’t have that in the country. What do you think?

Jason:  That’s interesting. It seems to me like the country’s almost more dangerous. Like if you’re in the middle of nowhere there’s crazies out there…

Ella:  Well we’ve got that one sheriff.

 

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Discussion

Jason doesn’t like how crowded and fast-paced the city is, and he thinks he might prefer to live in the country. Ella grew up in a very small town in the countryside where there was hardly anything to do and it took a long time to get anywhere. She doesn’t think living there as an adult would be very fun.

Some people don’t like cities because they think they have a lot of crime. But New York, one of the biggest and most crowded cities in the United States, actually has a much lower crime rate than many smaller cities.

Do you think city or country life is better? Why? Did you grow up in a city?

 

Comments

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shahram66

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

i think living in the country has a great advantage that the most important one is get closer to nature.

03:43 PM May 01 2009 |

kellyxiedan

China

i choose to live in a city.although it is quick rhythm life step, multiplex life form ,with noise and pollution,it's a good stage for young people to realize their dream.In the city ,the young can be more stronger in the fierce competition.

03:06 PM May 01 2009 |

living in beijing

China

I live in a big city,Beijing.but I like small town very much because the sky is blue and the air is fresh.

01:25 PM May 01 2009 |

nurintan

nurintan

Indonesia

i was born and growing up in a big city, jakarta, which have more than 10 milliom people. it's a busy city where we almost get the traffic jam everyday from morning until night. everyone who lived here seems getting stressed about the life 'cause we have to face the traffic and polution everyday. but we have everything in here. actually, i like to live in city. but when i'm old, country life is better

11:57 AM May 01 2009 |

nurintan

nurintan

Indonesia

i agree with u. doesn’t matter where we live. the inportant is everyone we love live side by side with us..

11:48 AM May 01 2009 |

Zivanovitch

Brazil

The perfect choice fro me is a medium size city.

11:45 AM May 01 2009 |

Mkarimzadeh

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

I live in a small city right now but i cannot do somethings that i like to do so i like to live in a bigger city than mine. I wanna go to country only for my vacations and only for one week.

10:17 AM May 01 2009 |

ice cold

ice cold

India

city life is fast and convenient but its a lot more stressful so one needs to take a ride to the countryside as a stress buster…...

09:27 AM May 01 2009 |

BHC

BHC

China

I never think of live in the city , but have to live in there for family. my dream is get out of the rat race of office then return to country . I am very like trees /birds / bourn!  

08:59 AM May 01 2009 |

Mara72

Italy

If I lived in America or in Great Britain I would prefer living in the country.

08:36 AM May 01 2009 |

pizzachuwave

Thailand

I'm living in country right now..

but i've to be in the city again so soon

 

oh~crapsssS

08:03 AM May 01 2009 |

ghost9046

ghost9046

Yemen

There are a lot of reasons I like living in the countryside but mainly, its because they have a much more relaxing lifestyle. There as no rush and no people shouting at you to do things faster. There won't be such a lifestyle in the city. You can't even stop yourself from worrying what if you got robbed or kidnapped due to the social problems and high crime rate.

Besides that, there is fresher and cleaner air in the countryside. This is a main problem in the city. But honestly, I Like living in a city instead.

07:25 AM May 01 2009 |

emmashow1280

China

whatever where are you. people always want find a way to make your life be nice and simple. so when you feel tired or  boring .then you need change the place. sometimes if i am in city a long time  then i 'd like to go to country and stay for some time.and when i in country for a long time then i am gonna miss city.but i think if you are experiencing and reaping some thoughts and feeling the nature with your clam heart. i think most  of time you feel happy whatever where are you live.

06:41 AM May 01 2009 |

zhzloverzy

zhzloverzy

China

yes, I was brought up by city,and I love my city which is a small city but very beautiful~,,I have lots of sentiment about it that is my home..and that it was rounded by mountants not only was a main city of its province but also very fit for people to living there as a country-like town…I miss my hometown ..

06:18 AM May 01 2009 |

shimaa mohammed

Egypt

I like country compare city.

I grew up in city but I don't like to complete my life in city. 

 

03:31 AM May 01 2009 |

siberian tigger

Mexico

I love to live in a quiet country becuase I prefer to go back  to basic by enjoying of a familiar life. In addition, I am a traditonal man with strong belief in God.

Have nice weekend dudes.

03:18 AM May 01 2009 |

liuwangning

China

City or country ? It's a paradox . To the people who used to live in the country , to be live in the city maybe one dream of them . Because the city life is colorful . But the one who sick of pollution ,noise,and any other problems would like to live in the country .

02:54 AM May 01 2009 |

afineababa

Morocco

Actually i like living in the city, where everthing is convenient and easy to get. I can simply  say that having fun is a main part of my life which is not available  in the country side….I enjoy nightlife !!

02:18 AM May 01 2009 |

yvetttte

Taiwan

I grew up in a country and work in a big city.

In comparison, I like city life, because of the convenience and the life style.

01:16 AM May 01 2009 |

mukashi

mukashi

Myanmar

I prefer country. If I get old I really want to stay in country side without noise, preety natural scene, clean air which are we cannot find in big city easily. Now I am living in Tokyo, one of the biggest city in the world. To be honest I don't like Tokyo. So crowded, mix culture. Eventhough the crimes are not too much, I rarely to go out at night or day time especially in rush hour as I hate crowded places and  crowded trains.

12:36 AM May 01 2009 |

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