Urban jungle

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lSummary skil lsI You are going to read two texts offering an alternative slant

on the'urban jungle'. Before you read, quickly scan throughboth texts for the information to label the picture andchoose the correct headline from page 33 foreach text.Ignore the underlining.

TextA2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : abour

3 Lifespan:

Text B

Terrifying scenes reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's(6) honor film The Birds have been occurring on theC6te d'Azur (7 ) in recent months as flocks of aegressir eseagulls have begun attacking tourists and residents insome of the world's most famous resorts.

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The gulls, which ornithologists say are(8) exceptionally large. have swooped on people, petsand other birds. The most notable attack took place whena woman out walking her Yorkshire terrier in Monacowas left in a sLate of shock after two enormous specimensdescended on the small dog, lifted him up in their beaksand carried him out into the harbour where they dropped

ll i ," ,!. sea and devoured him. One elderly woman in

Nice called the fire brigade when her balcony wasinvaded by dozens of aggressive gulls after she fed one.

The attacks are causing concern to city council lorslrom Nice to Monaco. Exper-ts say Lhe number of gullshas increased 50-fold in the region over the past decade.'This js happening because rhey (9) have a grear capacityto adapt, are extremely opportunist and with their rr..ngitand size. are able to (10) take precedence over otherspecies of birds. They just won't accept any competirion.'said Philippe Ewald, an ornithologist with the Museum ofNatural History in Nice. j

Along the C6te d'Azur the birds have also found a I

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pfradise where food abandoned by tourists provides easypickings for the scavengers.

i'They have got so much to eat that they are

reproducing without any problem, ' said Dr AlainMoussu. a Nice vet who is president of the region'sLeague for the Protection of Birds. Gulls are a protectedspecies in France and so cannot be cuJled.

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Seagullarmvinvailesinlandtowns

llead Text A. Why does DavidHarry say:'Seagull isn't a verygood name for them anymore.' (lines 24-25)?

llead Text B. What referencecloes Text B share with Text A?Why do you think bothwriters have used it?

Read both texts again andthink of ways to shorten orparaphrase the underlinedsentences or phrases. Checkyour ideas against theseoptions (a-j).

a by the accessibility of foodb dominatec are growingd now live exclusively in built-

up arease oversizedf recently,:g sug$stingh numbers of city-based gulls

could be growingi thrillerj are highly adaptable

Find individual words in the texts with these meanings.The paragraph number is given in brackets.

TextAa leaving without intending to return (l)

b places where birds nest together in groups (1)

c making continuous observations (3)

d insect or animal which is destructive (5)

e places where refuse is unloaded and left (5)

Text Bf groups of birds travelling together ( 1)g popular holiday centres usually on the coast ( 1)h experts specialising in the scientific study of birds (2)

i examples of a particular gro-up or class (2)j looking for ways to gain an advantage (3)

k scientific group of animals or plants (3)I state of perfect happiness (4)m animals or birds that search for and feed on waste (4)

n reduced in number through selective killing (5)

Which of these points are made in Text A, which in Text B and which inboth? Tick the boxes which apply. The first one is done for you.

Text A Ba seagulls are leaving their traditional habitats Vnb seagulls are moving into towns I Ic seagulls are descending on coastal towns I Id seagulls are colonising inland towns I Ie seagulls are noisy n If seagulls are thriving on the ready supply of food in towns I trg seagulls eat food dropped in the streets byvisitors n fh seagulls eat food left on rubbish dumps I tri seagulls eat food dropped in the streets by fast-food customers n Ij seagulls have established successfrrl colonies in towns I Ik there are 50 times the number of seagulls that there I I

were 10 years agoI numbers of urban seagulls are increasing dramatically tr Im the total number of seagulls is falling I nn the culling of seagulls is prohibited I Io seagullsareaggressivebirds Itrp some seagulls are oversized I nq seagulls are attacking humans I trr attacks on humans are increasing n Is seagullsareattackinglocalsandvisitors lIt seagulls pose a particular threat to outdoor construction workers [] Iu seagulls have started attacking domestic animals and other birds I Iv seagulls are particularly aggressive during their breeding season I I

Write two or three sentences summarising the reported changes in

seagull behaviour and their impact, using the points in exercise 6 to

help you.

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Bird-bites-dog shockas towns gogull wazy

Use of English8 For questions l-15, read the text below and think of the word which best

fits each space. use only one word in each space. There is an example atthe beginning (0).

Grammar9 Rewrite these sentences starting with the word(s)in brackets.

Exavprr: The minute the mayor walked into her office, the phone startedringing. (No sooner)

No sooner had the mayor walked into her office than the phone started ringing.a The traffic ground to a halt just after they joined the freeway. (scarcery)b The council only started showing interest in the redevelopment scheme

last month. (Not until)c These are by far andaway the most imaginative proposals the city has

ever received. (Never before)d Government investment in public transport is often not remotely

adequate. (Seldom)e The new transport network had not long been open when a number of

similar schemes were announced in cities around the country. (Hardly)f The only other time I have seen such deprivation was in slums that are

now demolished. (Only once)g It is very difficult for town centre redeveropments to achieve a

harmonious balance between old and new. (Rarely)h After the minister had finished his tour of inspeciion, he made his

pronouncement. (Only after)

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l0 Rearrange these words tomake meaningful sentences.The first word of eachsentence is correct.

Exauptn: Around city's coreboulevard a fine intactmedieval the runs wide.

Around the city's intactmedieval core runs a fine wideboulevard.

a So becoming more seekingstressful cities more lifeand that alternatives ispeople some in are.

b Under take owncircumstances mattersresidents their should intono hands.

c Little chairman to signedwas land desk petition50,000 was on a by hisaware the that peopleabout.

d Here sturdy town stood offortifications once the the.

e On property accounr willyou everything tell nobelieve should deveiopersyou.

f Not further way onlyalready unemployment aproblem also losses job wason were the but.

g Such crime leavingresidents could impact wasthe they area the if of thatwere in.

h In jeopardise scheme wantno of did success they wayto the the.Not developmentcouncillor one the acceptedthe view invitation to.Little demolition quickiyneither did did expect tothe she and start I so.

development

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favourtransit

Vocabulary| | t ,orlplete these extracts with words from the boxes.

.\rrrcrica has convinced me that toorrrrrr ' l t space for urban ( l ) . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . is;r llrtl t,hing. W4ren humans are pressedI Ir( 'y come up with creative solutions _Miilrltattan is an outstanding example{ )t l ,ql"cat city (z) ......... within al l l x i l mi le plot . Where (3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .{ ' \ l) ir ltsion is endlessly possible, ther ( ' r i l t t ls are ugly, 1+):u r l i r r l ly (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Above al l ,' ; r r r ' l r dcvelopments (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the, ;n; and even Americans are comingIo scr: lhat the car is a (Z), rrrr I not a solution. Minneapolis hasti l:r l slnrted work on its f lrst maSS

sysrem.

alr commutingdriving flowinfrastructure jobroad-users hourtransport

As everyone knows, rheNether lands is one of themost densely (9)coun[Tres rn lhe wor ld.Ai the sarre t ime, i t has anealthy (10) ...............Inere ts a ( l l ) . . . . . . . . . . .For moderately priced( l 2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the(13). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . on tand isvery greai, as is the need to(14).........................,... ways ofusrng t t . The siruatron hasallowed young architecrs to(15) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ihemselves.The resul t is that theNerhe r lands is aI present oneoF the mosr (16) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .v i ra l of countr ies.

demandprove

economy

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