Unit 8. The story of my village

Thursday , December 11th , 2008
Part C : LISTENING
Before
Now
Bangkok
Before
Now
Tokyo city
Before
Now
Beijing
Ben Thanh Market
Before
Now
Before
Now
 Before you listen :
Look at the two pictures of the same town . Discuss the differences between them .
 Example :

In the past , the town used to have only small houses , but now there are tall buildings .
In the past , there weren’t any hotels , but now there is a hotel in the town .
The wedding’s atmosphere is happy and exciting .
The village’s atmosphere is quiet and peaceful .
Atmosphere [`ætməsfiə]

 New words and expressions :
Coast [ koust ]

Resort [ ri:`zɔ:t ]

Pull down
Resurface [,ri:`sə:fis]

[`sʌbə:b]

Suburb
An area where people live outside the centre of a city .
Ex : Cu Chi is a suburb of Ho Chi Minh City .
[ri`pleis]

Replace
Ex : I have just replaced the small houses with the
tall buildings.
 While you listen :
You will hear someone talking about the changes in his hometown . Listen to the talk and do the tasks that follow .
1. Popffero is on the west coast of
England .
T
F
Popffero is on the south coast of England .
 Task 1 : Decide if the following statements are true ( T ) or false ( F ) according to the talk .
2. Popffero used to be a tourist resort .

T
F
It used to be a small quiet town .

3. The town no longer has its old atmosphere .

T
F
4. There are more green trees in the town now than there used to be .
T
F
A lot of trees have been cut down
for wider streets .
5. Everybody in the town likes its changes.

Some people don’t like the changes , they miss
the quiet and peaceful life .

T
F
 Task 2 : Listen to again , and write in the missing words .
The small old ( 1 ) ---------- have been pulled down , and tall buildings have been put there instead . They’ve also built a big ( 2 ) -------------- in the middle of the town . The narrow streets have been ( 3 ) ----------- and resurfaced , so the big trees on the two sides of the streets have been ( 4 ) ------------ down . The large area of grass land in the suburbs of the town has been turned into an ugly ( 5 ) ---------- park . Even the old corner ( 6 ) ---------- isn’t there any more . It has been replaced by a big ( 7 ) ------------ store . And there is an ( 8 ) ----------- restaurant where there used to be an old tea shop .
 Answers :
1. houses
2. hotel
3. widened
4. cut
5. car
6. shop
7. department
8. expensive

 After you listen :
Discuss the changes in your own hometown or home village .
Example : Trees , houses , people , roads , etc.
 Homework :
Write a short paragraph
(100 words) about the changes
in your own hometown .
Chinese town
Before
Now
Paris
Before
Now
Before
Now
Berlin