Cambridge University Press
978-1-108-55619-4 — Prism Reading Level 1 Student's Book with Online Workbook
Michele Lewis , Richard O'Neill
ExcerptMore Information

UNIT 1PLACESLEARNING OBJECTIVESKey Reading Skills

Scanning for numbers; using aT-chart

Understanding key vocabulary;previewing; reading for mainideas; reading for details;
Additional Reading Skills scanning to ind information;
working out meaning; scanning
to predict content; taking notes;
making inferences; synthesizing
Language Development

Nouns, verbs, and adjectives

ACTIVATE YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Look at the photo and answer the questions.
1

Where is the place in the photo? Is it in the city or in the country?

2

Is it similar to or different from the place where you live? How?

3

Would you like to live here? Why or why not?

14

© in this web service Cambridge University Press

www.cambridge.org

Cambridge University Press
978-1-108-55619-4 — Prism Reading Level 1 Student's Book with Online Workbook
Michele Lewis , Richard O'Neill
ExcerptMore Information

UNIT

115

© in this web service Cambridge University Press

www.cambridge.org

Cambridge University Press
978-1-108-55619-4 — Prism Reading Level 1 Student's Book with Online Workbook
Michele Lewis , Richard O'Neill
ExcerptMore Information

READING 1
PREPARING TO READ
1

You are going to read a report about cities. Read thesentences. Write the words in bold next to the deinitions on page 17.
UNDERSTANDING KEY VOCABULARY

1 More than 8 million people live in New York City. New York City has the largest
population in the United States.
2 The city hired an expert to help decide on the best place for the new shopping
mall. He knows a lot about planning big cities.
3 People who live in big cities often visit the countryside so they can get awayfrom the crowds and breathe some fresh air.
4 Studying in another country gives students the opportunity to learn about newcultures and see how other people live.
5 The sky was so gray with air pollution from cars and factory smoke that I couldn’t
see the sunset.
6 Shanghai is thousands of years old, but it is also a very modern city. It is illedwith tall glass buildings and bright lights.
7 Big cities usually have a lot of trafic, especially when people drive to work in themorning and drive home in the evening.
8 Washington, D.C., is the capital of the United States. It is where the U.S.
government is run.

16

© in this web service Cambridge University Press

www.cambridge.org

Cambridge University Press
978-1-108-55619-4 — Prism Reading Level 1 Student's Book with Online Workbook
Michele Lewis , Richard O'Neill
ExcerptMore Information

READING 1a(n) the cars, trucks, and other vehicles using a roadb(n) land that is not in towns or cities and may have farms

1and ieldsc(adj) designed and made using the most recent ideas andmethodsd(n) the number of people living in a placee(n) damage caused to water, air, and land by harmful
materials or wastef(n) the most important city in a country or state; where thegovernment isg(n) someone who has a lot of skill in or a lot of knowledge
about somethingh2(n) a chance to do or experience something good

Look at the title, subheadings, photos, and infographic in the reporton pages 18–19. Then answer the questions.
PREVIEWING

1 What does mega mean?
a very busy

b very goodc very big

2 Are there more or fewer megacities today than in the past?
3 Which city has the most people?
a Cairob Delhic Tokyo

3 After you read the report, check your answers to Exercise 2.

17© in this web service Cambridge University Press

www.cambridge.org

Cambridge University Press
978-1-108-55619-4 — Prism Reading Level 1 Student's Book with Online Workbook
Michele Lewis , Richard O'Neill
ExcerptMore Information

REPORT

RISE OF THE

MEGACITIESCITIES GET BIGGER AND PEOPLE GET CLOSER

Today, more than 35
cities in the world
are megacities.
1 Megacities are defined as cities withmore than ten million people. The
number of megacities is growing very
quickly. In the 1950s, there were only
two megacities in the world.

Megacities are also exciting places tolive—there are lots of diferent people,
languages, and restaurants, and there
are many interesting things to do.
5 However, megacities have problems,

1

2 Today, 12% of the world’s urban

population lives in megacities. Studies
show that there will be eight billion
people in the world in 2025. Experts
say that there will be 40 megacities.

too. The cities are very big, and thiscan cause problems like pollution orpoor housing2.

3 Today, more than 35 cities in the world

are megacities. 75% are in Asia, SouthAmerica, and Africa. More and morepeople around the world are leaving
their homes in the countryside andmoving to the city.
4 Many megacities have better

opportunities, such as more jobs anda choice of schools and universities.
18© in this web service Cambridge University Press

www.cambridge.org

Cambridge University Press
978-1-108-55619-4 — Prism Reading Level 1 Student's Book with Online Workbook
Michele Lewis , Richard O'Neill
ExcerptMore Information

TOKYO, JAPANREADING 1

137.8 MILLION

6 Tokyo is an exciting modern city in the eastof Japan. There are lots of jobs because
most big companies in Japan are in Tokyo.
It is also an excellent place to study—20%
of Japan’s universities are in the city.
However, Tokyo is very busy, and the
trafic is very bad. More than 8.7 million
people use the subway every day.

DELHI, INDIA
25 MILLION

7 Delhi is in the north of India. It

has many beautiful monuments3,
interesting museums, and modernrestaurants. There is an exciting mix ofdiferent cultures in the city, and there
are four oficial languages: Hindi,Urdu, Punjabi, and English. However,there are not enough houses in someparts of Delhi. This means that many
people live in large slums in the city.

CAIRO, EGYPT
16.9 MILLION

8 Cairo is the capital of Egypt, and it is the largest

city in Africa. Cairo has important car andfilm industries. The city is the center of many
government ofices and has many universities,
one of which is over 1,200 years old.
1urban (adj) relating to towns and cities

2housing (n) places to live, such as apartments or houses

3monuments (n) old buildings or places that areimportant in history
19© in this web service Cambridge University Press

www.cambridge.org

Cambridge University Press
978-1-108-55619-4 — Prism Reading Level 1 Student's Book with Online Workbook
Michele Lewis , Richard O'Neill
ExcerptMore Information

WHILE READING
4

Read the report on pages 18–19. Write T (true) or F (false) next
to the statements. Then correct the false sentences.
READING FOR MAIN IDEAS

1 There are more megacities now than in 1950.
2 There are many opportunities to study in megacities.
3 Many people leave the countryside and move to a city.
4 Almost 35 cities in the world are megacities.
5 Most megacities are in Europe.
6 Finding a house or an apartment to live in is easy in megacities.

5Read the report again. Write the words in the correct place in thetable. Some words may it in more than one place.
READING FOR DETAILS

mix of different people interesting places to visit
lots of jobs trafic good place to study housing problem
important industries busy trains

TokyoDelhi

Cairo

SKILLSSCANNING FOR NUMBERS
When scanning a text, readers look for speciic information anddetails. Do not read the whole text. Readers often scan a text to
ind important numbers, percentages, and dates.
20© in this web service Cambridge University Press

www.cambridge.org

Cambridge University Press
978-1-108-55619-4 — Prism Reading Level 1 Student's Book with Online Workbook
Michele Lewis , Richard O'Neill
ExcerptMore Information

READING 161

Find and circle all the numbers in the report onpages 18–19. Then complete the student’s notes with the correct numbers.
SCANNING TO FIND INFORMATION

1 number of megacities in 1950 =2 predicted number of megacities in 2025 =3 percent of urban population in the world that live in%megacities =billion
4 expected global population in 2025 =million5 number of people who use the subway in Tokyo =%6 percent of Japanese universities in Tokyo =million7 number of people living in Delhi =8 number of official languages spoken in Delhi =9 age of Cairo’s oldest university = overyears oldREADING BETWEEN THE LINES
7WORKING OUT MEANING Look at the word slums underlined in the report. What do you
think it means? Circle the correct answer.

a a very poor and crowded area in a city
b a very unclean housec a very expensive area in the center of a city

CRITICAL THINKING
8 Work with a partner. Discuss the questions.

APPLY

ANALYZEEVALUATE

Are there any megacities
in or near your country?

Why are modern cities
growing so quickly?

What are the bestsolutions to pollution andpoor housing?

COLLABORATION
9 A Work in small groups. Number each group in the class 1 or 2.

• Group 1 - Make a list of 5-10 good things about living in a city.
• Group 2 - Make a list of 5-10 bad things about living in a city.
B As a class, combine your lists on the board. Then vote for the top 5 things ineach list.
21© in this web service Cambridge University Press

www.cambridge.org

Cambridge University Press
978-1-108-55619-4 — Prism Reading Level 1 Student's Book with Online Workbook
Michele Lewis , Richard O'Neill
ExcerptMore Information

READING 2
PREPARING TO READ
1UNDERSTANDING KEY VOCABULARY Read the deinitions. Complete the sentences with thecorrect form of the words in bold.

area (n) a region or part of a larger place, like a country or city
cheap (adj) not expensive, or costs less than usual
downtown (adj) the main or central part of a city
expensive (adj) costs a lot of money; not cheap
local (adj) relating to a particular area, city, or town
noisy (adj) loud; makes a lot of noise
quiet (adj) makes little or no noise
1 My hotel is
it isn’t loud at night.

and calm. It is outside of the busy city center, so

2 Central Park is a niceto relax in New York City.

3 When people visit new cities, it’s a good idea to ask
for the best restaurants. They know the most about their city.

peoplelights from New York
4 Since the airline was new, they offered
City to Boston. A lot of new customers bought tickets at low prices.

Chicago, Illinois

22© in this web service Cambridge University Press

www.cambridge.org