S

2.22. Scan the text and say how different was the social distinction between

city and country population in America and Europe. What pattern did

Russia follow?

ocial Distinction Between Urban and Rural Population

The social distinction between city and country population was less in America than in Europe, and in addition, the coun­tryside lacked the radical social separations that were so com­monly associated with the aristocrat-peasant structure of Euro­pean rural life. Thus, when cities began to grow outward in Europe there was a strong class discontinuity between the ruling group in the land invaded by the city — the aristocracy — and the city people taking up residence there — commonly a wor­king-class group. It was frequently the view of a social class stru­cture in European cities that the most desirable places to live were fairly close to the city centre (as in the West End in Lon­don). The less desirable housing areas were shunted toward the edge of the city, in most intimate contact with the country, the­reby creating the sharpest discontinuity in society.

The American pattern differed significantly. It had been a constant practice in American cities for the middle class to move toward the edge of the city, and when public transportation was available, into the near fringe of the country. The American city even a hundred years ago was characterized by suburbs and made widely varying social use of those open housing areas. The result has been a constant outward spread of cities so that the boundary line between urban and rural morphology is seldom very clear.

1

23. Do the quiz below to see how well you know cities around the world.

. What proportion of the world’s population lives in the cities?

a) over 80% b) about two thirds c) about a third d) about a half

2. Which is the world’s largest capital city?

a) Tokyo b) Seoul c) Mexico City d) New Delhi

3. Which is Europe’s noisiest capital?

a) Athens b) Madrid c) Rome d) Paris

4. Which is the world’s oldest capital city?

a) Baghdad b) Damascus c) Cairo d) Amman

5. Which is the world’s highest capital city?

a) La Paz (Bolivia) b) Lima (Peru) c) Quito (Ecuador) d) Kathmandu (Nepal)

6. Which was the first city to reach a population of 1 million?

a) Mexico City b) New York c) London d) Rome

2.24. A) Look at this extract from a radio talk show and check your answers.

b) Divide the class into two groups. Group A - make up a similar quiz

of 5-7 questions about the world; Group B - make up a quiz about

Russia and the native city/ village of the majority of the group.

Exchange your quizzes and take your time to do them. Then discuss

the results in class.

Mike: Thank you John, and now it’s back to the studio for the answers to last week’s quiz. Sue?

Sue: Thanks, Mike. Hello, yes, and there are a few surprises in the answers this week. So let’s start with the first question, which I think held the biggest surprise for our contestants. According to data collected by the UN, 53% of the world’s population lives in cities, whilst 47% live in rural areas. In the EU the percentage of people living in urban centres rises to staggering 74% and even higher 76% in the USA. It would appear that there is a steady movement towards urban areas and the proportion of city dwellers will continue to rise.

Although it may seem a fairly straightforward question to answer, there is still some discussion as to which is the world’s largest capital. This is mainly due to the difficulty in deciding where the world’s largest cities actually end as they all tend to be surrounded by mass of satellite towns which all merge into one large agglomeration. If we take ‘city’ to mean the population which lives within the city limits, the Mexico City, with a population of more than 23,000,000, is the world’ largest capital, closely followed by Seoul at 12,000,000 and Tokyo at 8,000,000.

Likewise, it is very difficult to tell which is Europe’s noisiest capital, mainly as there don’t seem to be any standardised noise pollution measurements across the countries of the EU, and very few exhaustive studies have been carried out. However, it is widely recognised that Athens is the European capital which suffers from the worst noise pollution levels. It is not known whether this information is based on popular opinion or on statistical data from Greek authorities, however. Judging from the entries we’ve received, this will come as quite a surprise to some of our listeners.

On to the forth question. There is still some debate over this one. The Syrians claim that their capital city, Damascus, is the world’s oldest city, though other Middle Eastern inhabitants would claim that their capitals are just as old. Sources seem to suggest that the Syrians are right and that their capital is indeed the oldest in the world, having been continuously inhabited since 5000 BC.

Question five was pretty straightforward. There is no doubt whatsoever about which of the world’s capital cities is the highest. La Paz, in the Bolivian Andes, stands four kilometres above sea level.

And finally, the last question, again a fairy straightforward question. The first city to have reached a population of 1,000,000 was Rome which had population of over a million during the heyday of the Roman Empire in 133 BC. London reached the mark in 1810 and New York in 1875. Today there are over 300 cities in the world that boast a population in excess of one million.

So, the winners this week are Jane Turbot from Whitstable in Kent, Carol Jackson from St. Andrews …