VIP Class Notes (Jesse) [W]

A traffic jam

Describe a time you were stuck in traffic When it was
Why was there traffic
How long were you in traffic

How you felt

Some people think it’s best to live in the vertical city where there are a lot of tall buildings, other people think we should live in the horizontal city where they are few tall buildings. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

When it comes to the issue about city layout,some people prefer to live in the city with skyscrapers everywhere,while others argue that living in a city with low-rises is an optimal choice.
On the one hand,a city full of tall buildings is more prone to economic growth compared with a city full of low-rises.It is widely acknowledged that more business are squeezed into skyscrapers,thereby being able to relieve the problem concerning land shortage as well as have a gathering effect in metropolitan cities.Furthermore,those high-rises also serve as landmarks,which appeal to tourists from all over the word thus increasing the tourism income.Basically,the height and number of skyscrapers in a city show how strong the economic power it has.
On the other hand, cities full of high rises are usually seen as “concrete jungles” where people do not even know their neighbors. That leads to a lack of a sense of community. However, if there were many low-rises, residents would be more likely to meet neighbors in public areas like lanes where they could interact closely with each other in contrast with taking an elevator to their floors without communication and living a lonely life in big cities. Therefore,it is possible that residents are not so indifferent to others in such established harmonious communities .
From my own perspective, vertical cities and horizontal cities have different characteristics and the key point is what kind of life one pursues. Providing that a person is ambitious to fulfill his/her life target, a vertical city may be a suitable choice because of more working opportunities there. In addition, citizens who want a higher life quality should choose to live in vertical cities since more services and high-tech products could be provided by enterprises. However, if a person prefers a quiet life, dwelling in a horizontal city should be his/her first choice since the pace of life is slow and leisurely.

Some people think it’s best to live in the vertical city where there are a lot of tall buildings, other people think we should live in the horizontal city where they are few tall buildings. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

When it comes to the issue of city layout,some people prefer to live in the city with skyscrapers everywhere, while others argue that living in a city with low-rise buildings is an optimal choice.
On the one hand, a city full of tall buildings is more likely to experience economic growth compared with a city full of low-rise buildings. It is widely acknowledged that more businesses are squeezed into skyscrapers, thereby being able to relieve the problem concerning land shortage as well as having the effect of encouraging collaboration between businesses in metropolitan cities / areas / parts of the country. Furthermore, those high-rises also serve as landmarks, which appeal to tourists from all over the word thus increasing tourism income. Basically, the height and number of skyscrapers in a city shows how strong the economic power is.
On the other hand, cities full of high rises are usually seen as “concrete jungles” where people do not even know their neighbors. That leads to a lack of a sense of community. However, if there were many low-rise buildings, residents would be more likely to meet neighbors in public areas like lanes and sidewalks where they could interact closely with each other in contrast with taking an elevator to their floors without communication and living a lonely life in big cities. Therefore, it is possible that residents would not be so indifferent to others in such established harmonious communities .
From my own perspective, vertical cities and horizontal cities have different characteristics and the key point is what kind of life one pursues. Provided / providing that a person is ambitious to fulfill his/her life target goals, a vertical city may be a suitable choice because of more working / career / employment opportunities there. In addition, citizens who want a higher life quality (quality of life) should choose to live in vertical cities since more services and high-tech products could be provided by enterprises. However, if a person prefers a quiet life, dwelling / residing in a horizontal city should be his/her first choice since the pace of life is slow and leisurely.

Vocabulary

prone to sth – weak to it / more likely to experience a negative consequence

urban area / downtown / city 

live / reside / dwell / inhabit / settle 

work / career / employment  

serve to / contact with – serve sb / contact sb 

do he feel hot – does he feel hot?

correct yourself naturally – with things like …. or ….  / or what I really mean is… 

Describe an occasion when you received good service from a company or shop.

You should say:

what company or business it was and what this company does
what the service was
who gave you the good service
where you received this good service
and explain why you think it was good service.