Daming: How about another "Homework Help"?
Tony: What's this week's homework?
Lingling: Population. There are too many people and there is not enough space, and there is
too much traffic, noise and pollution.
Daming: Well, we're in the right place to talk about it. Beijing is a big city.
Lingling: That's right, although Chongqing is the biggest city in China. But an increasing
population is an environmental problem in many countries.
Tony: Along with the crowds, the smoke, and the transport problems. Let's look up some
facts ... Ah, how about this? Every minute 259 babies are born.
And the population of China is about one billion, three hundred million ... Lingling: That makes 136,130,400 babies every year. Tony:
Lingling: ... about 20 percent of the world's population.
(Betty is coming toward them ...)
Tony:
Betty: Hi, Betty. How was your appointment with the head teacher? Hi! It was OK. You know the school prize-giving's coming up next week, with the
usual form prizes, the basketball competition ...
... and a special prize for New Standard, the best new school magazine in Beijing.
And guess who's going to present the prizes?
Becky Wang, the singer with Crazy Feet, and the person who started New Standard! Daming: And the photo competition ... Betty: Betty: Betty: Daming: That's thanks to my "Homework Help". Daming: No idea!
Tony: I don't believe it!
Module 11 Unit 2
Visions of the City
Jo is 15 and lives in Parkville. When Jo's grandparents first came to Parkville 50 years ago, it was a quiet country village in the centre of the country. At that time, they had a small house on the edge of town, with some fields and the hills in the distance.
But Parkville was close to a big city, Arnwick, with about 200,000 people. People from the countryside began to arrive in Arnwick to find jobs and have a better life. And of course they needed somewhere to live. However, it was expensive to live in the centre of Arnwick, so the city government decided to build flats around the edge of the city. And soon, Parkville became a suburb of Arnwick. It now has over a million people. Jo's family live in one of those new flats—there's no room for small houses any more.
The small local school in Parkville closed down five years ago. Jo goes to a school close to the centre of Arnwick, with 2,000 pupils. No one knows all their names.
It takes Jo an hour to get to school, and this adds to the traffic and pollution. But it's not her fault. She liked her old school.
Arnwick needs larger hospitals and more doctors, better public transport and fewer private cars. There need to be shops and offices. It also needs clean water and no rubbish in the streets.
