G uncountable and plura l nouns
V word building: prefixes and suffixes
P word s t r e s s with prefixes and suffixes
9B Megacities
1 READING & SPEA K IN G
a W hat do you think a “m egacity” is? R ead the
introduction to the text to check your answ er. With
a partner, in two m inutes list w hat you think are
probably the biggest problem s for people who live in a
megacity.
b R ead the article once. In which city are the things you
discussed in a a problem : Tokyo, M exico City, both,
or neither?
c R ead the article again. Then, in p airs, u sin g your own
w ords, say why the follow ing are m entioned.
TOKYO
33 million eight million a le tte r from the train company
driving schools 270 square fe e t the Hikikomori
Rent a friend the Hashiriya
MEXICO CITY
taco stands Mariachi bands two-and-a-half hours
social imbalance kidnapping Kevlar
d Find w ords in the article that m ean ...
TOKYO
1 ___________ adj operated by machines not people
(paragraph 1)
2 ___________ adj impossible to imagine (paragraph 1)
3 ___________ noun the number o f people who don't
have a job (paragraph 1)
4 ___________ adj with too many people in it (paragraph 2)
5 ____________noun a feeling that you don’t belong to a
community (paragraph 3)
6 ___________ noun the feeling o f not having any friends
(paragraph 3)
M E X IC O C IT Y
7 ___________ noun the process o f making air (and water)
dirty (paragraph 2)
8 ___________ noun the state o f being very rich
(paragraph 2)
9 ___________ noun the state o f being poor (paragraph 2)
10 adj not having a house (paragraph 2)
e Talk to a partner.
1 If you had to go to work or study in either M exico City
or Tokyo, which would you choose, and why?
2 What do you think are the main advantages o f living in
a big city?
3 W hat’s the biggest city you’ve ever been to? Why did
you go there? What did you think o f it?
88
Cities, like c a ts w ill reveal
them selves a t night.
Rupert Brooke,
UK p oe t
Andrew Marr’s Megacities
By 2050, 70% o f t h e w o rld will live in cities,
a n d by t h e e n d o f t h e c e n t u r y t h r e e - q u a r t e r s
o f t h e e n t i r e p l a n e t will b e u r b a n . T h e r e
a r e no w 21 c ities called “ m e g a c itie s ,” e.g.,
t h e y h av e m o r e th a n 10 m illion in h a b ita n ts .
In A n d r e w M a r r ’s BBC s e r ie s M e g a c i t i e s ,
h e tr a v e le d t o five of t h e s e cities, including
T o k y o a n d M exico City.
TO K YO
T
okyo, with a population of 33 million people, is
by far the largest city in world. It's also the most
technologically advanced, and the city runs like digital
clockwork. The automated subway, fo r example,
is so efficient that it is able to transport almost eight million
commuters every day and on the rare occasions that it doesn't
work well, nobody believes it. If you are late fo r work in
Tokyo and, as an excuse, you say that your train was
late, you need to provide written proof from the
train company. The idea of late trains is almost
unthinkable. There is very little crime, violence,
o r vandalism in Tokyo and the streets are
safe to walk both day o r night. There is also
relatively low unemployment compared to
other big cities in the world.
But such a huge population creates
serious problems of space, and as Marr
flew over Tokyo in a helicopter he saw
soccer fields, playgrounds, even driving
schools constructed on top of buildings.
Streets, parks, and subways are extremely
overcrowded. Property prices are so high and
space is so short that a family of six people may
live in a tiny apartment of only 270 square feet.
There are other problems too, of alienation and loneliness.
The Hikikomori are inhabitants of Tokyo who cannot cope with
“the mechanical coldness and robotic uniformity” of a megacity
and have become recluses, rarely or never leaving their homes.
There is also a new business that has grown up in Tokyo that
allows friendless people to “ rent a friend” to accompany them to a
wedding o r just to sit and talk to them in a restaurant after work.
Another strange group of people are the Hashiriya, Tokyo's
street racers who risk their lives driving at ridiculous speeds
along the city streets. During the week these men have ordinary
jobs and they're model citizens. But on Saturday nights they
spend the evening driving through the city as fast as they
possibly can. It's a deadly game, but it's just one way of escaping
the daily pressures of life in the metropolis.
 2 V O C A B U LA R Y
word building: prefixes and suffixes
P Prefixes and suffixes
A prefix is something th a t you add to the beginning of
a word, usually to change its meaning, e.g., pre = before
[prewar), or a negative prefix like un- or dis- [unhealthy,
dishonest). A suffix is something you add to the end
o f a word, usually to change its grammatical form, e.g.,
-m ent and -ness are typical noun suffixes [enjoyment,
happiness). However, some suffixes also add meaning to a
word, e.g., -ful = fu ll o f [stressful, beautiful).
TOKYO
a R ead the inform ation about prefixes and su ffixes.
MEXICO CITY W hat prefix can you add to city m eaning big? W hat
su ffix can you add to home m eaning without? C an you
think o f any other exam ples o f w ords with this su ffix ?

b > - p .163 V ocabulary Bank Word building.

3 P R O N U N C IA TIO N & SPEA K IN G

word stress with prefixes and suffixes
Word s tr e s s on words with prefixes and suffixes
We don’t put main stress on prefixes and suffixes th a t
are added to nouns and adjectives. However, there is usually
secondary stress on prefixes, e.g. un in unemployment.

a Underline the stressed syllable in these multi-syllable

M E X IC O C IT Y nouns and adjectives. T he secondary stress h as already
been underlined.
s a complete contrast to Tokyo, Marr takes us to

A Mexico City, a colorful and vibrant city of about

20 million people where people live their lives on
the street. Marr says that “ in Mexico City, food and
friendship go hand in hand.” The city is full of taco stands and
cafes where people meet and socialize and Mariachi bands stroll
aiccojmmoldaltion a n tis o c ia l bi|ling|ual
en|ter|tain|m ent golvem lm ent home less
lonelli ness m ul|ti|cul|tu|ral neighbor hood
o|vetcrow|ded p o |ve rty un deride veiioped
u n e m p lo y m e n t v a n d a lis m
through the boulevards and squares playing songs fo r money. And
on Sundays people of all ages gather to dance in the street. b 5 16))) Listen and check. Practice saying the w ords.
But it's a city with problems of its own, too. It can take tw o-
c A nsw er the questions below with a partner.
and-a-half hours fo r commuters to drive to and from work
during rush hour through choking traffic fumes, and pollution W hich city (or region) in yo u r cou n try do you
levels are high. And, looking down from a helicopter, Marr th in k ...?
shows us the huge social divide. On one hillside we see • is the m ost multicultural
v massive, luxurious houses and on the next hill, slums.
• offers the best entertainment (for tourists / for locals)
It's a city of great wealth but also extreme poverty,
and there are many homeless people. Because
• has a bilingual or trilingual population
of this social imbalance, it can be a dangerous • is very overcrowded
city, too, with high levels of crime, especially • has very serious pollution problems
kidnapping. In fact, there are boutiques that • has a lot o f homeless people
sell a rather special line in men's clothes: the
• has some very dangerous neighborhoods
shirts, sweaters, and jackets look completely
normal, but are in fact bulletproof, made of • has the highest rate o f unemployment
reinforced Kevlar. • has the worst levels o f poverty
• suffers from the worst vandalism and antisocial
But despite the crime, the traffic, and the
pollution, Andrew Marr describes Mexico behavior
City as “ a friendly, liveable place” and the most
enjoyable megacity of all that he visited.

Online Practice 9B 89
 VOCABULARY BANK
Word building
1 PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES 2 NOUNS FORMED WITH SUFFIXES
THAT ADD MEANING
Noun suffixes
a M a tc h th e b o ld p r e f i x e s in s e n t e n c e s 1-11 Common endings for nouns made from verbs:
to th e ir m e a n in g s A - K . - io n / - ( a ) t i o n alienate - alienation
-m e n t employ - employment
1 G M u m b a i is a v e ry o v e r c r o w d e d city .
Common endings for nouns made from adjectives:
2 T o k y o is o n e o f 2 0 m e g a c it i e s .
-n e s s lonely - loneliness
3 T h i s p a r t o f t h e c ity is v e ry p o o r a n d -e n c e / -a n c e violent - violence
u n d e rd e v e lo p e d .
Common endings for a b s tr a c t nouns made from nouns:
4 L o n d o n is a v e ry m u l t i c u l t u r a l c ity , -h o o d neighbor - neighborhood
w ith m a n y d i f f e r e n t r a c e s a n d re lig io n s . - is m vandal - vandalism
5 T h e q u ic k e s t w a y to g e t a r o u n d N e w
Y o rk is o n t h e s u b w a y . a M a k e n o u n s f r o m t h e w o r d s i n t h e l is t a n d p u t t h e m i n t h e c o r r e c t
6 M o n tr e a l is p ro b a b ly th e m o s t b i li n g u a l c o lu m n .
c ity in t h e w o r ld - m o s t i n h a b i t a n t s
absent /'aebsant/ brother /'bnvdor/ child ijaikl cold /koold/
s p e a k E n g lis h a n d F re n c h .
convenient /kan'vinyant/ distant /'distant/ entertain /entar'tem /
I f y o u w a n t t o a v o id t h e t r a f f i c ja m s in excite Ak'sait friendly /'frendli/ govern /‘gworn/ ignorant /'ignorant/
B a n g k o k , ta k e t h e m o n o r a i l . improve /im 'pruv/ in te n d /m 'tend/ pollute po'lut/
8 T h e a u t o p i l o t w a s t u r n e d o n a f t e r th e populate Z 'papyaleit/ race/rcns/ reduce /n 'dus/ terror /'te r a r /
p la n e h a d t a k e n o ff. ugly/A gli/ weak Zwik/

9 V a n d a lis m , e s p e c ia lly b r e a k i n g p u b lic

p r o p e r ty , is v e ry a n t i s o c i a l b e h a v io r. -ion / -(a)tion -ment -ness -ence / -ance -ism -hood
10 1 m is u n d e r s t o o d th e d ir e c tio n s th a t m a n intention
g a v e m e , a n d n o w I'm c o m p le te ly lo st.
11 H e ’s e a r n i n g a p o s t g r a d u a t e d e g re e in
a e r o n a u tic a l e n g in e e r in g .
A a g a in s t G t oo m uch b 5 14))) L i s t e n a n d c h e c k .
B m any H tw o
C b ig I a fte r
3 NOUNS THAT ARE DIFFERENT WORDS
D n o t enough J under
E one K w r o n g ly Noun formation with spelling or word change
F b y (it) s e lf Some nouns made from verbs or adjectives are completely different
words, e.g., choose - choice, poor - poverty.
b 5 112))) L i s t e n a n d c h e c k .

c M a tc h th e b o ld s u f f i x e s t o t h e i r m e a n i n g . a W r i t e t h e v e r b o r a d je c tiv e f o r t h e f o l l o w i n g n o u n s .

1 T h e r e a r e a lo t o f h o m e l e s s p e o p le in N oun
t h is city. 1 ____________ verb lo s s / b s /
T h e s it u a ti o n is h o p e le s s . 2 _____________ verb deathZ deO /
2 B e c a r e f u l h o w y o u d riv e ! 3 ____________ verb s u c c e s s s o k 's e s /
T h e i n s t r u c t i o n s w e r e v e ry u s e f u l . 4 _____________ verb th o u g h t /( b t/

3 T h e p o lic e u s u a lly w e a r b u l l e t - p r o o f 5 ____________ verb b e li e f b i ' lif/

v e s ts . 6 ____________ adj h e a t h it/
M y w a tc h is w a t e r p r o o f . 7 ____________ adj s t r e n g t h /s t rep k0/
4 T h e i r n e w la p to p s a r e c o m p le te ly 8 ____________ adj h u n g e r / 'h a n g a r /
u n b re a k a b le . 9 ____________ adj h e ig h t /h a r t/
1 d o n 't t h i n k t h e t a p w a t e r h e r e is 10 ____________ adj le n g th /lepkO /
d rin k a b le .
b 5 15))) L i s te n a n d c h e c k .
A w ith B can be done
C r e s is ta n t to D w ith o u t < p .8 9
d 5 13))) Listen and check. 163