English Listening B2 Episode 01 - Track 01
Fill in the Blanks Exercise
EPISODE 01: Real-Life Situations
TRACK 01
A: So what a smart city?
B: Well, it can be all kinds of different things, but there are ideas. One is that the city uses technology to of the local residents, so that they can and with . And the second one is that the city itself , rather like a would.
A: Can you examples?
B: Yes, London is a . They have a system where they driving into the centre and automatically for the time the car spends there. So it traffic congestion and pollution, but it also means the driver doesn’t have to or look for money – so it , too. And to use the public transport system you just need a and you can with it. So you don’t need to for tickets. Or in Dublin, in Ireland, they have a system which , so drivers can with traffic jams, and it also tells drivers where they can find a . Apparently congestion in most cities is caused by people looking for parking spaces, so that’s a in time and money.
A: So the of smart cities is to environment?
B: Yes, but it can take forms, it’s not just about traffic congestion. For example, there’s a new city in the UAE Masdar. It’s in the middle of the desert and the whole city is solar panels, and public transport is electric. So it’s a city – it uses and there’s . Or there’s another new city in Korea called Songdo, which is a central park. So from all the residential areas there’s a walk across the park to and people can also in their lunch break. I read a report recently that said that green spaces in cities really mental health, so the park a great idea.
A: So it’s not the environment. It’s about in general?
B: .
A: And do you think this is how cities in the future?
B: Oh I’m of it. The technology already. We’re all connected now on the Internet, so the next step is to with the city – and it’s already very quickly.
Daniela: I think it’s a to make cities better places to live because a lot of cities have developed on a American model. In other words, the city centre is by big companies so there are shops or people living there. Instead, most people live in blocks around the edge of the city and they go to in their cars. So it’s really good to and make the city centre a to live. I live in Munich, in Germany, and in a number of ways I think it is a ‘smart city’, because it’s been developed to who live there. The centre’s a pedestrian zone, closed off to traffic, people cycle everywhere and there are plenty of and parks and places to sit outside. So you can the city and , and it’s . Also, there’s a public transport system, so people don’t .
Richard: I don’t think you have to city to make it a to live. I live in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, and it certainly isn’t a planned city – it’s just . In some ways it’s quite a , there are cars everywhere, lots of traffic jams, a lot of noise and there are green spaces where you can sit, so if you want , forget it! But I here. It’s so and there are . In the street where I live, there are lots of plus a few hotels, there’s a , there are quite a few restaurants and there are people in the street. So there’s everything you need, plus , of course. So it certainly isn’t a ‘smart city’, but it’s to live here!
