CHAPTER 2

City Life

“Living together is an art.”

 Connecting to the Topic
1. Is this place similar to where you live? Explain
2. Does this look like an interesting place to live? Explain
3. What would be the advantages and disadvantages of living
in a place like this?
Part 1 Before You Write
1 Describing Scenes Look at the photos of streets below, and
choose one of them to describe. Write as much as you can in
10 minutes. Answer the following questions:
1. What is happening on the street?
2. Would you like to live in this neighborhood? Why or why
not?
3. How is the street similar to or different from the street
where you live?
2 Sharing Your ideas Form a small group with other students
who wrote about the same photo you did. Share and discuss
what you wrote. Did you notice the same things in the photo?
Did you have the same opinion of the scene?
 Stratery
Writing About Sense Detall and Feelings
In this chapter you are going to write a descriptive paragraph
about where you live: your neighborhood, your street, your
dormitory, your apartment or house, or your room. A good
description includes sense details: the things you can see,
hear, touch, taste, and smell.
Classifying Sense Detalls
Work with a partner, and test your knowledge of the
adjectives below. Put each adjective in the correct category.
(Note: Some might fit into more than one cat-egory.) Then
add some adjectives of your own to each category.
bitter cramped noisy salty smooth
bright foul rottensoft spicy
colorful gloomy rough sour
See Hear Smell Taste Touch
noisy
bitter cramped noisy salty smooth
bright foul rotten soft spicy
colorful gloomy rough sour
See Hear Smell Taste Touch
bright noisy foul bitter foul
colorful soft stale rotten rotten
cramped deafening stinky salty rough
foul loud flowery sour soft
gloomy quiet musty spicy smooth
rotten sweet slippery
polluted tarty
3 Choosing a Topic Write the name of the place you are
going to describe in your descriptive paragraph.
Your house,
Your neighborhood
4 Listing Details Make a list of sense details for the place you
are going to describe. Use noun phrases and adjectives.
1. What I can see:
__________________________________________________
colorful piles of vegetables
2. What I can hear:
__________________________________________________
3. What I can touch:
__________________________________________________
4. What I can taste (optional):
__________________________________________________
5. What I can smell (optional):
__________________________________________________
1. What I can see:
__________________________________________________
colorful piles of vegetables, colorful nightlife, a beautiful city,
__________________________________________________
busy roads, high buildings, brightly colorful lights, etc.
2. What I can hear:
music, horn, people talking (sound of language)
__________________________________________________
,__________________________________________________
engine of vehicles, etc.
3. What I can touch:
__________________________________________________
modern buildings, convenient transportation, pavement café,
__________________________________________________
the ranges of trees, etc.
4. What I can taste (optional):
delicious food and drinks
__________________________________________________
5. What I can smell (optional):
flavor of flowers, dishes, fresh air, sweat, sewage, garbage
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
5 Describing feeling in your descriptive paragraph, you will include
the feelings and opinions you have about the place you describe.
Write a few notes about how you feel about the place you
describe. Also write about why you feel the way you do.

Example My bedroom makes me feel relaxed and calm.

Comfortable: thoải mái
Convenient: thuận tiện
Be surprised by: ngạc nhiên bởi
Be impressed by: ấn tượng bởi
Spectacular: hùng vĩ
Magnificent: lộng lẫy
Unforgettable: không quên
Memorable: đáng nhớ
6 Sharing Your Ideas Describe the place you chose to a
partner. Help each other get ideas by asking each other
questions about the places you described. Add any new ideas
you have to your notes.
 Building Vacabulary
6 identifying Descriptive Words and Phrases Read the
following paragraph. Notice the effect the details have on the
writing. Underline the descriptive words and phrases.
My Neighborhood
My neighborhood is fascinating because people from all over
the world live in it. When I walk down the main street of my
neighborhood, I can hear the unfamiliar sounds of languages
from all over the world. Each ethnic group has its own colorful
shop or fascinating restaurant. On a warm evening, I can smell
the sweet melons from the Korean produce store and the
spicy curries from the Indian restaurant. These smells are
free, but for a small price, I can also buy any of 50 kinds of
cheeses with strange names from one store, or exotic Asian
vegetables and the spices to cook them in from another.
 Building Vacabulary
6 identifying Descriptive Words and Phrases Read the
following paragraph. Notice the effect the details have on the
writing. Underline the descriptive words and phrases.
My Neighborhood
My neighborhood is fascinating because people from all over
the world live in it. When I walk down the main street of my
neighborhood, I can hear the unfamiliar sounds of languages
from all over the world. Each ethnic group has its own colorful
shop or fascinating restaurant. On a warm evening, I can smell
the sweet melons from the Korean produce store and the
spicy curries from the Indian restaurant. These smells are
free, but for a small price, I can also buy any of 50 kinds of
cheeses with strange names from one store, or exotic Asian
vegetables and the spices to cook them in from another.
 Building Vacabulary

The people of the neighborhood take pride in their

surroundings. On almost every street, they plant trees and
flowers from their native countries to remind them of home
and to brighten up the dull gray cement and run-down
apartment buildings. One of my neighbors plants delicate
Scottish flowers every year in memory of her mother’s garden
in Scotland. Another neighbor has a Chinese vegetable garden
in window boxes. I don’t need to buy an airplane ticket to
experience the world; a walk around my neighborhood can be
just as exciting.
8 Matching Words to Their Definitions Find words or phrases in the
paragraph above that mean the following.
1. strange and unusual __________________________
2. small and pretty __________________________
3. very interesting __________________________
4. to make pretty __________________________
5. sacl-looking __________________________
6. to be proud of __________________________
8 Matching Words to Their Definitions Find words or phrases in the
paragraph above that mean the following.
1. strange and unusual exotic
__________________________
2. small and pretty __________________________
delicate
3. very interesting fascinating / exciting
__________________________
4. to make pretty to brighten up
__________________________
5. sacl-looking __________________________
dull
6. to be proud of __________________________
to take pride in
6 Using Sense Details work in groups of three. Choose one of
the photos below. Make lists of sense details that describe
the neighborhood. Then use those words to describe the
photo.
1. What you can see:
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
2. What you can hear:
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
3. What you can mell:
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
4. What you can taste:
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
5. What you can feel:
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
 Describe the neighborhood
Hong Kong’s neighborhoods Some villages in Europe
1. What can you see: 1. What can you see:
endless high buildings, ancient village, immense
shopping malls, parks, lots of paddy field, green hill,
vehicles, people, busy peaceful and quiet street,
streets, etc. beautiful nature, etc.
2. What can you hear: 2. What can you hear:
noise from vehicle, horn, sounds of language, bird
engine, sounds of language songs, sounds of nature
3. What can you smell: 3. What can you smell
typical food and drinks, Pure air, odor of flowers,
scent of flower, trees, grass, delicious dishes
smog from vehicles
 Describe the neighborhood
Hong Kong’s neighborhoods Some villages in Europe
4. What you can taste: 4. What can you taste:
variety of typical food and diversity of local food and
drinks drinks
5. What can you feel: 5. What can you feel:
the hustle and bustle a quiet and peaceful place
comfortable and closer to the beauty of
convenient nature
 Organizing Ideas
Strategy
The topic sentence tells the reader the subject of the
paragraph. In a descriptive paragraph, the topic sentence is
general enough to unite all the descriptive details in the
paragraph but focused enough to grab the reader's attention.
It should also indicate the writer's feeling about the place.
Instead of using vague, overused adjectives such as nice,
good, and bad in your topic sentences, use more specific and
vivid adjectives.
Vague and uninteresting: My neighborhood is a nice place to
live.
Specific and interesting: My neighborhood Is fascinating
because people from many countries live in it.
10 Choosing the Best Topic Sentence For each set of topic
sentences below, put a check mark (✓) next to the best topic
sentence, the one that is focused and interesting.
1. Topic: “My Room”
 My room is a perfect place for one person to live.
a. ____
b. ____ Many people live in single rooms.
c. ____ My room is nice.
d. ____ I love the big windows.
2. Topic: “My House”
a. ____ There are a lot of houses like mine in my neighborhood.
 I love my house because it is filled with happy memories.
b. ____
c. ____ Big houses are best.
d. ____ My family lives in a good house.
10 Choosing the Best Topic Sentence For each set of topic
sentences below, put a check mark (✓) next to the best topic
sentence, the one that is focused and interesting.
3. Topic: “My Dormitory”
 My dormitory has never felt like home to me.
a. ____
b. ____ I live in a dormitory.
c. ____ Dormitories are where students live.
d. ____ The cafeteria food in my dormitory is good.
11 Writing and Sharing Draft Topic Sentence Write a draft topic
sentence for your own descriptive paragraph. Then in small groups,
discuss each other's topic sentences. Answer the following
questions:
1. Does the topic sentence introduce the place to be described?
2. Does it grab the reader’s attention?
3. Does it indicate the writer’s feeling about the place?
 Using Graphic Organizers
Strategy

Using a Graphic Organizer to Organize Details for a Paragraph

One way to brainstorm and organize ideas for a focused descriptive
paragraph is to use a graphic organizer. Graphic organizers show
how ideas are connected to each other.
The graphic organizer below is called a mind map. In the mind map,
the topic sentence is in the center. The main supporting details are
connected directly to the topic sentence. The secondary details are
connected to the main details.
 Example 1
Secondary detail
Example 2
The main
supporting detail

The main
supporting detail
The main
supporting detail
Topic sentence

3 Secondary details
12 Creating a Graphic Organizer On a separate piece of paper,
create a mind map for your descriptive paragraph. Write your topic
sentence in the middle circle, and connect the main details and
secondary details using circles and lines.
 Strategy
Getting Rid of irrelevant Details
All the details in a paragraph should develop the idea stated in the
topic sentence. You can use your mind map to identify information
that is irrelevant. Look for ideas that are not connected to anything
else or only have a loose connection to a main idea, and cross them
out.
13 Identifying Irrelevant and Missing information Some of the
information in the graphic organizer below is not related to the
topic. Cross it out. Where could the writer add more details?
tidy, clean, a room Paint in blue,
for friend meeting my favorite color

Television
Sofa,
Topic sentence air condition

in an Beautiful
apartment view
14 Sharing Your Graphic Organizer Show your mind map to a
partner. Does your partner think that all the ideas are related to the
topic? Does he or she think you need any more details?
 Strategy
Writing Concluding Sentences
Most paragraphs have concluding sentences that repeat the idea of
the topic sentence in different words. Below is the concluding
sentence from the paragraph on page 26 about a neighborhood.
Note that it repeats the idea of the topic sentence in different words.
In that way, it summarizes the main point of the paragraph.
Example
I don't need to buy an airplane ticket to experience the world; a walk
around my neighborhood can be just as exciting.
Other concluding sentences give a personal reaction to the topic of
the paragraph. Below is a concluding sentence for a paragraph about
a Brazilian student's experience living in a dormitory at an Australian
college. Note that it includes a personal opinion.
Example
Even though it was sometimes too noisy and crowded, I enjoyed
living in my dormitory because of all of the friends I made.
15 Writing Concluding Sentences Read the paragraph below. Then
write three possible concluding sentences. Share your ideas with a
group of three.
Muscat, the ancient capital of Oman, is on a spectacular site. The city
lies on a narrow strip of land between the sparkling blue waters of
the Arabian Gulf and the rocky brown mountains behind it. Muscat
is a wonderful combination of historic sites and modern buildings.
Tourists interested in history will marvel at the splendid forts with
their watchtowers and walled gateways. Those with an interest in
contemporary architecture will appreciate the simple lines of the
Sultan’s lovely but unpretentious palace. Directly adjacent to Muscat
is the harbor of Muttrah with its beautiful corniche and busy market
full of the sights and sounds of this ancient bridge between the
Middle East and Asia
Concluding sentence: summarize the main point
or personal idea
 Exercise 15 page 31
Concluding sentences
- For people who always seek for diverse culture and
beautiful landscape, Muscat is a really worthy place
to visit.
- If you have a chance to visit Muscat, you will be
impressed by its breathtaking views and cultural
values.
- Actually, Muscat lives an unforgettable impression for
people who spend a while visiting there.
- Muscat can have almost all of valuable things that we
want to explore, and it is a wonderful combination of
ancient and modern culture.
Part 2 Developing Writing Skills

Developing Cohesion and Clarity

GIVING REASONS WITH SINCE
Because and since have almost the same meaning when since doesn't
refer to a point of time in the past. They both express a cause.
Because and since often introduce a dependent clause in complex
sentences. Dependent clauses are clauses that contain a subject and a
verb but cannot stand alone.
Look at the following examples of complex sentences with since. The
dependent clauses are underlined.
Examples
Since quite a few people in the neighborhood come from the Middle
East, there are many great Middle Eastern shops and restaurants here.
There are many great Middle Eastern shops and restaurants here since
quite a few people in the neighborhood come from the Middle East.
Note that a dependent clause with since can come at the beginning or
end of a sentence. If it comes at the beginning of a sentence, it is
followed by a comma. A comma isn't needed if the clause comes at the
end of the sentence.
1 Combining Sentences Using Since combine the sentences below
using since. More than one answer is correct.
1. Many people have lived in my neighborhood for years/It is a very
friendly place.
______________________________________________________
2. My apartment is small. I have to keep it very neat.
______________________________________________________
3. My cousin needed a roommate and is easy to get along with. I
decided to move in with him.
______________________________________________________
4. It is easy to get to know everyone in my dormitory. Only 40
people live in it.
______________________________________________________
5. I have many relatives in the city. I decided not to live in a
dormitory.
______________________________________________________
1. Since many people have lived in my neighborhood for years, it is
a very friendly place.
2. Since my apartment is small, I have to keep it very neat.
3. Since my cousin needed a roommate and is easy to get along
with, I decided to move in with him.
4. It is easy to get to know everyone in my dormitory since only 40
people live in it.
5. Since I have many relatives in the city, I decided not to live
in a dormitory.
 Strategy
Varying Sentence Structure
If most of the sentences in a paragraph are structured the same way
or repeat the same words, the paragraph may be boring to read.
Example
My neighborhood is a wonderful place to eat and shop for food
because people from all over the world live there. It is interesting
because it has many ethnic restaurants because people come from
many countries. It is also the best place to go when you want some
good Chinese, Italian, Middle Eastern Vietnamese, or Polish food.
My neighborhood is the greatest when you want to buy many kinds
of international foods. You can buy delicious cheeses and sausages
at the Italian store on the comer of my block. You can buy sweet
melons and all kinds of fresh vegetables from the Korean produce
store two blocks from my apartment. You can also buy delicious
kebabs and baklava from the Lebanese restaurant across the street.
Why would I want to live anywhere else when everything I need is
right in my neighborhood?
 Strategy
Varying Sentence Structure
In this paragraph, words are repeated, and the same sentence
structure (subject- verb) is used throughout. This makes the
paragraph repetitive and uninteresting.
You can make the paragraph more interesting by varying the
sentence structure.
For example, you can begin some of the sentences with dependent
clauses beginning with words like because, since, and when or
prepositional phrases beginning with words such as at, in, on, from,
or with.
 My neighborhood is a wonderful place to eat and shop for
food because people from all over the world live there. It is
interesting because It has many ethnic restaurants because people
come from many countries, so it is very interesting to try delicious
food here. It is also the best place to go when you want some good
Chinese, Italian, Middle Eastern Vietnamese, or Polish food. When
you want to buy many kinds of international foods, my
neighborhood is the greatest choice. For example, the Italian store
on the corner of my block sells variety of delicious cheeses and
sausages. Furthermore, from the Korean produce store two blocks
from my apartment, you can buy sweet melons and all kinds of
fresh vegetables. You can also buy delicious kebabs and baklava from
the Lebanese restaurant across the street. Why would I want to live
anywhere else when everything I need is right in my neighborhood?
2 Varying Sentence Structure Rewrite the following sentences,
change the sentence structure by moving the dependent clause or
prepositional phrase to the beginning of each sentence.
1. I always see interesting people when I take a walk in my
neighborhood.
______________________________________________________
2. I never liked Chinese food before I moved to this neighborhood.
______________________________________________________
3. I have become used to the sounds of traffic since I moved to the
city.
______________________________________________________
4. You can find newspapers from all over the world on any street
corner.
______________________________________________________
5. My neighborhood is quite diverse because almost all of my
neighbors are from a different country.
______________________________________________________
1. When I take a walk in my neighborhood, I always see
interesting people.
When taking a walk in my neighborhood, I always see
interesting people.
2. Before I moved to this neighborhood, I never liked Chinese food.
Before moving to this neighborhood, I never liked Chinese food.
3. Since I moved to the city, I have become used to the sounds of
traffic.
Since moving to the city, I have become used to the sounds
of traffic.
4. On any street corner, you can find newspapers from all over the
world.
5. Because almost all of my neighbors are from a different
country, my neighborhood is quite diverse.
3 Identifying Dependent Clauses Look at the paragraph in Activity 7
on page 26. Underline the sentences that begin with dependent
clauses or prepositional phrases. Look for words such as because,
since, when, at, in, on, from, and with.
4 Varying Sentence Structure in a Paragraph Rewrite the example
paragraph on page 33. Use dependent clauses to vary the sentence
structure in some of the sentences. Then compare your paragraph
with a classmate’s. Did you change the paragraph in the same way?
5 Writing the First Draft Write your paragraph using the topic
sentence you wrote and the information from your graphic
organizer. Make your paragraph interesting by using vivid sensory
details and varying sentence structure.
Part 3 Revising and Editing
 We live in an ordinary house on an ordinary street in
an ordinary suburb, and I think it is terrific! Our house is now
about 30 years old, but it looks newer. I used to live in
apartments, first in Florida, and then in New Mexico. But I
prefer living in our own home. My house is like hundreds of
other houses in the suburbs, one story with an attached
garage. There is nothing special about the house, and it won’t
win any prizes for architecture, but it’s perfect for our family.
The kitchen is big and has new appliances, including a
beautiful new dishwasher and a microwave oven. I don't like
the heat, but we have air conditioning in the living room and
bedrooms, so it is always cool. I don’t know why some people
I know don’t like the suburbs. For the kids, there’s a nice yard
where they can play. It’s very safe, so my wife and I don’t
have to worry. I am very thankful that we can afford this
house and live our ordinary lives in it.
 We live in an ordinary house on a normal street in an usual
suburb, but we think it is terrific! Our house is now about 30 years
old, but it looks still new. We used to live in apartments, first in
Florida, and then in New Mexico. But we prefer living in our own
home which is like hundreds of other houses in the suburbs, one
with an attached garage. There is nothing special about our house,
and it won’t win any prizes for architecture, but it’s perfect for our
family. In our house, the kitchen is big and has new appliances,
including a beautiful new dishwasher and a modern microwave
oven. We have air conditioning in the living room and bedrooms,
so it is always cool. For the kids, there’s a nice yard in front of the
house where they can play lots of interesting games together.
Since the surroundings around our house is very safe, my wife
and I don’t have to worry so much about the security. We don’t
know why some people we know don’t like the suburbs. However,
we are very thankful that we can afford this house and live
peacefully there.
2 Correcting Comma Splices Correct the comma splices below
using one of the three methods listed in the previous section.
1. My suburban apartment is big and sunny it has a living room with
large windows filled with plants.
2. I have a roommate who is very sloppy, she never washes the
dishes, and she leaves her clothes all over the apartment.
3. I like my street because my neighbors are wonderful, they will
help anybody who is having problems.
4. First I painted my room a pale blue, later I made new curtains.
5. My favorite place to relax is the park, it is up the hill from my
apartment.
6. My street is dirty and noisy, however it has many good
restaurants and my neighbors are friendly.
1. My suburban apartment is big and sunny. Therefore, it has a
living room with large windows filled with plants.
My suburban apartment is big and sunny . It has a living room
with large windows filled with plants.
2. I have a roommate who is very sloppy. She never washes the
dishes, and she leaves her clothes all over the apartment.
3. I like my street because my neighbors are wonderful. They will
help anybody who is having problems.
4. First I painted my room a pale blue. Later I made new curtains.
5. My favorite place to relax is the park. It is up the hill from my
apartment.
6. My street is dirty and noisy; however, it has many good
restaurants and my neighbors are friendly.
6. My street is dirty and noisy, but it has many good restaurants and
my neighbors are friendly.
3 Editing for Form Edit the paragraph below for form. Rewrite the
paragraph fixing the sentences that have comma splices.
My neighborhood is a fascinating place, it is in one of the
biggest cities in the world, New York City, however there is a small-
town feeling to it. Most of the buildings in the neighborhood are
small brick apartment houses they have peeling red and brown
paint. Many of the people here have lived in the neighborhood for
years, they know each other and take pride in the neighborhood.
They have planted trees and flowers in front of the buildings, they
have built benches where the old people sit and talk. Since many of
the people are from Germany and Eastern Europe, there are
wonderful German, Hungarian, and Polish shops here. I wouldn’t
want to live in any other neighborhood of the city.
 My neighborhood is a fascinating place. It is in one of the
biggest cities in the world, New York City. However, there is a small-
town feeling to it. Most of the buildings in the neighborhood are
small brick apartment houses which have peeling red and brown
paint. Many of the people here have lived in the neighborhood for
years, so they know each other and take pride in the neighborhood.
They have planted trees and flowers in front of the buildings. Also,
they have built benches where the old people sit and talk. Since
many of the people are from Germany and Eastern Europe, there
are wonderful German, Hungarian, and Polish shops here. I
wouldn’t want to live in any other neighborhood of the city because
it is such an interesting place.
 Outline
Write a descriptive paragraph about where you live
Topic sentence: introduce the place, writer’s feeling,
grab the reader attention
Supporting details:
Location
Environment
People
Transportation/ vehicles/ traffic
Roads / street
the pace of life
Jobs (work)
Buildings/ parks/ shopping malls/ the scenery
Concluding sentence
5 Peer Sharing share your paragraph with another student. Discuss
the following questions:
1. Do you understand why the writer feels the way he or she does
about the place described?
2. Would you like to visit this place? Why or why not?
3. What else would you like to know about the place?
6 Writing the Second Draft Rewrite your paragraph using your
rubric evaluation. Then give your paragraph to your teacher for
comments and corrections. When your teacher returns your paper,
ask him or her about any comments or corrections you don't
understand.
Part 4 Expansion Activities