Bahasa Inggeris notes, unit 2

Towns and cities

Textbook English Plus 1 Year 5, Second Edition (Student's Book, KPM edition), pages 12–21 (English Plus 1 Year 5 Student's Book, Unit 1: Towns and cities)

What this chapter covers

I can name places in a town or city, such as library, bridge, market, monument and shopping centre (2.1)
I can use there's, there isn't, there are, there aren't with a, an, some and any (2.1)
I can read a description of a place and find the facts in it (2.2)
I can ask and answer with Is there ...?, Are there ...? and How many ...? (2.3)
I can use opposite adjectives such as clean and dirty, noisy and quiet, safe and dangerous (2.4)
I can compare two things with comparative adjectives, such as bigger than and more modern than (2.5)
I can ask and say where places are and how far they are (2.6)
I can write a description of a town or city, with the adjective in the right place (2.7)

Welcome to Towns and cities (Unit 1 in the textbook, Unit 2 on this site)! You will learn the names of places in a town or city, say what there is (and isn't) in a place, compare places, ask for directions and write a short description of a town or city.

2.1Vocabulary: places in a town or city

The unit starts with a "London Guide" map. These are the places you must know.

Word box: square, restaurant, school, office building, train station, bridge, cafe, theatre, sports centre, library, bus station, cinema, shop, park, shopping centre, market, monument, hotel, flat, street — Places in a town or city.

English Plus 1 Year 5, p. 12.

Place	What you do there
library	borrow and read books
train station / bus station	catch a train or a bus
cinema, theatre	watch a film or a play
market, shopping centre, shop	buy things
bridge	cross a river
monument	look at a famous building or statue
sports centre, park	play sport or relax
flat, hotel	a place to live or stay

Part of the London Guide map with drawings of London Zoo, a market, the Savoy, Nelson's Column, a bus station and the IMAX cinema; the gaps are for you to fill — Part of the London Guide: each famous place has a short label with a gap to fill.

English Plus 1 Year 5, pp. 12–13.

Pattern: there's, there are, a, an, some, any

Use	Singular noun (one)	Plural noun (more than one)
Affirmative (+)	There's a bus station. There's an old bridge.	There are some nice cafes.
Negative (-)	There isn't a cinema.	There aren't any good shops.

Use an before a vowel sound: an old bridge, an office building. Use some in positive sentences and any in negative sentences and questions.

Do not say "There is some cafes" or "There aren't some shops". Say "There are some cafes" and "There aren't any shops".

Complete: "______ a monument opposite our school." and "There ______ any good restaurants here."

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There's a monument opposite our school. There aren't any good restaurants here.

2.2Reading: City on the sea

A very large white cruise ship in a port — Oasis of the Seas, a ship that is like a city.

English Plus 1 Year 5, p. 14.

The text describes a giant cruise ship, Oasis of the Seas. Here are the facts.

Topic	Fact in the text
People who work on the ship	more than 2,000, from eighty countries
Passengers	cabins for 6,360 passengers
Cafes and restaurants	twenty
Chefs	250 chefs prepare 250,000 meals in one week
Central Park	the first park on a ship: fifty real trees and 12,000 plants
Sport	five swimming pools and a sports area with a climbing wall
Reading and school	there is a library, but there isn't a school

Before you read, look at the photos and the title. They help you predict what the text is about. Then read to check your ideas.

How many swimming pools are there on the ship? Is there a school?

Show answerHide answer

There are five swimming pools. No, there isn't a school.

2.3Language focus: Is there ...? Are there ...? How many ...?

Question	Short answer
Is there a school on the ship?	Yes, there is. / No, there isn't.
Are there any swimming pools?	Yes, there are. / No, there aren't.
How many swimming pools are there?	There are five. (give a number)

Is there ...? goes with one thing (singular): Yes, there is. No, there isn't.
Are there ...? goes with more than one (plural): Yes, there are. No, there aren't.
How many ...? goes with a plural noun and the answer is a number, not Yes or No.

Do not answer "How many ...?" with Yes or No. Say "There are twenty."

Write the question: "______ cafes are there on the ship?" and answer it.

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How many cafes are there on the ship? There are twenty (cafes and restaurants).

2.4Vocabulary: comparing places

Six small pictures with the adjectives clean, noisy, ugly, dangerous, friendly and modern — Six adjectives for places.

English Plus 1 Year 5, p. 16.

Adjective	Opposite
clean	dirty
noisy	quiet
ugly	pretty
dangerous	safe
friendly	unfriendly
modern	old

Give a reason when you say what you like: "I like the park. It's quiet and pretty."

Write the opposite: noisy, dirty, safe.

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quiet, clean, dangerous.

2.5Language focus: comparative adjectives

We use a comparative adjective plus than to compare two things: "New York is bigger than Washington."

Rule	Adjective	Comparative
Short adjective: add -er	quiet, clean	quieter, cleaner
Ends with -e: add -r	nice, safe	nicer, safer
Consonant + y: change y to -ier	friendly, pretty	friendlier, prettier
Consonant + vowel + consonant: double the last letter, add -er	big, hot	bigger, hotter
Long adjective: put more before it	dangerous, modern, expensive	more dangerous, more modern, more expensive
Irregular	good, bad, far	better, worse, further

Table of short adjectives, long adjectives and irregular adjectives with their comparatives — The book's comparative table (the gaps are for you to fill).

English Plus 1 Year 5, p. 17.

Two restaurants, Luigi's and Gino's, compared with ticks for age, quiet, friendly, expensive, comfortable, modern and big — Luigi's (1992) and Gino's (2014). More ticks means more of that quality.

English Plus 1 Year 5, p. 17.

Reading the table

Quiet: Luigi's has three ticks, Gino's has one. So Luigi's is quieter than Gino's.
Friendly: Luigi's has two ticks, Gino's has three. So Gino's is friendlier than Luigi's.

Say "than" lightly: "bigger than". The ending -er in cleaner, safer and nicer has a weak /ə/ sound.

Never use both forms: not "more bigger" or "more nicer". Say "bigger" or "nicer" only.

Write the comparative: safe, pretty, expensive, good.

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safer, prettier, more expensive, better.

2.6Speaking: where places are

Chris and a woman look at a map; part of their dialogue about the bus station is beside the photo — A tourist asks Chris for help with a map.

English Plus 1 Year 5, p. 18.

Key phrases box: asking and saying where places are, with speakers A and B — Key phrases.

English Plus 1 Year 5, p. 18.

Asking the way

A: Excuse me. Are we near the bus station?
B: Yes, look, we're here.
A: How far is it from here?
B: It's about ten minutes on foot.
A: Thanks for your help.
B: You're welcome.

On foot means walking. You can also say "by bus": "It's about five minutes by bus."

How do you ask how far a place is? How do you answer?

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How far is it / the ... from here? It's about ... minutes on foot / by bus.

2.7Writing: a description of a town or city

The model text describes Edinburgh, a city in the south of Scotland. A good description has three paragraphs.

Paragraph	What to write	Useful phrases
1 Location	where it is, how big, old or new	It's in the north / south / east / west of ... It's a big / an old city. It's got a population of about ...
2 Good things	why you like it, favourite places	I like ... because ... My favourite places are ... and ...
3 Other places and transport	nice places near it, buses and trains	It's only ... kilometres from ... There are trains and buses to ...

Language point: position of adjectives

The adjective goes before the noun: an old castle, some nice friends.
Really, very and quite go before the adjective: a really old castle, quite expensive, not very big.

Not "a castle old" and not "an old really castle". Say "a really old castle".

Put in order: old / a lot of / there / are / buildings

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There are a lot of old buildings.

Summary

Topic	Remember
Places	library, bridge, market, monument, station, shopping centre, sports centre, hotel, flat.
There is / are	There's a / an ... There are some ... There isn't a ... There aren't any ...
Questions	Is there a ...? Are there any ...? How many ... are there?
Opposites	clean / dirty, noisy / quiet, pretty / ugly, safe / dangerous, friendly / unfriendly, modern / old.
Comparatives	quieter, safer, friendlier, bigger, more modern; better, worse, further; + than.
Directions	Excuse me. How far is it from here? It's about ten minutes on foot / by bus.
Writing	Location, good things, other places and transport. Adjective before the noun; really / very / quite before the adjective.