Skills • Reading

ScotlandScotland is part of the UK and is in north-west Europe. In July 1999, the Queen opened the new Scottish Parliament, which was the first for 300 years. The Scottish Parliament’s responsibilities include social work services, health, local government and education within Scotland.

The three most important cities in Scotland, in order of size, are Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

GlasgowMore and more people are visiting Scotland’s biggest city, which offers a wide variety of cultural and social entertainment. It has museums and galleries, impressive architecture, vibrant nightlife, excellent shopping and numerous high-quality restaurants.

It’s easy to see why Glasgow attracts over three million tourists a year. It’s famous for its architecture – many visitors come to see the impressive Victorian buildings and the work of the architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who was one of Glasgow’s most famous citizens. There is a lively arts scene with first-class theatre productions, art exhibitions and annual comedy, jazz and film festivals. On the music scene, Glasgow is the home town of many well-known bands, including Franz Ferdinand and Travis.

EdinburghEdinburgh, which is the capital of Scotland, is a city rich in culture and history. The city sits on a series of extinct volcanos in the middle of the otherwise flat Lothian area. The Firth of Forth estuary is to the north of the city. The highest point of the city is Edinburgh Castle, from which you can see the characteristic medieval lanes and the wide streets of Victorian terraced houses, which are full of history and tradition. But Edinburgh isn’t just a historical city – it’s also a dynamic modern place which is the setting for international festivals, such as the Edinburgh Festival (a huge annual festival to celebrate music and the performing arts). The city has some great bars, restaurants and clubs and visitors love to walk down Edinburgh’s most famous street, the Royal Mile, with its old buildings and fascinating shops.

Glasgow

Edinburgh

Aberdeen

AberdeenAberdeen is called the ‘Granite City’ because nearly all of its buildings are made of granite, a hard stone which is found nearby. It’s a wealthy, cosmopolitan city, thanks to the discovery of oil in the North Sea. The architecture of the city is spectacular and there are really interesting museums and cultural centres. There’s a student population of around 20,000 which adds to the lively social scene. Every summer there’s an international youth festival. It starts with a big parade in the city centre and continues with ten days of music, theatre and drama by young people. The ‘Granite Mile’ is Union Street, Aberdeen’s famous shopping street, with more than 800 shops, bars and restaurants. Then there’s West End, where you can find the city’s night life. There are many parks too, and don’t forget that the city has its own golden sandy beach (when the weather is warm enough!). The port to the south is worth a visit too – it’s always busy and you can see all sorts of boats which serve the oil and fishing industries.

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Grammar, functions and vocabularyUNIT 12

UNITS 3-4

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Comprehension 1 Leggi il testo velocemente e scrivi il nome

della città nello spazio.

1 is the capital of Scotland.

2 is near the North Sea oil fi elds.

3 A famous Scottish architect came from .

Vocabulary 2 Abbina le parole del testo alle loro traduzioni

in italiano.

1 health a ricca

2 size b dorata

3 wide c piatta

4 citizens d grandezza

5 lively e vicoli

6 otherwise f ampia

7 fl at g scenario

8 lanes h cittadini

9 setting i quasi

10 nearly j per il resto

11 wealthy k sanità

12 golden l vivace

Comprehension 3 Vero o falso? Scrivi V o F negli spazi.

Correggi le frasi false. P

1 Scotland has always had an independent parliament.

2 Glasgow is bigger than Aberdeen and Edinburgh.

3 You can see good art exhibitions in Glasgow.

4 There is a hill in the centre of Edinburgh.

5 Edinburgh is a totally traditional, old-fashioned city.

6 The people of Aberdeen have to go to Edinburgh to fi nd good shops.

Comprehension 4 Rispondi alle domande.

1 What kind of festivals do they have every year in Glasgow?

2 What was Charles Rennie Mackintosh famous for?

3 Where can you get a good view of Edinburgh?

4 What are the two main reasons that Aberdeen is rich?

5 Why do you think Union Street is called the ‘Granite Mile’?

6 What sort of architecture is common in two of the cities?

Culture There are 787 islands off the coast of Scotland,

130 of which are inhabited. The Shetland Islands

and Orkney Islands (in the far north) and the

Inner and Outer Hebrides (off the west coast)

were once part of Norway.

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Skills and Culture UNITS 3–4

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Skills • Listening

Comprehension 5 04 Josh è appena tornato dalle vacanze e

sta parlando con Amy. Ascolta e rispondi alle domande.

1 Where did Josh go for his holidays?

2 What does Amy notice in one of the photos?

3 Why does Josh start laughing?

Comprehension 6 04 Vero o falso? Riascolta e scrivi V o F

negli spazi. Correggi le frasi false. P

1 Josh went to Inverness.

2 Josh doesn’t want to show Amy his photos at fi rst.

3 Amy thinks she sees the Yeti in one of the photos.

4 Amy wants to send the photo to a newspaper.

5 Josh is playing a joke on Amy.

6 Amy is angry with Josh.

Comprehension 7 04 Ascolta ancora una volta e rispondi alle

domande.

1 Did Josh enjoy his holiday?

2 How long did he spend at Loch Ness?

3 How does Josh explain the thing in the photo?

4 Why doesn’t he want to send the photo to the newspaper?

5 How did Josh and his brother make the photo?

6 What do Amy and Josh decide to do atthe end?

Dictation 8 05 Ascolta e scrivi sei frasi del dialogo.

1

2

3

4

5

6

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Skills and CultureUNITS 3–4

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Skills • Writing 9 Osserva le fi gure che raccontano un avvistamento del mostro di Loch Ness. Abbina le frasi alle fi gure. Scrivi il numero corretto nello spazio.

A It had a long neck and a body which was about fi fteen metres long.

B It moved through the water very quickly.

C When it saw me it turned and dived down into the lake.

D I got up one morning at six o’clock and went down to the lake.

E I caught three fi sh and put them in my bag.

F I ran back to the hotel and called the police.

G Just after I caught the last fi sh I saw something move in the lake.

H It was very cold and misty but I started fi shing.

I I looked through my binoculars and I saw a creature in the water about 200 metres away.

10 Immagina di avere visto una creatura strana (per esempio, lo yeti). Scrivi un breve testo (100–150 parole) che racconta l’avvistamento. Includi queste informazioni: P T

• il giorno e l’ora dell’avvistamento • una descrizione della creatura • quello che provavi quando l’hai visto • quello che è successo dopo l’avvistamento • le tue ipotesi su quello che era

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8

9

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Skills and Culture UNITS 3–4

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