Culture Choice 1
1 New York City has eight million people.
2 There are about forty thousand homeless people
(people with no home).
3 Ninety-five percent of homeless people sleep
in shelters (simple hotels with bedrooms and
bathrooms).
4 Sixty percent of New Yorkers are Hispanics (from
Latin America).
5 New Yorkers speak 138 different languages.
4.1 4.2 Listen again. Choose the best answer to
these questions.
SA
1 Where does Tom usually sleep when its not cold?
a streets or parks b shelters
c the subway (the New York Metro)
2 How does he get money?
a he works with tourists b he plays the guitar
c he works in a park
3 What does he like about New York?
a its an easy city b its a big city c its his city
4 Where does Miriam live?
a in Manhattan b near an airport
c in the centre of New York
5 How many people live in her house?
a4 b5 c6
6 What does she like about her city?
a the people b the languages c the culture
Read the information about O. Henry on page 97.
What are his stories about?
4.3 Read and listen to the short story. Order the
events (ag).
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
4.1 4.2 Listen to two interviews with New
Yorkers. Check your guess from Exercise 1.
M
PL
How many different languages do people speak?
Are there a lot of homeless people?
Where is your home? (e.g. near the centre)
What do you like about your city or town?
Soapy goes to a restaurant but he cant get in.
Soapy sings and dances in the street.
Soapy decides to work and rent a flat.
The police put Soapy in prison.
It starts to be cold in New York. 1
Soapy breaks a shop window with a bottle.
Soapy takes a mans pen.
Read the story again. Match the sentences (15)
with the reasons (ae).
1
2
3
4
5
Soapy usually goes to prison in December e
Soapy does bad things
The man in the office doesnt call the police
Soapy goes to prison
Soapy plans to get a job
a
b
c
d
e
because he is homeless.
because he wants to change his life.
because he wants to go to prison.
because he has problems with them.
because he gets cold in New York.
M y Culture Project
8
Your Culture Work in pairs. Ask and answer the
questions about your home town or city.
1
2
3
4
N
IT
Look at the photos (ac). Read the sentences (15).
Guess which sentence is false?
Write notes about your home.
where it is: in a village/town/city
the rooms in your home
the things in it
your bedroom
tion of
Use your notes to write a descrip
gs.
thin
e
fals
your home. Include two
10
s. Can
Read your partner 's description
?
tion
rma
info
e
fals
the
ss
you gue
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O. Henry (18621910)
American writer of short stories
Real name: William Sydney Porter
Jobs: farm worker, bank worker, journalist, writer
Family: married with one daughter
Problems: three years in prison (money problems
at the bank); problems with alcohol
His stories: funny stories about everyday life
in the USA
N
IT
The man goes after him. Stop! Thats my pen.
Call the police then, says Soapy.
But the man doesnt call the police because he
has problems with them.
Okay, maybe it is your pen, he says to Soapy.
Soapy sits down and makes a new plan. Maybe
he can get a job and some money. Then he
can get an apartment and some good clothes.
Maybe he is too old for the street. Tomorrow
he decides to find a job.
Then Soapy hears a person next to him. Excuse
me, a policeman says. What are you doing
here? Whats your address? Where do you
work?
I havent got a home but I want to get a job
tomorrow, says Soapy.
No address. Come with me. Three months in
prison for you, the policeman says.
SA
M
PL
oapy hasnt got a home and lives on the
streets of New York. He likes the sun and
trees and doesnt like houses or jobs. For
nine months of the year, Soapy is a happy man.
Then the first week of December comes and it
gets very cold. Soapy has the same plan every
December to do a bad thing and go to prison
for three months.
First, Soapy visits an expensive restaurant and
wants to have a big lunch and then say Sorry, I
havent got any money. But when Soapy walks
into Sanborns Restaurant the waiter says, You
cant come in here. Sorry.
Soapy thinks of a new plan. He goes to an
expensive shop and takes a bottle. He hits the
window with the bottle. A policeman comes
but at that moment he sees a man running
away from the shop. No prison for Soapy this
afternoon.
That evening, Soapy goes to a street with a lot
of theatres. Rich men and women in expensive
clothes are going into the theatres. Soapy starts
to sing and dance and talk to the people. There
is a policeman but he says to the people: Hes
a student from a theatre school. Dont worry
about him.
Soapy is angry and unhappy. How can he get into
prison for the winter? He sees a man in an office
and goes in and takes his pen.
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