LIVING ON THE WATER Module G

Paragraph 1 The old city of Chichester in Southern England is very popular with tourists, offering them boat trips and fishing along its beautiful canal. These days, however, visitors might notice something unexpected: a modern house sitting on the canal, its large windows overlooking the water. The house was designed by the architecture firm Baca as a model for the floating homes that may soon appear on waterways in urban centers around the world. 1. What do we learn about floating homes from paragraph I? What they usually look like. Why they are used as tourist attractions. Why they might be useful. Where they might be built. Paragraph 2 Baca's canal house represents a new method for dealing with a growing threat to cities built near coasts or on canals or rivers: flooding due to climate change. In recent years, increasingly heavy rains have been causing rivers and canals to overflow, and powerful hurricanes have been hitting cities on the coasts of America and Asia. The waters destroy whole neighborhoods, killing people and leaving millions without homes. By the end of the century even worse flooding is expected in coastal cities because of rising sea levels. According to a World Bank report, if nothing is done, the cost of repairs and rebuilding could reach $1 trillion a year by 2050. 2. What sequence of cause and effect is presented in paragraph II?Fill in the missing information below. 1)The climate is changing.2) There are floods in different parts of the world.3) As a result, neighborhoods are destroyed. Paragraph 3 To meet these challenges, several cities at risk are considering construction of houses that float. Such houses would not be flooded, as they remain on the surface of the water no matter how high it rises. Floating buildings could also help those cities deal with a problem facing overcrowded urban centers worldwide – the shortage of land. Ideally, say advocates of the idea, cities should build floating complexes of homes and places of employment. Residents of these complexes will save the time and cost of commuting to work. In addition, with fewer people on the roads, levels of air pollution will decrease. 3. What do we learn from paragraph III?Select TWO correct answers. Why coastal cities are often overcrowded. Why cities might build floating houses. Why floating houses would be cheap to build. Which cities have built floating houses. How cities deal with problems of pollution. How floating complexes could benefit residents. Paragraph 4 Not everyone welcomes the idea of structures floating on waterways within cities. Environmentalist Jeffrey Wilkins, for example, believes it is not suitable for London, where plans are being made for a floating complex of houses, offices, and shops on the River Thames. Any structures floating on the river, he says, might change its flow, thereby damaging wildlife. But studies suggest that this fear might be unfounded. For example, researchers who studied the underwater life around floating structures in the Netherlands reported that plants and animals are actually thriving. 4. Complete the sentence. In paragraph IV, the writer explains why Jeffrey Wilkins....does not welcome the idea of structures floating on waterways in cities floating structures are not suitable for London 5. Complete the sentence according to paragraph 4. The researchers in the Netherlands probably wanted to find out if...floating structures harm wildlife and animlas Paragraph 5 Although no large-scale floating complexes have ever been built, some companies are already thinking far ahead. The Blue Frontiers company, for instance, has announced plans to build floating towns out at sea, and has even started to raise money for the project. Alison Miles, a designer of floating homes, is worried about such initiatives, because so far the construction methods that they require have only been tested on much smaller projects. However, she does think future generations will eventually live in floating cities. That way, she believes, major risks and difficulties of traditional urban living would be avoided. 6. What can we understand about the Blue Frontiers project? Several companies are involved in the project. The project may require less money than expected. It may be too early to build this project. New building methods are being developed for this project.