Lots of people prefer living in cities rather than in the countryside. There is no doubt that life in big cities is interesting and there are a lot of advantages. To begin with, you have everything you need so close at hand: shops, hospitals, post offices, chemist's..., I mean all types of local facilities. What is more, there are a lot of interesting things to do and places to see. You can eat in good restaurants, visit museums, and go to the theatres, cinemas and to concerts. Moreover, it goes without saying, that using convenient public transport helps you save money as you don't need a car to get around. Besides, it is often easier to get good education. And also you can find a well paid job because there is low rate of unemployment. All in all, city life is full of hustle and bustle, and you will never feel bored or isolated. Of course, on the other hand, any large city has its problems, too. In the city there is high cost of living. For example, it is difficult to find good cheap place to live. And sometimes I don't understand how people can put up with the constant noise, pollution, traffic jams and crowded streets. According to other people, it is very important to have a high quality lifestyle and live in a peaceful neighbourhood without fast pace of the big city. Only imagine beautuful landscapes with fantastic scenery and lots of space for children to run around and enjoy the peace and quiet. There are no noisy crowds and traffic jams. Another main argument in favour of living in the countryside is healthy lifestyle as the air is clean and fresh. So living in the country, can be useful for your health. And, of course, in a city you can feel very lonely because people often don't know their neighbours whereas in the country people are very friendly and helpful. Of course, there are some negative aspects to living there. First of all, there's lots of hard work to, but they don't mind.Sometimes it's difficult to grow crops because of bad weather. Also they can feel isolated, too, especially because of the bad condition of the roads. Another problem is that many things are not as easily available as in the city. There are no local facilities such as schools, supermarkets and hospitals. As for me, I would prefer city life because I am keen on visiting theatres, cinemas, museums and galleries and I don't mind noise and pollution. Besides, the city offers good opportunity to continue education and gives us hope to find a prestigious job in the future. However, I enjoy the peace and fresh air of the countryside and in summer I usually go to my country house where I have a good time with my friends. QUESTIONS 1. How would you improve the living conditions in the city? 2. Do you like the place where you live? Why (not)? 3. Where would you prefer to live? 4. Where do you think people will live in the future, in cities or in the countryside? Why? 5. Would you like to change the place where you live? 1. In my opinion it's possible to solve most of the problems of big cities, for example, the problem of pollution. Cutting down on emissions from large factories and exhaust fumes from transport would help solve the problem. I think we should try and use alternative energy such as solar energy and wind energy and design plants and cars that run on electricity, and much cleaner fuel than petrol. In addition, I think the government should ban cars from city centres. We can also improve the situation with traffic if the government encourages people to use the underground more. I would argue that if the underground was made cheaper, many people would decide to leave their cars at home. 2. I live in a friendly but crowded neighbourhood just outside the Garden Ring in Moscow. My hometown is Lyubertsy. I have lived there all my life and have a lot of friends that live nearby. For my point of view, it is the best place for living as we can combine the advantages of living in a small cosy place and the advantages of its situation not far from the best city in the world - Moscow. I especially enjoy this town for its quiet and a peaceful neighbourhood.