Reading Activity

To: 8A, 8C, 8D students

Read the following texts and study for the comparative and superlative test.

Text 1:

San Francisco Vs. London

Joanna is an artist from San Francisco who moved to London in 1988. We asked her to compare life in San

Francisco and London. Here's what she told us.

A) The cities

San Francisco is a lovely city in a beautiful bay. It's got lots of great buildings and places. It's smaller and much more modern than London, but it's less interesting. London has a lot more theatres and museums. The Americans are usually more interested in money than culture! The architecture in London is incredible and very stimulating, and the parks and markets are wonderful. London isn't as dangerous as San Francisco, and it's less violent. I feel much safer living here - nobody carries a gun, not even the police!

B) The cost of living

People have a higher standard of living in the States because generally, it's much less expensive than England. For example, petrol is less than half the price and things like food, clothes, and cameras are much cheaper. It's a shopper's paradise and I always spend a fortune when I go back! It's a bit more expensive to rent a flat in London and my bills are much bigger tan they were in San Francisco. So, although my salary in London is about the same as it was in the States, I have to work harder to get the same quality of life as I had before.

C) Public transport

In San Francisco you can walk everywhere because it's a small city. There's less traffic than in London, and public transport is great. There are cablecars to go up all the hills and electric buses which make the city much cleaner. Public transport in London is terrible and really expensive. It takes

me an hour to get to work and the journey is usually stressful. London's dirtier too and much more polluted. The traffic is awful, because there are too many cars and the streets are narrow. But English drivers aren't as aggressive as American drivers!

D) The food

Food in the States is generally much better. It's fresher, cheaper, and there's much more choice. Restaurants aren't as expensive as in London and the service is much better. In some restaurants they put a clock on the table when you arrive, and if they haven't served your meal in five minutes, they'll give you the food free! I'm usually disappointed when I eat out in London, although the Indian restaurants are excellent.

Text 2:

African and Asian Elephants

There are many differences between Asian and African elephants. Both types of elephant are members of the same taxonomical family, elephantidae, but are of a different genus; elephas maximus (Asian elephants, Loxodonta africana (African savanna elephants) and Loxodonta cyclotis (African Forest Elephant).  

Size

The African elephant is significantly larger, with bulls growing up to 4m tall. The biggest Asian males reach no more than 3.5m 

Weight

Adult African elephants weigh between 4,000-7,500kg. Asian males weigh between 3000-6,000kg. 

Head Shape
African elephants have fuller, more rounded heads. The top of the head is a single dome whereas Asian elephants have a twin-domed head with an indent in the middle.
The lower lips of the two species also differ, being long and tapered in Asian elephants and short and round in Africans. 

Size of the Ears
It is said that you can tell where an elephant comes from by looking at the size of his ears. African ears are like a map of Africa and Asian ears smaller like the shape of India. African ears are much bigger and reach up and over the neck, which does not occur in Asian elephants.

Skin
African elephants' skin is more wrinkled

Ribs
In general, African elephants have more ribs than the Asian species, though the number of ribs varies in individual animals. African elephants have up to 21 pairs, Asians up to 20.

Tusks

All African elephants, male and female, have tusks - whereas only some male Asian elephants have tusks. African tusks are generally bigger. About 50% of female Asian elephants and a small percentage of males have small tusk like teeth known as tushes.

Teeth
The lamella profile along the top of the molar teeth of the two species is different with ridges on Asian elephants' teeth being more tightly compressed.

The Trunk
The African elephant’s trunk is visibly more heavily ringed and is not as hard as the Asian trunk.
The trunk tip is a major difference between the species. The African trunk has two distinct fingers which it uses to pick up and manipulate objects. The Asian elephant has only one ‘finger’. The Asian compensates for this by holding objects against the underside of the trunk and appears not to suffer from any lack of maneuverability.

Toenails
Toenails in the two different species of African elephants vary. As they do between the African and Asian elephants.
African forest elephant       5 nails on front feet           4 on the back
African savanna elephant   4 nails on front feet           3 on the back
Asian elephant                   5 nails on front feet           4 on the back (rarely 5)

Diet
Although both species of elephant eat a wide variety of plant matter, in general, the Asian elephant’s diet is made up of a greater proportion of grass and the African’s of leaves. 

Text 3:

The nine planets of our Soler System

There are nine planets in our Solar System. These planets circle around the sun this is called orbits. 

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. It orbits the Sun quickly, once every 88 days. It rotates slowly, however, only once every 59 days. Mercury is small, about 4850 kilometers (~3000 miles) in diameter. Because Mercury is so close to the Sun, the side of its surface that faces the Sun is very hot, ~700oK. The surface of Mercury is gray to orange in color, and is covered with craters. Mercury is named for a mythical god who ran very fast.

Venus, the second planet away from the Sun, is Earth’s closest neighbor. It is about the same size as the Earth, a little over 12,000 kilometers (7300 miles) in diameter. Venus has a very thick atmosphere, composed largely of sulphuric acid and CO2. We could not breathe on Venus, because the atmosphere would be very toxic to humans. This atmosphere gives Venus a brownish-yellow color. It also traps heat (the greenhouse effect) making the surface of Venus the hottest in the Solar System, about 750oK. Venus rotates very slowly, taking 243 days to complete one turn. It is named for the Roman goddess of love.

Earth is a little more than 12,000 kilometers in diameter. It differs from the other planets because it has liquid water on its surface, maintains life, and has active plate movement. It rotates on its axis every 24 hours (a day) and revolves around the Sun every 365 days (a year). The Earth has one moon.

Mars is a little more than half the size of the Earth, having a diameter of 6,790 kilometers. It takes Mars 687 days to revolve once around the Sun. It rotates at about the same speed as the Earth, taking 24.6 hours. Mars has a very thin atmosphere which is composed largely of CO2. Its surface is very cold, and is covered with craters, volcanoes, and large canyons. Mars is reddish in color. Mars has two small moons. It is named for the Roman god of war.

Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System, with a diameter of 142,980 kilometers, more than 11 times wider than the Earth. Jupiter orbits the Sun once every 12 years. It rotates very fast, in only 10 hours. Its surface is made up of gas (mostly hydrogen), so that if you landed on the surface you would sink into it. Jupiter probably has a core of metallic hydrogen and rock, although evidence for this is theoretical. The outer gaseous part of Jupiter is broken into bands of white, yellow, red, and brown clouds. Huge oval-shaped storms also occur on the surface. Jupiter has 63 known satellites (as of 2004) including  the four large Galilean moons (Io, Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede) plus many more small ones some of which have not yet been named. Jupiter is named for the Roman supreme god of heaven.

Saturn is well known for its system of three rings. It is a large planet: at 120,536 kilometers it is only a little smaller than Jupiter. It revolves around the Sun in 12 years, and rotates a little more than 10 hours. Like Jupiter, Saturn is composed of mostly gas, and has a core composed of rock and metallic hydrogen. The surface of Saturn looks banded, and has a brown-yellow, butterscotch color. Saturn’s rings are probably composed of small particles of ice and rock. Saturn has 47 moons (2004). It is named for the Roman god of agriculture.

Uranus is 51,118 kilometers in diameter, about 4.4 times the size of the Earth. It revolves around the Sun slowly, taking 84 years to complete one orbit. It rotates in about 17 hours. It is covered by a thick layer of gas, and has a fairly uniform blue-green color. Uranus has 21 named moons and six unnamed ones and  is surrounded by a system of nine rings. It is named for another Roman god, the grandfather of Jupiter

Neptune is slightly smaller than Uranus, with a diameter of 49,500 kilometers. It circles the Sun once every 165 years, and rotates in 16 hours. Its atmosphere appears blue, and is marked by large dark blue storm systems. It is surrounded by a system of five rings and at least 13 moons. Neptune is named for the Roman god of the ocean.

Pluto is the most distant planet from the Sun. It has an eccentric, oval-shaped orbit, which is tilted with respect to the rest of the Solar System. Pluto revolves around the Sun in 248 years, and rotates in a period of 6.4 days. Pluto is probably composed of rock. Its surface and color are unknown. It has one large moon that is almost like a twin with 2 smaller moons.  Pluto is named for the Roman god of outer darkness.

Text 4:

Comparing three cities: Paris, Stockholm and Beijing

Paris

Paris is the capital of France, located on the River Seine, in the north of the country. Paris has

a population of 9.93 million people in its urban area, which occupies 1,200 square kilometres.

In fact, almost 20% of the country´s population live within the metropolitan area of Paris. The

city is the main economic centre of the country too.

Over 30 million foreign tourists visit Paris every year. The city has lots of interesting places to

visit, such as Notre Dame cathedral, the Louvre museum and lots of nice outdoor cafés where

you can have delicious croissants and coffee.

It is a very old city. The Romans founded it and called it Lutetia. But at the end of the Roman

empire, in the 5th century, the city was renamed Paris.

Paris has a mild weather. The average lowest temperature is –2ºC (minus 2 degrees Celsius)

in January and the highest average temperature is 24º C in the months of July and August. It

can rain at any time in the year. The city´s average yearly precipitation is 641.6 mm.

Beijing

Beijing is the capital of the People´s Republic of China and is located in the north of the

country. It is a very old city, founded over 2,000 years ago. It has 8.5 million inhabitants in its

urban area and it is China's second largest city in terms of population, after Shanghai. It is also

one of the largest cities in the world. It has an area of 1,377 square kilometres.

The capital of China has a humid continental climate influenced by the monsoon. The lowest

average temperature is –7ºC (minus 7 degrees Celsius) in January, while the highest average

temperature is 26ºC and occurs in July. Summer is the rainy season and the annual

precipitation is over 600 mm.

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital of Sweden, located by the lake Mälaren on the east coast of the

country. It is a beautiful city with a very important port. The city´s population is approximately

1.2 million and it has an area of 375.25 square kilometres.

Stockholm has lots of museums, open spaces and palaces. Probably the most important

cultural event of Stockholm is the annual ceremony of the Nobel Awards. These are awarded

by the Nobel Foundation, created in 1900.

The city dates from the 13th century but it did not become the capital of the country until the

16th century.

Winters in Stockholm are quite cold, with temperatures as low as –7ºC (minus 7 degrees

Celsius). However, summers are much warmer. The highest temperature in July is 25ºC. The

annual precipitation is 539 mm.

Which city is the most interesting, modern, beautiful, cold, hot, wet, big population…?