IELTS Reading Exercise 1511 Cities of The Future

Cities of the future
A. Researchers recently gave 1,000 people a questionnaire about ‘Cities of The

Future’. To answer the questions, the people had to imagine and describe what
they thought our cities might look like in the year 2050. Interestingly, a large
number of people were anxious that they would become ‘dark, dangerous
places’, which had endless traffic jams and very few green spaces. This group
also predicted an increase in the level of pollution and thought people would
always need to wear facemasks in order to breathe. They also believed that it
would be less safe to walk on the street as there would be ‘more stealing’ and
other criminal behaviour. A smaller number thought cities might become a lot
cleaner, and might be built from more interesting materials. They were also
looking forward to new technology such as flying cars and moving pavements. In
general, they believed that the cities of the future would offer a much more
convenient way of living. A few people were uncertain; for example, they thought
the size of apartments might reduce as the population of the city grew, but they
also thought that public transport would become better.
B. What do the results from this questionnaire tell us? In a way, we shouldn’t be
amazed by the descriptions of the largest group. So many Hollywood films show
cities of the future as frightening places. Online newspapers are also responsible
for spreading this same belief. Headlines such as ‘Global population rises – cities
become crowded’ are becoming more frequent. Journalists rarely discuss how
future cities might be a good place to live.
C. The facts are these: 50% of people now live in cities, even though cities only
occupy 2% of the world’s land. By 2050, it is predicted that the number of people
living there will rise to 70%. Some people are worried that villages in the
countryside will become empty as everyone leaves for the city, and so traditional
ways of life will be lost. This may be true, but we have to accept changes like this
as part of human development. Rather than being negative, we should be hopeful
that we can improve people’s lives as they move to cities. The way to do this is
through intelligent planning.
D. Architects have a big role to play in our future cities. In the past, the
architects who were responsible for planning our cities often designed buildings
that they were interested in; but now it is time for them to listen carefully to what
people living in cities are asking for. In many countries around the world, people
are choosing to have smaller families or to wait longer before they start a family.
For this reason, not everyone needs a large house. Smaller and cheaper houses
are what they need. But ‘small’ doesn’t have to be the same as ‘ugly’ or ‘boring’.
Western architects could perhaps look at some of the architecture in Japanese
cities, where very stylish houses are built on small pieces of unused land.
E. And what might cities of the future be made from? Engineering companies
have produced some interesting new products, for example, wood-like material
made from recycled newspapers or old drink cartons. One engineering team are
even working on a project that uses mushrooms to create a hard building
material. These new materials may seem strange, but we should remember that
plastic was only invented in 1907 – at the time people thought that this was an
unusual product, but now it is something we cannot manage without. Building a
city of the future requires imagination and an open mind.
Questions 1-4
The passage has five paragraphs labelled A-E
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A-E in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.
1the duties and responsibilities of the people who design our cities ..........
2the influence of cinema and the media on people’s view of the future ..........
3the types of material that future buildings might be made from ..........
4some information and opinions about people living in cities and living in the
countryside ..........
Questions 5-8
Choose the correct letter, A, B, or C.

5.What is the writer doing in Paragraph B?
A. Explaining why many people will probably prefer to live in cities in the
future.
B. Giving a reason why many people feel negative about cities of the future.
C. Suggesting that newspapers show a more realistic view of future cities than
films.
6. What point does the writer make in Paragraph C?
A. It is important to encourage some people to stay in their villages.

B. It is possible to maintain traditional village customs after moving to cities.
C. It is necessary to think in a creative way about city design.
7. Paragraph D: In the writer’s opinion, architects who are responsible for

planning cities
A. often make houses that are unattractive.

B. must make buildings based on people’s needs.
C. should get experience by working in foreign cities.
8. Paragraph E: The writer refers to the invention of plastic to make the point that
A. we can expect building materials to be very different in the future.

B. we must accept that good-quality materials take a long time to create.
C. we should use a variety of building materials to make our cities interesting.

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Cities of the future

A. Researchers recently gave 1,000 people a questionnaire about ‘Cities of The

The passage has five paragraphs labelled A-E

Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter A-E in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.

3the types of material that future buildings might be made from ..........

Choose the correct letter, A, B, or C.

6. What point does the writer make in Paragraph C?

A. It is important to encourage some people to stay in their villages.

7. Paragraph D: In the writer’s opinion, architects who are responsible for

A. often make houses that are unattractive.

A. we can expect building materials to be very different in the future.

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