Starting off

Work with a partner and look at the names below. All of them are connected with Manhattan in some way. How?

Wall Street

Central Park

The United Nations

Henry Hudson

The Lenape

The Hudson River

New Amsterdam

New York

First reading

Read the text quickly to check your answers.

Second reading

Below are the headings for each paragraph in the text. Match each to the correct paragraph

A. LANDMARKS OF MANHATTAN

B. CENTRAL PARK: AN ISLAND OF GREEN

C. MANAHACHTANIENK TO NEW AMSTERDAM; NEW AMSTERDAM TO NEW YORK

D. THE MOST FAMOUS ISLAND IN THE WORLD

Vocabulary 1

Eight items in the text are highlighted. Find them in the text and use the context to help you work out what they might mean.

AFTER ALL

TRIBE

INITIALLY

CONQUER

ACQUIRE

WEALTH

INFAMOUSLY

PLENTY

Now match the items to the correct definitions.

1. get control of a country by fighting the people who control it or live there (VERB)	2. in the beginning (ADVERB)
3. the money and property a person, a company or a country owns (WEALTH)	4. when you want to say something which explains what your have just said (ADVERB)
5. a large quantity that is enough or more than enough (PRONOUN)	6. get something by buying it or being given it (VERB)
7. a group of people of the same race, living in the same area, with the same leader (NOUN)	8. well known for being bad or evil (ADVERB)

Vocabulary 2

Now use one of the words above to complete each sentence. You might need to change the word to make it fit.

1. ________________ we had problems, but later on everything went well.

2. The house is very big, with ________________ of room for our family.

3. The country's ________________ comes from its oil.

4. There were many different ________________ of native americans living in America before Europeans arrived.

5. You must help me! ________________, we are family.

6. Al Capone was an ________________ gangster in Chicago in the 1920s.

7. Genghis Khan ________________ much of Central Asia.

8. I ________________ some land a few years ago when my uncle died.

Vocabulary 1

Read the text once again and decide if the sentences below are true or false.

1. Manhattan is a large island. T ☐ F ☐

2. Manhattan was discovered by a Dutchman. T ☐ F ☐

3. Manhattan has a very high population density. T ☐ F ☐

4. The Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre were once the world's tallest buildings. T ☐ F ☐

5. Central Park is man-made. T ☐ F ☐

Speaking

Work in a small group to discuss the questions below.

• What are the most famous parts of your city?

• What are your personal favourite parts of your city?

• What would you like to change about your city and why?

A Monthly Newsletter for Teachers of English

September 2009

© Pearson Longman 2009 PHOTOCOPIABLE

A C T I V I T I E S S H E E T

September 2009

Manhattan is famous for its hundreds of skyscrapers

“This land may be profitable to those that will adventure it.” Henry Hudson, explorer 1. ___________________ Is there a more famous island which is not a country in the world than Manhattan? It seems unlikely. After all, Manhattan, part of New York City, on the Hudson River, is one of the richest parts of the richest countries in the world; it is the location of the headquarters of the United Nations; it holds the largest financial industry in the world (based around Wall Street) and it has probably the most famous park in the world (Central Park). And yet it is far from a large island - only 60km2 in total. 2. ___________________ Manhattan was possibly first seen by a European 400 years ago in 1609, when the English explorer Henry Hudson sailed up what is today called the Hudson River and met the local tribe, the Lenape, who called the island `Manahachtanienk'.

Henry Hudson was working for a Dutch company and the region was initially called `New Netherland' and the fort built on Manhattan in 1625 was called `New Amsterdam'. It was only when the British conquered New Netherland in 1664 that it acquired its present-day name. 3. ___________________ Manhattan is one of the richest parts of the United States and is also one of its most densely populated areas: almost 28,000 people live in every square kilometre. These two facts - wealth and crowdedness - explain the architectural phenomenon for which Manhattan is most famous:

the skyscraper. The island's skyscrapers are some of the most famous in the world, including the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building, amongst many others. From 1890 to 1973, the world's tallest building was in Manhattan, with nine different buildings holding the record in that time. The last record-holders in Manhattan were the twin towers of the World Trade Centre, infamously destroyed in the terrorist attacks of September 2001. 4. ___________________ Manhattan is also home to Central Park. The park is almost 4km2 and has some 25 million visitors every year. Central Park has

appeared in hundreds of films, including Men in Black, Spiderman, Ghostbusters and Highlander. Central Park looks natural but is in fact very carefully designed. The whole park was planned by an English architect, Calvert Vaux and an American writer, Frederick Olmsted, to look as natural as possible. The park took 16 years to build in total. There are many ways to visit Central Park. Cycling, rollerblading, jogging or simply walking are all very popular, but perhaps the best way for a first-time visitor is to take one of the many horse-drawn carriages in the park. Just make sure you have plenty of time...

on a ship like this Henry Hudson sailed to Manhattan in 1609

Central Park is one of the most famous landmarks of New York

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