Speaking Card 27

New York City

zz Where is New York? transport (BrE). You can use / take the subway 24
New York is the name of two places, a state and hours a day. It has 21 different lines / goes to all
a city, in the United States. New York State is in the five boroughs. You can also take the bus / walk /
north-east / on the East Coast. New York City is in ride a bike. New York’s yellow taxis / cabs are very
the south-eastern corner of New York State / near famous, and you can also hire / take a town car
the Atlantic Ocean. “New York” can mean either the (AmE) / limousine. These can be expensive / slow
city or the state. Sometimes people write New York because traffic in New York is really bad. Very few /
City as NYC. not many people drive cars in New York City.

zz What’s the difference between New York zz Name some famous buildings or places in
City and Manhattan? NYC.
New York City is divided into five regions / areas, Times Square is a large area in the centre of
which are called boroughs. The five boroughs are Manhattan with lots of stores (AmE) / shops (BrE) /
Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten advertisements / bright lights. Broadway is an area of
Island. The Bronx is to the north, on the mainland. central Manhattan with a lot of theaters (AmE) /
Manhattan is an island in the middle of the Hudson theatres (BrE), musicals and plays. The Empire State
River. Queens and Brooklyn are east of Manhattan. Building is a tall / famous building, and many people
Staten Island is south of Manhattan. Manhattan is like to see the view / take pictures from the top.
the most famous borough in New York City. Madison Square Garden is a famous arena where
you can see a concert / a basketball game / an ice
zz How many people live in New York City? hockey match. Central Park is the largest park /
There are about 8.5 million / eight-and-a-half million green space in the city. The 9/11 memorial and One
people in New York City. There are about 2.5 million World Trade Center / Freedom Tower are in southern
people in Brooklyn / about 2 million in Queens / Manhattan. The Statue of Liberty is on the Hudson
almost 1.5 million in the Bronx / close to 500,000 River between New York and New Jersey.
in Staten Island. More than 1.5 million people live
zz What do people eat?
in Manhattan, which covers only 23 square miles
(60 km2)! The people who live there come from many There are many / thousands of restaurants in
different backgrounds. They can be / are rich / poor / New York City. You can find lots of ethnic food,
famous / ambitious / well-educated / hard-working / such as Italian food in Little Italy / Chinese food
successful / artists / students / business people. in Chinatown / South and Central American food
in Northern Manhattan / Queens. New York is
zz What is New York City like? famous for pizza / bagels / hot dogs / delis / fine
New York City is a very large / crowded / expensive / dining / brunch. New Yorkers often eat out / go to
exciting / cosmopolitan city. Many people move to New restaurants or order take out (AmE) / takeaways
York from other states / countries, so the population is (BrE) / have food delivered to their homes.
quite diverse / people speak many different languages.
zz When do people like to visit New York?
There is a large arts / fashion / business / financial /
restaurant culture in New York. More than 50 million Many tourists come to New York for the holidays /
people / tourists visit New York each year. at Christmas to see the decorations / go shopping /
skating / sightseeing. The weather in New York
zz What kind of transport does it have? is nice / mild in spring / autumn. Summer is the
It’s easy / not too expensive to get around New worst time to visit New York because it’s really hot /
York City using public transportation (AmE) / humid / there is not much green space.

Underlined vocabulary is above the A2 CEFR level – to be explained. January-February 2016

queens

brooklyn

staten
island

03 04 05

The Empire State Building Times Square

06 Broadway musical 07

08 Madison Square Garden 09

Chinatown