APIEReading: Greener Cities and Urban Renewal
Cities, housing and urban life
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Greener Cities: Urban Renewal
IELTS Academic Reading Practice — Fact vs. Opinion & Synthesis
How to Use This Lesson
🧑🏫 Teacher Guide
• Allocate strictly 18 minutes for learners to read the 4-paragraph text and complete all 10 questions.
• Have learners verify their rationales using the Answer – Evidence – Why model to spot typical IELTS traps.
🎯 Learner Guide
• Skim Paragraphs A through D in 2 minutes to grasp the core focus of each city before checking question stems.
• Watch out for "word-spotting" distractors in Paragraphs B & C, and detect author hedging in Paragraph D.
In July 2003, Seoul began taking down an elevated expressway to uncover the Cheonggyecheon stream, which had been covered with concrete since 1958. The restored stream reopened in central Seoul in 2005.
Medellin in Colombia created 30 green corridors, with parks and tree-lined alleys along 18 roads and 12 waterways, to cool the city. The project won a 2019 Ashden Award.
Singapore's OneMillionTrees movement, launched in 2020, aims to plant one million more trees by 2030. By April 2023, more than 500,000 trees had been planted.
In my view, green projects seem to make cities more pleasant. However, I think each city needs its own plan, and it is not clear that one project would work everywhere.
Questions 1–3: Yes / No / Not Given
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in the text? Choose YES if the statement agrees, NO if it contradicts, or NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.
1. Seoul revived a natural stream that had remained hidden beneath concrete infrastructure for decades.
2. The primary objective of Medellin's green corridors was to ease vehicular traffic jams across 30 busy routes.
3. Singapore accomplished its total target of one million trees well ahead of the 2030 deadline.
Questions 4–5: Multiple Choice
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C, or D.
4. According to Paragraph B, Medellin's green project:
5. What is the author's primary attitude towards urban greening projects in Paragraph D?
Questions 6–7: Matching Information to Paragraphs
Which paragraph contains the following information? Select the correct letter, A, B, C, or D.
6. A description of exposing and restoring a natural waterway that had been obscured by concrete.
7. A note of caution emphasizing that a single green model may not yield equal results in different locations.
Questions 8–10: Summary Completion
Complete the summary below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.
Global Urban Renewal Projects
Across various parts of the globe, urban centers are reimagining concrete spaces. In Seoul, the city began taking down an elevated (8) to uncover a stream that had been covered with concrete since 1958. Meanwhile, Singapore launched its tree-planting movement in the year (9) , and by April 2023 more than (10) trees had been planted.
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