For questions 13-27, read the text below and think of the word which best fits each gap. Use only one word in each gap.

Question

Changing cities

What will the city of (0)..... future look like? This question has been asked (13)...... many times in

recent history - and answered inconclusively (14)........ equal number of times - that we (15).........

be sure of (16)..... thing only: no one can predict with (17)....... degree of accuracy how cities will

look 50 or 500 years from now.

The reason is simple - cities are (18).......... a continual state of change. Over the (19)........... fifty

years they have changed so rapidly that the oldest residents will remember a time (20)........ their

city seemed to belong not just to another era (21).... to a different dimension.

(22)..... is true both of planned and unplanned cities. Planned cities such as New York and Paris,

(23)..... are closely organised on a grid or diagram of streets and avenues, have effectively burst

at the seams this century, while unplanned cities such as Tokyo and Los Angeles have grown

just (24)...... dramatically. Although their centres might remain much as they were many years

(25)..... , their suburbs have spread (26)...... the tentacles of an octopus.

Some economists argue that expansion is a sign of a healthy economy (27) ..............  that it is

expanding cities that attract international investment.

Answer 1

What will the city of the future look like ? This question has been asked so many times in recent history – and answered inconclusively an equal number of times – that we can be sure of one thing only: no one can predict with any degree of accuracy how cities will look 50 or 500 years from now.

The reason is simple – cities are in a continual state of change. Over the last fifty years they have changed so rapidly that the oldest residents will remember a time when their city seemed to belong not just to another era but to a different dimension.
This is true both of planned and unplanned cities. Planned cities such as New York and Paris, which are closely organised on a grid or diagram of streets and avenues, have effectively burst at the seams this century, while unplanned cities such as Tokyo and Los Angeles have grown just as dramatically. Although their centres might remain much as they were many years before their suburbs have spread like the tentacles of an octopus.

Some economists argue that expansion is a sign of a healthy economy and that it is expanding cities that attract international investment.