photo Tara Benwell Listen to News with Tara Benwell - Instructions:
1. Preview the vocabulary and read the gapfill text.
2. Play the news report and try to fill in the blanks.
3. Answer the comprehension questions by writing full sentences.
4. Use the discussion question to write an essay or discuss the story with other students.
5. Click "show Answers" to see the full text.
6. Pretend to be a news anchor by reading each story out loud.

dateline: 04 September 2019

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Vienna is World’s Most Liveable City

Pre-Listening Vocabulary

  • rank: to give a score in comparison to others
  • stability: security and safety
  • infrastructure: the systems and facilities that allow a community to function
  • struggle: to have difficulties
  • unrest: conflict
  • desirable: attractive, wanted

Vienna is World’s Most Liveable City

For the second year running, Vienna, the of Austria, has been named the world’s most livable city. Each year, the Economist Union Index (EUI) ranks 140 cities in the following categories: stability, healthcare, and environment, education, and infrastructure. Some that have done well in previous years, such as Paris, have struggled recently due to economic and political unrest. Others, such as Cairo, have become less desirable due to environmental reasons. The world’s liveable city this year is Damascus, Syria.

Comprehension Questions

  1. What is the report mainly about?
  2. How are the cities ranked?
  3. What problems have caused some cities to become less desirable in recent years?

Discussion Question

How would you rank your hometown or city in the five EUI categories?

show Answers

Written and recorded by Tara Benwell for EnglishClub
Tara Benwell is a Canadian freelance writer and editor who specializes in materials and articles for the ELT industry.
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