New York, the "Big Apple"
The biggest city in the USA
Linguapress
Elementary / preliminary level English
Places
New York City – world city
New York is the biggest city in the USA, and also the best-known.
For more than 100 years, New York was the main place where people entered the USA. Immigrants, business people, and tourists all arrived there. Because of this, New York became very important in American life and culture. People from all over the world made their home in New York. Today, it is a city with many different cultures and traditions.
As well as being the biggest city in the USA, New York is the city with most museums, about 100 of them. But museums are only one part of what the city offers. Many visitors don’t even go to a museum. They come for the nightlife, the music, the theaters, and the tall buildings with great views. They enjoy walking in the streets and squares, eating in restaurants, and relaxing in bars.
One of the best-known monuments in New York is the Statue of Liberty. It's a symbol of American freedom, but it was actually made in Paris, France!
The oldest part of New York is Manhattan, which is an island. This is the part of the city with the great skyscrapers. Manhattan has some of the most famous streets in the world - like Broadway, Wall Street, and Times Square.
CLEAR, CONCISE
and COMPREHENSIVE
Discover grammar in a new light
"A breath of fresh air" - IATEFL Voices
Print & ebook from Amazon,
Print book from Barnes & Noble, Waterstones & other good bookshops
The modern city of New York was started by Dutch settlers in 1624. They called it
New Amsterdam.. Forty years later, the name changed to New York. For
four years, from 1785 to 1789, New York was actually
the capital of the USA. Today the capital of the USA is
Washington, and New York City is not even the capital of New York
state; that is a much smaller city called Albany.Discover grammar in a new light
"A breath of fresh air" - IATEFL Voices
Print & ebook from Amazon,
Print book from Barnes & Noble, Waterstones & other good bookshops
New York state is much bigger than the city. It has mountains and valleys, and reaches as far as the Canadian border.
People from New York often say that nobody can see everything in the city; there's too much to see and do. That may be true. And if you only have one or two weeks in New York, you will only see a small part of it.
New York has several different nicknames, and the best-known of these is "the Big Apple"; but why "the Big Apple"? The name was made up by jockeys a hundred years ago. The prizes that they could win were bigger in New York, than anywhere else! For horses, the prizes were apples, for jockeys and owners they were lots of money... "the big apple." Difficult words:
main: principal - as well as: in addition to - views: panoramas - enjoy: like - freedom: liberty - reach: extend, go as far as - nickname: unofficial name, informal name.
Return to
Linguapress site index
Copyright notice.
This resource is © copyright Linguapress
This text may not be reproduced on other websites nor in printed form without written permission from the publishers. Reproduction is authorised exclusively for personal use by students, or for use by teachers with their classes.
► Go further: a short introduction to the sights of New York
► Go further: Wall Street - a text in advanced C1 English
Student worksheet
New York City – the
"Big Apple"
Exercise 1: Grammar - comparatives and superlatives
Put the correct comparative or superlative adjective or adverb forms back into the first five sentences. Try to do this without looking back at the original text
"New York is the (big) city in the USA, and probably the .(well)-known"
"One of the (well)-known monuments in New York is the Statue of Liberty."
The (old) part of New York is Manhattan, which is an island.
"Manhattan has some of the (famous) streets in the world..."
"New York City is not even the capital of New York state; that is a much (small) city called Albany."
"The name was made up by jockeys a hundred years ago. The prizes that they could win were (big) in New York than anywhere else!"
Exercise 2 Comprehension - True or False?
Are these statements right or wrong? Write True if the statement is right, or False if it's wrong.
- New York is the capital city of the USA.
- People from many different countries live in New York.
- The Statue of Liberty was built in the USA.
- Manhattan is not part of New York.
- Visitors never go to museums in New York.
- New York has more than one nickname.
- The prizes for horses in races were money.
- Albany is the capital of New York State.
Exercise 3 - Vocabulary - spelling, word endings
Complete the words in the extract below
The modern city
of New York was start by Du settlin 1624. They call it
New Amsterdam. Fort years lat,
the name chang to
New York. For
four years, from 1785 to 1789, New York was actu
the capital of the USA. Today the capital of the USA is
Washington, and New York City is not ev the capital of New York
state; th is a much small city call
Albany.
Exercise 4 - Vocabulary - meaning and matching.
Match the words from the text with their meanings.
A.
Immigrant B. Monument C. Skyscraper D.
Nightlife E. Capital F. Border G. Jockey
H. Prize
- A person who comes to live in a new country
- The main city of a country or state.
- A person who rides a horse in races.
- A building that shows history or art.
- A very tall building.
- Entertainment in the evening (like bars, concerts, etc.).
- Something you win in a competition.
- The dividing line between two countries.
About Linguapress. Founded as a print media publisher in 1980, Linguapress is today dedicated to providing free high-quality EFL / ESL resources online for all, anywhere in the world. You are free to use our online resources, within the limits of our copyright policy (basically, don't copy our resources onto any other publicly-accessible platform or website). To help keep these resources free for anyone to use, you can support linguapress.com by sharing with friends and colleagues, or liking us on social media, or buying our acclaimed books for yourself or your school.
© linguapress.com
Copyright
information.