N24 : Twenty-fourth lesson S00-TITLE : A brief history of urban development S01 : One tends to take it for granted that the bulk of the British population are city dwellers. S02 : Historically, however, this is a recent development, and many Britons still have close ties to the countryside. S03 : Only with the rise of manufacturing did people start flocking from rural to urban areas S04 : in search of jobs, higher wages - in short, a better life. S05 : But many of them ended up doing back-breaking work in the "dark satanic mills" of the industrial era. S06 : Back in those dark days, living conditions were appalling, especially for the poor and needy. S07 : People were crowded together without proper shelter, basic amenities or sanitation. S08 : Infectious diseases were rife and spread like wildfire through the teeming slums that blighted Britain's cities. S09 : But gradually, as the general level of affluence increased, those cities became safer and cleaner, acting as magnets for migrants. S10 : The emphasis shifted gradually away from industry to services, defined famously as "things you can't drop on your foot". S11 : In the twentieth century, and particularly during the post-war period, cities mushroomed and started to grow skywards: S12 : Skyscrapers reached unprecedented heights and the cityscape was gradually transformed. S13 : Meanwhile the process of urban sprawl, which was later to engulf most of the country, began to take root. S14 : But as expansion ran out of control, people began to flee to the suburbs, leaving many inner city areas derelict. S15 : We are now in a situation where the majority of the UK population lives in cities. S16 : What of the future? It was industry and cheap energy that spurred urban growth S17 : but what will happen now that fuel is getting dearer by the day? S18 : Will megalopolises like London simply collapse; will we return to the rural communities whence we came? S19 : Some say we need not worry, because if man was ingenious enough to invent the city S20 : he will surely be resourceful enough to ensure that it survives. S21 : Yet, as the old saying goes, an optimist is simply someone who is ill-informed. T00-TRANSLATE : Exercise: Translate T01 : People tend to take basic amenities such as sanitation for granted. T02 : It's a hard job, but I think we've broken the back of it. T03 : You're smoking! What of it? T04 : She was sprawled in an armchair reading the paper when I came in. T05 : Rumours of the president's death spread like wildfire.