Urban life / society
How Cities Change the Way We Think
Listen and choose the option that best captures the speaker’s argument.
What is the speaker’s main argument?
Urban life / society
How Cities Change the Way We Think
Type the missing exact words. Empty answers are ignored.
1. Nora moved from a quiet ___ to a large capital city.
2. At first, she learned to ___.
3. In the city, ___ felt expensive.
4. The second change was ___.
5. The city can divide your mind into many ___.
6. There is also a ___.
7. In a big city, you are surrounded by ___.
8. Cities can also make people more ___.
9. City design affects ___.
10. Better cities can help people become alert, curious, and ___.
Urban life / society
How Cities Change the Way We Think
Put the ideas in order from 1 to 10. Empty items are ignored.
She explains that the city constantly demands attention from many directions.
Nora explains that she used to see a city as simple background around people.
She says city anonymity can create both freedom and impatience.
She ends by asking what kind of thinking better cities should encourage.
After moving to a capital city, she notices that the city is changing how she thinks.
She describes the social effect of being surrounded by strangers.
She argues that city design affects mental habits such as moving, waiting, and noticing.
She first learns to make decisions faster because hesitation feels expensive.
She explains that cities can also make people more open-minded.
She notices that divided attention makes her feel tired even without physical effort.
Urban life / society
🏙️ How Cities Change the Way We Think
B2 Pre-advanced • 1 speaker • Podcast-style monologue
Hi, I’m Nora. I used to think that a city was just a place where people lived close together. Streets, buildings, shops, traffic, parks — all of it seemed like background. But after moving from a quiet coastal town to a large capital city, I began to notice something surprising: the city was not only around me. In small ways, it was changing how I thought. At first, the change was practical. I learned to make decisions faster. In my hometown, I could stand in a shop for five minutes deciding what to buy, and nobody cared. In the city, hesitation felt expensive. People were waiting behind me, buses were arriving, traffic lights were changing, and every choice seemed to happen under pressure. I became quicker, but not always calmer. The second change was attention. A city constantly asks you to notice things: signs, announcements, moving cars, people crossing your path, messages on your phone, the smell of food from a café, a musician at the station. This can be exciting, but it can also divide your mind into many small pieces. I realised that after a day in the city, I often felt tired even when I had not done anything physically difficult. There is also a social effect. In a small town, people often recognise each other, so behaviour feels personal. In a big city, you are surrounded by strangers. That can give you freedom, because nobody cares what you wear or where you are going. But it can also make you less patient. When people become part of the crowd, it is easier to forget that each person has a story. Still, cities do not only make us stressed or impatient. They can also make us more open-minded. You meet different accents, different clothes, different foods, and different ways of living almost every day. Even if you do not talk to everyone, you learn that your way of life is only one of many possible versions. The most important lesson for me is that city design affects mental habits. Wide pavements can make people walk more slowly. Green spaces can help them recover their attention. Good public transport can reduce the feeling that everyone is fighting for space. A city is not just concrete and noise. It is a system that teaches people how to move, wait, choose, notice, and live with others. So when we discuss better cities, we should not only ask whether they are modern or beautiful. We should ask what kind of thinking they encourage. Do they make people rushed, defensive, and disconnected? Or do they give people enough space to be alert, curious, and considerate?