Adjectives

From the lush green gardens to the grey city streets

© Sjoors Provoost 2008 http://www.flickr.com/photos/provoost/2245209568

© alex-s 2008 http://www.flickr.com/photos/alex-s/2430475962/

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1. Try to describe the pictures above.

2. Have you ever been to Mexico City?

If so, what did you think of it? If not, what do you know about it?

3. Read the article once. What does the writer suggest that tourists do and visit? What is the principal aim of this article? Is it successful in its aim?

The capital of Mexico, very old, the world's largest city, the financial, political and cultural center of Mexico, the

nightlife capital of Mexico, one of the worlds great cities, huge, one of the world's most difficult cities to drive in, filled with exciting things to see and do, sinking, an energetic metropolis or just an incredible place to visit.

Mexico City is definitely all of the above and much, much more. This is truly one of the most interesting and diverse

cities in the world. Mexico City holds many pleasant surprises for those who choose to vacation here. Travelers to Mexico often overlook this city because most of the country's tourism promotion is directed toward Mexican beach

resorts.

Mexico City is the capital and largest city of the nation of Mexico. The 'Distrito Federal' is also commonly just

referred to as the 'D.F.'. It is one of the largest cities in the world and is classed as a megalopolis as it encompasses

one large city that has slowly engulfed other, smaller ones.

It is located in the Valley of Mexico, a large valley in the high plateaus at the center of Mexico, about 2,240 m above

sea-level, surrounded on most sides by volcanoes towering at 4,000 to 5,500 m above sea-level. Mexico City is also among the five most populated metropolitan areas in the world together with

Tokyo, New York City, Seoul and São Paulo.

Mexico City should be on your 'Must Visit' list if you are a fan of world-class museums, archeological treasures, international cuisine, incredible shopping

experiences, stately mansions, colonial neighborhoods, dazzling nightlife, inviting plazas and gardens or great city parks.

Don't let the sheer size of Mexico City scare you, most tourists will most likely

confine their visits to three or four well defined areas of the city and maybe some easy side trips.  Depending on where you stay, many attractions will be

just a short distance away and those that are not so close can be reached fairly easily. Organized tours, taxis, city buses or the modern subway system (during off peak hours) should be considered over attempting to drive in this

city. The traffic here is legendary, and for very good reason. For side trips to the nearby colonial towns or archeological

sites a rental car is fine, as the highways and toll roads surrounding the capital offer pleasant driving conditions.

Mexico City, now  the center of, business, culture and government for the country, was once the center of the entire

Aztec empire. The current Zócalo, or town square, is built on the same spot where once stood Montezuma's palace. Many of the old mansions and public buildings in the area were built hundreds of years ago using the stones from

the Aztec temples that were destroyed by the Spaniards. The Zócalo is Latin America's largest main square at over

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13 acres.  Despite it's size, the zócalo tends to get crowded in the evenings and on weekends. Monuments, parks,

fountains and great tree lined avenues are everywhere you are likely to visit within the city.

Skyscrapers sit beside splendid examples of colonial architecture, archeological sites share space with modern day structures and freeways lead to charming neighborhoods of colonial buildings and peaceful plazas.  Museums are

around just about every corner and the rich heritage of Mexico's colonial past is evident almost everywhere.  

There are many places, within Mexico City, to escape the fast pace of the city and where you will feel like you are in

a different world within a few minutes time.  Paseo de la Reforma, the city's main thoroughfare, will give you an

immediate idea of why Mexico City has been referred to as the 'Manhattan' of Latin America.  This elegant boulevard is lined  with dozens of magnificent monuments including the much-photographed Independence

Monument, which has become the unofficial trademark of Mexico City. Sharing the precious space along Paseo de la Reforma are modern high-rise office buildings, embassies, luxury hotels, colonial mansions, more monuments and

shaded pedestrian promenades.

Chapultepec Park is an enormous green area in the middle of all the hustle and bustle of this fast paced city. This park is the city's largest, covering over 2000 acres, and it contains enough of the city's attractions, including three of

the most important museums, that a short vacation could easily be devoted just to the attractions within the park.

Alameda Park, near the zócalo and Palace of Fine Arts, has been around since 1541, making it the city's oldest park.

The park has also been an Aztec market and was also the site of burnings, hangings and executions in the old days. 

With it's walking paths, numerous fountains and a Moorish kiosk, this park is full of, old style, traditional charm.  This refreshing oasis is a great place to rest or relax and enjoy some green space for a while, if you are walking near the

historic center.  There are also a couple of monuments here that are, themselves, worthy of a visit. On weekends there are often salsa or rock bands playing, an excellent Sunday puppet theatre for the kids is often active around

noon. Many interesting colonial style buildings and museums surround this park.

The neighborhoods, or colonias, of Centro Histórico, Zona Rosa, Polanco, Roma, Condesa and Lomas de Chapultepec are all fairly close to each other and also to Paseo de la Reforma. These are the principal areas in the central part of

the city that are most popular with tourists.  In the southern part of the city the suburbs of San Angel and Coyoacan along with the Floating gardens of Xochimilco are places you should definitely visit during your stay.

Mexico City is a great vacation destination for the entire family. There is something interesting and entertaining for

everyone.

For those seeking a taste of authentic Mexican culture there is more than enough to keep you occupied for the

entire length of your vacation. A vacation here, combined with a couple of short side trips should be just enough to make you wonder when you are going to return and why you haven't visited before. 

4. Read the article again and underline the adjectives that are used to describe the city or aspects of the city. Then, group them into three categories:

a) adjectives that give a ‘positive’ sensation e.g. energeticb) adjectives that give a ‘negative’ sensation, e.g. crowdedc) adjectives that are ‘neutral’ (descriptive adjectives), e.g. archaeological.

What kind of adjectives are used the most? How does this affect the impact of the article?

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5. You are going to write a guidebook article of around 500 words about your favourite holiday destination. Use different paragraphs to deal with:

a. the destination’s different characteristics

a. the different areas or districts

b. different activities a visitor might enjoy.

Make notes and look up vocabulary for each paragraph before you start writing. Include the following information:

✓ Why is this your favourite destination?  

✓ What surprised and interested you the most about this destination?

✓ How easy is travelling to the country and travelling around within the country?

✓ What are the scenery/buildings/landscape like?

✓ What, if anything, did you dislike about the destination?

✓ Did you find anything shocking or frightening, and why?

✓ How does the country’s social and political structure affect a visitor’s experience there?

✓ Would you travel again to this destination in the future?

Try to make the text enjoyable by using positive adjectives.

6. Look at the positive adjectives from the article, listed below. Write down as many opposites as you can think of for each adjective. Two examples have been done for you. Remember that there is often no true opposite, but that you can find words to express contrasting feelings or impressions, e.g. green/grey: the elegant green gardens; the shabby, grey city streets.

Positive Negative opposite

great

exciting

energetic

incredible

most interesting most boring

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Positive Negative opposite

diverse

pleasant

world-class

stately

dazzling

inviting uninviting

legendary

stunning

modern

pleasant

tree-lined

splendid

charming

rich

elegant

magnificent

much-photographed

luxurious

shaded

enormous

green

largest

most important

fast-paced

7. Now try to change the negative adjectives into positive ones.

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Positive Negative opposite

huge

most difficult

crowded

fast-paced

8. The paragraph on the next page describes Middlesbrough, a city in the north east of England. Read it and highlight the adjectives. Which are opposites for the ones above?

Never, ever visit Middlesbrough. This sprawling, grey industrial city in north east England has nothing to offer either the tourist or the resident. The charmless streets are crammed with budget shops selling worthless rubbish at discount prices to the down-at-heel, depressed residents who inhabit the run-down slums of this grim, northern town. At night, obese drunkards meet in the wind-whipped, rain-drenched town square, less a square than the void left by a disorganised muddle of hideous modern concrete blocks of haphazard sizes, while empty discothèques play monotonous out-of-date music. The ugly, shaven-headed, doorman stares into the night with lifeless eyes. The bars, too, are extremely uninviting. On Thursday nights, awful guitar bands of insignificant small-town nobodies strike crashing, repetitive chords to an uncoordinated drum beat, while apathetic leather-jacketed locals drink colourless beer and stand around, unimpressed. There are no parks or green spaces in this urban labyrinth of shabby guest houses, faded hotels, and noisy, dangerous traffic. The little-known Transporter Bridge is probably the city’s only landmark, and is a disappointment to even the most enthusiastic sightseer, an antiquated hulk blocking out the sunless sky. It is of local interest only, an insignificant rusty reminder of the city’s industrial past, a few-minutes distraction from the humdrum routine of this tedious, poor, parochial town.

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9. Now think about the worst place you have ever been to. If necessary, invent a terrible place from your imagination. Describe it as colourfully as possible.

Teacher’s notes

4.

a (+) the largest, great, exciting, energetic, incredible, most interesting, diverse, pleasant, world-class, stately, dazzling, inviting, stunning, modern, splendid, charming, peaceful, rich, elegant, magnificent, much-photographed, precious, luxury, shaded, enormous, most important, refreshing, green, worthy, excellent, most popular, authentic, entertaining.

b (-) huge, most difficult, sheer, easy, crowded, legendary, fast paced.

c  (=) old, financial, political, cultural, archeological, international, colonial, well-defined, revolving, public, Aztec, different, unofficial, high-rise, pedestrian, old style, traditional, historic, principal, central.

6. Suggested answers:

Positive Negative opposite

great little, small, minor, modest, bad

exciting boring, lame, dull

energetic unenergetic, inert, lifeless

incredible uninspiring, tawdry

most interesting most boring, unremarkable, conventional

diverse uniform, monotonous, tedious

pleasant unpleasant, disagreeable, irksome

world-class worst, minor

stately modest, wretched, stark

dazzling dull, dark, dim

inviting off-putting, unappealing, unattractive

legendary unknown, anonymous

stunning ordinary, trivial, usual

modern out of date, old-fashioned

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Positive Negative opposite

tree-lined treeless

splendid modest, awful, plain

charming repulsive, hideous, charmless

rich poor, plain, austere,

elegant gauche, inelegant, graceless

magnificent uninspiring, tawdry, dreary

much-photographed little-photographed, unpopular, unperceived

luxurious poor, austere, spartan

shaded sunny, bright, shadeless

enormous tiny, minuscule, diminutive

green grey, black

largest smallest, modest

most important most irrelevant, most trivial, most inessential

7. Suggested answers:

Positive Negative opposite

tiny, handy huge

easiest, simplest, most uncomplicated most difficult

empty, clear crowded

slow-paced, quiet, peaceful fast-paced

8. sprawling, grey, industrial, charmless, crammed, budget, worthless, down-at-heel, depressed, run-down, grim, obese, wind-whipped, rain-drenched, disorganised, hideous, modern, haphazard, empty monotonous, out-of-date, ugly, shaven-headed, lifeless, uninviting, awful guitar, insignificant, small-town, crashing, repetitive, uncoordinated, apathetic, leather-jacketed, colourless, unimpressed, green, urban, shabby, faded, noisy, dangerous, little-known, most enthusiastic, antiquated, sunless, local, insignificant, rusty, industrial, few-minute, humdrum, tedious, poor, parochial.

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