The Price of Vice readingHow expensive is your city for beer, cigarettes, cinema tickets, hotels, etc.? Which do you think is the most expensive city in the world for these types of things?

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Read the first part of the article and check your ideas.B

The TelegraphThe price of vice: where to buy the cheapest pint of beer

Australia is the worlds most expensive country to have fun in, according to a new report from Deutsche Bank that examined the cost of various items - from a pint of beer to an iPhone 6 - but the cost of individual items varies widely

from country to country. Heres where to get the best value for your money. The charts show the five most and five least expensive places to buy each item. Where London is not in either category, the price has been included for comparative

purposes.

April 2015

Are you surprised that Australia is so expensive? How much is a pint of beer or an iPhone 6 where you live?

b

Try to match the words from the article on the left to the correct definitions on the right.V1 pricier ___ exercise session

2 set one back ___ increases

3 afford ___ more expensive

4 rank ___ cost

5 workout ___ have enough money (to buy something)

6 rises ___ appear in an ordered sequence

Discuss these questions and then read the first part of the article to check your ideas. All prices are in US dollars.

B

1 How much is a pint of beer in London?

2 Which of these places has the most expensive pint of beer: Wellington, New York City,

workout

Singapore, Paris?

3 Kuala Lumpur is the cheapest city in the world to stay in a five star hotel. How much do you think it costs?

4 Which city has the most expensive hotel rooms in the world?

5 How much does a 2-litre bottle of Coca-Cola cost in Australia?

6 Which is the cheapest city to buy a bottle of Coca-Cola in?

7 How much do a pair of Levi 501s cost in London?

8 Do you think Levis are expensive in Toronto and Boston?

A pint of beerThere are actually four places in

the world with pricier beer than Londons $6.30 for a pint.

Just ahead of the UK capital is Wellington followed by New

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York City and Singapore. The worst is Paris, where a pint costs $7.60. However, if you find yourself in South Africa, you can get a pint for under $2.

A five star hotel roomKuala Lumpur is the cheapest city in the world to stay in a five star hotel. At just $77.50 per night, a Queen or King sized room in the Malaysian capital costs half as much as the second cheapest option, Wellington in New Zealand, where a five star room will set a traveller back $157.30. London has the second priciest luxury hotels, at $608.20 a night.

Those prepared to spend $880.40 on a nights sleep could

even afford to travel to Sydney.

A 2-litre bottle of Coca-ColaAt $2.76, a large bottle of Coke in London is the third priciest in the world. Only Sydney and Zurich beat London on this front, with the average cost of a large bottle of the drink in the Australian capital costing $3.36. A bottle of Cola in London is more than twice as expensive as two litres of Coke in Mumbai, the worlds cheapest city for Coke lovers.

A pair of Levi 501sIf you love fashion, India is the place. A pair of the classic jeans, pictured here in the 1985 launderette advert featuring

Nick Kamen, costs just under $95 in London. In India, Levi 501s can be bought for as little as $34, but the cost is more than three times that in Shanghai. Toronto and Boston are also among the cheapest place to get a pair of the iconic trousers, while Paris, Singapore, Auckland and Frankfurt are costlier than London.

How much do these items cost in your country? Have you visited any of the places mentioned? If so, did these things seem expensive?

b

The price of a pint of beer The price of a five star hotel room

The price of a 2-litre bottle of Coca-Cola The price of a pair of Levi 501 jeans

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An iPhone 6Waiting for your next trip to the United States to buy your newest Apple product could be a good move, as the US is the cheapest country in the world to buy an iPhone 6 ($650).

Canada isnt far behind, where an iPhone costs just $13.50 more than in the US. The smartphone costs around $800 in the UK, and a staggering $1,254 in Brazil. Thats almost twice as much as the newest iPhones price in its home country. Shopping in Russia will set you back $932.40 per iPhone 6, and Indonesia, China and India complete the priciest five.

A cinema ticketAt $17.06 each, London is the third most expensive city in the world to go to the cinema.

Only Tokyo and Zurich are pricier cities for film lovers. Melbourne and New York prices rank just below Londons, but are several dollars less expensive. Good news for Bollywood fans, though: seeing a movie in Mumbai or Jakarta costs less than a quarter of Londons price.

A monthly gym membershipExercise addicts can get the cheapest workout in South Africa, with both Cape Town and Johannesburg making the bottom three. The Indian cities of Bangalore and New Delhi,

along with Berlin, complete the cheapest five cities for gyms. The cost of a monthly gym membership costs around $83 in London, but rises above the $100 in New York City and Moscow. The average price in Zurich is a massive $122.30 a month.

A pack of cigarettesTravellers who like a cigarette or two would do well to avoid Australia, where a pack of Marlboros costs $16.92 in Sydney and $18.45 in Melbourne. New Zealands Auckland and Wellington are similarly pricey. Cigarettes in Jakarta, Moscow and Manila cost just $1.35 - around a tenth of the price of Londons $13.35. Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo are also incredibly cheap at just over $2 a packet.

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Discuss the following statements and decide which are true. Then read the final part of the article to check your ideas.B

Canada is the cheapest place in the world to buy an iPhone 6.An iPhone 6 costs $1,254 in Brazil.Only Tokyo and Zurich are more expensive than London for cinema tickets.Cinema tickets in Mumbai and Jakarta are half the price of those in London.The cheapest place in the world for gym membership is Berlin.The average price in Zurich for gym membership is $122.30 a month.Marlboro cigarettes are more expensive in London than Australia.In Brazil, a pack of Marlboros costs $10.

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The Price of Vice reading

2 You can make a negative comparison using: not as + adjective/adverb + as. Add an adjective or adverb to complete this example: New York is not as ____________ as Milan.

3 You can use almost, just, nearly, quite, half/quarter, etc., more than twice/three times, etc. in front of as + as. Add one of the words above and an adjective or adverb to complete this example: Apple is _________________ as ____________________ as Samsung.

4 In a negative comparison, you can use not nearly or not quite before as + as. Add one of these phrases and an adjective or adverb to complete this example: Microsoft is ______________ as ____________________ as Apple.

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Write sentences about the information in the charts.

e.g. Beijing is twice as expensive as New Delhi for five star hotel rooms.

1 I like to go for a _______________ after work. I find the exercise relaxes me.

2 Our products are a little _____________ than other companies, but the quality is better.

3 As sales have been good we can _______________ a new photocopier.

4 My company _______________ number one for customer service in my country.

5 The cost of electricity usually _______________ every year.

6 My new car _______________ me _______________ over 10,000.

Use the words from the pre-reading task in the correct form to complete these sentences:V

E Look at these extracts from the article:

The TelegraphA bottle of Cola in London is more than twice as expensive as two litres of Coke in Mumbai ...Thats almost twice as much as the newest iPhones price in its home country.

April 2015

1 You use as + as to compare people or things that are similar in some way. You use: as + adjective/adverb + as + a noun or clause.Add an adjective or adverb to complete this example: London is as ______________ as Paris.

How do the prices of these things compare to prices in your country? Why do you think that an iPhone costs twice as much in Brazil as America? How much has the cost of a cinema ticket changed in your country in the last five years? Moscow is the second most expensive for gym membership, but second cheapest for Marlboro cigarettes how do you explain this?

b

V

The Price of Vicelow-intermediate+ (A2+)

week of 27.04.15

reading

student pages 4Teachers notes 1

Try to match the words from the article on the left to the correct definitions on the right.V1 pricier 5 exercise session2 set one back 6 increases3 afford 1 more expensive4 rank 2 cost5 workout 3 have enough money (to buy something)6 rises 4 appear in an ordered sequence

Discuss the following statements and decide which are true. Then read the final part of the article to check your ideas.B

Canada is the cheapest place to buy an iPhone 6.An iPhone 6 costs $1,254 in Brazil.Only Tokyo and Zurich are more expensive than London for cinema tickets.Cinema tickets in Mumbai and Jakarta are half the price of those in London.The cheapest place in the world for gym membership is Berlin.The average price in Zurich for gym membership is $122.30 a month.Marlboro cigarettes are more expensive in London than Australia.In Brazil, a pack of Marlboros costs $10.

1 workout2 pricier3 afford4 ranks5 rises6 set / back

Use the words from the pre-reading task in the correct form to complete these sentences:V