(from: www. Business.English.Materials.com)

Thinking of moving to another world capital? A new report compiled by the human resources consultancy Mercer suggests you need to think carefully about how costly it is in other parts of the world. Surprisingly, Mercer ranks Moscow as the world's costliest city, with London a close second.

This is bad news for students wanting to study in the Russian and English capitals. Mercer gathers information on 143 cities around the globe. Its annual survey measures and compares the costs of more than 200 items, including rent, transportation, food, clothes, household goods and entertainment.

This data is invaluable for companies wishing to open offices in far-off lands. A Mercer spokeswoman said: "As companies continue to send employees on expatriate assignments, they must closely monitor changes in the cost of living."

A major theme of the latest survey is how currency movements have changed the rankings of different cities. Mercer stated: "There have been some significant changes in the rankings since last year….These are primarily due to exchange rate fluctuations - in particular the weakening of the U.S. dollar and the strengthening of the euro."

Last year, London was ranked fifth, but due to a weak dollar, it has risen three places. Seoul was the third-placed city, followed by Tokyo and Hong Kong, both down a place from last year. Asuncion was the cheapest city for expats for the fifth year in a row. The world’s most expensive apartments are in Tokyo and the most affordable are in Johannesburg. The dearest fast food is in Copenhagen. Zimbabwe’s Harare dropped off the list this year due to its rates of hyperinflation.

TASKS FOR THE ARTICLE

Ex.1. READING: Read and translate the article.

Ex.2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

Ex.3. LIVING COSTS DISCUSSION: Discuss the living costs in Moscow.

Ex.4. DISCUSSION ON LIVING COSTS IN YOUR TOWN: In pairs / groups, talk about the cost of these things in your town:

Ex.5. PAIR WORK: In pairs / groups, give a score for the items below - what is most important to you about city life? 10 = a must; 1 = no need for it/them

a. _____ safety

b. _____ good public transportation

c. _____ affordable accommodation

d. _____ parks and trees

e. _____ no car zones

f. _____ good refuse collection

g. _____ near an airport

h. _____ sports facilities

Ex.6. SPEAKING ON THE TOPIC “I’M AN EXPAT”: Your partner will choose a new city for you to live in (from another part of the world). Walk around the class and talk to the other “expats” about your cities.

Ex.7. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these phrases or words from the article are most interesting and which are boring.

moving / world capitals / human resources / Moscow / bad news / rent / data / currency / exchange rates / US dollar / expatriates / fast food / hyperinflation

Ex.8. WRITING ON MOSCOW: Spend one minute writing down all the words you associate with Moscow. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

Ex.9. QUICK DEBATE: Students A think living in expensive cities is better than living in the boring, cheap countryside. Students B think the opposite. Change partners often. Share your findings.

Ex.10. TRUE / FALSE: Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).

Ex.11. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

Ex.12. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

Ex.13. GAP FILL: Fill in the gaps using the words on the right.