IELTS Reading Practice: Green Spaces in Cities
IELTS · ReadingA passage on parks, stress and city planning, with True / False / Not Given questions.
1Read the text
As more people move into cities, planners are paying fresh attention to a simple question: what do parks and gardens do for the people who live beside them? For a long time, urban green space was treated as a pleasant extra, something to be added once roads, housing and shops had been planned. A growing body of research now suggests that it deserves a more central place in city design.
Several studies have linked time spent in green space with lower stress. In some small experiments, volunteers who walked in a park showed lower signs of stress afterwards than volunteers who walked along a busy shopping street. Researchers are careful to note that such experiments are short, and they cannot show that parks improve long-term health on their own.
Green space also appears to shape how neighbours behave. Where a park is well kept and has places to sit, people are more likely to stop and talk, and children are more likely to play outside. Planners add, however, that a park only works this way if residents feel safe using it. Poor lighting or a lack of maintenance can leave an expensive park almost empty.
Cost is the usual objection. Land in a city centre is valuable, and a park earns no rent. Supporters reply that trees and grass absorb rainwater and cool the surrounding streets during hot weather, which can reduce the money a city spends on drainage and on emergency health care. Critics accept the benefits but argue that cities should compare each new park with other uses of the same land, instead of treating every project as automatically worthwhile.
2True, false or not given Tap an answer. You see why straight away.
1. Urban green space used to be thought of as something to add after the essential buildings had been planned.
2. The experiments described prove that parks improve people’s long-term health.
3. Children are more likely to play outside where a park is well kept and has places to sit.
4. Trees and grass make the surrounding streets hotter in summer.
5. Most city residents live within ten minutes’ walk of a park.
6. Cities with more parks have less crime.
Done. Your first lesson is on its way.
Answer key — IELTS Reading Practice: Green Spaces in Cities
- TRUE — The passage says green space "was treated as a pleasant extra, something to be added once roads, housing and shops had been planned."
- FALSE — The passage says such experiments "cannot show that parks improve long-term health on their own."
- TRUE — The passage says that where a park is well kept and has places to sit, "children are more likely to play outside."
- FALSE — The passage says trees and grass "cool the surrounding streets during hot weather", the opposite.
- NOT GIVEN — The passage never says how far residents live from a park, so this cannot be confirmed or rejected.
- NOT GIVEN — The passage mentions that residents must feel safe using a park, but it makes no claim about crime levels in cities with more parks.