Triumph of the City Reading Answers

Mar 3, 2025

Book Review: Triumph of the City is a generic topic for IELTS Reading Answers. Book Review: Triumph of the City Reading Answers has a total of 13 IELTS questions in total. In the first set of questions (Questions No 1-8), you must only answer all the given statements in ONE WORD. After that, in the remaining questions (Questions 9-13), you must answer all the given statements in TRUE, FALSE, or NOT GIVEN options.

The IELTS Reading Section is an important component of the IELTS exam, designed to examine the candidate's ability to understand and analyze different passages. Engaging in IELTS Reading Practice Tests improves your ability to recognize main ideas, point out specific details, and make accurate inferences from the given passage. These exercises are essential for enhancing your reading skills, becoming familiar with the exam format, and gaining a deeper understanding of its structure.

Check: Get 10 Free IELTS Sample Papers
Check: Register for IELTS Coaching — Join for a Free Trial Class Now

Section 1

Book Review: Triumph of the City Reading Answers

Triumph of the City, by Edward Glaeser, is a thrilling and very readable hymn of praise to an invention so vast and so effective that it is generally taken for granted. More than half the global population already lives in urban areas and, every month, five million more floods into the cities of the developed and developing worlds. The crowds and poverty of some of these modern cities may horrify us. They shouldn't, says Glaeser they are signs of growth, energy, and aspiration. Cities are our best and brightest hope. This idea has had more than two hundred years of resistance. Not long after the Industrial Revolution began in Britain, the Romantic poets turned away from the smoke and factories of their cities to celebrate the air and light of untouched nature. In 19th-century America, the writer Henry David Thoreau retreated to the wilderness of Walden Pond to live the solitary, simple life, and convinced generations of Americans that cities were bad and nature was good.

They had, Glaeser admits, a point. The early industrial cities were dirty, since they lacked efficient waste disposal systems, and disease spread rapidly among the population. But more importantly, they were profitable, and there were enormous commercial incentives to make them work, as well as political ones. Their transformation could be achieved at a stroke: in the second half of the 19th century, the French Emperor Napoleon III gave Baron Haussmann unrestricted power to turn the slum-infested city of Paris into one of the wonders and delights of the modern world. Or the transformation could be done by trial and error.

Glaeser gives a brilliant account of the stop-start progression of New York to its late 20th-century position as the cultural and economic center of the world. Either way, Paris, New York, and other cities developed because they were truly effective markets of ideas and innovation. For these and many other reasons, we should not be so upset by the spectacle of urban poverty. The poor flock to cities in the hope of becoming richer (which, by and large, they do). They also reinvigorate the economy of the city. It is folly to drive them away by forcing property prices to soar with unreasonable planning regulations. Instead, cities should build more houses and thereby hold property prices in check.

It can go wrong, of course. In Glaeser's view, this is primarily because municipal authorities fail to understand the principal virtues of their cities. The heart of Paris, as many Parisians say, is turning into a museum because of the desire to preserve Baron Haussmann's 19th-century boulevards. Glaeser defends their preservation but argues that in the 1950s the French made a mistake in establishing a huge high-rise commercial development.

- La Défense on the outskirts of the city. Far better, he says, to have turned the central area of Montparnasse into a new commercial district. This would have revitalized much of the city center without destroying its fabric. In India, Mumbai could save itself from ever-more inefficient sprawl over the surrounding area simply by relaxing the rules presently imposed on the height of new constructions. In America, it is the suburbs that have proved to be the real disaster. Glaeser is repentant on this subject himself. He moved to the suburbs when he had children. His entirely legitimate excuse is that the government made him (and millions like him) do it. By under-taxing petrol and imposing tight planning restrictions on inner cities that drove up the cost of the property, it made the flight to the suburbs more or less inevitable for the middle classes.

This is a disaster because nothing is more inefficient than a suburb. Suburbanites mingle less and lose the face-to-face contact that makes being an urbanite so much more creative. Moreover, houses are costlier to heat and cool than flats, and suburbanites drive thousands more miles per year than city dwellers. Every aspect of life involves more consumption. This leads to the strongest and newest argument in favor of cities-they are good for the environment. To live in the country or the suburbs is to have a vastly larger carbon footprint than any urbanite.

Full of characters and accessible information, this is a tremendous book, not least because, like me, you will find yourself constantly seeking reasons to disagree. Like the poor in the city, this is a sign of success. If you hate the city and get moist-eyed at the thought of the country then, one way or another, Glaeser is the man you will have to take on.

Section 2 Solution and Explanation

Questions 1-8

Choose ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.

CITIES

Problems with early cities
Dirt
1............ but there were commercials and

Answer: Disease

Supporting statement: “.......The early industrial cities were dirty, since they lacked efficient waste disposal systems, and disease spread rapidly among the population.........”

Keywords: Early, Cities, Dirty, Waste

Keyword Location: para 2, Line 1-3.

Explanation: Early industrial cities were dirty and lacked proper waste disposal systems, allowing diseases to spread rapidly. Despite this, they flourished due to commercial incentives.

2. ............ reasons for improving them

Answer: Commercial

Supporting statement: “.......The early industrial cities were dirty, since they lacked efficient waste disposal systems, and disease spread rapidly among the population. But more importantly, they were profitable, and there were enormous commercial incentives to make them work, as well as political ones........”

Keywords: Disposal, Population, Profitable, Enormous

Keyword Location: para 2, Line 1-4

Explanation: Early cities were dirty due to the lack of waste disposal systems, but they were improved for commercial reasons due to significant economic incentives and profitability.

Urban poverty is not a major problem because poor people.

generally get _____3_____

Answer: Richer

Supporting statement: “.......The poor flock to cities in the hope of becoming richer (which, by and large, they do).........”

Keywords: Poor, Flock, Cities, Hope

Keyword Location: para 3, Line 5-6

Explanation: Urban poverty is not a significant issue, as poor people generally migrate to cities in the hope of improving their financial situation, which they generally achieve.

help to develop the urban _____4______

Answer: Economy

Supporting statement: “.......The poor flock to cities in the hope of becoming richer (which, by and large, they do). They also reinvigorate the economy of the city..........”

Keywords: Richer, Large, Economy, City

Keyword Location: para 3, Line 5-7

Explanation: The passage states that “as poor people flock to cities... they also revitalize the city's economy,” indicating that urban areas grow economically through an influx of people looking for opportunities.

Cities do have some problems — e.g., the center of Paris is becoming a 5............

Answer: Museum

Supporting statement: “.........The heart of Paris, as many Parisians say, is turning into a museum because of the desire to preserve Baron Haussmann's 19th-century boulevards.........”

Keywords: Paris, Museum, Desire, Heart

Keyword Location: para 4, Line 2-4

Explanation: The passage mentions that the heart of Paris is “turning into a museum” due to efforts to preserve Baron Haussmann's 19th-century boulevards, impacting the city's vitality.

high 6........... prices in inner cities

Answer: Property

Supporting statement: “.........It is folly to drive them away by forcing property prices to soar with unreasonable planning regulations. Instead, cities should build more houses and thereby hold property prices in check..........”

Keywords: Folly, Property, Regulations, Prices

Keyword Location: para 3, Line 7-9

Explanation: The text highlights how unfair planning rules lead to rising property prices in inner cities, causing people to move to the suburbs.

Disadvantages of suburb less personal 7............

Answer: Contact

Supporting statement: “.........Suburbanites mingle less and lose the face-to-face contact that makes being an urbanite so much more creative...........”

Keywords: Suburbanites, Contact, Urbanite, Creative

Keyword Location: para 6, Line 1-3

Explanation: The disadvantage of the suburbs is “less personal contact”, as suburban people lose face-to-face interaction, which fosters creativity.

increased _____8_____ of resources such as heating which damages the environment

Answer: Consumption

Supporting statement: “..........Every aspect of life involves more consumption. This leads to the strongest and newest argument in favor of cities-they are good for the environment...........”

Keywords: Consumption, Argument, Strongest, Environment

Keyword Location: para 6, Line 4-6

Explanation: Suburban living requires more heating, cooling, and travel, increasing resource consumption, which harms the environment.

Questions 9-13

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet, write.

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

9. Glasses believes that congestion and poverty in some modern cities indicate serious problems.

Answer: FALSE

Supporting statement: “..........The crowds and poverty of some of these modern cities may horrify us. They shouldn't, says Glaeser they are signs of growth, energy, and aspiration.........”

Keywords: Poverty, Modern, Cities, Growth

Keyword Location: para 1, Line 5-6

Explanation: Glaser argues that overcrowding and poverty in modern cities are signs of growth, energy, and aspiration, not serious problems.

10. The writer Henry David Thoreau discussed the ideas of the Romantic poets in his work.

Answer: FALSE

Supporting statement: “..........In 19th-century America, the writer Henry David Thoreau retreated to the wilderness of Walden Pond to live the solitary, simple life, and convinced generations of Americans that cities were bad and nature was good..........”

Keywords: Henry David, America, generations

Keyword Location: para 1, Line 10-14

Explanation: The passage states that Thoreau “convinced generations of Americans that cities were bad and nature was good,” in contrast to the industrial focus the Romantic poets did not discuss.

11. Emperor Napoleon III was influenced by the complaints of poor people living in Paris

Answer: NOT GIVEN

Explanation: The passage states that Napoleon III gave Haussmann the power to transform Paris, but his motivation regarding the grievances of the poor is not mentioned.

12. Strict planning regulations may be beneficial for a city's development.

Answer: FALSE

Supporting statement: “..........It is folly to drive them away by forcing property prices to soar with unreasonable planning regulations. Instead, cities should build more houses and thereby hold property prices in check...........”

Keywords: Planning, Regulations, Houses, Property

Keyword Location: para 3, Line 7-9

Explanation: Strict planning rules are shown to increase property prices and contribute to efficiency, especially in cities, leading to suburban sprawl.

13. Glasses argues that the location of commercial development at La Défense was a bad idea.

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: “..........Far better, he says, to have turned the central area of Montparnasse into a new commercial district. This would have revitalized much of the city center without destroying its fabric...........”

Keywords: Commercial, District, City Center

Keyword Location: para 5, Line 1-3

Explanation: Glaeser argues that the placement of professional development at La Defense was a mistake. He believes it would have been better to develop the Montparnasse area.

Read More IELTS Reading Related Samples