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HSK 5 · Advanced

城市化ChéngshìhuàUrbanization

HSK 5 reading practice · 150 words · ~2 min
最近zuìjìn几十jǐshínián越来越yuèláiyuèduōde农村nóngcūnrén离开líkāi家乡jiāxiāngdào城市chéngshì工作gōngzuò生活shēnghuó
In recent decades, more and more people from the countryside have left their hometowns to work and live in big cities.
zhèzhǒng现象xiànxiàng叫做jiàozuò城市化chéngshìhuà正在zhèngzài改变gǎibiàn我们wǒmende社会shèhuì
This phenomenon is called "urbanization," and it is changing our society.
一方面yì fāngmiàn城市chéngshìnéng提供tígōnggèngduōde工作gōngzuò机会jīhuìgènghǎode教育jiàoyù条件tiáojiàn
On the one hand, cities can offer more job opportunities and better educational conditions.
年轻人niánqīngrénzài城市chéngshìgèng容易róngyì实现shíxiàn自己zìjǐde理想lǐxiǎng收入shōurù农村nóngcūngāodeduō
In the city, young people find it easier to realize their dreams, and incomes are much higher than in the countryside.
但是dànshì另一方面lìng yì fāngmiàn城市化chéngshìhuà带来dàiláile不少bù shǎo问题wèntí比如bǐrú交通jiāotōng拥挤yōngjǐ房租fángzūtàiguì环境huánjìng污染wūrǎn
But on the other hand, urbanization has also brought quite a few problems, such as crowded traffic, expensive rent, and environmental pollution.
同时tóngshí农村nóngcūnzhǐ剩下shèngxià老人lǎorén孩子háizi很多hěn duō土地tǔdì没有méiyǒurénzhòng
Meanwhile, only the elderly and children remain in the villages, and much of the land has no one to farm it.
有人yǒurén认为rènwéi应该yīnggāi继续jìxù发展fāzhǎn城市chéngshì有人yǒurén主张zhǔzhānggèngduōde资源zīyuán放到fàngdào农村nóngcūn
Some people think we should keep developing big cities, while others advocate putting more resources into the countryside.
zài看来kànlái城市chéngshì农村nóngcūndōu需要xūyào发展fāzhǎn关键guānjiànshìràng人们rénmen自由zìyóude选择xuǎnzé自己zìjǐde生活shēnghuó方式fāngshì
In my view, both cities and the countryside need to develop; the key is to let people freely choose their own way of life.
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Key words 生词

城市化chéngshìhuàurbanization
现象xiànxiàngphenomenon
拥挤yōngjǐcrowded
污染wūrǎnpollution
主张zhǔzhāngto advocate
资源zīyuánresources

Grammar note 语法点

一方面……另一方面……

'On the one hand... on the other hand' — presents two contrasting sides of an issue, very common in argumentative writing.

一方面,城市能提供更多的工作机会和更好的教育条件。
在我看来

'In my view / as I see it' — introduces the speaker's personal opinion, usually at the start of a concluding sentence.

在我看来,城市和农村都需要发展。
A 比 B + adj + 得多

'A is much more ... than B' — adding 得多 after the adjective intensifies the comparison.

收入也比农村高得多。

Check yourself 小测验

1. 越来越多的农村人到大城市去做什么?
2. 下面哪个是城市化带来的问题?
3. 作者认为关键是什么?
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