Page 52 - Exercise 2

Page 52 - Exercise 2

The Big Apple

It’s the most famous city in the world.

There are songs about it. It’s in hundreds of films and TV programmes. Think of America and you think of ‘The Big Apple’ New York.

The centre of New York is the island of Manhattan. Today, the island is full of skyscrapers, but 400 years ago, it was the home of the Delaware Indians. The first Europeans to arrive were from the Netherlands. In 1626, a Dutchman, Peter Minuit, bought the island from the Indians for just 24 dollars and built some houses there. He called it New Amsterdam.

However, in 1664, the British took it and they called it New York, because the king’s brother was the Duke of York. Over the next 300 years, New York grew into the largest city in the USA. People from countries like Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland and China came to find a new life there.

There are countless things to do and places to go in New York - museums, art galleries, theatres and nightclubs. Plus thousands of restaurants and shops, including the biggest shop in the world, Macy’s. The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the people of France and it stands on Liberty Island. You can get a ferry to the island and visit the statue.

In the middle of Manhattan is Central Park. Here you can walk, take a boat on the lake, play baseball or just relax away from the noise and the traffic.

Central Park is bigger than two European countries - the Vatican and Monaco.

The Empire State Building is the most famous skyscraper in New York. It was built in 1931, and it was the tallest building in the world for forty years. It has 102 floors, and on a clear day you can see for 120 km from the top.

Times Square is the entertainment centre of New York. It is full of theatres, bars and restaurants.

On New Year’s Eve, New Yorkers come to Times Square to celebrate the New Year.

And why is it called The Big Apple? The name comes from horse-racing. The prize for the winner was often called ‘the apple’. The prizes in New York were always bigger than anywhere else, so in New York you could win ‘the big apple’. Soon it became a nickname for the city itself.