Pre-Intermediate Reading Exercise

The building company Hong Kong Housing is building a new suburb in Shanghai, a city with a population of more than 15 million people. But this suburb is not like other parts of Shanghai. It is a little piece of England. The name of the new area is "English Town". The manager of Hong Kong Housing, Shi Guangsheng, says many people in this area of China want to buy an English house and live in an English town.

"This town is like Bristol or Chester. There is an English square and there are pigeons to feed like in Trafalgar Square, London. There are four English-style pubs and you can buy English beer to drink. There is a canal and you can row a boat there like in Cambridge."

Are there any cricket fields? "No, there aren't any places to play cricket because nobody in Shanghai can play this game. But there is a football stadium like those in England. And the thing we are very proud of is our shopping street. There are several shops where you can buy traditional English food like fish and chips or Christmas Pudding."

The rich Shanghai businessman can do some gardening too. For with every house in "English Town", there is an English lawn and there are long gardens with ponds and tall hedges.

But there is one problem. The houses in this part of town cost a minimum of $400,000!