A2 reading: Moving to the city centre

Sam and Olga lived in a quiet village for six years. Their house had a big garden, and it was near a forest. But they both worked in the city, and every day they spent almost three hours in the car. Last spring they decided to move.

Now they live in a flat in the city centre. It is on the fourth floor of an old building, and there is no lift. "Carrying the shopping upstairs is hard work," Olga says, "but it's free exercise!"

The flat is smaller than their old house, and there is no garden, only a small balcony. Sam grows tomatoes there, and in the evenings they sit on the balcony and watch the people in the street below.

The best thing about the city is that everything is near. Olga walks to work in fifteen minutes, and Sam goes by tram. There are shops, cafés and a cinema in their street. They sold their car, because they don't need it now. When they want to visit friends in the village, they take the train.

But city life has some problems too. It is never really quiet. On Friday and Saturday nights people talk loudly in the street until two or three in the morning. Sam bought earplugs, and now he sleeps well. Olga still wakes up sometimes.

The flat is also expensive. Their rent is two hundred pounds a month more than in the village. But they don't pay for a car or petrol now, so in the end they spend about the same.

"Do we miss the village? Sometimes, yes," Sam says. "We miss the forest and the stars at night. But now we have much more free time. For us, the city is the right place."