• Anonymity: state of being with a name that is unknown or not made public.
• city-dweller: person living in the city
• commuter: person who travels regularly by bus, train or car between one’s place of work and one’s home.
• congestion: state of being too full, overcrowded -> traffic congestion.
• cosmopolitan: containing people from all over the world
• cost of living
• facade: front ( of a building)
• glamorous: full of attracting or exciting quality which sb/sth has and which seems out of reach to others.
• irresistible: too strong/ too delightful or attractive to be resisted
• lure: things that attracts or invites; power of attracting.
• metropolis: chief city of a region or country
• stimulation: making sb/sth more active or alert
• strain: severe demand on one’s mental or physical strength, resources, abilities.
• to breed crime

Most people in developed countries are city – dwellers, many drawn by the irresistible lure of the metropolis. The attractions of the city are many: the cosmopolitan atmosphere (foreign restaurants, different languages, international companies), the stimulation of cultural events or the simple hope of finding work. All too many find, however, that the glamorous facade is false. One can be very alone in the city and the anonymity which at first seems to give freedom and protection later leaves just loneliness. There is a lot to do be everything is expensive. The cost of living is high. There is pollution not only of the physical but also of the moral environment and the various pressure of urban life cause cities to breed crime. Above all, perhaps, it is the daily stresses and strains of the city which make life there a matter of survival rather than of enjoyment. Many a commuter struggling to work through the rush – hour congestion asks, ‘Is it worth it?’