More and more of the world’s population are living in towns or cities. The speed at which cities are growing in the less developed countries is 【B1】______ . Between 1920 and 1960 big cities in developed countries 【B2】______ two and a half times in size, but in other parts of the world the growth was eight times their size.

The 【B3】______ size of growth is bad enough, but there are now also very 【B4】______ signs of trouble in the 【B5】______ of percentages of people living in towns and percentages of people working in industry. During the nineteenth century cities grew as a result of the growth of industry. In Europe the 【B6】______ of people living in cities was always smaller than that of the 【B7】______ working in factories. Now, however, the 【B8】______ is almost always true in the newly industrialised world: 【B9】______ . Without a base of people working in industry, these cities cannot pay for their growth; 【B10】______ There has been little opportunity to build water supplies or other facilities. 【B11】______ , a growth in the number of hopeless and despairing parents and starving children.

【B10】