In an effort to escape from their hectic and (0) materialistic MATERIALISM
city lives, more and more Northern Europeans are
buying houses in rural areas of France, Spain, Italy and
Greece. Some relocate permanently in search of a more
(1) ………… existence. Those who cannot afford to give MEANING
up their jobs seek a (2) …………. respite from their THERAPY
(3) ………….. lifestyle by relaxing for a few weeks STRESS
each year in their second home in the sun.
However, many of those who relocate permanently find
that life in the country is not as quiet and (4) …………… EVENT
as they had anticipated. Aspects of village life which seemed
delightfully (5) …………. in the context of a two-week ATMOSPHERE
holiday can grate on the nerves when you live with
them on a daily basis. Recently a group of British
residents in an Italian village took local farmers to court
because they found the smell of the villagers’ pigs
(6) ……….. In other cases, foreigners have complained DISTASTE
to neighbours about the (7) ………….. early-morning ENTHUSIASM
crowing of their cockerels, or to village priests about the
regular tolling of church bells.
Understandably, the local inhabitants are somewhat
(8) …………… of these attitudes. They argue that RESENT
the foreigners have an (9) …………. view of what REALIST
country life is like and that, since no-one forced
them to come and live in a village, they are being
(10) …………… by now complaining about the HYPOCRITE
inconveniences of rural life.