The race to dive to the deepest place in the ocean

Four teams of explorers are separately trying to reach the deepest part of the ocean. The Mariana Trench is a deep and long hole in the Pacific Ocean floor between Japan and Australia. At nearly seven miles deep, it could fit the whole of Mount Everest in to it.

No-one has been to the bottom since 1951, but now four exploration teams are trying to do just that. So who are they and why are they doing it?

The Triton Sub
This US based company have built a three man yellow submarine, which they say will take 120 minutes to reach the ocean floor. They want to offer trips to members of public, charging each person £159,000 for a ride!

Virgin Sub
If successful, this one man machine would become the first ever solo vessel to make it into the Mariana Trench. Fitted with wings and a tail fin, its design is based on that of a plane.

Doer Sub
The team behind this sub say it's not about coming first in a race but creating something that will benefit science. It has robotic arms that will collect scientific samples and it should take 90 minutes to get to the bottom.

The Mystery Sub
The final sub is being backed by the Hollywood film director James Cameron. The man behind films like Titanic and Avatar is keeping his plans a secret at the moment but wants to pilot the sub himself.

Match the words below to their definitions

benefit / director / explorers / robotic / solo / trench

a narrow, deep hole in the earth
people who travel to places where no one has ever been in order to find out what is there
alone and without other people
helpful or good effect, or something intended to help
describes a machine that performs jobs automatically
person who is in charge of a film or play and tells the actors how to play their parts

True or false?

1. The Mariana trench has never been visited before.
2. The Triton submarine is being built to make money.
3. The Virgin submarine will have a single pilot.
4. The Doer submarine is designed for scientific research.
5. The Triton submarine will descend more quickly than the Doer submarine.
6. The Mariana trench is bigger than Mount Everest.
7. The Virgin submarine can also fly.
8. James Cameron has revealed his submarine’s design.


What is the missing word?

1. Fitted with wings and a tail fin, its_____________is based on that of a plane.
2. They want to offer trips to_____________of the public.
3. The final sub is being_____________by the Hollywood film director James Cameron.
4. It should take 90 minutes to get to the_______________.



KEY

trench a narrow, deep hole in the earth
explorers people who travel to places where no one has ever been in order to find out what is there
solo alone and without other people
benefit helpful or good effect, or something intended to help
robotic describes a machine that performs jobs automatically
director person who is in charge of a film or play and tells the actors how to play their parts


True or false?

1. False
2. True
3. True
4. True
5. False
6. True
7. False
8. False

Same or different?

1. design
2. members
3. backed
4. bottom

Megaupload Boss Pleads Innocence

Key
Question 1

a. True. “Kim Dotcom, aka Kim Schmitz, told a New Zealand court that authorities were doing their best to portray him as a dangerous criminal.”
b. True. “Kim Dotcom is a German national who now lives in a huge mansion amid sprawling grounds in New Zealand.”
c. False. “The Wikipedia website had earlier gone offline for 24 hours in protest at the proposed legislation, called the Stop Online Piracy Act, and the Protect Intellectual Property Act.”
d. False. “Police had to cut Dotcom out of a hidden room he had locked himself in. “

Question 2

a. He has been accused of copyright theft and money laundering. Dotcom has made it possible for people to download copyrighted films and music and has made a lot of money out of it.
b. They are discussing one law to prevent piracy on the net and another law to protect
intellectual property rights.


Question 3

a. content
b. proposed / to propose
c. confiscated / to confiscate

Question 4

a. Dotcom had to be cut out of a hidden room where ha had locked himself in by the police.
b. Paul Davidson said that Mr. Dotcom emphatically denied any wrongdoing . His client simply offered an online storage service.
c. If Dotcom didn’t abuse intellectual copyright, the authorities in the USA wouldn’t want to extradite him.

Test tube hamburgers to be served this year

KEY

Question 1

a) True.” But researchers expect that after producing their first patty they will be able to scale up the process to create affordable artificial meat products.“
b) True.“ the growing global demand for meat - forecast to double within the next 40 years.”
c) False.” it is possible to extract a limited number of stem cells from cows without killing them.“
d) True. “my vision is that you have a limited herd of donor animals in the world that you keep in stock.“

Question 2

a) The main problem they have at the moment is that producing this type of meet at a lab involves a complicated process that requires a lot of money.
b) Researchers believe this meat will help cope with the increasing demand of meat in the future. They also think that this process will be less damaging to the environment than the current way of producing meat.

Question 3

a) (to) scale up
b) Replicate/replicated
c) demand

Question 4

a) He said that eventually his vision was that you had a limited herd of donor animals in the world that you kept in stock and that you got your cells form there."
b) The growing global demand for meat could be satisfied by this process.
c) If there were not good websites, people wouldn’t find it easier/ so easy to study English.

University appoints world's youngest professor

Key

Question 1
a) True. Korea's Konkuk University has announced that Ms Sabur, 19, will begin teaching physics next month at the Department of Advanced Technology Fusion. The appointment, which was made a few days short of her 19th birthday on 22 February
b) False. She plays Mozart, but loves U2. "I went to their Vertigo concert," she says on the phone from New York. "It was awesome."
c) False. Ms Sabur, a PhD candidate in materials science and engineering, is developing spectroscopy techniques "including nano-tube-based cellular probes" that could be used to zap tumours – a cure for cancer, in other words.
d) True. The Guinness announcement has sparked a deluge of e-mails from curious parents. "They want advice for their kids.

Question 2
a) Colin Maclaurin was a young Scotsman and taught maths at Aberdeen University from 1717.
b) Alia says that as a child, she was curious and that when she was little, her parents supported her in her dreams. She believes that her talent plus her surroundings contributed to her success.

Question 3
a) exploits b) (to) zap c) (to) spark/ sparked

Question 4
a) The announcement did not surprise very many people who knew Alia.
b) Alia said that her parents had encouraged her in anything she wanted to do and that they believed it was a gift from God.
c) Scottish mathematician Colin Maclaurin has been the world’s youngest professor for three centuries.

Scientists design space food menu for Mars missions

Ever wondered what astronauts eat while they're in space? Well at the moment, it's all pretty nasty and very boring.

But now scientists from Cornell and Hawaii universities in the US are planning to spice up the menu in preparation for possible future missions to Mars. They're looking for volunteers to spend 120 days living on space food and to come up with some exciting new recipes and cooking tips.

The volunteers will experience what life is like for real astronauts by living inside a fake space capsule and wearing space suits. They'll record how long it takes to prepare the food, how good it tastes and how their choices change over time.

But making space food is trickier than you'd think. It has to be high in nutrition, easy to eat in micro-gravity and would also need to last the 3-5 years needed to make it to Mars and back.

Eating well in space is really important because astronauts' bodies are under a lot of pressure. They need a good variety of food to keep their energy up and keep them in a good mood while away from home.

Match the words below to their definitions

capsule / experience / gravity / in preparation / recipes / tips / volunteers

describes something you do in order to be ready to do something else
people who do something willingly without being told to do it
instructions telling you how to prepare and cook food
get knowledge from doing, seeing or feeling something
the part of a spacecraft in which the people on it live
the force that makes things fall to the ground
useful pieces of information

True or false?

1. It will take three years to travel to Mars and back.
2. The volunteers will travel to Mars.
3. Astronauts’ food is tasty today.
4. It is not easy to design food for space.
5. Space travel places a strain on astronauts’ bodies.
6. Missions to Mars will take 120 days.
7. The volunteers will come up with new ways to cook space food.
8. The volunteers must be astronauts.

Same or different?

1. fake
a)the same as unusual
b)the same as real
c)the same as false

2. variety
a)the same as assortment
b)the same as alternative
c)the same as quality

3. reckord
a)the same as describe
b)the same as document
c)the same as talk about

4. nutrition
a)the same as starvation
b)the same as refreshment
c)the same as nourishment



KEY

in preparation describes something you do in order to be ready to do something else
volunteers people who do something willingly without being told to do it
recipes instructions telling you how to prepare and cook food
experience get knowledge from doing, seeing or feeling something
capsule the part of a spacecraft in which the people on it live
gravity the force that makes things fall to the ground
tips useful pieces of information


True or false?

1. True
2. False
3. False
4. True
5. True
6. False
7. True
8. False

Same or different?

1. false
2. assortment
3. document
4. nourishment

Man enters US without passport - thanks to his iPad

Martin Reisch was a half hour from the border when he decided to try to gain entry rather than turn back and make a two-hour trek back home to Montreal to fetch his passport. He told the officer he was heading to the US to drop off Christmas gifts for his friend's kids. He said that the scanned passport and his driver's licence helped him get through last week.

He said the officer seemed mildly annoyed when he handed him the iPad. "I thought I'd at least give it a try," Mr Reisch said. "He took the iPad into the border hut. He was in there a five or six minutes. It seemed like an eternity. When he came back he took a good long pause before wishing me a Merry Christmas."

Mr Reisch said the officer made an exception. Canadians began needing more than a driver's licence for identification for US land border crossings in 2009. US Customs and Border Protection says it only accepts a passport, an enhanced driver's licence or a Nexus pass from Canadian citizens entering at land crossings. The list doesn't mention facsimiles, like scans and photocopies.

Mr Reisch, 33, said he took a scanned photo of his passport years ago in case it was over lost or stolen while travelling. He said he also successfully used the passport on his iPad to get through Canadian Customs on the way home later that day. He said he will bring his passport next time. But he hopes border officials will eventually make digital identification an official form of travel document. He noted that many airlines now accept digital boarding passes stored on smartphones. "I see the future as 100 percent being able to cross with your identity on a digital device - it's just a matter of time," he said.

Question 1 [2 points] Indicate whether the following statements are true or false and write down which part of the text justifies your answer.
a) Mr Reisch did not realise that he had forgotten his passport until he arrived at the US border.
b) The US Immigration Official accepted the passport on Mr Reisch’s iPad immediately.
c) Mr Reisch scanned his passport 33 years ago.
d) Mr Reisch did not stay the night in the USA.

Question 2 [2 points] Answer the following questions in your own words.
a) Why was Mr Reisch travelling to the USA?
b) How does Martin Reisch hope that personal identification will work in the future?

Question 3 [1.5 points] Find words or phrases in the text that correspond in meaning to the words and definitions given.

a) a long and difficult journey (paragraph 1)
b) a small, simple building (paragraph 2)
c) an object or machine invented for a particular purpose (paragraph 4)

Question 4 [1.5 points] Complete the following sentences without changing the meaning.
a) The US immigration officer accepted the scan of Mr Reisch’s passport so he did not have to go back to fetch his passport.
If the US immigration officer ….b) US Customs and Border Protection says it only accepted a passport, an enhanced driver's licence or a Nexus pass from Canadian citizens who entered at land crossings. The list did not mention facsimiles, like scans and photocopies.
US Customs and Border Protection said: “We .............................c) Canadians began needing more than a driver's licence for identification for US land border crossings in 2009.
Since 2009, Canadians …
Question 5 Write a short essay (between120-150 words) on the following topic:“Travelling around the world has become so much easier”. Do you agree?

School grades hit by lack of routine

Research for the Prince's Trust suggests young people with poor exam grades are twice as likely to claim their days lacked structure as they grew up. In an online survey, 2,136 respondents aged between 16 and 25 were asked how happy and confident they are in different areas of their life. The responses were converted to a numerical scale, resulting in a number out of 100 – with 100 representing entirely happy or confident and zero being not at all happy or confident. Young people’s happiness has fallen to its lowest number of 70 in 2010 and their confidence has also fallen - from an overall score of 74 in 2008 to 71 in 2010.

Some 14% of all young people said they had grown up without set mealtimes, compared with 30% of young people with poor exam grades. The research also suggests that 27% of youngsters did not grow up with a set bedtime. This rose to 39% for those who left school with fewer than five good GCSEs.

The data comes from the charity's latest annual Youth Index, which looks at how young people feel about their lives across a range of areas from family life to physical health. It also suggested those who felt they "lacked structure and direction" while growing up also appeared to be less content and confident than their peers. One in three of those with lower qualifications (33%) said they "always" or "often" felt rejected, compared with about one in five young people (22%) overall.

Princes Trust chief executive Martina Milburn said: "The absence of structure and routine in a young life can have a devastating impact. "Without the right support, directionless teenagers can become lost young adults - unconfident, underqualified and unemployed."

Comments from readers of this article

I am a primary school teacher in an Inner City area. A large proportion of children have no breakfast before school, some even arrive not having had a drink. The same group of children look exhausted and quite often go to bed far later than I do. Unsurprisingly, these children don’t do so well. Yet the govt still expects these children to do as well as those in wealthier, more structured households!

What surprises me, is that this information should even be considered as a surprise to anyone. Of course children who have a well structured routine will do better in school. The presence of a routine denotes a stable family environment, which in turn lends itself to times set aside for homework, exam revision and education in general. A link between the two is hardly a groundbreaking discovery.

What is YOUR reaction to this survey and its results?

Do YOU have set mealtimes and bedtime?
Question 1. Indicate whether these sentences are true or false. Justify your answers with evidence from the text.
a) Only teenagers took part in the study.
b) Young people nowadays are not as happy as they were before.
c) The questions in the survey only asked about school.
d) Martina Milburn disagrees with the results of the survey.

Question 2. Answer the following questions in your own words.
a) What are the consequences of a lack of routine in young people’s lives?
b) How was the survey conducted?

Question 3. Find a word or a phrase in the text that means the same as:
a) total (par. 1) b) figures, information (par.3) c) effect (par.4)

Question 4. Rewrite the following sentences without changing the meaning.
a) Young people with poor exam grades are twice as likely to claim their days lacked structure as they grew up.
If young people’s days .....................................................................................
b) 14% of all young people said they had grown up without set mealtimes, whereas 30% of young people with poor exam grades answered that they had not eaten at regular times.
14% of young people said “I .................................................,” whereas 30% of those with poor exam grades answered “........................................”
c) First, 2,136 people between 16 and 25 were asked how happy and confident they were, then the responses were converted to a numerical scale.
After ................................................. , the researchers ……………..

Question 5. Write a short essay (120-150 words) on the following topic:Having a regular daily routine is important for success.” What do you think?

Barcelona's pool with a view

You'll find the world’s best swimming pool high on Montjuïc hill, above the beautiful city of Barcelona. Best of all, it's open to everyone, for the piddling price of around £4. To get the full flavour of this awesome outdoor pool, I join professional diver and Barcelona native José Murillo for a tour of the place he calls his "office".

"Every morning I look forward to going to work," he says, as we take a cab from the city along a picturesque route up to Montjuïc hill. "How many people can say that?" This is a special commute, with our taxi whizzing past Gaudi's famous Sagrada Família church, arguably the planet's most impressive incomplete structure. When we arrive, the pool looks perfect. Calm, blue and glittering in the morning sun. We are here as part of the Expedia.co.uk's People-Shaped Travel video series, which reveals unique experiences in cities around the world.

Originally built in 1929, the pool came to international prominence when it hosted diving and water polo events at the 1992 summer Olympics. Since then, its panoramic view of Barcelona has provided the backdrop for a Kylie Minogue video and will host the diving events at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships.

" The view is to die for. It takes my breath away every time," says José. José's view, to be fair, is better than most, as he surveys the city from the pool's highest diving board. While only the most fearless of visitors will experience José's unique view of this stunning space, anyone who spends an afternoon here will agree that there is plenty of satisfaction to be found in simply lounging around the world's most spectacular swimming pool.

1 Match the highlighted words from the text to the correct definition:

1. a daily journey to or from work
2. look at
3. not afraid, brave
4. a taxi
5. hold, organise
6. bright, shining
7. small
8. spend time relaxing
9. setting, background
10. extremely impressive


2 Match the two halves of each sentence.
1. It costs about £4
2. José Murillo
3. The route to the pool
4. The Sagrada Familia.
5. This video of Barcelona
6. The Montjuic pool
7. Only a few people

a. will have the opportunity to see Barcelona like José does.
b. became internationally famous during the Olympic Games in Barcelona.
c. to get into the swimming pool.
d. takes you past the Sagrada Familia.
e. has still not been completely built.
f. is one of a series of short films about different places.
g. is a sports person from Barcelona.


(Video of José’s dive into the swimming pool)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/video/2011/nov/01/barcelona-olympic-swimming-pool-video

Listen to José talking on the video and complete the text:

Every morning, I look (1) ……….. to going to work. I have the (2)……….. office. Even the (3)………… is good. The vibe is cool. And the views, man the views are to die for.
People come here from all over the (4)……… just to enjoy that view. It still takes my breath away.
A good (5)………………. always finishes with a rip entry. A rip entry means that there is no (6) ………… . That’s one of the most (7) …………….. parts of the dive.
My life’s work is about getting this movement right. If I can get this movement right then the bigger picture is (8)…………….. .



Key
1commute 2 surveys 3 fearless 4 cab 5 host 6 glittering 7 piddling 8 lounge around 9 the backdrop 10 awesome
2 1 c 2 g 3 d 4 e 5 f 6 b 7 a
3 1 forward 2 perfect 3 commute 4 world 5 dive 6 splash 7 important 8 perfect

Supergiant 'shrimp' found deep underwater

It's a bit creepy to look at - but this giant 'shrimp' is quite a discovery. The underwater whopper was found over four miles down at the bottom of the ocean off the coast of New Zealand.

Called a supergiant, it's a type of crustacean like a lobster or a shrimp - just a lot bigger than usual!

Normally measuring in at between 2-3cm, the giants discovered deep underwater by the scientists are about 10 times bigger. The largest measured in at 34cm - which one expert compared to like finding a cockroach that's a foot long!

The discovery was made after scientists, trying to discover more about what's down at the bottom of the ocean, set traps deep below the surface of the water.

Smaller creatures are usually found miles deep underwater living in large groups in trenches in the ocean floor.

Experts used to think that life wouldn't survive at these depths, miles and miles down - but more and more types of creatures are now being discovered that love living down there.

Match the words below to their definitions

cockroach / creatures / creepy / crustacean / trenches / whopper

strange or unnatural and making you feel frightened
something surprisingly large
animals such as crabs, lobsters and shrimp
animal that lives in the sea, with a hard shell, two large claws and eight legs
flat brown or black insect sometimes found in the home
animals
long, narrow hole in the earth

True or false?

1. The giant shrimp was 2-3 centimetres long.
2. The bottom of the ocean was four miles deep.
3. The shrimp was compared to a foot-long cockroach.
4. The shrimp was found on the surface of the ocean.
5. The giant shrimp was actually a lobster.
6. Scientists set traps deep in the ocean.
7. Lots of different creatures live deep in the ocean.
8. Life can’t survive miles under the ocean.

Same or different?

1. discovery
a) the same as uncovering
b) the same as surprise
c) the same as finding

2. normally
a) the same as usually
b) the same as sometimes
c) the same as rarely

3. underwater
a) the same as wet
b) the same as earthly
c) the same as marine

4. called
a) the same as shouted
b) the same as named
c) the same as mobile phone


KEY

creepy strange or unnatural and making you feel frightened
whopper something surprisingly large
crustacean animals such as crabs, lobsters and shrimp
lobster animal that lives in the sea, with a hard shell, two large claws and eight legs
cockroach flat brown or black insect sometimes found in the home
creatures animals
trenches long, narrow hole in the earth



True or false?

1. False
2. True
3. True
4. False
5. False
6. True
7. False
8. False

Same or different?

1. finding
2. usually
3. marine
4. named

The blackbird that's turned completely white

This little blackbird might get confused if it looks in the mirror, as it's turned completely white!

It was first spotted in Rufford Abbey Country Park in Nottinghamshire four years ago. Birdwatchers say it returns each year having lost more of its dark feathers: now it's white all over as this pic from summer 2011 shows.

The bird has a condition that causes it to have no colour pigment in its feathers. Its bright colour means it's easy for predators to spot, so the park rangers are asking birdwatchers to keep an eye out for it again this year when it returns from migration - which is when birds fly to warmer climates for the winter.

Match the words below to their definitions

condition / confused / keep an eye out / migration / pigment / predators / rangeres

not able to think clearly or understand something
disease
substance that gives something a particular colour
animals that hunt, kill and eat other animals
watch carefully for someone or something to appear
when an animal migrates, it travels to a different place when the season changes
people whose job is to protect a forest or park

True or false?

1. The blackbird lost all its feathers four years ago.
2. The blackbird spends winters in Nottinghamshire.
3. Blackbirds are not normally white.
4. The bird has not returned to the park yet this year.
5. The mirror was completely white.
6. Because it is white, the blackbird is easy to see.
7. The park rangers are predators.
8. Pigment can make feathers black.

Same or different?

1. spotted
a)the same as seen
b)the same as dotted
c)the same as caught

2. completely
a)the same as partially
b)the same as totally
c)the same as slightly

3. returns
a)the same as reverts
b)the same as leaves
c)the same as comes back

4. turned
a)the same as become
b)the same as switched
c)the same as flipped


KEY

confused not able to think clearly or understand something
condition disease
pigment substance that gives something a particular colour
predators animals that hunt, kill and eat other animals
keep an eye out watch carefully for someone or something to appear
migration when an animal migrates, it travels to a different place when the season changes
rangers people whose job is to protect a forest or park



True or false?

1. False
2. False
3. True
4. True
5. False
6. True
7. False
8. True

Same or different?

1. seen
2. totally
3. comes back
4. become

Man enters US without passport - thanks to his iPad

Key -
Question 1
a) False. Martin Reisch was a half hour from the border when he decided to try to gain entry rather than turn back and make a two-hour trek back home to Montreal to fetch his passport.
b) False. the officer seemed mildly annoyed when he handed him the iPad. "I thought I'd at least give it a try," Mr Reisch said. "He took the iPad into the border hut. He was in there a five or six minutes
c) False. Mr Reisch, 33, said he took a scanned photo of his passport years ago
d) True. He said he also successfully used the passport on his iPad to get through Canadian Customs on the way home later that day.

Question 2
a) Mr Reisch was travelling to the USA to deliver Christmas gifts to his friend’s children.
b) Martin Reisch hope that in the future, personal identification for travellers will be accepted in digital format, in a similar way to air companies accepting electronic boarding passes.

Question 3
a) (a) trek
b) (a) hut
c) (a) device

Question 4
a) If the US immigration officer had not accepted the scan of Mr Reisch’s passport, he would have had to go back to fetch his passport.
b) US Customs and Border Protection said: “We only accept a passport, an enhanced driver’s licence or a Nexus pass from Canadian citizens who enter at land crossings. The list does not mention facsimiles, like scans and photocopies.”
c) Since 2009, Canadians have needed more than a driver’s licence for identification for US land border crossings.

School grades hit by lack of routine

Key
Question 1.
a) False. 2,136 respondents aged between 16 and 25 were asked how happy and confident they are in different areas of their life
b) True. Young people’s happiness has fallen to its lowest number of 70 in 2010.
c) False. The data comes from the charity's latest annual Youth Index, which looks at how young people feel about their lives across a range of areas from family life to physical health
d) False. Princes Trust chief executive Martina Milburn said: "The absence of structure and routine in a young life can have a devastating impact. "Without the right support, directionless teenagers can become lost young adults - unconfident, underqualified and unemployed.

Question 2. Answer the following questions in your own words.

a) What are the consequences of a lack of routine in young people’s lives?
b) How was the survey conducted?

Question 3. Find a word or a phrase in the text that means the same as:

a) total (par. 1) b) figures, information (par.3) c) effect (par.4)

Question 4. Rewrite the following sentences without changing the meaning.

a) Young people with poor exam grades are twice as likely to claim their days lacked structure as they grew up.
If young people’s days ...............................................................................
b) 14% of all young people said they had grown up without set mealtimes, whereas 30% of young people with poor exam grades answered that they had not eaten at regular times.
14% of young people said “I .................................................,” whereas 30% of those with poor exam grades answered “........................................”
c) First, 2,136 people between 16 and 25 were asked how happy and confident they were, then the responses were converted to a numerical scale.
After ................................................. , the researchers ……………..

Teenage Dutch sailor Laura Dekker vows never to return home

A teenage Dutch sailor just one day away from becoming the youngest ever person to sail around the world single-handed has vowed never to return to her native country because she faces being taken into care.
Laura Dekker, 16, has torn down the Dutch tricolor on her yacht Guppy in protest at the social workers who have repeatedly tried to stop her solo voyage to circumvent the globe.
In her last blog posting as she crosses the Atlantic headed for her finish line on the Dutch Caribbean island of Sint Maarten on Saturday, Miss Dekker complains of her "intimidating, frightening and traumatic" treatment.From the moment my plans became public, youth care and other government organisations tried to stop me. They asked the judge to take me away from my father and to lock me up in a secure clinic! By doing this they tried to stop me from sailing.Over a period of 11 months, I was constantly afraid that youth care would lock me up."
The Dutch authorities, who tried to put Miss Dekker into care two years ago over her solo-sailing adventures, have claimed that the teenager is not doing enough school work while piloting her 38 foot yacht through heavy Atlantic seas.When her father refused to make an appointment to discuss it, Dutch truancy officers announced they intended to bring in the social workers once again.
"Now, after sailing around the world, with difficult port approaches, storms, dangerous reefs, and the full responsibility of keeping myself and Guppy safe, I feel that the nightmares the Dutch government organisations put me through, were totally unfair," Miss Dekker wrote.I hear now that the Dutch government organisations have started causing problems again. I am seriously thinking about not returning to the Netherlands."


Question 1. Indicate whether these sentences are true or false. Justify your answers with evidence from the text.

a) Laura promised not to go back to the Netherlands when she finished her voyage.
b) The island of Sint Maarten belongs to the Netherlands.
c) Laura’s father didn’t want to talk about her world tour with the Dutch authorities.
d) Once Laura has achieved her goal, there will be no more objections from the Dutch government organisations.

Question 2. Answer the following questions in your own words.

a) What is Miss Dekker’s great achievement?
b) How did the Dutch authorities react when she announced her plans?

Question 3. Find a word or a phrase in the text that means the same as:

a) without help from others (par.1) b) to go on the way to (par.3) c) unjust (par.5)

Question 4. Rewrite the following sentences without changing the meaning.

a) Laura Dekker has torn down the Dutch tricolor on her yacht.
The Dutch tricolor ......................................................
b) "I feel that the nightmares the Dutch government organisations put me through were totally unfair,”
Laura felt that .................................................
c) She is thinking about not returning to her country because the social workers cause her a lot of problems.
If the social workers .................................................

Question 5. Write a short essay (120-150 words) on the following topic:
Sport records or education.What do you think is more important?

Olympics fail to inspire as fewer young people take up sport

Six years ago London secured the Olympics on the back of a promise to inspire young people to swap the sofa for sport. Yesterday, eight months from the opening ceremony and following unprecedented levels of investment, it was revealed that the number of young people taking up sport is falling. Figures released by Sport England show that the number of 16-19 year olds playing sport three times a week has fallen from 930,400 to 825,900, while the number of women has dropped by 106,000.

Sport England invests about £250m a year – funds provided by the Government and the National Lottery – in grassroots sport but their latest Active People Survey shows it is not having the required impact in getting people to take up or participate. Economic reasons, such as cost or lack of time due to work commitments, were blamed by a third of those questioned.

The latest figures show 19 sports with decreasing levels of participation, including football, tennis and swimming, while only athletics, boxing, table tennis and mountaineering are increasing. Sports that have declining numbers face a funding cut.

Jennie Price, chief executive of Sport England, said: "Sports need to react to this. We need to do much more to make sport relevant and appealing to women." Ms Price insists the Olympics can still have a positive impact on participation. She said: "I think when we get into the Olympic year we will see an increase – I don't see that the opportunity is lost."

Lord Coe, chairman of the London organising committee, took an even more optimistic stance. He said: "I haven't seen the figures but my instinct is that they are increasing."

Question 1 [2 points]
Indicate whether the following statements are true or false and write down which part of the text justifies your answer.
a) More than 100,000 teenagers have stopped doing sport three times every week.
b) Sport England’s money comes from people paying to do sport.
c) The Olympic Games could affect the number of people doing sport in England.
d) Lord Coe disagrees with the negative results of the survey.

Question 2 [2 points]
Answer the following questions in your own words.
a) What reasons did people in the survey give for doing less sport?
b) What are the consequences for sports which have lower numbers of people doing them?

Question 3 [1.5 points]
Find words or phrases in the text that correspond in meaning to the words and definitions given.
a) to exchange (paragraph 1)
b) an effect (paragraph 2)
c) person in charge of an organisation (paragraph 4)

Question 4Complete the following sentences without changing the meaning.
a) Six years ago London successfully secured the Olympics.
The Olympics …………
b) To increase the number of people doing sport, we need to do much more to make sport relevant and appealing to women.
If sport ……………………………., the number of people doing sport …………. .
c) Ms Price said: "I think when we get into the Olympic year we will see an increase – I don't see that the opportunity is lost."
Ms Price said ………….

Question 5
Write a short essay (between120-150 words) on the following topic:
“Although it is easy to do sport nowadays, fewer people than ever are getting regular exercise”. Do you agree?

Now, take this sport survey.

New planet discovered by Stargazing Live viewer

How would you fancy discovering your own planet? Sounds a bit out of this world but that's what happened to a Stargazing Live viewer.

Science history was made last night on the BBC Two show after people watching were asked to help in the hunt for planets elsewhere in the Universe.

An amateur star spotter discovered the new planet by looking at images from Nasa's Kepler telescope online. Experts reckon it's about the size of planet Neptune in our own Solar System.

Chris Holmes, from Peterborough, was the lucky man who found the new planet. "Being involved in a project like this and actually being the one to find something is a very exciting position," he said.

Match the words below to their definitions
amateur / fancy / position / project / reckon / spotter / telescope

want to have or do something
when you do something because you enjoy it, but it is not your job
think or believe
planned set of things which are done to accomplish something
situation
person who notices something
long tube containing lenses, which makes far-away things seem near when you look at them through it

True or false?

1. Chris Holmes owned the Kepler telescope.
2. The new planet is called Neptune.
3. The images were on the internet.
4. Chris Holmes was not excited to find the planet.
5. Chris Holmes was an amateur.
6. The new planet was in our own Solar System.
7. Only Chris Holmes was asked to look for new stars.
8. Experts don’t know how big the planet is.

Same or different?

1. discovering
a)the same as covering
b)the same as losing
c)the same as finding

2. hunt
a)the same as find
b)the same as hide
c)the same as search

3. images
a)the same as sounds
b)the same as pictures
c)the same as signals

4. lucky
a)the same as fortunate
b)the same as happy
c)the same as hopeless


KEY

fancy want to have or do something
amateur when you do something because you enjoy it, but it is not your job
reckon think or believe
project planned set of things which are done to accomplish something
position situation
spotter person who notices something
telescope long tube containing lenses, which makes far-away things seem near when you look at them through it



True or false?

1. False
2. False
3. True
4. False
5. True
6. False
7. True
8. False

Same or different?

1. finding
2. search
3. pictures
4. fortunate

Pet dogs' paws have 'central heating' say scientists

Pet dogs keep their feet warm in frozen weather, thanks to a blood-warming system in their paws, say scientists.

Researchers in Japan used special microscopes to study pet dogs' paws. They found that dogs have a network of veins in their feet which help to keep blood warm - a bit like central heating in houses.

The system in dogs' paws has been seen in many other wild animals, including penguins' beaks and dolphins' fins. But this is the first time scientists have discovered it in dogs which are pets, and not just in the wild.

Dogs' paws can cope even in temperatures as cold as -35C. So when you're walking the dog in the ice and snow, your pooch's feet will probably feel a lot warmer than yours!

Match the words below to their definitions

researchers / microscope / central heating / penguin / cope / pooch

people who study a subject to discover new things
tool that uses lenses to let you see very small things
system in a building that heats air or water in one place and then sends it to rooms using pipes
black and white bird that swims in the ocean and can’t fly
deal successfully with a difficult situation
dog

True or false?

1. No other animals have a similar system.
2. The veins in dog’s feet keep their blood warm.
3. The system keeps a dog’s legs warm.
4. The scientists needed microscopes to see the veins.
5. Only pets can keep their paws warm.
6. Penguins keep their beaks warm in the same way.
7. The discovery was made in Japan.
8. Dogs can cope with temperatures below -35C.

What is the missing word?

1. They found that dogs have a network of ___________ in their feet.
2. But this is the first time ___________ have discovered it in dogs.
3. Dogs' paws can cope even in ___________ as cold as -35C.
4. Pet dogs keep their feet warm in frozen _____________.


KEY

researchers
people who study a subject to discover new things
microscope
tool that uses lenses to let you see very small things
central heating
system in a building that heats air or water in one place and then sends it to rooms using pipes
penguin
black and white bird that swims in the ocean and can’t fly
cope
deal successfully with a difficult situation
pooch
dog


True or false?

1. False
2. True
3. False
4. True
5. False
6. False
7. True
8. False

What is the missing word?

1. veins
2. scientists
3. temperatures
4. weather

Active people survey

WALKING

In the last four weeks, have you done at least one continuous walk lasting at least 5 minutes? (Please include any country walks, walking to and from work or the shops and any other walks you may have done. Please exclude time spent walking around shops.)

In the last four weeks, have you done at least one continuous walk lasting at least 30 minutes?

How would you describe your usual walking pace?

A slow pace A steady average pace A fairly brisk pace A fast pace Don’t know

CYCLING

In the last four weeks, have you done any cycling? (Please include any casual cycling in your local area, any cycling in the countryside or on cycling routes, cycling to or from work or any competitive cycling.)

If yes, on how many days?
Every day Every weekday Every other day
Every day at weekends One day every weekend Don’t know / can’t remember

SPORTS AND RECREATION

(All the activities you did, in the last four weeks, whether for competition, training or receiving tuition, socially, casually or for health and fitness, but do not include any teaching, coaching or refereeing you may have done.)

Did you do any sporting or recreational physical activity? What did you do?

On how many days in the last four weeks have you done this activity?

And how long do you USUALLY do this activity for?


SPORTS AND RECREATION

Now think about other types of sport and recreational physical activity you may have done. (All the activities you did, in the last four weeks, whether for competition, training or receiving tuition, socially, casually or for health and fitness, but do not include any teaching, coaching or refereeing you may have done.)

Did you do any sporting or recreational physical activity?

What did you do?

On how many days in the last four weeks have you done this activity?

And how long do you USUALLY do this activity for?

CLUB MEMBERSHIP

Over the past four weeks have you been a member of a club, particularly so that you can participate in any sports or recreational physical activities?

Which sports or recreational physical activities do you take part in as a member of a sports club?

COMPETITION

Now thinking about the last 12 months, have you taken part in any organised competition for any sports or recreational physical activities? Please do not include any teaching, coaching or refereeing.

Which sports or recreational physical activities have you taken part in organised competition for?


INSTRUCTION OR COACHING

In the last 12 months, have you received tuition from an instructor or coach to improve your performance in any sports or recreational physical activities?

Which spots of recreational physical activities have you received tuition from an instructor or coach for in the last 12 months?

OVERALL SPORTS PROVISION

How would you rate your level of OVERALL satisfaction with sports provision in your local area?

Very satisfied Fairly satisfied Neither satisfied or dissatisfied Fairly dissatisfied Very dissatisfied

LIKELIHOOD TO DO MORE SPORT

Would you like to do more sport or recreational physical activity than you do at the moment? Yes No Don’t know

Which one sport or recreational physical activity would you most like to do, or to do more often?

DANCE AND GARDENING

Have you done any dancing or gardening in the past four weeks?
Yes No Don’t know / Can’t remember

CULTURAL QUESTIONS

During the last 12 months, have you attended a museum or gallery at least once?
Yes No Don’t know

During the last 12 months, have you used a public library service at least once?
Yes No Don’t know

Have you attended any creative, artistic, theatrical or musical events in the last 12 months?
Yes No Don’t know

Have you spent time actually doing any creative, artistic, theatrical or musical activities,
or any crafts in the last 12 months?
Yes No Don’t know

CULTURAL QUESTIONS

During the last 12 months, have you attended a museum or gallery at least once?
Yes No Don’t know

During the last 12 months, have you used a public library service at least once?
Yes No Don’t know

Have you attended any creative, artistic, theatrical or musical events in the last 12 months?
Yes No Don’t know

Have you spent time actually doing any creative, artistic, theatrical or musical activities,
or any crafts in the last 12 months?
Yes No Don’t know

DEMOGRAPHICS

Which age band you fall into?

16 to 24 25 to 34 35 to 44 45 to 54
55 to 64 65 to 74 75 to 84 85+

ADDRESS DETAILS

Can I take your full postcode?

Please can you tell me the name of your town or village?


Please can you tell me the name of your street?


Please can you tell me your house number or name?

Olympics fail to inspire as fewer young people take up sport

Key

Question 1
a) True. Figures released by Sport England show that the number of 16-19 year olds playing sport three times a week has fallen from 930,400 to 825,900,
b) False. Sport England invests about £250m a year – funds provided by the Government and the National Lottery – in grassroots sport
c) True. Ms Price insists the Olympics can still have a positive impact on participation.
d) True. He said: "I haven't seen the figures but my instinct is that they are increasing."


Question 2
a) 33% of the people who took part in the survey said that they did not have enough money to pay to do sport or that they were short of time because of their job.
b) When fewer people are doing a particular sport, then that sport will receive less money from Sport England.


Question 3
a) swap
b) impact
c) chairman

Question 4
Complete the following sentences without changing the meaning.
a) Six years ago London successfully secured the Olympics.
The Olympics were successfully secured by London six years ago.
b) To increase the number of people doing sport, we need to do much more to make sport relevant and appealing to women.
If sport is made much more relevant and appealing to women, the number of people doing sport will increase.
c) Ms Price said she thought that when they got into the Olympic year, they would see an increase – she didn’t see that the opportunity was lost.

Teenage Dutch sailor Laura Dekker vows never to return home

KEY
Question1
a. False.” A teenage Dutch sailor just one day away from becoming the youngest ever person to sail around the world single-handed has vowed never to return to her native country.”
b. True. “ the Dutch Caribbean island of Sint Maarten.”
c. True. “ The Dutch authorities, who tried to put Miss Dekker into care two years ago over her solo-sailing adventures, have claimed that the teenager is not doing enough school work while piloting her 38 foot yacht through heavy Atlantic seas.When her father refused to make an appointment to discuss it......”
d. False. “ Now, after sailing around the world ........ .I hear now that the Dutch government organisations have started causing problems again.”

Question 2
a. Laura Dekker, who is 16, has become the youngest person to finish her voyage around the world on her own.
b. The Dutch authorities reacted negatively towards her decision to sail round the world. They wanted to stop her father from seeing her and to lock her up so as to prevent her from fulfilling her plans.

Question 3
a. single-handed
b. headed / to head
c. unfair

Question 4
a. The Dutch tricolor on her yacht has been torn down by Laura Dekker.
b. Laura felt that the nightmares the Dutch government organisations had put her through had been totally unfair.
c. If the social workers didn’t cause her so many problems, she wouldn’t be thinking about not returning to her country.

Sir Paul McCartney attacks French school over vegetarian ban

Sir Paul McCartney has attacked the French Government for banning vegetarian meals in schools.
There will be no meat-free days in French schools for six million children following a new decree from their government that all students will have to eat meat if they want lunch at school. Taking a packed lunch is not an alternative as they are also banned.

The ban will shortly be extended to kindergartens, hospitals, prisons, colleges and old people's homes.

French agriculture minister, Bruno Lemaire, said in January that the Government's aim for nutrition was to defend the French agricultural model and counter initiatives such as those by vegetarian campaigners like Sir Paul – who has called for a reduced consumption of meat.

But writing on his website, Sir Paul said: "The French Government's recent decree effectively enforcing the consumption of animal products in public institutions is a backward step for France. It goes against the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union by prohibiting individuals' right to express their beliefs.No one needs to eat animals – and we can combat climate change and lessen the risk of suffering from heart disease and other ailments by reducing the amount of meat we eat."
This week People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) launched a new stamp range featuring the 20 most famous vegetarians of all-time, including the ex-Beatle. Sir Paul along with Natalie Portman, Pamela Anderson and Morrissey have agreed to feature on the stamp. The stamps can be purchased throughout December at www.peta.org

Source: telegraph.co.uk

Question 1. Indicate whether these sentences are true or false. Justify your answers with evidence from the text.

a) Students cannot take home-made lunches to school.
b) Currently there are no meat-free meals for people who are in prison. c) Sir Paul McCartney believes that the French Government’s decision does not respect people’s rights. D) According to McCartney, people who eat meat are more likely to suffer illnesses.

Question 2. Answer the following questions in your own words.

a) Why has Sir Paul McCartney reacted against the French Government?
b) What has PETA done about the ban?

Question 3. Find a word or a phrase in the text that means the same as:

a) soon (par.3) b) attenuate, decrease (par.5) c) buy (par.6)

Question 4. Rewrite the following sentences without changing the meaning.

a) The French Government has banned packed lunches.
Packed lunches ......................................................
b) " No one needs to eat animals and we can combat climate change.”
Sir Paul McCartney said that .................................................
c) Mr. Dahl suffered from heart disease because he ate too much meat.
If Mr Dahl .................................................

Question 5. Write a short essay (120-150 words) on the following topic:
What do you think about climate change? How can you help?

Cambridge

Watch the video and answer the questions below:

1. How many colleges can you find in Cambridge?
   


2. How long did it take to build King's College Chapel?



3. Who founded Trinity College?



4. What's the name of the river that flows through the city?



5. What's the shortest way between the two buildings in St. John's College?



6. What's the best way to see the city?



7. Who built the chapel in Pembroke College?
   


8. What did he also build?
   


9. How far is Ely from Cambridge?



10. What shape is the tower at Ely's Cathedral?
    

KEY

1. over 30 colleges



2. over 100 years



3. Henry VIII



4. River Cam



5. Bridge of Sighs



6. going punting



7. Sir Cristopher Wren



8. St. Paul's Cathedral



9. a few



10. octogon

South Korea to Swap Textbooks for Tablets

South Korea’s government has announced ambitious plans to revolutionize school classrooms and provide the world’s first “smart education” system. It intends to digitize all textbooks in all schools by 2015. This means bulky, paper-based books are out and handheld tablets and e-readers are in. First in line to go digital are elementary schools, which will switch to online devices by 2014. South Korea’s Ministry of Education says it will invest $2.4 billion to create and deliver the e-learning and mobile-learning materials. Education Minister Lee Ju Ho explained the need to ensure teachers are sufficiently trained in using the new tech in class. "It's very important to make sure that the two can work together,” he said.

The Ministry has not yet made a decision on which make of products it will bring into the classroom. Many industry experts predict it will opt for Korean-made devices such as Samsung’s Galaxy Tab rather than gadgets from international rivals Apple or Sony. In addition to digital content in the classroom, the Ministry is also hoping to make online classes available for students who miss lessons. South Korea is well known for its embrace of technology and high-speed Internet. A Ministry official stated: “Korean students have ranked first in terms of digital literacy among developed nations…That’s why Korean students, who are already fully prepared for digital society, need a [major] shift in education.”

Question 1. Indicate whether these sentences are true or false. Justify your answers with evidence from the text.
a) South Korea is not the first country in the world to go totally digital.
b) South Korea’s “smart education” project will start with high schools.

c) All schools will be equipped with Korea-made Samsung products.

d) Korean students are the tops when it comes to digital literacy.

Question 2. Answer the following questions in your own words.
a) What does South Korea’s government want to do?
b) How will students benefit from the new plans?

Question 3. Find a word or a phrase in the text that means the same as:
a) heavy and big (paragraph1)
b) competitor (paragraph 2)
c) enthusiastic acceptance (paragraph 2)

Question 4. Rewrite the following sentences without changing the meaning.
a) South Korea’s government has announced ambitious plans to revolutionize school classrooms.
Ambitious plans ......................................................
b) "It's very important to make sure that the two can work together,”
Lee Ju Ho said that .................................................
c) Korean students are fully prepared for digital society. That’s why they need a major shift in education.
If Korean students .................................................

Question 5. Write a short essay (120-150 words) on the following topic:
What do you think of the idea of swapping textbooks for tablets?

Universities raise £50m in library fines

British universities have raised nearly £50 million from fining students for overdue library books, figures have revealed. Top of the pile was Leeds University, which has raised more than £1.8 million in the last six years. In second place was Manchester University, which collected almost £1.3 million and in third was the University of Wolverhampton with £1.25 million. At the bottom of the table was Imperial College London, which collected just £26,703 in fines.

With fines as little as 10p for each day a book is overdue, it shows that students are returning thousands of books late each year. However, many are never returned at all as more than 300,000 books remain unaccounted for across the country. Leading the way at number one was Bucks New University with 30,540, closely followed by Oxford University with 20,923 and the University of Kent with 19,613.
Penalties at the universities vary. Most students are fined 10p for every day a book is overdue, while at Edinburgh Napier University daily fines can be as much as £1 per day.

"The charge reflects the amount it would cost us to replace the item," the university revealed. "Sometimes a student who has genuinely lost an item will buy it through Amazon at a reduced price and give us the book - we are very happy to accept that.
For persistent offending, students can have their library account suspended or lose access to their university's IT system. Some may even be barred from graduating if they owe their university money. As little as a £5 debt at Exeter University will prevent graduation, as will £20 at Lancaster University or £25 at the University of Glasgow.

1 Match each number with the correct information based on what you read in the text.

1 £50 million
2 £5
3 10p
4 20,923
5 £25
6 30,540
7 £1
8 £1.8 million
9 £26,703
10 300,000

a) The total number of books missing from university libraries.
b) The highest rate charged per day for every day a book is not returned after the return date.
c) The total amount paid by university students to British universities for not returning books to the library on time.
d) The smallest total amount collected by a university library for late returns.
e) The limit on the money students can owe Glasgow University if they want to graduate.
f) The number of books permanently missing at Oxford University library.
g) The biggest number of books missing from one university.
h) The largest amount of money collected by a university library for late returns.
i) The limit on the money students can owe Exeter University if they want to graduate.
j) The most common daily library fine.

2 Find words or expressions in the text that mean:

Paragraph 1
a) an action or obligation not carried out before a certain date
b) show, make public

Paragraph 2
a) missing, not located

Paragraph 3
a) differ
b) every day

Paragraph 4
a) constant, repeated
b) honestly

Sir Paul McCartney attacks French school over vegetarian ban

Question 1

a. True. “Taking a packed lunch is not an alternative as they are also banned.”
b. False. “The ban will shortly be extended to kindergartens, hospitals, prisons, colleges and old people's homes.
c. True. "The French Government's recent decree effectively enforcing the consumption of animal products in public institutions is a backward step for France. It goes against the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union by prohibiting individuals' right to express their beliefs.”
d. True. “No one needs to eat animals – and we can combat climate change and lessen the risk of suffering from heart disease and other ailments by reducing the amount of meat we eat."

Question 2

a. The French Government has prohibited vegetarian meals in schools and Sir Paul McCartney ,who is a vegetarian himself, thinks that meat is not essential in a balanced diet, so he doesn’t agree with the measure. He believes that we can reduce the risk of having certain illnesses and also help to fight climate change by not eating much meat.
b. They have put up for sale a collection of stamps with the photograph of some of the most famous vegetarians ever. These include singers, actors and other successful people.

Question 3

a. shortly b. to lessen c. purchased / to purchase

Question 4

a. Packed lunches have been banned by the French Government.
b. Sir Paul McCartney said that no one needed to eat animals and we could combat climate change.
c. If Mr. Dahl hadn’t eaten so much meat, he wouldn’t have suffered from heart disease.

South Korea to Swap Textbooks for Tablets

Key

Question 1

a. False. “South Korea’s government has announced ambitious plans to revolutionize school classrooms and provide the world’s first “smart education” system..”
b. False.” First in line to go digital are elementary schools,”
c. False.” The Ministry has not yet made a decision on which make of products it will bring into the classroom. Many industry experts predict it will opt for Korean-made devices such as Samsung’s Galaxy Tab.”
d. True.” “Korean students have ranked first in terms of digital literacy among developed nations.”

Question 2

a. South Korea’s government wants the students to use new technology devices such as tablets and e-readers instead of traditional textbooks. It aims to make sure that teachers are technologically competent enough to be able to use the technology in the classroom.
b. The students who attend school will not have to carry heavy books and those who cannot go to school will be able to follow the lessons on the web.

Question 3

a. bulky
b. rivals/rivals
c. embrace

Question 4

a. Ambitious plans to revolutionize school classrooms have been announced by South Korea’s government.
b. Lee Ju Ho said that it was very important to make sure that the two could work together.
c. If Korean students were not fully prepared for digital society, they wouldn’t need a major shift in education.

Twitter Year

Kate Bussmann, Twitter expert, author of A Twitter Year the first ever "social-media almanac", which charts the events of the past 12 months, as recorded by Twitter's 100million users.

‘On the back of my book it says there are 230 million tweets a day. That's already out of date: there are now 250 million. When news breaks I don't go to the TV any more, I turn straight to Twitter. You instantly get a rounded view of what's happening – and what people think about it.

The most tweeted event of the year was Beyoncé's pregnancy announcement at the MTV awards, which generated 8,868 tweets per second (TPS). The royal wedding peaked at about 3,966 TPS. There are stats to prove Pippa Middleton didn't actually overshadow her sister. Of the tweets about the guests, 35.1 per cent were about the Queen, 20.5 per cent were about Prince Harry, and 14.7 per cent were about Pippa.

Reading Twitter during the riots was fascinating and terrifying: not only were journalists reporting on huge fires and major incidents, you also had people tweeting things like "A gang has just chased me home". But what happened the next morning was even more interesting. A musician called Sam Duckworth (of Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly) started an @RiotCleanUp account, helping people to come together to clean the streets.

After a natural disaster, phone coverage gets really patchy, but Twitter works. After the earthquake in New Zealand in January, a man in San Francisco, tweeted: "Is anyone near this area of Christchurch, and could they check on my Dad?" Somebody replied: "Yes, I'm five minutes away, I'll drive round to his house." They found him sitting outside and tweeted to say that he was fine. After the Turkish earthquake, a newsreader asked his followers whether any of them had a spare room for people who'd been made homeless. He had 23,000 followers, and 17,000 people emailed him saying yes.

The Twitter founders didn't know what they were creating. Now medical scientists are researching whether you can spot flu trends by tracking the words people are tweeting.’

Kate Bussmann's website

Question 1 [2 points]
Indicate whether the following statements are true or false and write down which part of the text justifies your answer.

a) It is difficult to quantify the number of tweets per day because it is growing
all the time.
b) Kate Bussmann finds out about the latest events from the television.
c) When Beyoncé told the world that she was expecting a baby, it was the
second most popular subject of tweets in 2011.
d) 23,000 people contacted a Turkish news presenter to offer to let someone
stay at their home after the earthquake.

Question 2 [2 points]
Answer the following questions in your own words.

a) What different examples are given about how people used Twitter during the
riots in Britain?
b) How did a man in San Francisco find out that his father was safe after the
New Zealand earthquake?

Question 3 [1.5 points]
Find words or phrases in the text that correspond in meaning to the words and definitions given.
a) a complete, balanced picture (paragraph 1)
b) to make someone seem less important than another person (paragraph 2)
c) a group of people who spend time together and cause trouble (paragraph 3)

Question 4Complete the following sentences without changing the meaning.

a) After a natural disaster, phone coverage gets really patchy, but Twitter
works.
Although phone ….
b) Medical scientists are researching whether you can spot flu trends by
tracking the words people are tweeting.
The question of whether ………………………………………………. by
medical scientists.
c) When news breaks I don’t go to the TV to find out the details anymore, I
turn straight to Twitter.
If I want to …………….

Question 5Write a short essay (between120-150 words) on the following topic:
‘Our world is changing faster than ever before.’ Do you agree?

Computer Terms

Fill in the gaps with the following words

wire screen hackers mailbox search engine information web links sites bloggers blog mouse tail cursor steal

Computer technology has become a major part of people's lives. This technology has its own special words. One example is the word ............. A computer mouse is not a small animal that lives in buildings and open fields. It is a small device that you move around on a flat surface in front of a computer. The mouse moves the pointer, or ...................., on the computer ..................

Computer expert Douglas Engelbart developed the idea for the mouse in the early nineteen-sixties. The first computer mouse was a carved block of wood with two metal wheels. It was called a mouse because it had a .............. at one end. The tail was the ................ that connected it to the computer.

Using a computer takes some training. People who are experts are sometimes called .................... A hacker is usually a person who writes software programs in a special computer language. But the word hacker is also used to describe a person who tries to .................. information from computer systems.

Another well known computer word is Google, spelled g-o-o-g-l-e. It is the name of a popular “............. .................” for the Internet. People use the search engine to find information about almost any subject on the Internet. The people who started the company named it Google because in mathematics, googol, spelled g-o-o-g-o-l, is an extremely large number. It is the number one followed by one-hundred zeros.

When you "Google" a subject, you can get a large amount of ................... about it. Some people like to Google their friends or themselves to see how many times their name appears on the Internet.

If you Google someone, you might find that person's name on a ............. . A blog is the shortened name for a Web log. A blog is a personal ................. page. It may contain stories, comments, pictures and .................. to other Web .............. . Some people add information to their blogs every day. People who have blogs are called ....................... .

Blogs are not the same as spam. Spam is unwanted sales messages sent to your electronic ................... . The name is based on a funny joke many years ago on a British television show, "Monty Python's Flying Circus." Some friends are at an eating place that only serves a processed meat product from the United States called SPAM. Every time the friends try to speak, another group of people starts singing the word SPAM very loudly. This interferes with the friends' discussion – just as unwanted sales ...................... interfere with communication over the Internet.


KEY

Click here and listen to the answers

New verbs from old nouns

I was arranging to meet someone for dinner last week, and I said 'I'll pencil it in my diary', and my friend said 'You can ink it in', meaning that it was a firm arrangement not a tentative one!

Many of these new verbs are linked to new technology. An obvious example is the word fax, which is a shortening of facsimile – originally, an exact copy of a book or document. We all got used to sending and receiving faxes, and then soon started talking about faxing something and promising we'd fax it immediately. So, noun into verb in two easy stages. Then along came email and we were soon all emailing each other madly. How did we do without it? I can hardly imagine life without my daily dose of emails.

Email reminds me, of course, of my computer and its software, which has generated another couple of new verbs. On my AppleMac computer I can bookmark those pages from the World Wide Web that I think I'll want to look at again, thus saving all the effort of remembering their addresses and calling them up from scratch. I can do the same thing on my PC, but there I don't bookmark; I favourite – presumably coming from 'favourite pages', so the verb is derived from an adjective not a noun. I wasn't really sure people said this, but someone told me recently that they had favourited a site I was looking for and so they could easily give me its address.

A few years ago I noticed that lots of my friends had acquired pagers, and kept saying things like 'I'll page you as soon as I know what time we're meeting'. They couldn't say it to me, though; I refused to have one. So my children bought me a mobile phone – now known simply as a mobile – and I had to learn yet more new verbs. I can message someone – that is, I can leave a message (either spoken or written) for them on their phone. Or I can text them – write a few words suggesting when and where to meet, for example. How long will it be before I can mobile them – that is, phone them using my mobile. I haven't heard that verb yet, but I'm sure I will soon. Perhaps I'll start using it myself!


FILL THE GAPS BELOW WITH THE CORRECT NEW VERBS AND TENSES USED IN THE ARTICLE ABOVE.

1. I won't send the letter by post, I will __________ it to you early tomorrow morning when I go into the office.

2. I can easily give you that website address because I have ________________ it on my computer.

3. My friend's mobile was on but he wasn't answering so I __________________ him instead of speaking to him.

4. I'll ___________________ you this afternoon from the internet cafe.

5. If we're definitely going to go away on holiday during Christmas Season, I'll _________________ in the dates.

KEY:

1. fax 2. favourited 3. messaged 4. e-mail 5.ink

Amazing rescue – Thanks to mobile phone!

Two teenagers capsized in the sea off the south coast of England and called Japan on a mobile phone to ask for help. That was when brother and sister Ken and Emily Booth were on a sailing holiday near Southampton. But because of huge waves their small boat capsized and they were thrown into the sea.

Ken, 17, and Emily, 16, spent 30 minutes trying to right the capsized dinghy, but without success. They couldn’t get back into the dinghy, and they couldn’t attract the attention of passing ships. After they had been in the water for about 40 minutes, the situation was getting serious, and they felt very cold. Then Emily remembered her mobile phone in its watertight container in her pocket and reached for it.

But she didn’t think of dialling 999, the emergency number. Instead she phoned their father, who was 6,000 miles away in Tokyo on a business trip. Emily explained: ‘I thought it would be quicker to phone someone I knew and tell them our position. I dialled Dad’s number and contacted the coastguard.’

About ten minutes later, after they had held on to the dinghy for nearly an hour, they heard a helicopter. Next, everything happened very quickly, and ken and Emily were picked up and carried to safety.

Afterwards, the coastguard said that the teenagers were lucky to be alive and very, very lucky that the mobile phone had worked. ‘Anyone in trouble should contact the coastguard direct on 999,’ he added.


1. Answer these questions from the text:

a. How were the teenagers rescued?
b. Why did their dinghy capsize?
c. How far is Tokyo from Southampton?

2. Find in the text words or expressions which mean the same as:

a. (n) small sailing boat
b. (v) turned over in the water
c. (n) opposite of danger.

3. What do the underlined words refer to?

a. they: ...
b. it: ...

4. Fill in each blank with one word from the list:

Higher sighted graduates rooted labour backgrounds

a. University ... spend a lot of time looking for a job.
b. ... -saving machines have made Man’s life easier.
c. People from different cultural ... can co-exist and live in peace if they believe in tolerance.
d. A short-... person is someone who can’t see very well.

5. What would you say in the following situations?

a. Ask your brother to help you with a maths exercise.

b. Your teacher wants you to do an exercise, but you don’t know what you’re supposed to do. Express lack of understanding and ask for clarification.

6. Put the verbs in brackets in the correct form:

a. Susan gave up (go) ... to the gym a year ago.
b. My friends (listen) ... to music when they heard an explosion outside.
c. I managed (solve) ... the problem by myself.
d. Emily said she (dial) ... her father’s number.

7. Join each pair of sentences using the words given:

a. Jo trains regularly. Yet, she is too fat. (although)

b. Nancy is nice. Nevertheless, she doesn’t get on well with her husband.(in spite of)

8. Make compound adjectives that match the definitions below:

a. A person with a kind heart:
b. An exercise that consumes too much time


Key

1. Answer these questions from the text:
a. Emily phoned her father who was in Tokyo and the helicopter came to rescue them.
b. Because of huge waves.
c. 6,00 miles.

2. Find in the text words or expressions which mean the same as:

a.dighy:(n) small sailing boat
b.capsized:(v) turned over in the water
c.safety:(n) opposite of danger.

3. What do the underlined words refer to?
a. they: Ken and Emily b. it: mobile

4. Fill in each blank with one word from the list:
a. graduates
c. labour
d. backgrounds
e. sighted

5. What would you say in the following situations?
a. Can you help me with maths, please?
b. I'm sorry sir I don't quite follow you. Could you be more explicit?

6. Put the verbs in brackets in the correct form:
a. going
d. had been listening
c. to solve
d. had dialled

7. Join each pair of sentences using the words given:
a. Although Jo trains regularly, he is too fat.
b. In spite of her nice nature, she doesn't get on well with her husband. / In spite of the fact that she is nice, she...

8. Make compound adjectives that match the definitions below:
a. a kind-hearted person
b. a time-consuming exercise

Hawaii

Watch the video and answer the following questions about Hawaii

1. How many islands does Hawaii have?
2. and How many miles?
3. How many tourists visit Hawaii every year?
4. Where is Honolulu?
5. What’s the most famous beach in Honolulu?
6. When and where was surfing invented?
7. What happened on 7th December 1941?
8. What’s the largest island?
9. What does it mean?
10. What is Kilauea?
11. Name three animals you can see in Hawaii.
12. How often do jam sessions take place?
13. What kind of climate does Hawaii have?
14. What does “aloha” mean”?


Key

1. 137
2. 1500
3. 7 million
4. In O’ahu island
5. Waikiki
6. about 1000 years ago in Hawaii
7. Japanese attack in Pearl Harbour
8. Hawaii
9. The big island
10. A volcano(the most active)
11. Sea turtles, Hawaiian monk seal, whale.
12. Every week
13. Tropical
14. Hello, goodbye and I love you.

Twitter Year

Key

TV giraffe takes a tumble into a swimming pool

Talk about head over heels, but this is quite the giraffe gaffe!
Firefighters were called to the set of ITV1 drama Wild at Heart in South Africa after Lucy, one of the show's giraffes, fell into a swimming pool. Crew worked into the night to dig a trench so she could get out safely.
Wild at Heart star Stephen Tompkinson said: "It was such a bizarre sight - as soon I walked round the corner all I could see was this great neck sticking out of the pool."
No one's quite sure how it happened, but it's thought she was trying to drink from the pool when she took a tumble. The nine-year-old giraffe must have been thirsty, as she managed to squeeze through a fence which usually prevents her from getting near the pool.
The giraffe emerged without any injuries from the rescue, which happened in September during the show's filming.
Lucky was 14 months pregnant at the time, so it was important they got her out safely and kept her calm.

Vocabulary
Match each words to its definition

crew / gaffe / injuries / pregnant / prevents / tumble

when you do something that is a embarrassing mistake
stops something from happening
group of people who work together
damage to your body
fall down quickly
when a person or animal is having a baby

True or false?

1. Lucy was the only giraffe in the show.
2. The pool had water in it.
3. The show was being filmed in South Africa.
4. The fence kept Lucy away from the pool.
5. Lucy was not hurt by the accident.
6. Firefighters rescued Lucy from the pool.
7. Stephen Tompkinson knows how Lucy fell into the pool.
8. Lucy fell into the pool last September.

Which word or phrase means the same as the one in italics?

1. emerged

a) the same as arrived
b) the same as came out
c) the same as entered

2. bizarre

a) the same as frightening
b) the same as strange
c) the same as amusing

3. calm

a) the same as agitated
b) the same as safe
c) the same as relaxed

4. trench

a) the same as ditch
b) the same as hollow
c) the same as mound


KEY

gaffe
when you do something that is a embarrassing mistake
prevents
stops something from happening
crew
group of people who work together
injuries
damage to your body
tumble
fall down quickly
pregnant
when a person or animal is having a baby

1. False
2. True
3. True
4. False
5. True
6. True
7. False
8. True

1. b) the same as came out
2. b) the same as strange
3. c) the same as relaxed
4. a) the same as ditch