Head warns over 'bunfight' for places at top schools

Question 1

a) TRUE “Parents are forcing their children to commute for up to 10 hours a week to get into the most sought-after private schools in Britain”

b) TRUE “ they should be spending time enjoying themselves”

c) TRUE “ almost half of families in some parts of the country paid for private tutors” or “ The 10 hours they spend commuting could be spent getting more sleep or seeing their friends”

d) FALSE “ Parents genuinely want them to be happy but they need to put their heads up and see what other life there is”

Question 2

a) Some children are forced to travel for up to 10 hours to get to these school. Some others are taught by private tutors to pass the entry exams to these places.

b) People who are against believe that parents do not see that there are other ways of preparing their kids for the future; they should also be thinking on the time their children have for themselves, to be with their friends or simply to have some more sleep.

Question 3

a) (to) commute

b) (to) drill / drilled

c) (to) secure

Question 4

a) Parents are requiring children to travel long distances.

b) If parents didn't send their children on lengthy commutes, they wouldn't secure a place at some stablishments.

c) She said that it started when children were as young as eight.

Shakespeare was a tax-evading food hoarder, study claims

William Shakespeare illegally stockpiled food during times of shortage so he could sell it at high prices, academics have claimed, and was threatened with jail for not paying tax.

As well as writing many of the world’s greatest plays, he was a successful businessman and major landowner in his native Warwickshire who retired an extremely wealthy man.

However, a new study has found that he was repeatedly prosecuted and fined for illegally hoarding food, and threatened with jail for failing to pay his taxes, The Sunday Times reported.

Court and tax records show that over a 15-year period Shakespeare purchased grain, malt and barley to store and resell for inflated prices, according to a paper by Aberystwyth University academics Dr Jayne Archer, Professor Richard Marggraf Turley and Professor Howard Thomas.

The study notes: "By combining both illegal and legal activities, Shakespeare was able to retire in 1613 as the largest property owner in his home town, Stratford-upon-Avon. His profits - minus a few fines for illegal hoarding and tax evasion - meant he had a working life of just 24 years."

The research sheds new light on Shakespeare’s play Coriolanus - written around the time of a 1607 peasant revolt in the Midlands - which centres on riots over grain-hoarding by the wealthy few.

Dr Archer, a researcher in Renaissance literature, told The Sunday Times: "There was another side to Shakespeare besides the brilliant playwright - as a ruthless businessman who did all he could to avoid taxes, maximise profits at others' expense and exploit the vulnerable - while also writing plays about their plight to entertain them.”

1. Say whether the following statements are TRUE or FALSE. Give evidence from the text.

1.  Shakespeare spent some time in prison.

2. Researchers have studied official legal and financial reports to make their claims about Shakespeare.

3. The writer bought stored and resold cereal for almost 15 years.

4. He didn’t pay his taxes or fines.

5. Shakespeare made a profit from starving people and wrote about their extreme hardship in his plays.

2. Find words in the text that mean the same as:

a)      accumulate

b)      very important, principal

c)      supply additional information

d)      protest, public disturbance

e)      merciless, hard-hearted

KEY

1

1. False. … was threatened with jail for not paying tax.

2. True. Court and tax records show … according to a paper by Aberystwyth University academics Dr Jayne Archer, Professor Richard Marggraf Turley and Professor Howard Thomas

3.  False. Court and tax records show that over a 15-year period Shakespeare purchased grain, malt and barley to store and resell for inflated prices,

4. False. His profits - minus a few fines for illegal hoarding and tax evasion

5. True…. who did all he could to avoid taxes, maximise profits at others' expense and exploit the vulnerable - while also writing plays about their plight to entertain them.

2.

a)  Hoard, stockpile

b)  Major

c) Shed  new light

d) Riot

e) Ruthless

Rita Hosking

Question 1.

a) True. “I admit I warm to Rita Hosking because of the way a history teacher (…) took the brave decision to become a full-time musician and fulfil her potential.”
b) False. “the way a history teacher — for 12 years in David, California -  took the brave decision to become a full-time musician and fulfil her potential” false por el “has been”
c) True. “Blow Northwest Wind is an affecting track — and provides the album's title in the line 'man and his little boat, thinking 'bout what he's got to show'.

d) False. “The opening track, Parting Glass, is also lovely, and in itself shows why Hosking deserves to be far better known.”

Question 2

a)       The fact that she is very witty/intelligent, brave/determined (and her voice)

b)       Because her family (husband and daughter) have played and co-written a song.

Question 3

a)      anger

b)      maid

c)      shrewd

Question 4

a)      Despite having a temperature, I had to go to school

b)      He suggested eating out the following day

c)      He is said to have been a very good footballer

No charges likely over mum leaving baby in car

Police say they will not investigate the case of a baby being left alone in a supermarket carpark while the mother went shopping.

The baby was spotted by other shoppers at the Porirua Pak'n Save about 9am on Saturday. The baby was in a capsule with a note on its blanket which said its mother was shopping and to call a mobile number if there were any issues.

The incident had not been reported to police and no one had come forward with information so it would not be investigated at this stage, said national police spokeswoman Annie Coughlan. "We don't know who the people are, we don't know the phone number, we don't know where to start. We would launch an investigation if we could but at this stage no one's come forward," she said.

A parent can be fined for leaving a child alone, but Senior Sergeant Justin Rakena of Porirua police said earlier today that if a formal complaint was made it was unlikely to result in criminal charges against the mother. He said it was dangerous for parents to leave their children in the car, although in many cases there was an "innocent" explanation, and the best solution was support for the parents from Child, Youth and Family.

"[Incidences like this] need to be taken on their merits and often it's a mum that's run into a shop, for example, and is only away for five minutes," Mr Rakena said. "Absolutely [it should be reported to police], but it doesn't mean to say we'd prosecute. I would suggest the majority of people in that situation aren't prosecuted."

The man who spotted the baby on Saturday when he and his family parked in the neighbouring space said he was shocked to see the hand-written note resting on the child's blanket. "It was written from the baby's perspective, and it said, 'My mum's in doing the shopping, call her if I need anything', and it had the cellphone number. We waited there for a little bit, wondering if the mum was just going to be two seconds and come back. And my wife said, 'I'm not going in without someone being here with the baby'."

Eventually another two passers-by waited by the car, with one of them phoning the mother and telling her to come outside. "We had gone in [to Pak'nSave] before the mother had come out because we had a baby ourselves that was in a hurry." The man said the baby looked well cared for.

Plunket national child safety adviser Sue Campbell said the risks of leaving a baby or young child alone in a car were significant. "Babies can dehydrate quickly and become very distressed. So for a newborn that's one of the key issues. Plus there's a security issue - a small baby is unable to defend itself if need be, or call for help, or anything like that." Ms Campbell said the circumstances of the mother were not clear, and caring for a baby could be overwhelming, especially for those without ready family support.

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)   Police has very little information about the incident.

b)   The child’s mother will be convicted.

c)    Some people phoned the mother.

d)   Although some people found the baby, they left it alone.

Question 2: (2 points) Answer the following questions in your own words.

a)   Are people permissive with this situation?

b)   What are the risks of leaving a baby alone?

Question 3: (1,5 points) Find words or phrases in the text that correspond in meaning to the words and definitions given.

a)   Start, initiate (paragraph 3)

b)   Assistance (paragraph 4)

c)    Sue (paragraph 5)

Question 4: (1,5 points) Complete the following sentences without changing the meaning.

a)   We would launch an investigation if someone came forward.

Unless...

b)   My wife said: “I’m not going in without someone being here with the baby”

My wife told ...

c)    Incidents like his need to be taken on their merits.

We...

Question 5: (3 points) Write a short essay (120 – 150 words) on the following topic:

            Do you think this mother should be punished? Why? Why not?

Optimistic Brits blow £260m a year on home fitness gadgets they will never use

Over the last five years UK adults spent more than £1 billion on home health and fitness equipment they rarely use.  Three quarters of adults have bought at least one piece of equipment so they can pursue health or fitness goals in the comfort of their own home.  However, just 21 per cent of these people use the equipment regularly and 41 per cent admit to using it briefly when they first buy it and then giving up.

The research from Nuffield Health, the UK’s largest healthcare charity, suggests that the average home exerciser spends £235 on equipment that doesn’t get results. The survey revealed there are around 82 million items of health and fitness equipment currently in households across the UK, with exercise bikes, weights and workout DVDs proving most popular.

Much equipment that doesn’t get used ends up cluttering up attics and spare rooms (60 per cent), while some ends up being put to other uses, including drying washing (6 per cent).

In response to this, Nuffield Health has launched an Equipment Amnesty, urging people to ‘give up’ equipment they’ve bought and don’t use for a free two-day pass to use at their local Nuffield Health Fitness and Wellbeing Centre. 

Natalie Mumford, Director of Fitness and Wellbeing at Nuffield Health, commented: 'Exercising at home can be difficult to commit to. Think about joining our Equipment Amnesty. Send us a photo of yourself with your old at-home fitness equipment and download a free pass to try out one of our Fitness and Wellbeing Centres – we have experts on hand to help you.'

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

a)  Seventy five percent of British people have bought a home exercise device. 

b)  Some people interviewed do use their home exercise machines.

c) Nuffield Health is a small organisation. 

d)  Natalie Mumford says that working out at home is easy to do. 

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

a)   What happens to the exercise equipment in many homes?

b)   How does the ‘Equipment Amnesty’ work?

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

a) for a short time (para. 1) 

b) organisation that helps ill people (para. 2) 

c) document that allows you to use a service (para.5)  

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

a) Over the last five years UK adults spent more than £1 billion on home health and fitness equipment they rarely use.

      Despite ……………., UK adults rarely use it.

b)   Nuffield Health has launched an Equipment Amnesty, urging people to ‘give up’ equipment they’ve bought.

      An Equipment Amnesty ……………………….. by Nuffield Health and people …..………. to give up equipment they’ve bought.

c) Natalie Mumford commented: 'Exercising at home can be difficult to commit to. We have experts on hand to help you.'

Natalie Mumford commented that exercising at home …………………………. and that ………………………….

Question 5. Write a short essay (120-150 words) on the following topic:

‘There is no excuse these days for not being fit and healthy.’  Do you agree?

Travel disasters

John and David’s flight home from Amsterdam was at eight in the morning. John’s friend Pieter picked them up at their hostel in his car. They had agreed to meet at half past five but Pieter arrived almost half an hour late – that, however, was just the beginning of their problems.

On the way from the hostel to the airport, a car broke down in the middle of a busy intersection, causing a traffic jam. Then, David realized that he had left his mobile phone in the hostel, but it was too late for them to turn back.

John and David didn’t know it, but Pieter was a horrible driver. When they got to the main highway, he was driving so slowly that John screamed at him, telling him to speed up. He then went so fast that David begged him to slow down.

When they arrived at the airport, Pieter dropped them off at the terminal, and they checked in, passed the security controls without being held up and got on the plane. Seconds later, the plane took off.

Eight hours later, they landed in New York, but they couldn’t get off the plane because there was a problem on the runway. Finally, forty-five minutes after landing, they got off.

1. Put the phrasal verbs from the story in the chart below. Use phrases or short sentences similar to the examples.

Intransitive They checked in.

Separable He picked them up.

Inseparable They couldn’t get off the plane.

                                               

2. Complete the questions with a phrasal verb. Please note that some phrasal verbs appear more than once.

1. What should you do when your car ________ ________?

2. Have you ever been ________ ________ in traffic for a long time and missed an important event? Or ________ ________by customs or passport control in the airport? Why did they ________ you ________?

3. When you go to the airport, does someone usually ________ you ________? Who?

4. And when you come back from a trip, does someone usually ________ you ________ at the airport?

5. How do you usually feel when the plane ________ ________? Do you ever feel nervous or scared?

6. Have you ever gone on a trip and forgotten to take something very important with you? What was it? Did you ________ ________ to go and get it?

Adapted from onestopenglish.com

KEY

Intransitive checked in broke down turn back take off

Separable pick up drop off slow down speed up hold up

Inseparable get off get to get on

1. breaks down

2. held up, held up, hold up

3. drop off

4. pick up

5. takes off

6 turn back

UK's 'oldest cat' turns 27-years-old

A cat from Bedford in England has just celebrated his 27th birthday, amazing his owners.

            Waddy was a "very poorly" kitten when he was chosen by owner Ann Munday from a veterinary surgery in 1986. With the vets' help, Mrs Munday said she nursed him back to health and from then "he has gone from strength to strength".

            The surgery which still treats the cat has verified his age as 27-years-old.

Record-breaking cats

            It's unusual for cats to live into their 20s.

            In 2007, a cat in Shropshire called Pussywillow, aged 26, was claimed to be the oldest in Britain, but the world record for the oldest cat ever, was set by Creme Puff who lived with her owner in Texas, USA, until her death in 2005 at the age of 38.

Match the words below to their definitions

celebrated / claimed / record / surgery / verified / veterinary

publicly acknowledged a significant or happy day or event

place where you go to ask advice or receive treatment from a doctor

proved that something exists or is true

said something was true without proving it

most extreme or remarkable example ever

connected with taking care of the health of animals 

True or false?

1.  Waddy is male cat.

2.  There has never been a cat that is older than Waddy.

3.  A cat named Shropshire lived until the age of 26.

4.  Cats don't often live past 20.

5.  Creme Puff lived in Britain.

6.  Anne Munday owned Pussywillow.

7.  The oldest cat was American.

8.  Anne Munday is married.

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

1. amazing

a) the same as worrying

b) the same as confusing

c) the same as astonishing

2. unusual

a) the same as common

b) the same as unfortunate

c) the same as rare

3. poorly

a) the same as sickly

b) the same as cheap

c) the same as bad

4. chosen

a) the same as bought

b) the same as selected

c) the same as found

KEY

celebrated             publicly acknowledged a significant or happy day or event

surgery                  place where you go to ask advice or receive treatment from a doctor

verified                  proved that something exists or is true

claimed                 said something was true without proving it

record                   most extreme or remarkable example ever

veterinary              connected with taking care of the health of animals

True or false?

1. True

2. False

3. False

4. True

5. False

6. False

7. True

8. True

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

1. astonishing

2. rare

3. sickly

4. selected

Getaway donkey ruins robbery

A gang who tried to burgle a convenience store was forced to abandon its raid when their getaway donkey made too much noise and gave the game away.

The trio of Colombian criminals were forced to ditch their ill-gotten gains, during the 2 a.m. theft, after the animal started to bray and alerted police.

The group had managed to steal rum, oil, rice, cans of tuna and sardines from a small shop in the tiny north Caribbean town of Juan de Acosta, according to Noticias Caracol.

They planned to load the goods onto 10-year-old Xavi, who they had stolen some 12 hours before, and make their escape.

But the animal let out a series of 'hee-haws' and unfortunately for the trio alerted nearby police.

They had to ditch the donkey, which was still carrying the stolen items, and ran to safety away from the officers.

Shop owner Fabio Orozco said: "They came through the roof to rob. They took rum, rice, everything."

The donkey was detained in the town police station for 12 hours until owner Orlando Olivares was notified and came to collect him.

All the items that had been stolen were returned to the store.

 Read the text and match the words with its meanings.

1.       bray                                               a.            Get rid of

2.       ditch                                              b.            Robbery

3.       goods                                           c.            Sound of an animal

4.       load                                              d.            succeeded in

5.       managed to                                 e.            Shop

6.       nearby                                          f.             Not far

7.       rum                                               g.            Objects for sale

8.       store                                             h.            Pack

9.       theft                                               i.             Very small

10.    tiny.                                                j.             A kind of drink

KEY

1.       c

2.       a

3.       g

4.       h

5.       d

6.       f

7.       j

8.       e

9.       b

10.    i                                                                                             

Rephrasings 6

Rewrite the following sentences without changing the meaning.

1. Peter hasn’t seen Kate for several years.

The last time ………………………….

2. She hasn’t written to him for ages.

It ………………………

3. The train arrived much later than I expected.

I hadn’t …………………..

4. I don’t really want to go to Scotland for the summer.

I’d rather ……………..

5. Something about her reminded him of his mother.

There was ………………….

6. Our lessons were held in a very cold classroom.

The classroom in …………………

7. Could you please open the window?

Would you mind ………………………

8. The exam was so difficult that I couldn’t finish it.

 It was …………………….

9. Even though they disliked him, they agreed to help.

Despite ………………..

10. I hadn’t realized the meal would be so expensive.

The meal ……………..

No charges likely over mum leaving baby in car

KEY

Question 1:

a)      TRUE. We don’t know who the people are, we don’t know the phone number.

b)      FALSE. If formal complaint was made it was unlikely to result in criminal charges against the mother.

c)       TRUE. With one of them phoning the mother and telling her to come outside.

d)      TRUE. We had gone in (to Park’nSave) before the mother had come out.

Question 2:

a)      Yes, they are, the mother can be in a hurry; it’s only for a very short period of time.

b)      Health (dehydration) safety.

Question 3:

a)      Launch

b)      Support

c)       Prosecute

Question 4:

a)      Unless someone came forward, we wouldn’t launch an investigation.

b)      My wife told me she was not going in without someone being there with the baby.

c)       We need to take incidents like this on their merits.