Paddleboarding is a mixture of two water sports, surfing and rowing. Paddleboarding uses a surfboard and the paddle boarder 'rows' the board. You can do the sport on rivers, but most of the big competitions are on the ocean. The main competition for paddleboarders is the annual-race from Molokaito Oahu in Hawaii. Competitors must be very strong and athletic. 

One of paddle boarding's most famous competitors is the Australian Jamie Mitchell. Not many people know about Mitchell, but he is the eight-time winner of the Molokai to Oahu race. He also has the record time off our hours, fifty-eight minutes and twenty-five seconds. Because the sport isn't well known. the prize money for winning paddle boarding is small compared to other sports - Mitchell only received $3,000 for winning the race this year. But Mitchell obviously loves the sport because he trains two or three times a day six days a week for the four months before the race. At the same time. he has to earn money, so he does anything including working in bars or building work. So how does Mitchell stay interested in such a sport? He says. 'I just love paddleboarding. It's not about winning. It's about coming to Hawaii and spending time with my good friends in a place that I love.

For many young people, sport is a popular part of school life and (1) _____ in one of the

school teams and playing in matches is very important. (2) _____ someone is in a team, it means a lot of extra practice and often spending a Saturday or Sunday away from (3) ______, as many matches are played then. 

It can also involve travelling to other towns to (4) ________ against other school teams and then (5) ___________ on after the match for a meal or a drink. Sometimes parents, friends or other students will (6) _______ with the team to support their own side.

When a school team wins a match, it is the whole school which feels proud, (7) _______

only the players. It can also mean that a school (8) ________ well-known for being good at certain sports and pupils from that school may end up playing (9) _______ national or international teams so that the school has some really (10) ________ names associated with it!

Ride a bike in Helsinki

You’re (1) ___ for work, and you don’t have a car. The bus is too slow. What do you do? If you live in Helsinki, Finland, you can (2) ___ a green bicycle from the street and ride it to work. Helsinki’s City Bike Program operates 26 bike stands in the center of Helsinki. Anyone can use them. You can take (3)___ city bike from a stand and leave a (4) ___ deposit. After you finish with the bicycle, you return it to a stand and get your money (5)___.

The bicycles are simple (6) ___ comfortable. They have a special (7) ___, and they have painted bright green, so it is easy to see them. The program is very popular. For many people, a City Bike is a (8) ___ way to get around. All kinds of people use the bicycles: shoppers, (9)___people, and students going to school. There are also free bike program in (10)___ other cities, including Copenhagen, Toronto, and Orlando.

How well do you sleep?

Mostly A answers: The average human needs around eight hours of sleep per night. You probably get this because you usually sleep very well. You have regular routines and you are hardly ever tired.

Mostly B answers: You sleep fairly well. Maybe you wake up once or twice a night and that’s normal. But you have a busy life, so you need extra hours in bed. Try to go to bed early during the week and sleep an extra hour at the weekend.

Mostly C answers: You work hard and get home late, and sometimes work in the evening at home, so you probably don’t get the sleep you need. Try to relax in the evening and go to bed early.

The Namibia Challenge in Africa

The Namibia Challenge is a seven-day race organized by Raleigh International, a company established in 1985. It's a competition for people (1) ........................... want to learn teamwork and communication skills. It (2) .......................... place in the Namib desert in Africa, where team spends a week pushing themselves to their limit and (3) ....................... useful skills. As a final challenge, participants (4) ........................ to climb Mount Branberg, Namibia's highest mountain.

Paul Webster, a university student, is willing to (5) ...................... his experiences with other students. "The Namibia Challenge is especially useful if, (6) ....................... me, you haven't had (7) ....................... experience of working in a team." he says. '(8) ........................ the end of it, we were all trying to help each other in the team. It's also a great opportunity to (9) ........................ people of many different nationalities in a very special environment. I'm (10) ..................... of working back to Namibia if I can.'

Nowadays, every household (1)____ electronic rubbish (or e-rubbish)-an old TV or computer printer, or an out-of-date mobile phone we no longer need. But when we throw these everyday items (2)____, not many of us know where these objects go. The journalist and photographer, Peter Essick, (3)____ to follow this e-rubbish to several different countries around the world. In particular, Essick found (4)____ e-rubbish goes to Ghana. There, he saw mountains of old computers in the local markets. The sellers resell some of them but not (5)____ equipment works. Instead, they recycle the broken computers by melting the parts inside. These parts contain a little (6)____ such as copper or even gold sometimes. However, this process of recycling is dangerous (7)____ the workers because it produces a lot of toxic chemicals. As a result of his (8)____, Peter Essick thinks it’s important to stop exporting e-rubbish. It’s bad for the environment and it’s bad for people’s (9)____. Instead, he believes manufacturers need to produce more eco-friendly electronics in the future; in other words, electronic products which you can recycle cheaply, safely and in the country (10)____ they were made

Travelling abroad

1. Why do tourists think that the first thing they should do when they visit a new place is go and see cathedrals, museums and monuments? There are many things I like about traveling, but queuing up to buy museum tickets then having your visit ruined by noisy tour groups is not one of them. The things that make places special are all around the famous buildings, not inside them.

2. My recent trip to India is a good example of this. By far the most interesting part of it was getting to know people - bicycle-taxi drivers, policemen riding elephants and children trying to earn some money by cleaning shoes. It was all so amazing that I didn’t need to do any 'proper sightseeing.

3. I also have fantastic memories of Florence. It was a boiling hot day and the queue to the art gallery was at least a kilometre long. Instead of joining it I sat in a shady square, ate a delicious pizza and listened to a man singing opera songs to only a few listeners. If I had stuck to my original plan I would have missed this experience.

4. One of the best things about travelling is creating memories to bring back. When I got back home from a holiday in Malaysia, I made some of the dishes I’d tasted in the food market. Maybe my results weren't as good as the real thing, but they reminded me of the places and the people I'd met - far better than anything from a souvenir shop.

(by Josh Sinn)

The survivors

Some of the best films and books come from true stories. This is particularly true for stories about mountaineers and explorers. Here are five of the best stories which became books and films.

A In 1996 Jon Krakauer went to Mount Everest. He wanted to climb the mountain and write about how the mountain was changing. However, while he was there, eight people died in terrible weather on the side of the mountain, Krakauer described what happened in his book Into Thin Air.

B When a plane was flying over the Andes in 1972, it crashed but some of the passengers survived. Two Uruguayan men, Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa, walked for many days across the mountains to get help. Their story became a film called Alive.

C In 1965, while Edward Whymper and his team were climbing the Matterhorn mountain, one of the men fell. As he fell, his rope pulled others down with him. Whymper survived and wrote a book about the events.

D The climber George Mallory wanted to be the first person to climb Everest in 1924. He never returned, but no one knows if he reached the top. As a result, there are many books about this famous mountaineering mystery.

E While the explorers Ernest Shackleton was sailing around Antarctica his ship, Endurance, became stuck in the ice. Eventually, Shackleton and his crew left the ship and they spent sixteen days crossing 1,300 kilometres of ocean in  small boats to the island of South Georgia. Shackleton published his famous story of survival in 1919.

C = customer care assistant, J = Jane

C: Good morning. Can I help you?

J: Hi, I’m calling about an order for a Computer Circuit Board Clock from your website but I received an email saying I have to wait seven more days.

C: One moment … Do you have the order number?

J: Yes, it’s 8-0-5-3-1-A.

C: Is that A as in alpha?

J: That’s right.

C: Is that Ms Jane Powell of 90 North Lane?

J: Yes, it is.

C: Hmm. Can I put you on hold for a moment?

J: Sure.

C: Hello?

J: Yes, hello.

C: I’m very sorry but this product isn’t in stock at the moment. We’ll have it in seven days.

J: I already know that. But it’s my husband’s birthday tomorrow.

C: Ah, I see. Well, would you like to order a similar clock? We have an Apple iPod one for thirty-five pounds.

J: Hmm. I really liked the one I ordered.

C: Oh, I’m sorry about that. Would you like to cancel the order?

J: Yes, I think so. How does that work?

C: Well, we’ll refund the amount of thirty-nine pounds to your credit card.

J: OK. Thanks.

C: And would you like confirmation by email?

J: Yes, please.

C: Let me check. Your email is J powell at S-mail dot com.

J: That’s right.

C: Is there anything else I can help you with?

J: No, thanks. That’s everything.

C: OK. Goodbye.

J: Bye.