1. Neil and his family want a beach that’s close to a car park and offers several other activities apart from spending time in the sea. They’d also like a picnic area near the beach.

2. Jack and Henry can swim well, so they’d like opportunities for distance swimming with their dad. Their mum wants to go riding on the beach, and also buy snacks for everyone there.

3. Salma and Katia want to go somewhere they can try watersports for the first time. Their mum wants a beach with warm water, and organized activities suitable for their small sister.

4. Anna and her family would like to do some sunbathing, but also have a long walk along the coast. Anna also wants to try doing some sand sculptures.

5. Sylvie’s family wants a beach suitable for Sylvie’s small sister to go swimming, as she’s only just learned. Sylvie wants somewhere with various organised games and activities, where she can meet other people her age.

BEACHES

A. Silver Sands This beach has a sea temperature slightly higher than other coastal areas, and with its gentle waves it’s perfect for children. There’s plenty to do, too, with play leaders offering games to entertain younger ones, and surfing and sailing available at all levels, including beginners. The snack bar is excellent, too.

B. Minton Strand The sea here offers safe swimming and sailing, even for beginners, but there's still plenty to do when you want a change from sunbathing. A teenagers' beach club offers sports like cycle rides, volleyball and beach chess- great for everyone getting to know each other!

C. Holly Bay The café here serves delicious meals and sandwiches! The water’s calm in the bay, perfect for people wanting to swim across it - around 2 km! However, it’s very deep, so is only suitable for strong swimmers. There are often sand artists here, and horses for hire to take you along the beach.

D. South Beach This beautiful beach offers safe swimming. And when you fancy a change from sunbathing or watersports, there’s a funfair nearby, and beautiful gardens to walk through, with tables and chairs where you can eat your own food. Leave your car by the gardens, and you’ll be on the beach almost immediately.

E. Bar Mouth Beach This beach often has displays of animals and birds - skillfully made from sand, which you can also learn how to do. It’s also the perfect place for lying in the sun - or why not explore the beach paths on foot for an hour or two? The views are fantastic.

1. Tom wants to look around the studio at his own speed, and visit the actual sets where films were made. His mum wants to see online what the studio is like before she buys tickets.

2. Ingrid is interested in seeing costumes that famous actors have worn, and she’d also like to ride on a vehicle that originally appeared in a film. Ingrid’s mum wants a souvenir to remember their trip.

3. Roberto wants to visit a studio where famous films were made many years ago, and buy something that appeared in one of the films. His dad wants to book online before they go.

4. Simone likes science fiction films, and prefers looking at digital displays about how special effects are achieved to reading information. Simone’s dad wants to get a digital guide.

5. Ben is interested in how scenes from famous cities are created in studios. He’d also like to visit film locations outside the studios, accompanied by a guide who can answer his questions.

FILM STUDIOS

A. Grand Studios
Come and visit amazingly realistic sets, from the streets of New York to the historical sites of Rome - and walk around them. The tour also includes a bus ride to places in the surrounding area which have appeared in films, with a staff member to tell you whatever you'd like to know.

B. West Ways
To visit this studio, get tickets in advance through the website, to avoid long queues - it’s very popular with people who love top movies from the 40s, many of which were filmed here. The studio also has a great selection of items from various movies, now on sale as souvenirs!

C. Waverley Studios
These studios are huge, with plenty of space for displaying the scenery and stages where big stars acted in scenes from famous films. Check the website to see exactly what the studio offers inside. And because you’re not shown around in groups, you can spend as much time there as you want!

D. Movie World
Many famous movies from the last century were made in these studios, and you can still see the costumes worn in them, and the original sets used in the films. There’s a useful digital guide you can buy here, so you’ll find your way through these studios really quickly!

E. Film Park
Film Park has an amazing collection of old cars once used in films - and they still work! So, have a trip in one and see the studios as you’re driven around its huge city street scenes. There’s also a collection of original clothes that stars were dressed in for their movies. Visitors get free photos of themselves as they leave.

1. Kerim wants a film that uses traditional animation methods, such as simple drawings rather than computers to create pictures. He particularly enjoys films about animals, and with great songs sung by well-known singers.

2. Alice, her mum and small sister want a film they can all enjoy. Alice loves films where she feels the main characters are like her, and that have soundtracks involving only instruments, with no singing.

3. Lukas enjoys films that make him laugh, but that he can learn something from at the same time. He’s a keen reader, and he’d like a film of something he’s probably already read.

4. Minnie wants to see a happy film that isn’t just about heroes against bad people. She’d like a film that’s full of surprises, that she’ll want to watch over and over again.

5. Susana wants to see a film about characters that show courage in different situations, and that have the voices of famous actors. She’d like the film to have really beautiful animation.

Reviews of animated films

A. Terry
The pop music in this film is great, as it features the voices of top performers. The film follows a friendly tiger in the jungle, who becomes a hero to his friends. This film first came out in the 70s, and the graphics in this beautiful film have changed very little.

B. Constanz
This beautiful film, with simple graphics, is based on the well-known novel, which has become very popular in school classrooms. Although it’s full of comedy situations and surprises from beginning to end, the film also has a serious message, and will leave you with something to think about after you’ve watched it.

C. Magic Makers
This is a gentle film about a village of animals who all help each other through life - but things don't always go at all as they expected. In fact, they're usually far better! A beautiful, funny film with great songs you won't forget. You'll never get tired of watching it!

D. Imagining
While you’re watching this beautiful film, you’ll also be entertained by the wonderful piano and violin music that accompanies it. It’s a film for the whole family, including young children, to sit down and see together. And everyone will find that they have something in common with the people in the film.

E. Roundabout
The pictures are so fantastic, they almost need nothing more than the piano music that accompanies them. The film focuses on some brave friends who come together to support each other in various ways, and the well-known performers saying their words bring something really special to it. The film has lots to teach teenagers.

1. Sandra wants to learn more about what Planet Earth is actually made of, and how much of it is covered by water. She’d also like online advice about how to organize her work.

2. Miranda wants to learn about some of the famous tourist sites in the world, and why they have become famous. She’d like to play games on the website to help her remember the information.

3. For his project, Billy needs to find out about the biggest mountains in the world, and the kind of animals living near them. He’d also like to see videos of the locations he’s studying.

4. Anna wants to learn about the biggest land areas of the world, and get key facts about their geography. She’d also like advice on how to improve her map-reading skills.

5. Kristofer’s country has very cold winters, so he’s interested in how other people in cold countries deal with their environment. He’d like to share his experiences online with teenagers there.

Geography websites

A. Geographical
This website has lots of maps, quizzes and advice, to check your knowledge of what you've studied - and remind you of anything you've forgotten! There's a brilliant section about popular places in many different countries, which attract large numbers of visitors, with background historical details about the reasons these places are now so well known.

B. Planet Zoom
Not sure how to understand the information included on maps? Here's a step-by-step guide to using them! The site also has games and puzzles about all the continents, including Africa, Asia and Europe, and important details about them, such as their huge size, and their mountain ranges, rivers and climate.

C. Geo watch
What’s underneath the ground we walk on? You'll find maps and diagrams here to tell you - including what you’d see inside the planet if you cut it in half! There’s information, too, about parts of the world that aren’t land, but actually oceans and seas, and help on researching and presenting project information.

D. Worldwide
This website has lots of beautiful photos, maps and film clips to help you learn more about some of the highest - and coldest - peaks on the planet. You'll find plenty of amazing facts about them, together with details of the wildlife that makes its home in the surrounding areas.

E. Go world
How do people live in places with very high or low temperatures in different seasons? Find out how people adapt to the climate they live in, how it affects their lives and what they do to stay warm or keep cool, as necessary. You can also upload your own stories about life in extreme temperatures in your country.

1. Jasmine would like to find a store where they can eat outside, and her dad wants somewhere known for its good-quality suits. They also want to buy a necklace for Jasmine’s mum.

2. Peter wants to buy some special sweets for his grandma’s birthday, and his older sister, Nell, wants to see the latest women’s fashions. They also need to buy new tennis T-shirts, without spending a lot.

3. Maria wants a store selling clothes that use materials produced without damaging the environment. Her mum would like somewhere that has great customer service and is beautiful inside.

4. John enjoys cooking, and wants to buy some unusual ingredients. His parents like stores that have been in the same buildings since they were young, and that have great toys for John’s young sister.

5. Samuel and Mark want to visit a store with a good selection of chess sets. They’d like to have some delicious ice creams and buy something made in the store to eat later.

Department stores

A. Stafford’s
This store is popular for its range of good-quality sportswear at very reasonable prices, which is hard to find elsewhere. And on the ground floor, you’ll find displays of their famous handmade candies - great for celebrations! And Stafford’s is always the first to offer new designs in men’s and women’s clothing, too!

B. Davidson’s
This traditional-looking store opened in 1860, and still offers high-class, fashionable goods at reasonable prices, with many made from natural materials. The men’s clothes are particularly recommended, and there’s also an area selling nothing but beautiful jewelry. And on fine days, try the rooftop restaurant - the food is fantastic.

C. Barton’s
Barton has been here since it opened in 1930, and still has its huge glass door and beautiful windows. The first floor is fantastic for children, as it's packed with things to play with - at reasonable prices. And downstairs, you'll find a huge selection of amazing fresh food rarely found elsewhere.

D. Ford and Madecroft’s
The café here serves fantastic meals, but also has amazing chocolates and frozen desserts of all kinds, and the bakers produce fantastic biscuits and cakes to take away. Upstairs, you’ll find a display of toys and also a huge range of board games, together with instructions to help you play.

E. Hallwick’s
People often visit Hallwick’s just for the displays of lights that make it so attractive to shop here. And it was the first to sell clothes made of pure, natural cotton, grown in conditions that avoid creating pollution. The assistants are polite and will help with any questions about goods.

Health: 1970s and TODAY

People are often shocked by the unhealthy lifestyles shown in TV programmes and films from the 1970s. But are we really any healthier than we were 50 years ago?

Food and drink
People didn't use to worry so much about the food they ate. Back then, people used to eat a lot more red meat. However, since then we've learned that too much red meat can be bad for your health. In the UK, people used to prefer white bread, but sales of white bread have dropped by 75% and British people now prefer wholemeal bread. In general, British people now eat a healthy diet, but they still love chips!

Healthcare
People in the UK didn't use to live as long as they do today. Advances in drugs and technology have helped people to live longer lives. For example, drugs such as statins, which lower cholesterol in the blood, mean that fewer people suffer from heart disease. In hospitals, there are now MRI machines that can see inside a person's body. This means doctors can have a better understanding of health problems. One area that has become worse is allergies. These days more people are allergic to various foods than they were in the 1970s. One possible reason for this is a lack of Vitamin D because we spend less time in the sun.

Exercise
It was in the 1970s that people began doing exercise regularly. In the beginning, there weren't many fitness centres, but the number grew because people decided they wanted to keep in shape and get fit. Since then, gyms and fitness centres have become more popular and more than 10 million British people go regularly to a gym. However, in general, they are less active in their normal day-to-day lives than they were in the 1970s. For example, more people own a car, so they do a lot less walking. These days people go to a gym because they need to include a fitness programme into their comfortable lifestyles.

Technology
There is no doubt that developments in technology have helped improve healthcare. However, they have also had a negative effect on people's health. In the 1970s people didn't use to spend time in front of a computer, but now they do. This means they are sitting for long periods of time and they don't get enough exercise. Too much computer use can also mean people have problems with their neck, shoulders and back because they don't sit properly. The blue light from computer screens can cause lack of sleep, so people suffer from stress. But it's also worth remembering that people can go online to watch and follow fitness workouts, most smartphones have health apps and many people wear fitness trackers that allow them to check they're getting enough exercise.

Living to change

About two years ago, I was unhappy with my life. I didn't love my job, but it was OK. I was healthy even though I didn't exercise. I earned a good salary, but I used to spend the money as soon as I got paid. I ate in restaurants every day and bought new clothes all the time. I worried a lot about money, so I decided to make a change.

To begin with, I stopped buying new clothes. It wasn't that difficult – I had so many clothes already! I found a lot of things in my wardrobe that I used to love but I had forgotten about. After that, I got a roommate. I didn't use to like living with other people, but my roommate Tim was very nice. Then, I started cooking at home instead of eating in restaurants. At first, I was a terrible cook, and the food was awful. I started watching cooking videos online, and soon my cooking was delicious! The food was healthier than the food I used to eat in restaurants, so I lost weight. But then my clothes didn't fit, so I had to buy new ones. I found a website where I could buy used clothes, and sell my old clothes. My roommate helped me pick a few things that I needed, like nice shirts for work, and some new jeans. He also helped me to not buy things I didn't need – like the four pairs of trainers I wanted! And I actually made some money from selling my clothes.

After a while, I didn't need my roommate's help with shopping, and I liked my food more than restaurant food.
In the end, I spent some of the money I'd saved on a cookery course, so I could study to be a chef. These days, instead of spending my time and money eating in restaurants, I spend it making money by cooking in restaurants!

The book reviews

Reviewer 1: Margarita
The novel is pretty interesting. It's a love story and an adventure story. It starts in Mexico City, although it takes place all over the world. The lead character, Martha, is funny and clever. I really like her character. However, Marco was a bit boring. I feel like I've seen his character a lot in books – the quiet man who hides his feelings. The adventure parts were exciting, but other parts were hard to follow. The love story was a bit dull. It also just didn't feel realistic. The book didn't need the love story; it would be fine with just the adventure. I didn't enjoy it as much as I expected.

Reviewer 2: Tamika
What a great book! It was written by my favourite author. I really enjoyed the book, although it's not my favourite of hers. The part when they were on the island being chased was really surprising! And I love Martha, although she's similar to other female characters by this author – intelligent and a little strange. However, Marco was amazing! He's so strong and the way the author describes him is very different, almost like poetry. And the love story was really sweet. I recommend it!

Reviewer 3: Oliver
I thought the novel was OK. I really like love stories, but this one wasn't very exciting. I just didn't like Marco – he was a bit boring and annoying. Who wants to get together with someone who doesn't talk about their feelings? I thought that Martha forgave Marco too easily, although she was a great character. The book would be better without Marco. However, I'd read a book about Martha having adventures on her own!

Reviewer 4: Mae
I couldn't put the book down! It was really well written – the descriptions were so good, and there was a lot of action. I felt like I was hiding in that empty train with them. However, the romance part was a little dull and pretty complicated. Although Marco's character was a bit unrealistic, I did enjoy reading the parts with him in it. He doesn't say much. However, when he does, he says wonderful things. I really enjoyed it.

Galina Amato
• Tell us about yourself...
Hi, everyone. I'm Galina, but my friends call me Gallia. I'm Italian, but my mum is from Russia. I'm studying both art and education. I hope to be an art teacher one day. I've done volunteer work teaching children art, but I've never taught at a school before. I really love it here in the US, but I miss spending time with my family. However, I've made some really good friends.

• How do you feel about this course?
I'm very excited about this course – I can't wait to learn more about how to teach! I enjoy spending time with children, although I haven't done much real teaching. I want to meet more experienced teachers, so I can learn from them. And I have to start somewhere. If I don’t try, I'll never learn how to be a good teacher!

• What do you do when you're not studying?
I do a lot of painting in my flat. I also play guitar in a band with some friends here at the university. Sometimes we get paid to play shows, but usually we do it just for fun.

Bruno Silva
• Tell us about yourself...
Hello, I'm Bruno, and I'm from São Paulo, in Brazil. I'm studying education. This is my last year, and I've learnt so much. I live here in São Paulo with my parents and my little sister. My father is a chef at a local restaurant, and my mum works at a hotel. My sister is still at school. She's only 14.

• How do you feel about this course?
I've got a lot of teaching experience, but I'm always interested in learning new ways to do things. As my father says, we never stop learning! I've been teaching primary-school students for five years in Brazil. Most of my students are between seven and ten years old. If I get a degree, I might get a job at a private school. Private school teachers earn a better salary, so I'm taking this course.

• What do you do when you're not studying?
I teach English to children in my town after school, and sometimes I help secondary-school students with their homework at a homework help centre at the weekend. I also look after my little sister a lot, because my parents work long hours.

We get great pleasure from reading

The more advanced a man is, the greater delight he will find in reading. The ordinary man may think that subjects like philosophy or science are very difficult and that if philosophers and scientists read these subjects, it is not for pleasure. But this is not true. The mathematician finds the same pleasure in his mathematics as the school boy in an adventure story. For both, it is a play of the imagination, a mental recreation and exercise. The pleasure derived from this activity is common to all kinds of reading. But different types of books give us different types of pleasure.

First in order of popularity is novel-reading. Novels contain pictures of imaginary people in imaginary situations, and give us an opportunity of escaping into a new world very much like our world and yet different from it. Here we seem to live a new life, and the experience of this new life gives us a thrill of pleasure.

Next in order of popularity are travel books, biographies and memoirs. These tell us tales of places we have not seen and of great men in whom we are interested. Some of these books are as wonderful as novels, and they have an added value that they are true. Such books give us knowledge, and we also find immense pleasure in knowing details of lands we have not seen and of great men we have only heard of.

Reading is one of the greatest enjoyments of life. To book-lovers, nothing is more fascinating than a favorite book. And, the ordinary educated man who is interested and absorbed in his daily occupation wants to occasionally escape from his drudgery into the wonderland of books for recreation and refreshment.

Successful students

Successful students often do the followings while studying. First, they have an overview before reading. Next, they look for important information and pay greater attention to it (which often needs jumping forward or backward to process information). They also relate important points to one another. Also, they activate and use their prior knowledge. When they realize that their understanding is not good, they do not wait to change strategies. Last, they can monitor understanding and take an action to correct or “fix up” mistakes in comprehension.

Conversely, students with low academic achievement often demonstrate ineffective study skills. They tend to assume a passive role in learning and rely on others (e.g., teachers, parents) to monitor their studying. For example, low-achieving students often do not monitor their understanding of content; they may not be aware of the purpose of studying; and they show little evidence of looking back, or employing “fix-up” strategies to fix understanding problems. Students who struggle with learning new information seem to be unaware that they must extend effort beyond simply reading the content to understand and remember it.

Children with learning disabilities do not plan and judge the quality of their studying. Their studying may be disorganized. Students with learning problems face challenges with personal organization as well. They often have difficulty keeping track of materials and assignments, following directions, and completing work on time. Unlike good studiers who employ a variety of study skills in a flexible yet purposeful manner, low-achieving students use a restricted range of study skills. They cannot explain why good study strategies are important for learning; and they tend to use the same, often ineffective study approach for all learning tasks, ignoring task content, structure or difficulty.

(Source: Adapted from Study Skills: Managing Your Learning — NUI Galway)

Just two months after the flight of Apollo 10, the Apollo 11 astronauts made their
historic landing on the surface of the Moon. This momentous trip for humanity
also provided scientists with an abundance of material for study; from rock and
soil samples brought back from the Moon, scientists have been able to determine
much about the composition of the Moon (as well as to draw) inferences about
the development of the Moon from its composition.

The Moon soil that came back on Apollo 11 contains small bits of rock and glass
which were probably ground from larger rocks when meteors impacted with the
surface of the Moon. The bits of glass are spherical in shape and constitute
approximately half of the Moon soil. Scientists found no trace of animal or plant
life in this soil.

In addition to the Moon soil, astronauts gathered two basic types of rocks from
the surface of the Moon: Basalt and breccia. Basalt is a cooled and hardened
volcanic lava common to the Earth. Since Basalt is formed under extremely high
temperatures, the presence of this type of rock is an indication that the
temperature of the Moon was once extremely hot. Breccia, the other kind of rock
brought back by the astronauts, was formed during the impact of falling objects
on the surface of the Moon. It consists of small pieces of rock compressed
together by the force of impact. Gases such as hydrogen and helium were found
in some of the rocks, and scientists believe that these gases were carried to the
Moon by the solar wind, the streams of gases that are constantly emitted by the
Sun.

Marianne Moore

Marianne Moore (1887-1972) once said that her writing could be called poetry
only because there was no other name for it. Indeed, her poems appear to be
extremely compressed essays that happen to be printed in jagged lines on the
page. Her subjects were varied: animals, laborers, artists, and the craft of poetry.
From her general reading came quotations that she found striking or insightful.
She included these in her poems, scrupulously enclosed in quotation marks, and
sometimes identified in footnotes. Of this practice, she wrote, "Why many
quotation marks?" I am asked ... When a thing has been so well that it could not
be said better, why paraphrase it? Hence, my writing is, if not a cabinet of fossils,
a kind of collection of flies in amber." Close observation and concentration on
detail and the methods of her poetry.

Marianne Moore grew up in Kirkwood, Missouri, near St. Lois. After graduation
from Bryn Mawr College in 1909, she taught commercial subjects at the Indian
School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Later she became a librarian in New York City.
During the 1920’s she was editor of The Dial, an important literary magazine of
the period. She lived quietly all her life, mostly in Brooklyn, New York. She spent
a lot of time at the Bronx Zoo, fascinated by animals. Her admiration of the
Brooklyn Dodgers—before the team moved to Los Angeles—was widely known.

Her first book of poems was published in London in 1921 by a group of friends
associated with the Imagist movement. From that time on her poetry has been
read with interest by succeeding generations of poets and readers. In 1952 she
was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her Collected Poems. She wrote that she did
not write poetry for money or fame. To earn a living is needful, but it can be done
in routine ways. One writes because one has a burning desire to objectify what it
is indispensable to one's happiness to express.

In March 2005, Benjamin Mee received a letter from his sister. Inside was an
advertisement for a house that was for sale. It was a house with a zoo full of
animals in its garden.

Earlier that year, Benjamin's father had died and his mother was living alone in a
large house in London, which she was trying to sell for £1.2 million, the same
price as the zoo. Benjamin, who was living in France with his wife and two
children, thought that it would be wonderful for his family to sell his mother's
house and buy the zoo so that they could all live together and take care of each
other. He knew that his father, a sensible man, would not have agreed. But
Benjamin was thinking of the future.

Surprisingly, his family agreed. Benjamin's mother was very generous and happy
to buy the zoo after selling her house. The year before she had spent a day at a
zoo helping the zoo keepers and had really enjoyed looking after the animals.
Benjamin's wife was more anxious. She was very ill and didn't want to change
her life, but Benjamin said that it would help her and the children think about
something else.

Unfortunately, buying the zoo was quite difficult, but Benjamin was patient and
confident, and after a year of trying, in October 2006, they did it. But four days
after the family moved into the zoo, there was a disaster. A jaguar, a large black
cat, had escaped, after a zoo keeper had forgotten to close a door. The family also
needed £500,000 for repairs before they could open it. Then while they were
doing the repairs, Benjamin's wife died.

On 7 July 2007, the zoo opened and the first visitors came to see the animals.
There were tigers, bears, monkeys, parrots, snakes and spiders, and lots of others.
People loved the zoo, and loved what Benjamin, his children, who were always
sociable and friendly with visitors, and his family had done.

In 2008, he wrote a book called We Bought a Zoo, which became very popular.
A Hollywood producer read the story and decided to make a film about it, and in
2012, the film was released and the money Benjamin earned from it helped to pay
the bills and keep the zoo open.

If you'd like to visit the zoo that Benjamin's family bought, it's called the
Dartmoor Zoological Gardens, in south-west England.

In the past, fathers earned money and mothers looked after the children. Fathers
taught their sons how to play football and encouraged their children to work hard
and get a good job. Mothers cooked and cleaned the home. Fathers did not dress
or feed the children.

Today's fathers, however, are far happier to try and be good parents and want to
be closer to their children. They like playing with the kids and preparing meals
for them. They are still not totally sure about babies.

When I talked to new fathers, I found many did not think it was easy to look after
very young babies. They are not always sure what to do and need more help from
friends and family. Getting involved early is essential for men to do the many
tasks of fatherhood in a good way. This is why paternity leave is important so that
men are with the baby from the beginning.

Being a father changes men. Australian men in my research believed there was a
defined traditional type of man. Men felt that they must be strong and never show
that they can't do something. Men in one study said their children had made them
better men and helped them understand themselves better.

A father can bring many benefits to children, talking to them about the outside
world of work, money, sport and adventure. Research has found that when their
father takes an interest in them, kids' school results are better and they are less
likely to have problems.

The 11-year-old artist

Daniel Johnson is (1) .................. 11-year-old artist. Recently, one of his

paintings was sold for £30,000. The painting shows a winter snow scene near his

home in Scotland, (2) .................. the young artist has lived all his life. Daniel

has been an artist (3) .................. he first started painting scenes of nature on

a family holiday (4) .................. the age of 5. His abilities were quickly

recognised by his parents and when his pictures were shown to art experts, they

agreed the boy had something (5)......... .

A local artist gave Daniel lessons and he learned fast, and got a lot of (6)......

from the media. When his paintings go on (7)........., they are bought for very

large (8)....... of money by people from places like the USA and South Africa.

Daniel's parents have known for a long time that they need to (9) ..................

sure that he has a normal (10)........... Daniel has always loved football, and has

been a member of the school football team for several years.

Michelle Obama

Michelle La Vaughn Robinson was born (1) .................. 1964 in Chicago,

USA. She has a brother, Craig, who is older than her and the family

(2) .................. in a one-bedroom apartment in Chicago. They were a happy

family but they didn’t (3) .................. have a lot of money. (4) ..................,

the Robinson children learned two things from their parents: the first was that you

must do the best you can in school and the (5) .................. was that it's more

important to work hard than to (6) .................. a lot of money.

So, Michelle used to work hard every day and got a (7) .................. at

Princeton University. She trained as a lawyer and used to work in a Chicago

company, (8) .................. she met her future husband, Barack Obama. They

(9) .................. married in 1992. However, after he became US President, she

worked less often on her own career in order to support her husband.

Michelle used to be unknown but she has become one of the most (10) .........

women in the world.

Hi Lee,

Hope you're well. I'm (1) .................. I haven't written for a few weeks, but

I'm very busy (2) ..................for my exams at the moment. If I pass them all,

I'll (3) .................. a place at university! I'd like to do a degree in art. I

(4) .................. painting and drawing, and can't (5) .................. doing

anything else! My mother often asks me, 'What kind of job will you get if you do

a degree in art?' She seems to think I should study something more

(6) .................., but I'm sure I'll manage to find a job after university.

My brother's studying business management and he's working hard at the moment

too. If he’s lucky, he'll get an (7) .................. job abroad. Of course, I'll be

(8) ..................for him, but I'll miss spending time with him.

How are your family? I'm sure that even (9) .................. you can’t come to

Edinburgh this year, you'll be (10) .................. to visit one day. That'll be so

great!

Write soon,

Barbara

About a year ago, I was walking near a river and I (1) .................. and fell in.

I couldn't swim and I was really frightened. I (2) .................. lucky because a

friend was there and she helped me. So I decided that I needed to learn to swim.

To (3) .................. with, I hated getting (4) .................. the water, at the

swimming pool. My teacher told me to take a shower before getting in, so I was

already wet. It was a good idea. After that, I found it (5) .................. to get

into the water I started with very easy (6) .................., like putting my head

underwater. I felt a (7) .................. stupid. But my teacher made it fun and we

laughed a lot. At first, I found it easy to put my head underwater. Learning

(8)............... to breathe out underwater was difficult, and it took a long time.

After a while, it got easier and I made good (9) .................. In the end, I

learned how to swim. I'm not a great swimmer, but I'm not afraid of the water like

I used to be. And I'm a lot more (10) .................. near the river now!

Studio Ghibli is one of the most (1) .................. animation studios in the

world. Between 1985 and 2014, it (2)....... over 20 animated (or cartoon) films.

Most of the films were (3)........ by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. Ghibli

is famous (4) .................. using traditional animation methods. Most (5).......

animation is done using computers. However, at Ghibli, every frame (or picture)

is drawn (6)........ hand. There are thousands of frames in a (7) ...................!

First, a script (or story) is (8)........ and it is used to create a storyboard. Then,

artists draw the scenes. Speaking parts are recorded as (9)....... as music. Finally,

all the pieces are put (10) .................. by the director. It's a long process!

Hi Phil,

Can you recommend a good restaurant (1) ....................my Mum’s birthday

next month? I know we’d regret it if we chose the (2) ....................restaurant

as last year. It was terrible!

There (3) .................... so many problems. First, there were not enough

waiters (4) .................... we had to wait a long time for our food. Then, when

it came, the food was too cold to (5) .................... There was too much salt in

it as well. I think if they used less, the food (6) ....................e much nicer.

There wasn’t any water on the table, so we ordered some drinks, but the waiter

forgot our (7) ............ and we had to ask him three times.

(8)...................., I never want to go back there again. Where would you go, if

you were me? You would make my Mum very happy if we could find a

(9) .................... Italian restaurant.

Can you email me soon, so I can (10) .................... a table?

Thanks!

Betty

1. A. to B.with C. for D. at

2. A. like B. similar C. identical D. same

3. A. were B. are C. is D. was

4. A. but B. so C. although D. because

5. A. bite B. eat C. chew D. swallow

6. A. would B. will C. might D. can

7. A. to drink B. drinking C. drinks D. drank

8. A. honest B.dishonest C. honestly D. dishonestly

9. excellent B. good C. prettier D. well

10. A. call B. bring C. put D. book

The fish that came back from the dead

Do you know what coelacanths are? They are fish (1) ............ lived in the sea a long, long time ago. In fact, scientists (2) ............ to think that they disappeared over 65 million years ago. But one day (3) ............ 1938, Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, a young woman who (4) ............in a museum in a small town in South Africa, received an (5) ............phone call. It was from a fisherman who was called Captain Hendrik Goosen. Marjorie immediately got a taxi and went straight down to the sea. There, in Captain Goosen's boat, she saw a very strange fish. Marjorie put the fish in the taxi, and took it (6) ............ to the museum.

She contacted a friend, James Smith, a science teacher (7) ............ a nearby university, and he immediately told her that it was a coelacanth. It soon became the most (8) ......... fish in the world! Scientists gave it the (9) ............ Latimeria chalumnae, and the place where Marjorie first saw the fish is now known (10) ............ Latimer's Landing.

The whale that saved a woman's life

Some years ago, a Chinese zoo organized a special diving (1)........ They told the

people who wanted to enter the competition to dive into a pool where there were

some whales. The water (2) ............ 7 metres deep and very cold and they had

to stay there for as long as possible without breathing. 26-year-old Yang Yun was

a (3) ...... diver, but she hadn’t ever dived in such cold, deep (4) ............

before. When Yun had been in the pool for a (5) ............ minutes, she found

that she couldn't move her legs. Later, Yun said that she had felt very anxious and

afraid (6) ............ that moment. But then a whale called Mila, which had lived

at the zoo for some time and was sociable with humans, swam towards Yun. Mila

had seen that Yun was in trouble, and wanted to (7) ............ her.

When the people around the pool saw Mila pushing Yun out of the water, they

(8) ............ that the whale had saved the woman. Yun later told journalists that

she had known that there was ‘an incredible force’ pushing her (9) ............, but

that she hadn’t realised it was a whale. And she said that she was never going to

forget Mila – the whale that saved her (10) .............

Star Trek

Star Trek started (1) ............ a TV series in 1966 and lasted for three years. The

series is set (2) ............ the 23rd century. It tells the story of Captain James T.

Kirk and his crew on the starship USS Enterprise as they explore space and travel

to (3)........ planets. Together, they face (4)........... and have many strange

adventures. The starship Enterprise had a lot of futuristic inventions that seemed

amazing in (5) ............ 1960s. For example, there (6) ............ a machine

called a 'replicator; which could (7) ............ food and small objects very

quickly, and another (8) ............ a 'communicator, which let the crew talk to

each other (9)...... when they were away from the starship. Since the 1960s,

many different Star Trek TV series and films have been (10)...............

New Species of Lizard Discovered on Menu

In 2010, Ngo Van Tri, of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, was

(1) ...................a small village restaurant. While he was eating, he saw a box

of lizards on a (2) ...................bench. He thought they looked unusual, so he

(3................... some pictures to a (4) ................... in America, L. Lee

Grismer. When Grismer saw the pictures, he was sure the lizards were special.

He wanted to be the scientist to make the (5) ..................., so he got on a plane

to Vietnam. Then he rode on a motorbike for eight hours to get from the airport

to the restaurant. (6)..................., unfortunately, while he was travelling, the

restaurant owner cooked the lizards and (7) ...................them to his customers.

When Grismer (8)..................., they were all gone. Luckily, a nearby

restaurant also had the (9) ................... kind of lizard on their menu. The (10)

................... of lizard was new to scientists – but not to the Vietnamese

villagers!