World Book Day – the test teen reads

by Genny Haslett, 24, English literature teacher at Bathampton Secondary School

It is often suggested that teachers and librarians aren’t pushing secondary school readers
towards titles that challenge them enough, and so the organisers of World Book Day have
announced a list which might provide some inspiration for anyone who’s stuck for ideas.
This list of popular books for young adults, voted for by 10,000 people across the UK,
features a top 10 to ‘shape and inspire’ teenagers, and handle some of the challenges of
adolescence.
All but one of the books have already been made into films, demonstrating that when a
book makes it to the big screen, it often then acquires more readers thanks to the film’s
success. Of course, this isn’t always the case, as with George Orwell’s 1984, where the
rather mediocre film does not compare so favourably with the book’s ability to conjure up
a dark vision of life in a police state.
James Bowen’s A Streetcat Named Bod, published in 2012, is one of the few relatively
contemporary books here. It’s also certainly for me the least predictable member of the
list, but its extended stay on the bestseller list earned it – and its author – a devoted
following. It is the touching story of Bob, the cat who helped a homeless man called
James get his life back on track. Bob sits on James’s shoulder and sleeps at his feet while
he plays the guitar on the street, and soon becomes the centre of attention. What makes
the story particularly powerful is that it is based on author James Bowen’s real life.
Also on the list are J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books. In this case it’s actually the
whole series rather than one particular title that makes the shortlist. Perhaps the judges
struggled to agree which one book to pick. For me, the books are rather more pre-teen
than the rest of the books on the list, which are aimed at a more mature readership.
But Harry Potter is a special case: as Harry gets older in each successive book in the
series, the stories do become more complex and darker. In a way, readers themselves
grow up with Harry and his friends. Rowling asks some tough questions about standing
up to authority, challenging ‘normal’ views and many other subjects close to teenage
readers’ hearts. This should get rid of the idea that the whole series is just for young kids.
In actual fact, half of all Harry Potter readers are over the age of 35, but that’s another
story.
The list goes right back to the nineteenth century with Charlotte Bronte’s great
romance Jane Eyre, showing that some books never grow old, though the majority are
twentieth-century works such as Anne Frank’s heartbreaking wartime memoir The Diary
of a Young Girl, which even now I find hard to get through without shedding tears.
Personally, I would have swapped J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings for one of the
many classics that didn’t make the final selection, Lord of the Flies perhaps, William
Golding’s nightmare vision of schoolboys stuck on an island.
Of course there’ll always be some choices we don’t agree with, but that’s what I think
makes a list like this so fascinating. I’ve been using it with my class of 16-year-olds, and I
got them to evaluate it and make other suggestions for what to include or how it could be
changed. But what I hope can really make a lasting difference is if it stimulates them to
try out writers on the list, perhaps ones they haven’t come across before, and be
introduced to new styles of writing.
1 What criticism does the writer make in the first paragraph?
A World Book Day has been poorly organised.
B School librarians aren’t working hard enough.
C Teenagers are reading books that are too easy.
D Teachers don’t encourage pupils to read enough.
2 What point is made about books which are made into films?
A The best books tend to be made into films.
B The film of a book makes more people read the book.
C Many people prefer to watch a film than read the book.
D It is useful to be able to compare the book and the film.
3 What does the writer suggest about A Streetcat Named Bob?
A She is surprised that it is on the list.
B The book did not sell as well as it deserved to.
C It is the most recently published book on the list.
D It is the only autobiography on the list.
4 How does the writer justify the presence of the Harry Potter books on the list?
A The books’ fame can help the list get more attention.
B The later books in the series are more suitable for teenagers.
C Teenagers should read books that they will also enjoy as adults.
D It makes sense to have a whole series as well as individual books.
5 Which book does the writer feel shouldn’t be on the list?
A Jane Eyre
B The Diary of a Young Girl
C The Lord of the Rings
D Lord of the Flies
6 What does the writer intend to do?
A be more fully developed in future
B prompt pupils to read more widely
C enable pupils to write more effectively
D provide a useful topic for discussion in class
A MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE
Sara Adelardi, 17, tells us about taking part in a TV cooking competition.
Since I was a child who stood in my grandmother’s kitchen sniffing the delicious smell of
freshly baked bread and homemade soups, I’ve known there is only one thing I want to do
in life: cook. So, when I spotted an advert on a website inviting young people to apply for
a TV cooking competition, there was little doubt I’d be first in line to take part. I thought
‘This could be the beginning of my cooking career!’
The application process was far from straightforward, as I soon discovered. First, I had to
fill in a lengthy form, detailing everything from how I became interested in cooking (that
was the easy part), to things like what I hoped to get out of being part of the show (these
were much trickier!). Once I’d got through that stage of the process, the next step was to
cook a test dish for the show’s judges: scary but exciting, too. If that was good enough,
I’d be invited to take part in the four-week televised competition. One person, selected by
the judges, would be voted out of the competition in each programme, until the winner
was announced during the final.
Until I had to create a test dish, I’d been pretty positive about my cooking ability; I often
cooked big meals for my family at the weekends, and my friends loved the little snacks I
took into school for break times. But suddenly I found myself up against 11 other young
people who’d been cooking for longer. Some of them – I’d known this might be the case
– had even had part-time jobs as waiters, surrounded by top-class food prepared by
professional chefs. Would I really be able to compete? As I stood at my counter in the
test kitchen, ready to start cooking, I remembered my grandmother’s advice: ‘Stick to
what you know best’.
The judges tasted each test dish, made a few notes, and sent us all home. Then the wait
began. Had I made it to the televised competition? Eventually, the phone call came. I’d be
in the first live programme of the series the following week! Our first challenge would be
to make a meal with a selection of ingredients chosen by the judges. It was impossible to
know what they’d pick in advance, and I knew I’d just have to use my creativity on the
day, but I was still desperate to do some preparation, and rushed straight to my parents’
kitchen, pulling everything from the cupboards in a panic. All day I experimented with
new flavour combinations, testing them out on my parents and sister. Most things they
liked, some they didn’t. What if the judges weren’t keen on my dishes?
The day of the first programme dawned and suddenly there I was with the other
competitors, waiting to be given our instructions. The lights were hot in the TV studio,
but although I’d expected to be nervous about being filmed for a TV show, my
excitement soon took over. I recognised all the ingredients spread out on the table in front
of me and I was eager to get to work. I knew exactly what I was going to cook! My
grandmother’s words rang in my ears again. ‘Keep it simple,’ I thought, as I started
chopping.
I didn’t make it any further in the competition. The judges liked my dish and said I
showed promise as a cook, but the other competitors were better on the day. I’d learnt a
lot from seeing how they worked, and how imaginative their dishes were compared to
mine, so I wasn’t too disappointed. It had been a memorable experience, and (line 70)
confirmed in my mind that cooking was the career for me. Years of learning still lie
ahead of me, but one day I’d love to own my own restaurant – and help other young
people fulfil their dreams too!
1 What is the writer’s purpose in the first paragraph?
A to highlight the writer’s relationship with her grandmother
B to describe the kinds of meals that the writer enjoyed cooking
C to help readers identify with the writer’s ambitious character
D to explain why the competition appealed to the writer
2 What does the writer say about applying for the competition in the second paragraph?
A It took much longer than she had hoped it would.
B She found it challenging to answer some of the questions.
 C The process was as complicated as she had expected it to be.
D She discovered details about the competition which she did not like.
3 How did the writer feel after she met the other competitors for the first time?
A confident that she had the necessary skills to do so
B determined to use the advice that she had been given
C concerned that they would be better at cooking than she was
D surprised by how much experience some of them had
4 When it was confirmed that the writer would be taking part in the televised
competition, she
A decided to practise making some of her favourite recipes.
B knew there was little point trying to guess what she’d have to do.
C asked her family to make suggestions about what she should cook.
D felt she ought to find out about ingredients she didn’t ordinarily use.
5 On the first day of the competition, the writer says she felt
A keen to get on with the task before her.
B anxious about appearing on camera.
C relieved to have ideas about what to cook.
D grateful for the family support she had received.
6 What does it refer to in line 70?
A the judges’ feedback
B her time at the studio
C other competitors’ food
D a feeling of disappointment
La Mercè Festival
by Adrian Jacobs
Last September, I attended the La Mercè festival in the city of Barcelona, Spain, with my
family. I’d never been to the city before and was looking forward to spending a few days
there. After checking in to our hotel, we wandered into the centre for our first look
around the city I’d heard so much about. With the festival already in full swing, the
footpaths were crowded, making it challenging to move with any speed around the sights.
It was nothing I hadn’t been warned about and we were in no rush. I could barely take my
eyes off the beautiful old buildings as we walked along. All that fascinating history: I
imagined all the stories the buildings would be able to tell if they had a voice. Traffic
buzzed round us, filling the air with sounds of beeping horns, adding to the atmosphere.
The first event we attended was the building of ‘human towers’. Different teams
competed to create the tallest tower of people by standing on each others’ shoulders. Then
the youngest member of each group climbed up the outside to the very top. I gazed in
awe at the height of the towers. They made it look easy but what an incredible amount of
practice and teamwork the activity must need. Now and then, a tower would collapse to
the gasps of the onlookers. The teams had clearly prepared for this eventuality, though,
and caught each other easily. We stood and watched for ages, transfixed.
Next was the parade of the ‘giants’, where huge brightly painted figures were carried
through the streets representing different neighbourhoods of the city. Kings and queens
dressed in historical costumes hovered over the crowds, spinning and dancing in pairs to
the tunes played on ancient instruments by bands of musicians. Children stared in
wonder, their faces lighting up when they spotted a favourite character – that was a
magical thing. I soon abandoned any attempt at filming the procession; it was far better
just to store the images away in my memory instead.
That evening we saw what, for me, was the highlight of our whole trip: the ‘fire run’.
Another parade, but this one was a procession of huge five-breathing beasts – again,
brightly painted – which were carried along the road, showering the spectators with
sparks from fireworks attached to them. Spectators are advised to cover up as protection,
but there’s no real danger. Even so, I decided to stand well back away from it! It was an
incredible sight and must have been great fun to participate in. The fire lit up the
spectators in the darkness and I recognised my own feelings of happiness on their faces. I
snapped away with my camera, but when I looked at my pictures the next day, I’d just
recorded a blur of movement.
Over the next couple of days we saw everything from a kite flying competition at the
beach to an aerobatic show, sampled local specialities in seaside cafés and sang and (line
52) danced in the city’s numerous squares. All too soon it was the last night of the
festival. Together with thousands of other people, we stood ready to watch the final
event: the closing of the festival with a magnificent fireworks display. It was as fantastic
as all the other events had been and I knew that even if I never came back again, I’d go
home having made the most of the celebrations I’d so longed to see, and having gained an
insight into another culture.
1 How did Adrian feel when he saw the city of Barcelona for the first time?
A amazed at the number of visitors there
B excited by the interesting architecture
C annoyed by how noisy the city was
D pleased about how easy it was to get around
2 What does Adrian say about the ‘human towers’ event in the second paragraph?
A It made him feel nervous at certain moments.
B It continued for longer than he would have liked.
C It required a lot of skill on the part of the participants.
D It was not as impressive as he had expected it to be.
3 When Adrian saw the parade of giants in the third paragraph, he particularly liked
A trying to capture the figures on video.
B seeing other people’s enjoyment of it.
C learning about the history of the activity.
D listening to the music which accompanied it.
4 During the ‘fire run’ in the fourth paragraph, Adrian
A thought it wise to keep at a distance from the parade.
B wished he was able to take part in the procession.
C managed to take some atmospheric photos.
D saw someone he knew in the crowds.
5 What does sampled in line 52 mean?
 A checked
B experimented
C observed
D tried
6 How did Adrian feel at the end of the festival?
A hopeful that he would return in the future
B regretful that the experience was over
C satisfied to have fulfilled an ambition
D happy to be heading home
Teenagers and parents – it’s the same old story …
Many readers have described the ups and downs of living with teenage children.
This week, we hear from Barry Davros, 15.
OK, I’ll admit it. Things haven’t been so easy at home in the last couple of years. I’d like
to think I’m old enough and wise enough to know that it’s almost certainly because I’m a
teenager now. Teenagers complain to their friends about their parents. And I think we can
be pretty certain that the parents do the same about their kids. I argue with mine. We
don’t talk as much as we did when I was a kid. It’s not that this is the way I want it – I’d
prefer it if we never argued, but found a way to talk about what was bothering us. That
would be so much better, not just for me and my mum and dad, but for any teenager and
their family. So I’ve been reading a lot – books like The Teenage Brain, and lots of online
stuff. And I’m sure that if people understood more about what goes on inside a teenager’s
mind, half of the arguments over the dinner table wouldn’t even start in the first place. So
I’d like to share what I’ve learnt.
There are so many things that parents have a go at their teenagers for that it’s almost
impossible to know where to start. So let’s just pick mornings. Mornings are for sleeping.
For as long as you need to, or at least as long as you can. Every teenager knows that. But
not parents – they think that we should get up at 7.30, just because they get up at 7.30,
ready for another busy day. So who’s right? Well, the science says that an adolescent’s
body clock isn’t programmed in the same way, and is on a schedule about three hours
behind that of older adults (that means both going to bed and getting up).
Another ‘issue’ that parents make a big deal about is tidiness. Clothes dumped on the
bathroom floor, an old plate of food under the bed, house keys lost. OK, I admit, I’ve
been guilty of all of these things recently (but at least I owned up!). Sorting stuff like this
takes planning, and the way the teenage brain develops means that it’s just not our strong
point. Sorry! The brain develops a chemical called myelin, and it’s created over time.
Until it’s fully developed in all parts of the brain, it does unfortunately mean that even
very bright teens can do really stupid things. So just bear with us guys!
Because as already mentioned, the teenage brain goes through all sorts of changes,
sometimes teenagers can get angry. This usually makes parents angry. Which makes us
angrier, which … OK, you get the picture. But parents need to understand more about
what’s going on inside our heads. Like, there might be a perfectly understandable (to us)
reason why we don’t want to do that maths homework this instant. So, listen parents out
there, try and understand! Don’t always respond to us by getting angry. Just don’t! Calm
down, count to ten and think twice. (line 49)
Communication. That’s a big one. Sure, teens and parents need to hang out together too,
not live in separate worlds. But I’m 15, so the topics of conversation I was into when I
was 11 don’t work for me now. Same for all kids my age. The sooner parents realise that,
the better. It’s not that we stop (line 54) loving them just because we’re in our teens, it’s
just that we need more space. To grow up and find out who we are.
Here’s a tip – if there’s something that needs to be discussed, do it on a car journey.
Whether it’s the whole family together or just two of you, the fact that you’re in a car
means that you’re gazing ahead, rather than staring at each other. For me, it just makes it
easier to talk somehow, because I sometimes feel they’re judging me or something if
they’re observing me. Try it. It works. And you heard it from me.
1 Why shouldn’t parents be surprised if their teenagers sleep late?
A Many teenagers find their busy schedule tiring.
B Some teenagers need more hours of sleep than adults.
C Teenagers prefer not to see their parents in the mornings.
D It’s natural for teenagers to have different sleep patterns from adults.
2 In the third paragraph, the writer admits that teenagers tend not to be very
A honest.
B organised.
C confident.
D intelligent.
3 What does the writer mean when he advises parents to ‘count to ten’ in line 49?
A don’t react too quickly
B repeat what you have said
C find ten reasons for the behaviour
D don’t tell teenagers things they already know
4 What does ‘that’ refer to in line 54?
A Teenagers need to spend time away from their parents.
B Teenagers love their parents less than they did as children.
C Teenagers want to talk about different things as they mature.
D Teenagers need to spend more time talking to their parents.
5 Car journeys are a good opportunity to speak because
A the speakers don’t need to look at each other.
B the vehicle provides more privacy.
C families can travel somewhere nice together.
D teenagers cannot avoid their parents when they are in the same car.
6 Why has Barry written this blog post?
A to help families get along better
B to explain why his parents annoy him
C to encourage parents, doctors and teachers to read more about teenagers
D to suggest that it is important for teenagers to be responsible
Survival adventure camp
Last summer, I took part in a survival adventure camp in the mountains. It was run by
Survive! Adventure Club, and the idea behind it was to give teenagers like me a taste of
what it’s like to survive in the wild. There were no luxuries such as showers or shops
which you find on other adventure camps. That might have bothered some people – not
me, though. Our guides were experienced and reassured us they’d be with us every step
of the way. They provided tips to help us make informed decisions about things like
where to camp, how to make meals from food we’d find ourselves, and how to get around
without maps.
The experience began at the Survive! Adventure Club headquarters at the base of the
mountains. There, we were divided into teams for the camp. The teams weren’t based on
age and experience but on our performance in a number of team-building tasks, which
was a way for the leaders to put us together based on individual skills and personalities,
to ensure a good mix in each team. We were led through a series of fun activities, such as
making a raft which floated on water and taking part in a quiz. The activities were aimed
at helping us make the most of our strengths, in addition to building confidence before
the real survival adventure began.
Once we’d decided that we still wanted to take part after the day’s activities, our first
night was spent in the cabins at the club’s headquarters. We had a proper bed for the night
but the evening meal was down to us – I knew there’d be some kind of challenge for us!
Our survival expert, Hans, gave us a lesson on finding food, such as plants, in the wild.
He warned us that not everything that looks good is safe to eat, and explained that it’s
vital to identify what you’re looking at. Hans not only pointed out what was edible or
should be left alone, but also taught us to build a campfire and provided cooking tips. He
told us we should see our imaginations, as cooking in the wild was different to cooking at
home.
Next morning the real survival adventure began. We’d been advised to take well-fitting
hiking boots, warm clothing and waterproofs. I appreciated the advice because as we
soon found out, the weather in mountainous regions can be highly unpredictable. After an
initial steep climb, we spent the rest of the morning identifying wildlife and learning to
navigate using nature alone. We learned to determine where we were heading and what
time it was. We put our cooking skills to the test at lunchtime, which was trickier than
we’d imagined, though we eventually came up with something we could all eat! When
evening fell, we had to locate a spot to put up our tents in. Although we’d been told there
was nothing dangerous in the nearby forest, we still kept away from the edges, which put
us at ease.
Over the next two days, we made a shelter, learned to treat minor injuries and built a
bridge. I was put in charge of the latter and although I hadn’t done anything like it
previously and wasn’t particularly keen to be given the responsibility, I discovered a new
skill in engineering, which I never thought I’d be good at. The tasks were all fascinating
and I’d like to do more of that kind of thing.
It was a wonderful adventure. I had no idea what to expect when I signed up and I wasn’t
an outdoors kind of person, so why I thought it was a good idea, I’m not sure! I don’t
regret it, though and I’m pleased I didn’t quit, even when things got tougher than I ever
thought they would. I always knew I was in the capable hands of the leaders and we had
such good fun. I hope to be back again at some point in the future!
1 What is the writer doing in the first paragraph?
A describing the kinds of accommodation available on the trip
B explaining why she had some concerns about going on the trip
C highlighting that the adventure camp she went on was unlike others
D offering advice to other teenagers about how to cope with conditions on the trip
2 The writer says that the team-building tasks were carried out in order to
A enable participants to get to know each other.
B ensure each group was balanced in terms of ability.
C provide some fun before the challenges of the trip started.
D select those who would take part in the actual survival adventure.
3 What does the writer suggest about the first night’s activity?
A It didn’t require too much creativity on the part of participants.
B It helped participants decide whether they wanted to carry on.
C It equipped participants with some useful knowledge.
D It wasn’t as relaxing as she had expected it to be.
4 How does the writer say she felt when the survival adventure started?
A proud that she quickly acquired knowledge about getting around
B grateful that she had the appropriate gear with her
C nervous about the location she chose to camp in
D disappointed in her cooking skills
5 What does the writer say about the activities they did on the following two days?
A She found she was good at something she hadn’t tried before.
B She didn’t enjoy some of them as much as she had hoped to.
C She liked being put in a position of leadership for one activity.
D She felt that experience of doing similar activities helped her.
6 How does the writer feel about having taken part in the survival adventure?
A excited about returning as soon as she can
B sorry that she hadn’t thought of doing it before
C surprised by how much she learned from the leaders
D proud of herself for dealing with unexpected difficulties
Hotels of the future
Our Travel correspondent Joana Richards reports about a new trend in hotels.
I recently visited a hotel in France which has no visible human staff. This is just one of
several hotels in Europe and Asia which runs with apparently no human contact. Most of
the services are provided by robots and machines. The concept is to provide an
environmentally friendly hotel where staff and running costs kept to a minimum.
Personally, I’ve spent my life away from robots and machines, and so kept having to
remind myself that in many parts of the world, its not unusual for jobs and household
tasks to be automated these days.
So I lost no time in booking myself a room at one of these hotels and going to see it for
myself. And sure enough, there are the reception desk instead of a friendly receptionist
wearing a uniform was a machine.
‘I’d like to check in please, I shouted, wondering if the machine would respond to my
voice, and feeling thrilled that I was about to have my first ever conversation with a
check-in machine. Nothing. I said it again but there was silence. I was hoping the
machine would say something like ‘If you want to check in, press 1. But then I noticed a
written message in the machine’s screen. ‘Please insert your credit card and key in your
booking reference, then follow the instructions.’ No conversation. How disappointing.
Staying at the hotel costs from €35 (more if you want a bigger room). That’s a bargain for
Paris, where a stay in a more conventional hotel can easily cost two or three times that
much. And if you did stay there, it wouldn’t necessarily be any nicer, and certainly
wouldn’t be any more memorable. The hotel is located near to the amusement park,
Disneyland Paris, which was created as a visitor attraction on the east of the city with lots
of amusement rides. In fact, many of the guests book the hotel purely in order to be close
to the park.
Back in the hotel, as well as machines to check in, there are vending machines to serve
drinks and snacks and vacuum cleaners that work without a human, using sensors to
navigate around the rooms. According to the owners, the laundry has robots which do all
the washing unaided. Another innovation is the use of face recognition instead of keys to
get into your room. A photograph of the guest’s face is taken at the reception desk by the
check in machines.
With 60 rooms in the building, there is a lot of coming and going. Guests are actively
encouraged to stop and get a coffee from one of the machines in the guest lounge with
other guests, so there is at least some social interaction. One area where humans are
absolutely essential for the hotel is security. There are scanners and CCTV cameras
everywhere, and the footage from these is watched by human security guards, no matter
whether or not the hotel is full. It is their job to make sure that the guests are safe – and
that no-one causes any damage to hotel property, including of course making off with a
costly robot.
Critics say that businesses like these automated hotels will mean that people lose their
jobs, as more and more roles can be performed by robots and machines. But there are
many who see them as a vision of the future and argue that robots can make our lives
easier. But this can only happen if higher manufacturing and (line x) operating standards
are achieved, and if guests are prepared to put their trust in machines and don’t mind the
lack of personal contact. Only then will this type of hotel be a success. Time will tell if
this is the case.
1 The aim of this hotel is to be very
A efficient.
B friendly.
C profitable.
D unusual.
2 What aspect of the writer’s experience at reception was ‘disappointing’ (line X)?
 A the appearance of the reception
B the time she wasted checking in
C the lack of verbal interaction with the machine
D the rudeness of the other guests
3 What does the writer say about the price of the rooms in the hotel?
A The hotel is good value.
B The prices are likely to rise.
C Other hotels provide better accommodation.
D It is not always clear how much a room will cost.
4 What is the writer’s main point in the fourth paragraph?
A There are limits to what robots and machines can do.
B Robots and machines can learn a wide range of skills.
C Different robots and machines are used for different tasks.
D Humans make mistakes that robots and machines do not make.
5 What risk is mentioned in the fifth paragraph?
A robots being stolen
B security guards being ineffective
C the hotel not doing enough business
D areas of the hotel becoming too crowded
6 What does ‘this can only happen’ in line X refer to?
A more roles being performed by robots and machines
B many seeing the hotel as a vision of the future
C robots and machines making our lives easier
D reduction in social human contact
A varied career
Chloe Kelling, a successful model and singer-songwriter, now has a new venture
I arrive for my interview with Chloe Kelling and I’m asked to wait in the garden. I hardly
have time to start looking round at the carefully tended flowerbeds when Chloe appears.
Every bit as tall and striking as I’d expected. Chloe emerges from the house wearing an
oversized man’s jacket, a delicately patterned top and jeans. Chloe is known for her
slightly quirky sense of fashion and, of course, she looks great as she makes her way
towards me through the flowerbeds.
‘Let’s talk in my office,’ she says, leading the way not back to the house, but instead to an
ancient caravan parked up next to it. As we climb inside the compact little van, the smell
of fresh baking greets us. A tiny table is piled high with cupcakes, each iced in a different
colour. Chloe’s been busy, and there’s a real sense of playing tea parties in a secret den!
But what else should I have expected from a woman with such a varied and interesting
career?
Chloe originally trained as a make-up artist, having left her home in the country at
nineteen to try and make her name as a model in London, and soon got work in adverts
and the fashion business. ‘I went to Japan to work for a short period, but felt very
homesick at first,’ she recalls. ‘It was very demanding work and, though I met loads of
nice people, it was too much to take in at nineteen. If I’d stayed longer, I might have
settled in better.’
Alongside the modelling, Chloe was also beginning to make contacts in the music
business. ‘I’d been the typical kid, singing with a hairbrush in front of the mirror,
dreaming of being a star one day,’ she laughs. She joined a girl band which ‘broke up
before we got anywhere’, before becoming the lead singer with the band Whoosh, which
features on a best-selling clubbing album. Unusually though, Chloe also sings with two
other bands, one based in Sweden and another in London, and each of these has a distinct
style.
It was her work with Whoosh that originally led to Chloe’s link with Sweden. She was
offered a song-writing job there with a team that was responsible for songs for some
major stars, but gradually became more involved in writing music for her own band.
Although she now divides her time between London and Sweden, her first stay there
turned out to be much longer than she’d bargained for. ‘The rooms are very tall over there
and so people have these rather high beds that you climb up to,’ she explains. ‘I fell as I
climbed up the ladder and cracked three ribs. Although the people at the hospital were
very kind, I was stuck there for a while, which was very frustrating. Sneezing and
laughing were so painful at first, let alone singing!’
It was while recovering from her injuries that Chloe hit upon the idea of staging what she
calls vintage fairs. ‘It was snowing in Sweden and I wanted something nice to look
forward to.’ Chloe had always loved vintage clothes, particularly from the 1950s, and
decided to stage an event for others who shared her passion. The first fair was held in her
home village and featured stalls selling all sorts of clothes and crafts dating back to the
1950s. It was a huge hit, with 300 people turning up.
‘When I had the idea of the first fair, it was only meant to be a one-off, but we had so
many compliments, I decided to go ahead with more,’ says Chloe. ‘There’s something for
all ages and people find old things have more character than stuff you buy in modern
shops. It also fits perfectly with the idea of recycling.’ Looking round Chloe’s caravan, I
can see what she means.
1 In the first paragraph, the writer suggests that Chloe
A usually keeps people waiting.
B is much taller than he expected.
C lives up to her stylish reputation.
D is surprisingly interested in flowers.
2 What do we learn about Chloe in the second paragraph?
A She’s cooked something for her guest.
B She’s expecting some other visitors today.
C She has no room in her house for an office.
D She invites very few people into her caravan.
3 What does Chloe say about her trip to Japan?
A She soon got used to her life there.
B She felt lonely most of the time there.
C She wishes she’d done the work better.
 D She wasn’t old enough to appreciate it fully.
4 In the fourth paragraph, we find out that Chloe
A gave up modelling to become a singer.
B had always had ambitions to be a singer.
C has now left the first successful band she joined.
D sings in three bands that have a very similar sound.
5 Chloe ended up in hospital in Sweden after
A breaking a rib whilst trying to move her bed.
B hurting her leg in a fall from her bed.
C falling off a ladder in her bedroom.
D tripping over in her room at night.
6 What does Chloe say about her ‘vintage fairs’?
A Her main aim is to raise awareness of environmental issues.
B She has responded to positive feedback from customers.
C Certain shops are now showing interest in the idea.
D They are mostly popular with older people.
The fake hairdresser remembers
Some years ago, a British TV company came up with an idea for a reality TV show.
People with no experience would be trained in a profession in a very short period of time,
then would try and pass themselves off as the real thing with the general public. The
show was called Faking It, and the format has since been imitated the world over. One of
the first contestants was Gavin Freeborn, a twenty-three-year-old farmer’s son, who
trained with celebrity hairdresser Trevor Sorbie in London. Gavin remembers the
experience.
‘I was at university, studying for a degree in agriculture, when some friends mentioned
that a TV company had advertised for people to take part in Faking It. They were looking
for someone who’d never picked up a pair of scissors or thought of hairdressing as a
career, which I certainly hadn’t. I reckoned it would be a laugh. Having spent my school
holidays shearing sheep on my parents’ farm, I was used to the idea of haircutting, but
obviously it’s harder doing it on people – because they have an opinion about it!’
‘I’d never been to London before and it was so busy that I felt a bit overwhelmed at first.
Meeting Trevor for the first time, he seemed really strict, but once he realised I was
taking the challenge seriously we got on like a house on fire and they often had to stop
filming because we couldn’t stop giggling. Fortunately, I didn’t have to do any of the
washing or sweeping floors other people new to the business have to do. I went straight
into blow-drying and cutting instead.’
‘At first I practised on a dummy’s head, which was a welcome safety net, but I did make a
really bad mistake halfway through filming when I was cutting one real man’s hair. I’d
been shown how to use clippers to get a cropped effect but hadn’t been warned to angle
the comb. I ended up shaving off a huge patch of hair! He couldn’t see what I’d done, but
the camera crew couldn’t stop laughing, so it was obvious I’d made a mistake. Luckily, I
managed to rectify the situation and told the client, who was alright about it, so I forgave
them.’
‘By the day of my final test, I knew I was capable but I felt sick with nerves. I didn’t want
to let Trevor down. But even though I failed to convince the client that I was a real
hairdresser, she approved of the haircut and the judges were impressed by it, too. It didn’t
worry me at the time but, looking back now, I think it was a bit unfair that I was
penalised for taking too long – and hour-and-a-half – when I’d been taught the most
important thing was to ensure your client walks out of the salon feeling like a million
dollars.’
‘After the programme, I went home for a week but I decided to come back to London
because I’d fallen in love with the buzz of the city. People in town kept stopping and
staring at me as if I was famous. I found this unnerving at first, but with time I got used to
it. There were a few comments about me being too full of myself, but I took no notice.’
‘When I agreed to do Faking It, I had no idea how much I was signing my life away, but I
couldn’t say I have any regrets. The thing is that I’ve discovered growing up on a farm
doesn’t mean I can’t work in a creative field. What’s more, I’ve now got choices I didn’t
realise I had, which is brilliant. Although I still keep in contact with everyone from
Trevor’s salon, and we all go out when I’m in London, I’m hardly a celebrity anymore.’
1 Why did Gavin first apply to be on the programme?
A He thought it would be fun.
B He liked the idea of going to London.
C His friends managed to talk him into it.
D He had some experience of hairdressing.
2 How did Gavin feel about the hairdressing mistake he made one day?
A sorry that the client was dissatisfied
B relieved that the client didn’t notice it
C pleased that he was able to find a solution
D annoyed by the reaction of the camera crew
3 How did Gavin feel on the day of his final test?
A unsure if he was good enough
B worried that he might not succeed
C unconvinced that the client was really happy
D disappointed by the feedback from the judges
4 Thinking about the final test now, Gavin feels that he
A was too slow in completing the haircut.
B didn’t take enough notice of his client’s wishes.
C was unjustly criticised for one aspect of his performance.
D should have paid some attention to things he’d been taught.
5 What does the word ‘it’ in line 33 refer to?
A people making comments about Gavin
B people looking at Gavin in the street.
C Gavin feeling proud of himself
D Gavin feeling uncomfortable
6 Looking back on the whole experience, Gavin now
A wishes he’d thought more carefully before applying.
 B realises that his life is different as a result.
C appreciates his farm upbringing more.
D accepts that it’s helped him socially.
Moving house
A few days later, Lyn’s mother told her to spend her evening sorting out and packing her
belongings. ‘I’ll see to your clothes,’ she said. ‘I want you to do your books and paints and
things. I’ve put some cardboard boxes in your room.’
‘You should’ve asked me,’ said Lyn, following her into the bedroom and seeing the
assorted boxes. ‘I would’ve got some. There’s lots outside the supermarket near school.’
‘These came from the local shop. Oh it’s all right, I’ve shaken out all the dirt,’ she said as
Lyn tipped up the nearest one, checking that it was empty.
‘OK. I’ll do it,’ said Lyn. ‘We’re ready to move then, are we?’ (line 8)
‘Yes, the day after tomorrow. You’re going to miss the end of school term, but you won’t
mind that, will you?
‘You mean Friday’s my last day at school?’ Lyn pushed the boxes aside with her foot to
clear a path to her bed so that she could sit down. ‘You could’ve told me,’ she said. ‘I have
got people to say goodbye to, you know.’
‘I am telling you,’ said her mother reasonably. ‘It doesn’t take two days to say goodbye,
does it? You’ll only get upset.’
‘Why are we doing my things first?’ Lyn asked. ‘I haven’t got much. There’s all the other
stuff in the house – shouldn’t we start on that first?’
‘Don’t worry about that. Mrs Wilson’s coming to help me tomorrow.’
Lyn remembered what Mandy Wilson had said all those days ago. ‘My mum’s coming
round to help you pack.’ She felt angry with herself for not having said something
straightaway – it was probably too late now. But worth a try. ‘I can help you,’ she said.
‘We can do it together.’
‘You’ll be at school – you want to say goodbye.’
‘I’ll go in at lunchtime for that. Mum, we can do it together. I don’t want that Mrs Wilson
touching our things.’ Mandy Wilson’s mother – picking things over – telling Mandy what
they’d found – Mandy at school announcing importantly, ‘My mother says they’ve got
cheap plates and half of them are cracked and none of their towels match.’ The image was
intolerable.
Lyn’s mother moved over to sit beside her on the bed. She was wearing her harassed
expression. She was clearly feeling the pressure too, but managed to keep her patience.
‘Nothing’s ever straightforward with you, is it?’ she said. ‘It’s been agreed for a long time
and it’s extremely kind of her to help. Everything’s got to be wrapped up carefully so it
doesn’t get broken, then put in storage boxes in the right order – I don’t doubt you’d do
your best, but there’s not room for anyone else – and she offered first.’
Lyn said no more and got on with the job she’d agreed to do. Her bedroom looked odd
when she’d finished, but not as odd as the rest of the house when she got home from
school next day. It was so sad. There were no curtains at the windows and no ornaments
on the shelves, and in the middle of the room stood four large wooden boxes, full of
objects wrapped in newspaper. But what really struck Lyn most were the rectangles of
lighter-coloured paint on the wall where pictures had once hung. It was as if they had
been atomised by a ray gun. Moving into the kitchen, she saw empty cupboards, their
doors wide open. Somebody had done a thorough job.
1 When Lyn is asked to pack her belongings, she
A objects to putting her clothes in boxes.
B is worried whether the boxes are clean.
C thinks that boxes are unsuitable for the job.
D is annoyed that she forgot to get better boxes.
2 When Lys says ‘I’ll do it’ in line 8, she is talking about
A filling something.
B checking something.
C collecting something.
D replacing something.
3 How does Lyn react to the news that the family is moving soon?
A She’s sad to learn that she’s leaving her old home.
B She wonders how her friends will take the news.
C She’s worried about missing her schoolwork.
D She wishes she’d been told earlier.
4 Why does Lyn offer to do more of the packing?
A She feels her mother needs her support.
B She regrets having refused to do it before.
C She distrusts the person who is coming to help.
D She’s concerned that some things will get damaged.
5 What reason does Lyn’s mother give for not accepting Lyn’s offer of help?
A Other people have already said they will do it.
B The job will take more than two people.
C Lyn would not be capable of doing it.
D Lyn would not enjoy doing it.
6 What made the greatest impression on Lyn when she came home the next day?
A how sad her bedroom looked
B the empty spaces where things had once been
C how the things from the house had been packed
D the fact that the kitchen had been completely cleared
Trip to Scotland
The four of us, my best friend Ruth, my parents and me, were walking over a piece of
damp moorland in Scotland. It was cold, in spite of the spring sunshine, and rather bleak.
I have to say, I’d been quite anxious about Ruth when we set out. I wasn’t sure how a
New Yorker would react to all this empty scenery. Although she’s lived in London for
years, this was the first time she’d ever been to Scotland, which was surprising. It was
also the first time she’d been on a trip with my family, which was not so surprising. My
parents almost never go away.
My family runs a travel agency, so a holiday’s just like work for them – or so they say.
Just occasionally, though, something gets them moving. This time it was a small advert in
the newspaper. My father saw it in the travel section, which normally he only reads for
research purposes. It was a special offer – a long weekend in a farmhouse at a really good
price. What was crucial, though, was that it ended with the magic words ‘excellent bird-
watching country’. Suddenly, we were in the car heading north for Scotland.
‘I think I’ve just seen a sparrow-harrier,’ said Ruth, ‘but now all I’m getting is sky.’
‘Binoculars can be very tricky if you’re not used to them,’ said my mother.
‘So can bird names,’ I said. ‘You’ve just invented the sparrow-harrier. It must’ve been
either a sparrowhawk or a hen harrier.’
My father was struggling with one foot deep in a wet patch of mud. He heaved it free; it
gave out a loud squelch. ‘In actual fact,’ he said, ‘it was a buzzard.’ (line 18)
I think Dad likes bird-watching the way some people like fishing. It gives him an excuse
to go somewhere lonely and stare into space. To be fair, though, he can get quite
animated; when he thought he’d spotted a firecrest up an oak tree, he brought the
binoculars up so fast he blacked both his eyes. I remember trying not to laugh. Somehow,
though, I hadn’t expected Ruth to find it appealing. Here she was staring at a disappearing
dot in the sky and saying, ‘Okay. So can I claim to have seen a buzzard? Even though I
didn’t know what it was?’ My father bent down and pointed to a small, boring plant, half-
hidden in the grass. ‘What’s that?’ he said.
Ruth examined it carefully. ‘I have absolutely no idea,’ she said.
‘Neither have I,’ said my father, ‘but whatever it is, we’ve definitely both seen it.’
‘I think that was a “yes” to your buzzard question,’ said my mother.
We only had one more day away. Then it was back to reality for all of us. Ruth and I are
both taking a ‘year out’ between school and college. I have to admit things weren’t turning
out exactly as we expected – though bits have been really good. The idea was to work
and save, then travel and party. I got a job at once, as an assistant at the agency. I would
like to point out, here, that this only sounds like an easy option to people who have never
worked for my parents. It’s been hard for Ruth to find jobs though, so she never has much
money. It’s a pity because, wherever you want to travel, you have to pay – unless you’re
my parents, of course. It was on the walk back to the farm that they began to discuss all
the free holidays they’d had over the years. Which I have to say I thought was very
tactless of them.
1 What worried the narrator about the trip before they left?
A whether Ruth would get on with her parents
B whether her parents would enjoy themselves
C whether Ruth would appreciate the landscape
D whether low temperatures would spoil their fun
2 According to the narrator, what had attracted her father to the trip?
A the place where he saw it advertised
B the relatively low cost it involved
C the chance to practise his hobby
D the opportunities for research
3 The word ‘squelch’ in line 18 describes
A the noise something made.
 B the way something looked.
C a way of moving something.
D a way of talking about something.
4 The narrator mentions the incident with the firecrest to show
A how unlucky her father tended to be.
B how keen on bird-watching her father was.
C how amusing her father could be at times.
D how knowledgeable about birds her father was.
5 How does the narrator feel about her ‘year out’ so far?
A Most of it has been enjoyable.
B She is thoroughly disappointed by it.
C It has not been going according to plan.
D This holiday is the best part of it to date.
6 What does the narrator suggest about her job?
A It isn’t very well paid.
B It doesn’t really interest her.
C It’s fun working with her parents.
D It’s much harder than people imagine.
The reluctant hero
The most endearing thing about Aaron Green – and there are many – is his refusal to
accept how famous he’s about to become. ‘I can walk down the street and not be hassled,
which is really nice. I kind of hope that continues and I’m sure it will,’ he says earnestly.
He seems genuinely to believe that the job won’t change his life. ‘There’s nothing
fascinating about my life, and there’s absolutely no reason why that should start
happening.’ You can only wish him well.
How lovely if this turned out to be true, but the chances are it won’t, and he must know
this. Aaron has been cast as the hero in the latest fantasy blockbuster that will hit our
screens next year. The first photo of him in his costume was released last week to an
Internet frenzy.
After an award nomination for his last film, Aaron is having the biggest year of his life,
but it hasn’t gone to his head. ‘It’s nice if your work is praised, but it’s all very new to me,
this,’ he (line 11) says. ‘I really like working in this profession and exploring its
possibilities. Who knows what the future holds? We could dream about what might
happen next, but there’s not much point. I’m just enjoying my job and want to do well in
it in the future, but that’s kind of it, really No big hassles.’
Of all the characters in his last film, which is based on a true story about a group of
university students who start an influential blog, Aaron’s character is the one who
emerges as most likeable. But he insists that the plot is not as straightforward as it might
appear. ‘What’s wonderful about this film is that everyone feels they are the good guy. I
don’t think anyone in the cast felt they were playing the villain. It was just a group of
human beings that had different opinions.’
It’s a typically thoughtful answer from the 27-year-old, who seems to be a bit of a worrier
and prefers to avoid watching himself on screen. Doubtless he doesn’t care for interviews
either, but he is so open and engaging that you wouldn’t know it. He felt ‘a heightened
sense of responsibility’ playing a real-life person in his last film, but had no contact with
the person concerned. ‘These people are living and breathing somewhere – of course that
has a great effect on the care with which you approach your work. I kept wondering if
he’d come and see the film, if he’d recognise himself in my performance or be angered by
it.’
His performance has a vulnerability about it that is almost painful to watch. Does he seek
out those parts or do directors see that quality in him? ‘I don’t know, I think it’s probably
a bit of both. I certainly have that unwillingness to lose naivety; to lose that childlike way
of looking at the world. I find it a very real and profound theme in my life and, talking to
other people my age, I think it’s universal.’
1 In the first paragraph, the writer suggests that he thinks Aaron
A has a sensible attitude towards fame.
B seems confident that he can deal with fame.
C seems unaware that he’s about to become famous.
D has unrealistic ideas about what it’s like to be famous.
2 The phrase ‘hasn’t gone to his head’ (line 11) suggests that Aaron is
A modest about his achievements.
B used to receiving so much praise.
C doubtful whether he will win an award.
D unsure whether he deserves so much attention.
3 What does Aaron say about his last film?
A There are clear heroes and villains in it.
B The story is not as simple as it may seem.
C He knows why people liked his character best.
D There were often disagreements between the actors.
4 What makes the writer think that Aaron is an anxious person?
A He has no wish to watch his own films.
B He obviously doesn’t like giving interviews.
C He feels responsible for the character he plays.
D He thinks carefully before answering a question.
5 What does Aaron say about playing a real-life person on screen?
A He was disappointed that he never met that person.
B He was sure that person wouldn’t want to see the film.
C He was concerned that the person might easily be offended.
D He was pleased that the person approved of the fact he was playing it.
6 What does Aaron suggest in the final paragraph?
A He only plays parts that suit his own personality.
B He lets the director decide how a part should be played.
C He’s not such an immature person as he may appear.
D He shares certain feelings with lots of other young people.
A hop, skip and a jump away
Audrey Pirog talks about her first triple-jump competition
‘I want you warming up. Do some bounding on the grass while you wait to sign in.’ It was
Paula, our coach. I wasn’t too keen on this idea, knowing it would only tire me. My eyes
met those of my three fellow triple-jumpers. We all sighed in agreement, all wanting to
conserve our energy. Nobody moved. What’s more, I needed to qualify for the state
championships. It was all I could think about. I had to jump twenty-nine feet, six inches
to do this.
The sun was bright in the cloudless sky as I looked down the runway to the sand-filled
triple-jump pit. Sounds of feet pounding on the track and cheers filled the air. I closed my
eyes and tried to imagine it; the perfect jump. I’d only recently taken up this event and
wished I’d had (line 9) more practice. It’s so much more than a hop, skip and a jump. It’s
a take-off. The announcer’s voice boomed, ‘All triple-jump girls please sign in now.’
About nine of us meandered down to the pit where he was holding a clipboard and
measuring tape.
Waiting for my turn, I checked out the competition, seeing who had the longest legs or
greatest muscle tone. My legs were still aching a little from the hundred-metre hurdles. I
stretched them out, feeling the lump in my left one, the remnants of a pulled muscle.
When I heard my name called, I began to feel nervous. What if I didn’t make it? This was
the last chance to qualify and I had three jumps to do it. I bounced on my toes as I
watched the girls before me jump. Analysing their form, you could see those who didn’t
have enough momentum from the board.
Finally my turn came. I stepped onto the runway and found my chalk mark. Steadying
myself, I narrowed my eyes and took a deep breath. Pushing off my back foot, I lunged
forward into a sprint. One, two, three, four, five and by six strides I was on the board. The
actual jump is hard to remember; a one-legged hop, a skip and a long jump into the hot
sandy pit. A long breath escaped me as I stepped out of the pit and waited to hear my
measurement. ‘Twenty-eight feet, five-and-a-half inches,’ called the clipboard guy.
I walked down the runway to be met by Paula, and was thankful for her kind face. ‘I want
you to try something. Alright? Where’s a relaxing place for you?’ ‘In the water, I guess.
Swimming.’ It was the first thing that came to mind and I didn’t realise how silly it must
sound. ‘Perfect’, she responded. ‘Right before you jump, I want you to imagine you’re in
the water, just floating, OK?’ I agreed, smiling to show my appreciation. I paced until my
name was called again.
‘Pirog, you’re up!’ I closed my eyes and imagined the water running over me, soothing
me. My muscles relaxed and I exhaled as I pushed into take-off. This sprint felt loose and
free. When I took off from the second board, I was sure my first phase was too high, that
my second was chopped, and my landing wasn’t quite what it should have been. I stood
up, shaking off the sand as the officials drew out the long measuring tape. The suspense
was killing me.
‘Twenty-nine feet, ten inches.’ I couldn’t stop myself from screaming and jumping into
the air. My team-mates rushed to me, I was encircled and soon my hand stung from the
force of all the customary high-fives. It was a relief finally to have made it and my
success couldn’t be put down to sheer luck. My face ached from smiling but I knew I
wouldn’t stop. I found Paula and ran to hug her. ‘That was all thanks to you.’ She smiled
in return: ‘Thank the water.’
1 From the first paragraph we understand that Audrey
A was already feeling very tired.
B needed to beat the other jumpers.
C had a specific aim in mind that day.
D felt guilty about ignoring her coach.
2 The word ‘it’ in line 9 refers to
A background noise at the event.
B the place where this event is held.
C the amount of practice needed for the event.
D a technically good performance in the event.
3 In the third paragraph, Audrey reveals that
A she once suffered a leg injury.
B she had already won another even that day.
C she felt confident in her ability to achieve her goal.
D she was impressed by the performance of the other jumpers.
4 When she was talking to Paula, Audrey felt
A embarrassed by a question her coach asked her.
B amused by a suggestion her coach made.
C sad that she’d let her coach down.
D grateful for her coach’s support.
5 During her second jump, Audrey
A was still feeling very tense.
B felt unhappy with one aspect of her jump.
C was rather self-critical of her performance.
D felt that everything was going better than last time.
6 When she heard the length of her second jump, Audrey
A realised that she had actually been very lucky.
B acknowledged the contribution of her coach.
C was surprised by her team-mates reaction.
D was lost for words for a few moments.
My fastest ever plane ride
Reporter Matt Rudd goes on an extraordinary plane ride
In The Red Bull Air Race, twelve pilots take it in turns to race through a series of pylons
between 15 and 25 metres high, negotiating sharp turns, barrel rolls and loops on the way,
all at speeds of up to 370 km per hour. I was invited to find out what it feels like to take
part.
An hour before the flight, I had to sign two forms. The first confirmed that I was in good
health, the second that I would empty all my pockets, because tiny objects can become
very dangerous during the flight. I also learnt that I would have to try to stay orientated
throughout. ‘The horizon is your best friend,’ I was told, ‘the pilot will explain in which
direction you have to look.’ I was also asked to promise that when I was flying upside
down, I would ‘completely relax. Try and enjoy the view.’ Half an hour before the flight, I
had a safety briefing in which I was told not, under any circumstances, to touch anything.
By the time we were taxiing down the runway, my legs up in front of me, feet trying not
to touch the incredibly important steering pedals, hands trying not to rest on any of the
many important switches within reach, my mind had made itself up. Ignoring all
instructions received, I would not relax and enjoy the flight. This is the cruel paradox of
high-speed acrobatic flying. In order to survive it without passing out, you have to keep
calm and focused. You have to tense up at the right time and you have to relax at the right
time. Panicking is a bad idea. None of this was of particular comfort as we began
accelerating down the runway.
Dario, the pilot, and I reached the end of the runway. There we were in the Zivko Edge
540, upsettingly one of the world’s fastest acrobatic planes, ready to go. The plane took
off and two seconds later we banked sharply to the right. It was an instant, violent
manoeuvre and I felt the air squeeze out of my lungs. I looked up at the horizon, tensed
everything and emitted short gasps as I sank down into the seat. For a split second I
weighed 6.2 times my normal weight. And then we levelled out. We turned another sharp
left and dived, leaving my stomach at 2,000 metres and my lungs scrunched up on the
roof of the plane. Seconds later, we were 10 metres off the ground, aiming for the
alarmingly small space between two pylons. They passed at 400 km per hour but my
whoop of momentary excitement was stolen by a sharp right turn. We hadn’t even (line
55) done any acrobatics yet. (line 56)
For two minutes, I was allowed to fly the plane, my hand shaking so much the
plane shook too… it’s that responsive. And then (line 59) after that Dario said something.
And I said, ‘Can you repeat that?’ But instead of replying, he did a barrel roll, a full
lateral 360° turn.
‘Are you okay?’
‘Yup.’
‘Have you had enough?’
‘No,’ I lied.
Then he did a loop, flying the plane up and over, turning a full circle in the air. Now, I am
aware that many people would find this exciting. The sort of people who
enjoy rollercoasters. However, I just thought it was (line 71) a bit much. At the top of the
loop, as we were flying upside down, I heard a small voice shouting, ‘Relax, relax, look
up.’ Then I looked up and saw some fields.
The flight was over in 10 minutes. It had been ‘soft’ compared to what the pilots endure
when they race. As if to illustrate the point, Dario got out some sandwiches the minute
we landed and merrily tucked in. I didn’t eat for hours and that night I did the loop the
loop over and over again in my sleep.
1 How did Matt feel as the plane started moving along the runway?
A annoyed that there were so many rules to follow
B surprised that he had to sit in a rather awkward position
C convinced that he was going to be unable to behave as required
D anxious that he had not been adequately prepared for the experience
2 Why does Matt say We hadn’t even done any acrobatics yet in lines 55 and 56?
A to justify his impatience
B to express his disappointment
C to explain why he felt so relieved
D to emphasise how apprehensive he felt
3 What does responsive mean in line 59?
A eager
B sensitive
C active
D helpful
4 In the fifth paragraph, Matt wants the pilot to think that
A he understands the technical terms.
B he needs a break.
C he is feeling fine.
D he had expected to roll.
5 What does it refer to in line 71?
A turning a full circle
B being aware
C finding this exciting
D enjoying rollercoasters
6 What is implied about the pilot in the final paragraph?
A He finds Matt’s reaction amusing.
B He wants to demonstrate that he is tougher than Matt.
C He feels unusually hungry after the flight.
D He is completely unaffected by their experience.
Wildlife cameraman
Doug Allan films wild animals in cold places. If you’ve ever been amazed by footage of
polar bears in a nature documentary, it’s probably been filmed by him. His perfect
temperature, he says, is -18°C. Allan trained as a marine biologist and commercial diver.
Diving was his first passion, where he learned about survival in cold places. His big
break came when a TV crew turned up in Antarctica, where Allan was working, to film a
wildlife documentary. ‘I ended up taking the crew to different places, and after 48 hours I
realised that being a wildlife cameraman ticked all the boxes: travel, adventure,
underwater.’
He is now a top cameraman and has worked on many major TV wildlife series. ‘I came
along at a good time. When I started, hardly anyone had been to the Antarctic. You had
coral people, elephant people, chimpanzee people. I just became the cold man. It was like
all these amazing sequences were just waiting to be captured on film.’ The camera and
communications technology was very basic when he started 35 years ago. ‘It is certainly
easier to film today. If you shot something then, you had to remember it. Today, with
digital technology, you can shoot a lot and look at it immediately. You used to have to
think what shots you needed next, and what you had missed. You shot less. Film was
very expensive. Today you can have too much material.’
‘My value is field experience in cold conditions. I have a feel for it. I have spent so much
time on sea ice it now feels like crossing the street. I do get cold toes but the poles are
healthy places. There are no leeches, no diseases or mosquitoes.’ Wildlife filming, Allan
says, is full of great successes, but also failures and embarrassments. Once, he was in the
Orkneys to film kittiwakes. Unfortunately he could not identify which birds they were.
When Allan recently got permission to film sequences for a major TV series in Kong
Karls Land, a group of islands in the Arctic Ocean, he did not expect an easy assignment.
It is a world of polar bears and is strictly off limits to all but the most fearless or foolish.
Usually -32°C in April, the wind is vicious and hauling cameras in the deep snow is a
nightmare. After walking five or more hours a day and watching polar bear dens in the
snow slopes for 23 days, however, Allan had seen just one mother bear and her cub. By
day 24, though, he says, he was living in bear world, at bear speed, with bear senses.
‘We find a new hole and wait. We shuffle, hop, bend, stretch and run to stay warm. Five
hours of watching and then with no warning at all I catch a glimpse so brief that I almost
miss it. But the camera’s locked on the hole on full zoom and my eye’s very quickly on
the viewfinder. Nothing for a couple of seconds and then an unmistakable black nose.
Nose becomes muzzle, grows bigger to become full head and in less than a minute she
has her front legs out and is resting on the snow in front of the hole. She’s looking at me
but she’s not bothered. I’ve just taken a close-up, thinking this can’t get much better …
when she sets off on a long slide down the slope. I’d swear it’s partly in sheer pleasure,’
he recounts, adding that two cubs then appeared at the den entrance. ‘Clearly it’s their
first view of the world … It’s show time on the slopes and we have front-row seats.’
Now Allan would like to make his own film about climate change in the Arctic, talking to
the people who live there and experience the impact of it first hand. He says he would
be (line 80) able to make an extraordinary documentary.
1 What do we learn about Allan in the first paragraph?
A He had to train as a diver in order to become a wildlife cameraman.
B Becoming a cameraman suited the interests he already had.
C He was given the chance to work as a cameraman by a TV crew he met.
D Finding work as a cameraman allowed him to remain in Antarctica.
2 What does Allan say about the first documentaries he worked on?
A He has very clear memories of them.
B Most of what he filmed was new to viewers.
C They were shorter than those he makes nowadays.
D He would have liked to have been able to choose where he worked.
3 Why does Allan compare spending time on sea ice to crossing the street?
A It is an ordinary occurrence for him.
B He thinks it presents a similar level of danger.
C He has learnt to approach it in the same way.
D It requires skills that can be used in winter conditions anywhere.
4 When Allan had been on Kong Karls Land for a while, he began to
A stop worrying about the dangers he was facing.
B feel a deep understanding of how polar bears lived.
 C get used to the terrible conditions for filming.
D be more hopeful that one bear would lead him to others.
5 What feeling does Allan describe in the fifth paragraph?
A panic when he nearly fails to film a fantastic sequence
B concern that he has disturbed an adult female with her young
C amazement at being lucky enough to capture some great shots
D delight at being able to move around after waiting quietly for ages
6 What does it refer to in line 80?
A Allan’s film
B climate change
C the Arctic
D living there
Night flight
The flight is busy and the last few passengers to board are searching for places to stow
their hand luggage. The Asian woman in the seat next to me is in her late twenties,
probably travelling on business. I am wondering if I should talk to her when the man in
the window seat shows up and we have to let him in. She settles back in the middle seat.
When I try to strap myself back in I find she’s picked up the buckle of my belt by
accident and we look at each other and laugh.
‘What have you been doing in Bangalore?’ I ask.
‘My office is there. It’s where I’m based.’ I notice that she has a North American accent.
She tells me she works for a multinational company that makes clothing and that she is
on her way to Thailand. She has to visit a couple of factories and meet with some other
people from the company. She’s also trying to complete her PhD thesis, which is on a
laptop she has under the seat in front of her. While she’s talking she puts her passport
away in her bag and I see she’s Canadian.
She asks me what I do and I tell her. Then I ask her some more about her job and she tells
me about that. By this time we are in the air and climbing towards our cruising altitude.
The cabin is quiet, lights still dimmed, just the gentle sound of the air conditioning and
the murmur of conversations. The flight to Singapore is three and a half hours. I can’t
decide whether to attempt sleep. It is nearly midnight and it hardly seems worth it. The
man in the window seat has put on eye-shades and has an inflated pillow around his neck.
He has slipped down in the seat with his head lolling to one side, his blanket pulled up to
his chest. The woman shows no inclination to sleep so I ask her where she grew up.
She tells me her father is a medical doctor and that he went to Canada before she was
born. They spent a few years in Montreal but most of the time she lived in Saskatchewan.
‘It was OK,’ she says. ‘There are things happening there, it’s not as dull as you might
think.’ She tells me sometimes in the winter it would get down to minus sixty.
‘Really it was minus thirty,’ she says. ‘But the wind chill factor made it feel like minus
sixty. I remember them saying on the weather forecast “human flesh will freeze in 1.4
seconds.” Things like that.’
‘I’ve never been anywhere that cold,’ I say.
‘Somehow it didn’t feel that bad,’ she says. ‘It was like a dry cold. When the sun was
shining it didn’t seem that cold. It makes your skin kind of tingle. We used to play out in
it. You can get seriously cold and not realise it. When you’re back indoors your face and
hands ache as the blood comes back. I suppose that is how polar (line 52) explorers end
up losing toes. They don’t realise how cold they are.’
‘I suppose so,’ I say. There’s a pause in the conversation and I wonder what to say next.
‘I guess you get the other extreme living in India.’
‘Bangalore is fine,’ she says, ‘though we need rain. The drought is very bad in south India
right now.’
The woman asks me how I got into my present job and I tell her a bit about my life. At
least I tell her the story which over time has fashioned itself into what I call my life. It’s
not that I’m being deliberately secretive or deceitful. I just don’t know how to talk about
what really happened.
1 What do we find out about the woman in the first paragraph?
A She is annoyed at having to change seats with another passenger.
B She finds a mistake she makes amusing.
C She wants to get on with her work during the flight.
D She has difficulty finding room for items she brought on board.
2 What does the woman say at the beginning of the conversation?
A She has Canadian nationality.
B She usually works in Thailand.
C She is currently both studying and working.
D She is going to work for a different employer.
3 Why does the writer stay awake throughout the flight?
A There is a lot of mechanical noise on the plane.
B Nobody else on board seems to want to sleep.
C Some of the passengers are talking loudly.
D He would not be able to sleep very long.
4 The woman talks about temperatures in Canada to show that
A it could sometimes be extremely cold in Montreal.
B India is a more pleasant country to live in than Canada.
C the place where she grew up could be interesting.
D in Saskatchewan children had to stay at home all winter.
5 What does ‘that’ refer to in line 52?
A failing to notice how cold some parts of the body really are
B wearing clothes that do not cover the skin in very cold weather
C playing games outside in extremely low temperatures
D going into a warm place straight from somewhere much colder
6 The writer mentions the weather in India because
A he realises the woman wants to change the subject.
B he wants to keep the conversation going.
C he finds the weather an interesting topic to discuss.
D he had wanted to ask the woman about it while she was talking.
 Cycling Home from Siberia, by Robert Lilwall
We had been flying east all night and I awoke to notice that it was already daylight.
Looking out of the window onto the empty landscape below, the dark shades of brown
and green reassured me that, although it was mid-September, it had not yet started
snowing in Siberia. I could see no sign of human life and the view rolled away in an
otherworldly blend of mountains, streams and forests to an endless horizon.
My Russian neighbour Sergei woke up and smiled at me sleepily. I had told him that I
was flying to the far-eastern Siberian city of Magadan with only a one-way ticket because
it was my intention to return home to England by bicycle. ‘But, Robert,’ he had reasoned
with me, ‘there is no road from Magadan; you cannot ride a bicycle.’ I explained that I
had reason to believe that there was a road, though not many people used it these days.
‘Alone?’ he asked, pointing at me.
‘No, I will be riding with a friend called Al.’
‘Just one friend?’
‘Yes just one,’ I nodded. Sergei still looked unconvinced and with just one word
‘Holodna’ (cold) he pointed outside. I tried to bolster my case by explaining to Sergei
with (line 27) hand gestures that I had a lot of warm clothes, though I left out the fact
that, because my trip was self-funded I was on a tight budget. Most of my clothes and
equipment had been bought at slashed prices. In reality, I was not at all sure they would
be up to the job. This was especially true of my enormous postman’s over-trousers which
I had bought for £10.
My life of travel had all started in a lecture hall in Scotland several years ago. The hall
that morning was full of students slumped in their seats. Some were taking notes, without
energy. The lecturer droned on. I was thinking hard about a particular dilemma. Should I
ask him or not? ‘Well, why not?’ I tore a fresh sheet from my pad and wrote, ‘Hi Al, Do
you want to cycle across the Karakorum Highway between Pakistan and China this
summer? Rob.’ In the row in front of me slouched Al, my old school friend. I tapped him
on the shoulder and passed the note. He tried to decipher my scrawl, scratched his head,
wrote something and passed it back. I unfolded it and held my breath while I read. ‘OK,’
it said.
Six years later I was going to join Al in Siberia. I had been working as a geography
teacher and although I was still far from having full control of my classes, the job did tick
many important boxes for me. It was frequently challenging, rarely boring, often
fulfilling and of course there were great long holidays in which to chase adventures.
Twice since I had started teaching I had used these holidays to go to meet Al. He had
caught the adventuring bug in a big way after our bike ride through Pakistan and so had
decided to do something far more relaxing than teaching: to cycle around the world. I was
now joining him for the Siberian part of his trip.
Ever since that first ride we had taken together, Al had been setting himself greater and
greater challenges. This round-the-world by-bike trip was certainly his greatest so far. At
times he thought that the ride, or the road, would break him. Although it sounded tough, I
envied him in many ways. He was having an extraordinary adventure, finding that he
could deal with each new challenge even if it seemed impossible. He was proving wrong
the sceptics who had told him he could not do it. He was doing something that scared him
nearly every day and it made him feel alive.
1 In the opening paragraph Robert reveals that he was
A grateful that the long night was over.
B relieved that the winter weather had not yet arrived.
C surprised that the area seemed uninhabited.
D disappointed by the colours of the earth below him.
2 Robert uses the phrase ‘bolster my case’ in line 27 to show that he was trying to
A change the subject.
B end the conversation.
C reassure Sergei.
D correct Sergei.
3 Robert uses the example of the over-trousers to show that
A he had been successful in getting local people to help him.
B he had had a restricted amount of money to spend on clothes.
C he was confident that he was well prepared for the extreme cold.
D he had been able to negotiate good prices for his equipment.
4 What do we learn about Robert in the lecture hall?
A He didn’t want the lecturer to notice his lack of attention.
B He was puzzled by something the lecturer had said.
C He was unsure about what to write in the note.
D He was apprehensive about his friend’s reaction to his suggestion.
5 How can Robert’s attitude to teaching best be summarised?
A He felt it was the right career choice for him.
B The holidays were the only positive aspect of the job.
C He felt the job was getting too stressful.
D He enjoyed having the respect of his students.
6 What does Robert say about Al’s round-the-world trip?
A Al never doubted that he would be successful.
B Al tried to hide the difficulties he was facing from his friends.
C Al was pushing himself to the limit of his capabilities.
D Al was totally fearless as he enjoyed the adventure.
Pen Hadow – polar explorer
The explorer is risking his life in the Arctic again, this time for all of us. Cole Moretonin
reports.
In 2004, Pen Hadow became the first person to trek to the North Pole alone, without
being resupplied on the way. That meant swimming through unimaginably cold waters,
fighting frostbite and risking encounters with polar bears. Just eight months later, he
made a similar trip to the South Pole. Now he is back in the Arctic again, preparing for an
expedition he says is even more ambitious. Explorers are confident, driven individuals.
They have to be. This time, however, there is far more at stake. Pen and two colleagues
will set out on a three-month, 1,000-kilometre trek to the North Pole, taking detailed
measurements of the thickness and density of the ice. Nobody has ever done this before,
and he knows the results will be of vital importance to the scientific community. This will
be the truest picture yet of what global warming is doing to the ice that covers the polar
region.
Pen is married to Mary, a horsewoman, who says he has a ‘spine of steel’ and who shares
his love of the outdoors. She helps to run his polar guide business and claims to be more
worried about him when he’s at home: ‘He’s in more danger driving along the motorway
because I know that in his head he’s somewhere in the Arctic.’ For fun, she once
competed against him in a famous mountain event in which riders on horseback race
against people on foot. Mary and her horse finished an hour ahead of Pen.
Pen and Mary live in the country with their two children. ‘It’s much harder to be away
from them this time,’ he admits. ‘They were one and five when I last went, and I made a
mistake in the way I said goodbye. I thought it would be a good idea to say to my son,
“You’re the man of the house now, look after your mum and your sister.” He absolutely
took it to heart (line 40), asking his mum how she was all the time, but the strain
eventually became too much. While it was well intentioned, it was an unfair thing to do.’
For similar reasons he is planning to have very little contact with them while in the
Arctic. ‘If you call them, you remind them how far away you are.’
He is spending these last days before departure preparing his kit, obsessively. ‘Out on the
ice, one is virtually incapable of mending things or doing anything that isn’t absolutely
straightforward,’ he says. With him will be Ann Daniels, one of the world’s leading polar
explorers, and the expedition photographer, Martin Hartley. They will be supported by a
crew of six, flying in supplies. Being part of a team is actually more stressful to someone
with his mentality, says Pen, and something else is on his mind too. ‘I’m going to be 47
on Thursday. I’ve done far less training than I’m comfortable with.’ Why? ‘Organisational
things always seem more urgent. So I’m almost fearful of what I’m going to ask of
myself.’
Pen believes his mission reconnects exploration with the search for knowledge that drove
previous generations into the unknown. ‘Making it to the North Pole was ultimately a
personal ambition,’ he admits, ‘and of limited value to anyone beyond the polar
adventuring community. This time, scientists will profit from the data, and we’re creating
a platform in which to engage as many people as possible in what’s happening in the
Arctic Ocean. This is important work, and nobody can do it but us,’ he says. ‘Our skills,
which are otherwise bizarre and socially redundant, have become hyper-relevant.
Suddenly, we’re socially useful again.’
1 In the first paragraph, what do we learn about Pen Hadow’s opinion of the new
expedition?
A He feels certain that it will be successful.
B He thinks it may be harder than his previous journeys.
C He is aware of the huge significance of its aims.
D He is looking forward to the scientific work it will involve.
2 What does Mary Hadow think about her husband?
 A He isn’t as determined as she is.
B He can’t run as quickly as he thinks he can.
C He hasn’t got enough time to manage his business properly.
D He finds it hard to think about anything except his expeditions.
3 When talking about leaving his children for long periods, Pen mentions feeling
A ashamed that his wife has had to look after them so much.
B guilty that he once added to the pressure caused by his absence.
C sad that he is missing so much of their growing up.
D sorry that he can’t telephone more often.
4 What does ‘took it to heart’ mean in line 40?
A He memorised his father’s words.
B He carried out his father’s words precisely.
C He started to feel unwell.
D He was afraid of the responsibility.
5 What is worrying Pen about the new expedition?
A whether he will still be fit enough to take part
B whether he will be mentally prepared
C whether the equipment will work properly in icy conditions
D whether the arrangements he has made will turn out well
6 When he compares the new expedition to his previous ones, Pen feels
A pleased that more people will benefit from it.
B uncertain if it will collect information.
C doubtful about its long-term usefulness.
D relieved that the general public will be more supportive.

‘Claire, it’s Ruth.’ Claire held back a sigh and walked into the kitchen to put the coffee
machine on. A phone call from her sister was never over quickly.
‘Ruth, darling. How are you?’ As she waited for her sister to start describing in detail her
latest disaster, Claire mulled over how much to reveal about her new business
assignment. Her family would have to be told something, of course. Not that they ever
came to visit, or called her home phone, or sent her letters. Still, it seemed only right to
tell them it meant she was moving out for twelve months. Tuning back into the phone
call, Claire realised she had missed some key information and tried to catch up with what
her sister was talking about.
‘So the doctor said it was probably lack of sleep. You know Sky is a bad sleeper and her
nightmares have been worse since she started Year Two.’ Claire worked out that someone
was unwell, but was unsure whether it was her sister or her six-year-old niece.
Claire thought about her own schooling. Her parents had paid for the best, obviously,
although Claire often wondered whether that was to ensure their three children didn’t
affect their lifestyle, rather than to give their off spring a good start in life. T e school had
encouraged independence and character but had no time for tears and tantrums. Claire
had learned quickly to work hard and stay out of trouble. More than could be said for
Ruth. It had been a constant disappointment to her parents that, while their first and third
children both achieved academic success, Ruth only acquired a reputation for bad
behaviour.
Ruth’s next sentence sharply interrupted Claire’s thoughts.
‘The tests are the week after next. That’s why I’m calling. Is there any chance you could
come and look after Sky? It’s half-term and most of her friends are going skiing. Of
course we can’t afford that…’
Claire inhaled deeply and forced herself not to rise to the bait. Ruth was always poor and
begrudged Claire her success.
Claire accepted that looking after a child on your own probably limited your career
options, but look at the ‘Harry Potter’ author J. K. Rowling, it hadn’t held her back. She
was convinced Ruth could help herself if only she’d try harder. Claire was almost too
irritated by the thinly-veiled criticism to react to the request, but not quite.
‘Have Sky? How long for? When?’ Claire could hear panic in her voice and forced herself
to breathe in deeply. Once she was sure she was back in control of her emotions she said
in a slow voice, ‘I start a new work assignment on 1st March, and I’ll … be on the road a
lot. You know. Meeting clients.’
‘Dining out on someone else’s credit card.’ Ruth’s voice cut in.
‘There’s more to it than that,’ Claire responded quickly. Then, before Ruth could start the
age-old argument, Claire (line 33) consciously lowered her voice.
‘Tell me the day you need me to have Sky, I’ll check my diary.’
‘Well, it’s two days, actually.’ Ruth sounded embarrassed.
Thinking about minding a six-year-old for two days almost made Claire choke. She
gulped down her coffee and wondered if she could use the new assignment as an excuse.
There was something in Ruth’s voice, though, that made her pause.
‘Can’t Mum take care of her? I thought Mum and Dad were the perfect grandparents?’ It
seemed odd to Claire that two people who had no time for their own children could go
mad over someone else’s, even if they were their grandkids.
‘Er, Mum’s coming with me, to the hospital.’
Ruth’s words finally got through to Claire. ‘Just what tests are you having exactly?’
‘Weren’t you listening? You never listen to me.’
Claire almost smiled at the petulant tone in Ruth’s voice. For a moment they were twelve
and fourteen again.
1 When Claire realises who is phoning her, she
A expects to hear some good news.
B tries to hide her true feelings.
C hopes it will be a long conversation.
D knows exactly what she will say to Ruth.
2 Why doesn’t Claire know who is ill?
A Ruth didn’t make it clear who she was talking about.
B None of her other relatives had written to her about it.
C She was away on business when the illness began.
D She wasn’t paying attention when Ruth was speaking.
3 How does Claire feel about her school?
A She would have achieved more at a better school.
B Her parents never appreciated how successful she was there.
C Her sister was better suited to that school than she was.
D She may have been sent there for the wrong reasons.
4 What is Claire’s attitude to Ruth’s financial problems?
A She feels they are largely Ruth’s own fault.
B She wishes she could do more to help Ruth.
C She thinks Ruth could get any well-paid job she wanted.
D She feels guilty about having more money than Ruth.
5 What does ‘it’ on line 33 refer to?
A spending the f rm’s money
B the task Claire has been given
C looking after Ruth’s daughter
D the reason Claire sounds stressed
6 What do we learn about Claire and her family?
A Her relationship with her sister has completely changed since their childhood.
B She realises that her parents treated her very well when she was a child.
C She doesn’t understand why her parents are so close to their grandchildren.
D She accepts that her mother is more interested in Ruth than in her.
Distance learning
Distance learning can give students the chance to work and learn at the same time.
Nineteen-year-old Jamie Henderson hasn’t had what you’d call a typical student
experience. Despite wanting to read for a degree in Law, Jamie decided against the usual
university route and instead opted to study from home.
‘With course fees now so high in this country, I was really put off by all the debt I would
have when I came out of university,’ he says.
Having made this decision, Jamie was able to look into alternatives – which in the end
turned out to be a degree validated by a university through a distance learning provider.
‘It was a massive weight off my mind and it was a perfect option for me,’ Jamie says. ‘It
has allowed me to stay near my friends and my family and still work part-time.’
Jamie has been able to take on two part-time jobs – alongside his studies – but has also
been free to undertake work experience for a law firm, which has led to a full-time job
offer before he has even completed his course.
Jonathan Smith, who is studying for a BA in Business, chose to study via a distance
learning course when already in full-time employment.
‘I’d studied History, Politics and Economics at school but going to university wasn’t even
a consideration for me,’ he explains. ‘My friends were at home, I didn’t want to be
burdened with debt and I wanted to get straight into a career.’
Jonathan completed a Business and Administration Apprenticeship with the local council.
While working as a medical administrator, he studied for a diploma and after 12 months
had valuable workplace experience.
‘I’d done so well at work that they kept me on. But after six months getting settled into
my new role, I was financially stable and ready to progress my career with a degree. I
didn’t want to give up what I’d achieved to go to university, so distance learning was an
appealing choice.’
Obviously, one of the downsides to a distance learning course is that students miss out on
the experience of attending university, which means missing out on traditional lectures.
‘Reading feedback and instructions from a screen isn’t quite the same as talking to
someone face-to-face,’ Jamie says. ‘It’s also a lot of work to do on your own. I don’t have
a close circle of friends going through the same thing, so I can’t really ask my peers for
help and advice. However, I’ve found the online (line 46) student forums helpful and the
firm I’ve been working for have offered advice and guidance when I’ve needed it.’
‘I haven’t met as many new people as I would have, had I moved away,’ says Jamie. ‘But
I have met new people through work instead. It’s just a different type of experience,
which is just as rewarding and ultimately, in my opinion, makes me more employable.’
For anyone considering a distance learning course, there are several other factors to be
considered; perhaps most importantly, motivation.
‘Distance learning isn’t an easy option,’ says Dr Philip Hallam, Chief Executive Officer of
a distance and online learning provider. ‘It’s going to be a substantial commitment, not
only financially but also on your time. We need to make sure that people have really
thought it through and understand why they want a degree. You will need to dig deep
occasionally.’
Jonathan Smith is confident in the choices he’s made regarding education, but believes
more could be done to make young people aware of the choices they have.
‘When I left school with good qualifications, I was shocked at how little advice was
available on options other than university. Everyone is different and education should
reflect that. I’m glad I took the route I did and I think it is important that more people
have the opportunity to study in a way that suits them.’
1 Why did Jamie decide to do his degree from home?
A His friends were also studying by distance learning.
B He had already been offered a full-time job.
C He wanted to avoid owing a lot of money.
D He was unable to obtain a place at university.
2 Jonathan’s reason for studying from home was that
A he wanted to remain in his job.
B the job he was doing was badly paid.
C his preferred subject wasn’t available at university.
D it was too late for him to apply to university.
3 In line 46, what does ‘my peers’ mean?
A the university staff
B students who have already graduated
C the management of the f rm
D students of the same age
4 Jamie says that studying from home has enabled him to
 A work with people who were also studying at the same time.
B improve his chances of finding work in the future.
C get to know more people than he would have done at university.
D concentrate on studying rather than spend time socializing.
5 Dr Hallam recommends distance learning for students who
A dislike having to work very hard.
B have little time available for study.
C cannot afford to go to university.
D know exactly what it involves.
6 In the last paragraph, Jonathan says that young people should
A be advised not to go to university.
B be made more aware of the choices they have.
C apply for work with employers like his.
D ensure they get high grades at school.
A lot can happen in a year abroad
Like many students before her, studying abroad had a profound affect on Sarah Morrison
As I sat staring out at California’s spectacular Big Sur coastline, I felt fortunate to have a
sister who had persuaded me to spend a year of my degree abroad. It seems that there are
not enough older siblings explaining just how easy it is to take part in an international
exchange.
While most universities offer worldwide exchanges, where students swap places with
others from all over the world for a semester or a year during their degree, the number
and quality on offer, together with the cost and time spent abroad, vary dramatically.
A deciding factor for me in choosing to study at the University of Edinburgh was the fact
it offered more than 230 exchange places at overseas universities in the US, Canada,
Australia, New Zealand, India, China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore and South
America.
Despite all this choice, I still found that deciding to spend a year abroad was something
of a novelty, with most of my friends giving more thought to embracing Edinburgh than
packing their bags to leave a city that had only just become their home. Yet, fortified by
my sister’s advice and a Californian friend who told me I would love the coast, I applied
to spend my third year at the University of California, Berkeley – never guessing that this
would affect almost every future decision I would make.
From the start of your exchange, you are aware that the time you have in your new
country is limited and not to be wasted. Your experience is shaped by a predetermined
start and end, which immediately increases the significance of the time in between.
From the first week I arrived, I started to work at The Daily Californian, Berkeley’s
student newspaper. I moved from an international house with more than 600 students
from all over the world into a co-operative house where 60 of us shared responsibility for
management of the building. I met people from Calcutta, Cairo and Chile, and learnt that
holding on to any stereotypes I might have about Americans would be about as useful as
assuming that all European people lived on farms.
The grades I earned at Berkeley didn’t actually count towards my degree classification at
Edinburgh. However, I studied under a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, signed up for
student-led seminars and took an African American literature class that shaped my
dissertation in Edinburgh. Whether I was learning about contemporary poets on a tour of
San Francisco or reporting on the President’s speech in San Francisco for the next day’s
newspaper, my stay there enabled me to return to Edinburgh with an increased sense of
awareness about what I wanted to gain from my English literature degree.
While the expense might seem like an initial barrier to international exchanges, in reality
they can actually save a student money. Visas, health insurance and flights to the chosen
country will have to be bought, but a student will usually only be charged 25 to 50 per
cent of their home university’s annual fees. A student travelling abroad is entitled to a
larger student loan, and grants are available at many institutions for students going on an
exchange.
Taking part in an exchange may not appeal to all students. You have to research the
options independently, apply almost a year before you go away and be aware of the
grades required in the first year to qualify for a place on one. Even so, Edinburgh’s (line
64) international exchange officer, Helen Leitch, says: ‘If I had a pound for every time
that students told me it was the best experience of their life, I would be a very wealthy
woman indeed.’
1 One reason Sarah became a student at Edinburgh University was that
A she could first study abroad and then move to Edinburgh.
B her sister had previously studied at Edinburgh.
C she could do part of her studies at a suitable university abroad.
D most of the students at Edinburgh spend a year at an overseas university.
2 How did Sarah feel when she went to Berkeley?
A She was pleased to find the people were exactly as she had expected.
B She knew she wanted to make the most of her stay there.
C She wanted to get a job rather than begin studying immediately.
D She began to wish her stay there could be a little shorter.
3 What does Sarah feel she achieved at Berkeley?
A She formed a clearer idea of what her long-term aims were.
B She took the first steps towards becoming a teacher.
C She developed her poetry-writing skills significantly.
D She ensured that she would graduate with a first-class degree.
4 What does Sarah say about the cost of an international university exchange?
A As a student you can get reduced rates for health insurance.
B Your fees may be cut by half for every year of your course.
C It can be cheaper overall than studying in your own country.
D Taking cheap flights abroad can save you a lot of money.
5 What does ‘one’ refer to in line 64?
A an international exchange as part of a university course
B a research degree at a university in another country
C a university course that is paid for by the government
 D the first year of a university course in your own country
6 What does Helen Leitch suggest in the final paragraph?
A Students who do international exchanges often go on to become extremely rich.
B Most students who’ve done an international exchange believe it was highly
worthwhile.
C Only students from rich families can afford to do an international exchange.
D She should be paid a far higher salary for organising international exchanges.
Daniel Radcliffe
I first meet Daniel Radcliffe at the offices of his agent, just before he takes to the stage
for an evening performance of The Cripple Of Inishmaan. He’s wearing tight jeans, no
glasses, and is a super ball of energy. He is extraordinarily polite, slim, well turned out. If
you’d never seen him before, you might assume he was a children’s television presenter.
But at the age of just 24 he has 16 movies behind him, eight of them Harry Potter
blockbusters. It feels as if he’s been with us forever. The funny thing is, apart from the
facial hair, he doesn’t really look any different from the schoolboy wizard who made his
screen debut in 2001.
Yet over the past half-dozen years, it seems he has done everything he could to
distinguish himself from Harry in the parts he has chosen to play. Radcliffe disagrees
with this, saying ‘I pick films based on scripts and directors and parts. I’m not interested
in making films I’ve seen before. There’s nothing more exciting to me when I read a
script than originality. That’s all it’s governed by, there’s no master plan to distance
myself from Potter.’
He says he doesn’t want to sound ungrateful. ‘I know that Potter is going to be with me
for the rest of my life, so to try to stop people talking about that any more is stupid. It’s
just a fact of your life, so you can’t get annoyed by it. You have to accept the fact that you
were involved in this incredibly cool thing and though you might not always be happy
with the work you did on it, the opportunity it has given you to make a career for yourself
is amazing.’
Was he aware how much Harry would change his life when he was offered the part? ‘No,
I knew I was signing on for the first two, that four books had come out. Warner, the film
company, genuinely didn’t know at that stage if they were going to make more than one
film. If it flopped, then they certainly weren’t going to put up all that money again.’ Did
he ever consider exercising his opt-out clause? ‘By the third film, I thought, if there’s a
time to get out, it’s now; there’s still enough time for another actor to come in and
establish himself. For a while, I thought, if I do all of them, will I be able to move on to
other stuff or should I start doing other stuff now? But in the end I decided I was having
way too much fun. And actually there aren’t many great parts out there for teenage boys,
certainly not as good as Harry Potter.’
Nowadays, of course, he is incredibly wealthy. I ask whether he sometimes worries
people might socialise with him purely because of that. He laughs, and says people are
going to be sadly disappointed if they befriend him for his lavish spending. ‘Anyone who
is my friend knows that I don’t spend money. So they can hang around with me as much
as they like and they still aren’t going to get anything. Haha!’ But, he says, he has never
had a problem with working out who to trust. ‘I’m a fairly good judge of character, and I
have a small but very close circle of friends. I’m not looking to recruit new friends,
though I’m actually very open with people. I had a similar conversation with myself when
I was about 17, the first time somebody had really betrayed that trust, and I said to myself
you have two options: you either become totally insular and shut down and not let
anybody into your life ever, or you can continue to be open and amiable when you meet
people, and trusting, and occasionally get hurt. And I do think that is the best way.’
1 What do we learn about Daniel in the first paragraph?
A He is now working in TV programmes for children.
B His appearance has changed considerably since his childhood.
C He is currently acting in the theatre.
D He is amused by the way he looked in his early films.
2 What does Daniel say about his current work?
A He likes to make changes to the film scripts he is given.
B He sometimes has to accept roles he would rather reject.
C He finds it difficult to play roles that are not Harry.
D He denies he chooses roles as unlike Harry as possible.
3 What does Daniel appear to be criticising in the third paragraph?
A Some of his acting in the Harry Potter films.
B The overall quality of the Harry Potter films.
C The effect of playing Harry Potter on his career.
D Attempts to talk to him about Harry Potter.
4 When Daniel was first asked to play Harry Potter
A he thought the first film would be made on a low budget.
B he thought that only two Harry Potter books would be published.
C he had no idea how many films in the series there would be.
D he only wanted to be in the first film in the series.
5 Why did Daniel eventually decide to be in every film?
A He thought nobody else could play the role of Harry.
B He was enjoying making the films so much.
C He never considered doing any other kind of work.
D He knew it would eventually lead to different roles.
6 How does Daniel feel about friendship?
A He believes he knows how to choose friends well.
B He would like to have more friends than he has now.
C He finds it difficult to trust people these days.
D He likes to be generous to those he is close to.
 Open-air teaching In Germany
A bold experiment in education that aims to help young students become independent
thinkers
In 2013, Wolfgang Schwarz became Assistant Headteacher at a Hamburg school. It was a
conventional school: teachers taught lessons that pupils had to attend, and set compulsory
homework for pupils. The school taught all the usual subjects from English to maths. The
Senior Management team told the teachers what to do, and the teachers told the pupils
what to do.
Shortly after this, Schwarz read an article about open-air schools, whose aim is to
encourage children to be more independent and develop important life skills in a natural
setting. (1)………… This is in contrast to more traditional schools like where Schwarz
was working, where (according to critics) the focus is too much on the teaching and
learning of factual information, and where children aren’t given enough opportunity to
learn how to think for themselves. They maintain the physical limitations of the
classroom stop students learning naturally. Learning outside, in a forest or on a beach
encourages students to think more about the world around them.
However, there were only a small number of outdoor schools across Germany. (2)
………… In 2014, that is exactly what he did, and the Hamburg Outdoor School was
born. With four teachers and 42 children aged between 4 and 18, Schwarz’s school had a
small building set in large grounds near a beach and private forest. Now they use the
areas outside the school more than the old classrooms. Most lessons take place outside.
What actually makes it an ‘outdoor’ school? How does it work in practice? (3)…………
There are no tests and no homework you have to do, although some parents have,
additionally, set their children academic tasks to complete away from school.
The curriculum is certainly not conventional. (4)………… Last year, the students
sampled more than 80 different subjects, learning some maths, history and physics in the
process.
And some of the teaching is done by the students themselves, such as a course on
geology, taught by 13-year-old Dieter Altmann, which has become one of the most
popular at the school. Other subjects range from juggling to fishing techniques.
However, student independence isn’t just limited as to how the children actually do their
learning. (5)………… At these sessions, anything can be discussed, ranging from
discipline issues to deciding who should be allowed to start at the school. Everyone, from
the youngest child to the school Headteacher, has an equal vote in all this. All decisions
are made democratically, so the teachers can be outvoted by the children theoretically;
this is something which does happen from time to time. The key question is this: does a
school with optional lessons and student-led courses on juggling really provide students
with the best start in life? (6)………… Accepting that students in normal schools may
become better at certain skills, he maintains that children can learn facts much better in a
natural environment through experimentation and observation. ‘If you learn out of the
classroom in the natural world, it makes learning more meaningful and memorable’.
A Schwarz is convinced that it can.
B But Schwarz never saw this as a problem.
C These include critical thinking and the ability to socialise.
D Simple: the children make the rules, choose their classes and where to work.
E They basically run the school too, through their weekly discussion meetings.
F So this got Schwarz thinking: why not open one himself?
G The pupils study rare crafts like soap-making, and Mr Schwarz has even taught
classes in cheese-tasting.
neakers
Sneakers, or shoes designed mainly for sports and other outdoor activities, are worn in
almost every country in the world. Arguably they have become a symbol of globalisation
itself.
Yet there are some variations, not least in what they are called. In the US, they have
always been ‘sneakers’, at least ever since the Boston Journal explained it to its readers as
being ‘the name boys give to tennis shoes’ back in 1887. (1)………… However, in
Britain, the word ‘trainers’ is much more common. Other names include ‘daps’ and
‘plimsolls’, which itself dates back to the 1870s. They are also known as ‘rubber shoes’ in
the Philippines, ‘tennis’ in South Africa, ‘running shoes’ in Australia and ‘canvas shoes’ in
Nigeria.
During the late 19th century, sneakers were worn by holidaymakers, as well as by sports
players on the tennis court. The main advantage of wearing these shoes was that they
enabled the wearer to move around quickly. (2)………… Later designs for sports players
made this even more effective by also adding metal spikes which would dig into the
ground.
British company JW Foster and Sons produced the first shoes made specifically for
running in 1895, and the spikes allowed for greater acceleration and speed. (3)…………
There, runners Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell won their 100 metre and 400 metre
running races while wearing these shoes. Doubtless Forster and Sons were delighted. The
fortunes of Abrahams and Liddell were memorably portrayed in the Oscar-winning 1981
film Chariots of Fire.
During the 1920s and 1930s, sports became associated with building moral character and
raising national pride. Demand for sneakers rose as a result, so manufacturers could
afford to make the designs more varied. (4)………… All around the world, different
shoes were also being produced for different sports. In France, a brand called Spring
Court marketed the first canvas tennis shoe, complete with eight little holes for
ventilation on the side of their rubber soles.
During the 1950s, people in America and Europe began to have more free time, more
leisure opportunities, and often more money to spend. There were great changes in the
attitudes and habits of the new generation. (5)………… Previously, they had simply
worn the same things as adults, but in smaller sizes. Dress codes relaxed, and fashion
items from sneakers to jeans became more and more popular.
Many were interested in what people such as US pop singer Elvis Presley and sporting
heroes were wearing, and then wanted the same for themselves. Now it is common for
sports stars to endorse (be seen to recommend) and advertise a particular brand of
sneaker: recent examples include tennis ace Roger Federer and basketball star Lebron
James. But did you know that this is a long-standing tradition, and that perhaps the
bestselling sports shoe ever, the Converse All-Star was endorsed by basketball player
Chuck Taylor as long ago as 1923?
Sneakers continued to become more and more popular. (6)………… This made sneakers
the cheaper option, which in turn made young people even more likely to buy them
instead of an alternative which seemed old-fashioned and was more expensive.
A This was one of the main problems with wearing sneakers.
B This was achieved by the use of an engraved piece of rubber on the underside of the
shoe, which improved grip.
C For example, men’s sneakers now became distinct from women’s.
D In fact, sales grew so much that they negatively affected sales of traditional leather
footwear.
E For perhaps the first time, children and teenagers everywhere were choosing for
themselves what to wear.
F They became very popular with athletes, including at the 1924 Olympics.
G The term is also the standard name in Canada.
Giving advice
Journalist Nicola Hargreaves discusses whether it’s worth giving advice, and if so, how?
‘What do you think I should do?’ asks your friend, as she sits down on your bed, eagerly
awaiting your advice. This is no easy situation. Say something your friend disagrees with
and you might feel you’ve disappointed her. Tell her what to do and your risk your friend
feeling let down if things don’t turn out as you hoped.
It’s human nature to want to offer solutions when someone comes to you with a problem.
It’s also easy to fall into the trap of giving advice which you wouldn’t take yourself, or
simply reassure your friend that ‘everything will be OK.’ This is not particularly useful
for your friend, and may leave you feeling a bit helpless, too. (1)………… This is
because we’re pleased that our friend has come to us for help, even if we don’t really
think we’re qualified to give it. So, is it a good idea to try to give advice at all? The
answer is yes … if it’s done in the right way.
In fact, friends often really only want someone to listen to them. It’s important, therefore,
to try to work out whether they’re actually seeking advice, or simply wanting to talk over
whatever it is that’s going round and round in their head. Doing this can, in fact, make
people feel better all by themselves. There’s no harm in asking whether they’d like you to
suggest a solution or two, even so. (2)…………
It’s also important to be honest. (3)………… Your friend won’t be offended, and you can
still listen carefully and try to put yourself in their shoes. Then you can go away and think
about things. What might you do if you were to experience the same thing? You can go
back to your friend later with a few suggestions if you think of something that might be
helpful.
(4)………… There’s nothing worse than hearing ‘What / would have said is …’ or ‘What
you should have tried to do is …’ What’s done is done and the only thing to do now is
look ahead. Judging never helps anyone! If your friend keeps saying ‘If only I’d …’, bring
them back to the present and encourage them to think about what they can do to sort
things out.
Sometimes a problem doesn’t go away overnight. (5)………… They will definitely
appreciate it if you just allow them to ‘talk it out’, though. Maybe they’re building up
courage to take action, and need to convince themselves they’re doing the right thing. Just
being there for them whenever they need you may be all you have to do to make things
better.
Remember that you don’t have to have all the answers, and your friend probably doesn’t
expect you to. If you’re stuck, try reminding your friend of all the great things that are
happening in their lives. (6)………… We often resolve problems when we’re engaged in
other activities and not directly thinking about them at all!
A If you’re unable to think of a way to resolve the situation your friend finds themselves
in, just say so.
B Why not plan some fun things to do together to help them forget what’s going on for a
while?
C Often we say this kind of thing because we believe we ought to say something.
D This is the first thing many of us do when we have a problem ourselves.
E Then it’s up to them to say that they want to hear your ideas (or not, as the case may
be).
F Can you remember a time when you weren’t sure what to do, or thought you’d acted in
the wrong way?
G It can be hard to listen to your friend going over and over the same thing without
being able to help them.
How to write a good blog
Joey Benson started writing a blog at the age of thirteen. Here, he tells us about his own
experiences of blog writing and offers tips for other young bloggers starting out.
‘I never expected to get many followers when I started writing my blog,’ says Joey
Benson, now 15. ‘I just wrote down my thought about films I’d seen at the cinema. I
didn’t think anyone would take my opinions seriously or even be particularly interested in
them.’
Since he started blogging two years ago, however, Joey’s attracted tens of thousands of
readers, some of them professional film critics, who are interested in his fresh approach
to reviewing films. (1)………… This attention has led to him tripling the number of hits
his blog receives, and he now gets sent free tickets for screenings of new films for his age
group.
Joey’s style is informal and chatty, and he presents an interesting angle on the films he
sees. Instead of simply commenting on how amazing the special effects are, or how
effective the sound track is, Joey delves into psychological subject matter like what it was
that made the bad guy turn bad or weather the heroes of the story have hidden
motives. (2)………… Why did they choose that camera angle to shoot that scene from?
Why was that particular animation process selected?
Joey has certainly made an impact on the teenage and film critic blogging scenes. His
ideas are far from predictable, and he never fails to surprise readers with a new take on
old themes. (3)………… It’s definitely something he manages, though.
With so many talented bloggers out there, how does Joey stand out from the crowd? He
says it’s crucial to either find something no one’s written about before or a new way of
approaching a subject, like he does. You don’t have to present a balanced opinion of an
issue. (4)………… They probably won’t come back again, either.
If you’re hoping to reach a wide range of readers with your blog, following advice from
experienced bloggers like Joey is a wise move. You may be truly passionate about a
subject close to your heart, and may even consider yourself a bit of an expert on it. This
makes it tempting to use jargon and technical words that people familiar with the field
will know. (5)………… This means you automatically limit the number of hits you
receive on your blog.
‘Remember the expression “first impressions count”?’ asks Joey. ‘Well, that doesn’t just
stand for meeting people but when aiming to make an impact with your blog-writing
too. (6)………… Then keep their interest by addressing them personally, asking
questions and making them think.’
One last word from Joey: ‘Don’t try too hard to use big fancy words or get too hung up on
things like grammar. It’s important to check your work afterwards for things like spelling
errors, though, and make sure it flows well and is relevant to your target readers. Oh, and
make sure you check your facts! You don’t want to get into trouble about what you’ve
written. Good luck!’
A Draw the reader in by writing a funny or surprising title.
B He makes it seem easy, but not all young, or indeed older, bloggers hit the right tone.
C A national newspaper recently picked up on his unique style and he’s since appeared
in an article about teenage bloggers.
D Age doesn’t matter when you’re writing about something you feel strongly about.
E He isn’t only interested in considering this kind of thing, but in the technicalities of
film-making, too.
F However, simply repeating the same thing over again without backing up your ideas
with actual examples is unlikely to make readers stick around for long.
G Be aware, though, that a general audience may not, and you may put them off by
doing so.
 Making mountaineering history
At the beginning of April, just a few weeks before his 17th birthday, George Atkinson
arrived in Kathmandu in Nepal. The schoolboy from London was about to begin the final
stage of his quest to become the youngest person to climb the highest peak on each of the
world’s seven continents. (1)………… It was just Mount Everest to go – the mightiest of
the lot.
As an 11-year-old, George had been with his father on an organised trip up Mount
Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain. But George’s dad got a stomach bug before the
final ascent to the peak. ‘I felt very weak and dehydrated’, he said, and had to go back
down. (2)………… And as George continued to the top with the rest of the group, his
father endured an anxious wait. ‘Seeing him coming back down again was indescribable.’
The next few years saw George build up his mountaineering skills and his fitness to
prepare for his epic challenge. He spent his weekends carrying a heavily laden 80-litre
backpack and walking from the family home to Richmond Park in London, which he’d
then complete two full circuits of, making a round trip of 30 kilometres.
At 29,029 feet, Everest is over 6,500 feet higher than any of the other mountains on
George’s list. He knew it would be a challenge and was aware of the risks that being at
such high altitudes carries, but he wanted to stand on top of the world. On checking in to
the Hotel Everest View, at 12,729 feet, he got a glimpse of Mount Everest, and imagined
looking back down to the hotel from the peak. He phoned his mother, Penny, and spoke
to her. (3)………… And she knew just how much this climb meant to him.
But as they got closer to the summit, the weather turned bad. There were nervous
moments for George and his group as they waited to see if the weather would improve
and the wind would drop to a safer speed of below 30 miles an hour. George didn’t know
how long he might have to wait for another opportunity. (4)………… An American
climber, Jordan Romero, who was two months younger than George, only needed to scale
Vinson Massif in Antarctica to complete his set of seven.
But eventually they made it, and George achieved his dream. But there was hardly time
to celebrate on the peak. (5)………… By the time they got back down to the bottom,
George and the rest of his group were all exhausted.
George intends to keep climbing and carry on with his studies. He says he is looking
forward to life getting back to normal. And he’s planning another mountaineering trip
with his dad, this time up Mont Blanc in France. But the question is, will the elder
Atkinson make it all the way up to the top this time? (6)…………
A ‘I’ve seen it,’ he said, ‘and it’s huge.’
B He had already conquered all but one.
C But he knew he still needed more practice.
D ‘I hope so,’ he says, ‘George is going to carry my stuff.’
E But George knew what he wanted: he was going to carry on.
F And by then, someone else might have snatched the record.
G Almost immediately, they had to begin an exhausting, non-stop 20-hour descent.
Taking part in the Young Businessperson scheme
 14-year-old Carly Smithson reports on taking part in the Young Businessperson scheme
at school
The aim of the Young Businessperson scheme was to give young people like my
classmates and I a taste of what it’s like running a business, providing an insight into the
world of work, and raising awareness of the skills needed in the real world that can’t be
learnt in academic lessons, such as handling money and keeping records.
We were going to work in teams to set up and run small, and hopefully profitable,
businesses from school. The first thing we did was attend a workshop with the scheme’s
leader, Matt. He encouraged us to think about businesses we might be able to create and
manage with limited resources. (1)………… Take shoelaces. They stop your shoes
slipping off, but also allow people to fasten their shoes comfortably, regardless of how
big their feet are. It’s a simple idea, but imagine how many pairs of laces there are, and
how much money must be made from sales!
We spent the first half of the workshop coming up with problems we encounter in our
daily lives. I find it annoying when food packets tear in the wrong place when you open
them, so the food inside spills out or goes off more quickly than if it would if the packet
could be re-sealed. (2)………… Matt then split us into smaller groups to choose one of
the problems and consider a possible solution for it. My group worked on what I’d
mentioned, and our suggestion was to create snack packets which could be re-fastened.
(3)………… ‘But think about how much more expensive it would be than producing
current kinds of packet,’ he said. ‘More resources would be needed so manufacturing
costs would be higher. They’d take longer to make, too. Then there are existing products
on the market, such as boxes with lids, which people can use and re-use for this purpose.’
He wasn’t being unkind, I realised, but pointing out considerations businesses have to
make in order to make a profit.
It was a useful exercise aimed at developing our ‘business heads’. Plus, we could never
have made the packets at school without specialist machinery and equipment. (4)
………… In the end, our group came up with a glove for washing dishes which would
not only protect hands from hot water, but prevent the inconvenience of having to search
around in the water to find a dropped cloth. Matt approved it, and our group was given a
small amount of money with which to buy essential materials.
In addition to making the gloves, each person was assigned a specific role. (5)…………
This would be used for promotional purposes, and to make sure every member of the
group could explain things consistently to customers. We had a few minor disagreements
along the way, but even those were no bad thing as we learnt to compromise and resolve
conflict.
It was when we came to selling our products that we came up against our first real
problem: not many of our classmates wanted a washing-up glove! We sold more to
teachers than other students. (6)………… Matt was positive about that, though. He said
we’d learnt a good lesson: we hadn’t thought about the needs of our target market. He
praised us on our teamwork, though, and said he’d recommend any of us for jobs in the
future!’
A He was pleased we’d tried to be more ambitious than other groups.
B We should have chosen something more straightforward, and that’s what we decided
to do next.
C Although we covered our costs, we made very little profit, which was disappointing.
D Successful organisations often offer a solution to a problem, we learnt.
E When we fed back our ideas, Matt wasn’t as enthusiastic as we’d hoped.
F Other students shared their experiences and mentioned other minor but frustrating
issues.
G I was responsible for creating an accurate description of our product.
In defence of women’s boxing
Lucy O’Connor thinks that women’s boxing is widely misunderstood
Women’s boxing is a new addition to the list of sports included at the Olympic Games.
But according to Lucy O’Connor, winner of various international competitions, it’s still
widely misunderstood – a situation that Lucy’s hoping to change. After graduating, Lucy
took up boxing on the advice of a sports coach, who thought it would improve her
general fitness. But Lucy soon set her sights on competitions and it wasn’t long before
she was boxing at the National Championships, which she eventually went on to win.
As a result of her success, Lucy was accepted on to what the navy calls its ‘elite
sportsman’s programme’. (1)………… . Every day now starts with a run at 7 a.m.,
followed by a skill and technique session or a strength and conditioning circuit. Come the
afternoon, there are more aerobic workouts, before Lucy gets into the ring and practices
with other elite boxers.
As with all competitors, diet is a huge part of Lucy’s life. Since she first started boxing,
she’s had to shed twenty-eight kilos. Losing the last six, which took her into the flyweight
category, required great determination. (2)………… As she explains: ‘I don’t go out to
party anymore. Thankfully, I’m married to my boxing coach, so at least I’ve got some sort
of social life!’ Lucy’s husband boxed as a heavyweight himself and he’s in her corner for
all her domestic competitions.
Lucy’s mum works as a buyer at a big department store, and Lucy has been testing out
products for the store’s sports division. Whilst preparing for a recent international
championship, Lucy wore a new titanium-based sports clothing range designed to
improve circulation and aid recovery. (3)………… But how does her family react to her
taking part in competitions? ‘Mum tends to admire me boxing from afar, but Dad just
loves it!’
Lucy has clearly answered questions about safety concerns before and cities all the
protective gear boxers strap on before a fight such as hand bandages, head guards, gum
shields and much more, ‘Amateur boxing is not dangerous,’ she says definitively. ‘It’s so
safety-orientated and the rules are so stringent it’s actually difficult to get hurt. We
approach it more as a skill and point-scoring exercise, rather than as a fight. (4)…………’
Boxers win points by landing the white knuckle part of their gloves on the opponent’s
scoring area – essentially the upper body and head – cleanly and with sufficient force. In
five years of competitive boxing, Lucy’s suffered only a few bruises and a broken thumb.
And in response to those who think it’s ‘inappropriate’ to see women boxing at the
Olympics, Lucy is quick to point out that women have been competing in martial arts
such as taekwondo and judo for years. (5)…………
Her biggest concern is that people confuse amateur boxing competitions with
professional fights, where the focus is more on aggression and hurting your opponents.
‘Female amateur boxing is about showing skill, speed and stamina,’ she says. (6)
………… ‘I find it so satisfying to be changing people’s opinion.’
A All that hard work certainly paid off and the competition itself brought out the best in
Lucy.
B That’s because in order to reach that target, she had to totally rethink her lifestyle.
C Having access to this space-age training kit was certainly an advantage.
D If the sport was more in the public eye, then fewer people would make that mistake.
E Nobody complained about women taking part in those events when it was introduced.
F That’s why I’ve always regarded it as a thinking girl’s sport really.
G What this meant, in effect, was that she was able to train full-time.
Go skating in Sweden this winter
Forget crowded indoor ice rinks. Once you’ve skated on natural ice, there’s no going
back.
It was the question on all of our minds, but I asked it: ‘How do you know when the ice
isn’t safe to skate on?’ Niklas, our calm Swedish guide, rubbed his chin, thought for a
moment, then offered up the wisdom of a lifetime spent playing around on frozen water.
‘When it breaks,’ he said with a broad smile.
The comment wasn’t exactly reassuring, but his easy confidence was. As long as it was
just jokes being cracked, maybe we’d be all right after all. Niklas, a maths teacher when
having breaks from pursuing his favourite hobby, was not entirely joking about his
attitude to ice. (1)………… The fact that strong ice makes a deeper sound under one’s
feet than thin ice does is a useful clue.
Our group of beginners was feeling rather nervous as we stood at the edge of a vast
frozen bay that first day. Niklas tried his best to persuade us to move forward but, like
hesitating penguins on an iceberg, no-one wanted to take the first step. (2)…………
‘Look at your faces,’ shouted Niklas to the happily smiling group, racing along behind
him.
Our expressions had been far less joyful the previous evening on being told that a five-
hour drive would follow our flights into Sweden’s Arlanda airport. That hadn’t been the
plan; but then, in the world of natural ice skating, no-one expects very much from plans.
With its 100,000 lakes and continuous sub-zero winter temperatures, Sweden has no
shortage of ice. (3)………… For instance, too much overlying snow and you get a
bumpy, uncomfortable ride; a sudden thaw and vast areas become unusable.
Perfect conditions must be sought out, and don’t last. (4)………… Niklas had received a
message via social media about Stigfjorden, a shallow, island-studded bay around 50
kilometres north of Gothenburg on the west coast.
There we quickly discovered skating in the open air is a wonderfully leisurely activity.
Push off with one skate and you can go 10 metres with ease. Two or three quick kicks at
the surface and you accelerate like a top-class sprinter. (5)………… We weren’t yet
ready to skate that kind of distance, but we certainly had a wonderful sense of freedom.
Our best day was at Vattern, one of Europe’s biggest lakes and also one of its clearest. In
ideal conditions, this clarity creates a phenomenon known as ‘glass ice’. The rocky lake
bottom stretched beneath us, three metres below a surface so perfect it was unseen. My
tentative first steps left scratches; it felt like vandalising a classical sculpture. As my
confidence grew, so did my speed. The sensation as I raced across the invisible ice was
astonishing, somewhere between floating, falling and flying. Then there was a sharp noise
from all around us. (6)………… No one had to say it. We were skating on very thin ice.
A That was the reason for our unscheduled journey from one side of the country to the
other.
B Ten minutes later we laughed at our earlier caution as we slid across the smooth
surface, our joy as limitless as our surroundings.
C The skates consisted of removable blades that fastened to the toes of our specialist
boots like cross-country skis.
D At first I ignored it, but when thin cracks began to appear I thought it wise to return to
solid ground.
E After our first session on the ice had ended, we were not surprised to be told that
covering 250 kilometres in a single day is quite possible.
F The Swedes adopt a common-sense approach: they are cautious, they test as they go,
and they use ears – as well as eyes – to check it.
G This is not always suited to skating, however.
Going up in a glider
Gliders are planes without engines. We sent our reporter to find out what it’s like to fly in
one.
When I arrive at the London Gliding School, Adrian, a volunteer instructor who has been
gliding for ten years, warmly greets me. He immediately takes me off to what’s clearly
the centre of all operations – the cafeteria. After a quick chat, we drive to the launch base
where Dan, my instructor for the day, begins to prepare me on all I need to know. Dan,
who is twenty, did his first solo flight at eighteen after joining the club’s cadet scheme.
Going through all the theory of how everything works and what to do once airborne
seems pretty simple. I’m not so keen, though, on the instructions about what to do in an
emergency. (1)………… At least I’m wearing a parachute!
The glider is connected by rope to a light aircraft as we’re pulled up into the air. A bumpy
start along the field and we’re off and up. ‘I like it when people scream’ were Dan’s words
on the ground. (2)………… But I am fiercely gripping my parachute straps and lots of
noises are coming from my stomach, which is doing somersaults. Once we’re up to
around 1,500 feet, the rope is detached with a clunk from the underside of the glider and
we’re free.
It’s a strange feeling – there’s a sense of safety when the rope is attached to the
aeroplane. (3)………… ‘I am in control,’ Dan tells me. He’s not attempting to be heroic;
this is glider talk. ‘You are in control,’ I respond. Thankfully I’m not or I doubt we’d be
swooping through the peaceful skies so smoothly and effortlessly. Something you notice
straightaway is the lack of an engine, which results in an eerie silence.
The weather conditions aren’t ideal, as it’s an all-too-familiar grey English day. (4)
………… But I’m told that, with perfect weather conditions of a clear windy day and lots
of cumulus cloud, we’d be able to catch the thermals and rise, staying up in the air for
longer. It’s possible to glide as far as Scotland and back again with the right conditions!
In a glider both pilot and passenger have a set of controls, so either person can take
control. The passenger can also ‘follow through’ with the controls, basically lightly
touching all their own controls and feeling what the pilot is doing. (5)………… So when
Dan tells me ‘You are in control’ and I repeat ‘I am in control,’ I’m glad he can’t see the
terror in my face. After some jumpy manoeuvres to keep the glider at ‘normal gliding
attitude,’ where the horizon remains at a constant level, I’m just getting into the swing of
it when Dan regains control to bring us in for landing.
Landing a glider is much calmer than other types of aircraft. (6)………… You descend
and approach the landing area, deploying the spoilers (flaps on the wings) to weaken the
air flow, and ease the glider lower until the wheels make contact and you’re gently
bumping along the field. I absolutely loved it and can’t wait to get back up in the air.
A This doesn’t make a jot of difference to the experience for me.
B Release the safety belts and jump out seems to be the only response possible.
C This has been the limit of my involvement so far.
D Once it goes, I feel I want to hold onto something in case we start falling to the
ground.
E He tells me that it’s too cloudy for those acrobatics, however, and relief washes over
me.
F I manage not to do this, however.
G It’s much less sudden and you notice the absence of engine roar.
I run up mountains
Mountain climbing hasn’t developed much in the past fifty years or so, but I want to
introduce a new style. I call it ‘skyrunning’. It means climbing high mountains as fast as
possible and using as little equipment as possible. Skyrunning is the most honest kind of
mountaineering.
Some years ago, I decided to climb Mount Aconcagua, in the Andes, which usually takes
three days. I didn’t have that sort of time – so I thought about how it could be done more
quickly. In the end, I managed it in four hours and twenty-five minutes. Since then I’ve
climbed several mountains this way, including the ‘seven summits’, the highest mountains
on each continent. (1)………… When I climbed Mount Everest, the only nutrition I took
with me was carbohydrate gels, salted crackers and about three litres of rosehip tea. It
took me sixteen hours and forty-two minutes to go up – a new speed record on the
northern route.
I have also set speed records on Antarctica’s Mount Vinson, the Carstensz Pyramid in
New Guinea and other summits. Attempts such as these need months of training and
preparation, as with any serious sports. To build up strength, I sometimes haul an
enormous tractor tyre behind me while running uphill. (2)………… I call it ‘the beast’
because of the aggressive energy I build up during these training sessions.
The psychological side of training is as important as the physical. I use foreign languages
to affect my mental state and enhance my performance. I shout things out in these, even
though I know there’s nobody to hear me. I’m Austrian and speak only a few words of the
Russian language. (3)………… I couldn’t tell you why that should be the case.
Whereas Russian is full of energy and strength, English is a language that calms me and
helps me to focus. Two years ago, I was climbing in Nepal and knew that I was in danger
from avalanches. I noticed that I kept saying to myself: ‘Hey man, take care!’ (4)
………… It was as if one part of me had stepped outside myself to make sure I made the
right decisions, and that phrase helped.
For other people, this might sound ridiculous, but I don’t care. In high altitudes, any
mistake can be lethal, and I know how it feels to face death. Seventeen years ago, when I
was twenty-four, I was climbing with a friend in the Karakoram mountains in Pakistan at
about 18,000 feet. (5)………… It was the sound of an avalanche, which hit us and broke
my right thighbone.
My friend pulled me out of the snow, but although we had survived, we realised he
wouldn’t be able to drag me back to the base camp. I said: ‘Go, just leave me here.’ And
he left me behind. I lay alone in the mountains for days. Sometimes I hallucinated, other
times I shouted. (6)………… Finally, my friend came back with other climbers and
saved me. I thought extreme mountaineering was too risky at first, but slowly my
perspective changed.
There are so many mountains to climb, but I know my records won’t last forever. In ten
or twenty years, skyrunning will be established as a sport. I see myself as a pioneer.
A All kinds of songs I’d never thought twice about ran through my mind.
B I can drag this for four hours at a time.
C I couldn’t stop repeating that.
D I managed to get up all of those without any oxygen or tents.
E It’s the one I use when I need to push forward through heavy snow, however.
F Suddenly, there was an incredible rumble up above us.
G These clearly came as quite a shock.
The airport photographer
I’m a photographer based at Heathrow Airport in London. Airlines often commission me
to take photos of aircraft or their staff. But mostly I concentrate on getting shots of
celebrities as they come through the arrivals hall. I sell some photos direct to the daily
newspapers and celebrity magazines, and the rest go to a picture agency.
On a typical day I look out for the flights arriving from Los Angeles on the major
airlines. (1)………… Most of them fly either with British Airways because it’s such an
established company, or with Virgin Atlantic because the owner, Richard Branson,
moves in those celebrity circles.
You’ve got to cover all the incoming flights though – Victoria Beckham took to flying
with Air New Zealand at one time. I know the ground and security staff here very
well. (2)………… That can really make all the difference to being in the right place at
the right time.
I’ve been working here for many years now, so I’ve seen thousands of celebrities
throughout the decades. In my experience, the old stars are the best. Joan Collins is my
favourite – she sends me a Christmas card every year. Mick Jagger also knows me and
always says hello. People like Paul McCartney and Rod Stewart are lots of fun, too. (3)
………… I guess that’s because they can see the value of it.
Today’s big stars are generally okay and give you a polite smile. I won’t mention names,
but there are some who wave me away rudely, whilst others even have their managers
popping up from nowhere, saying: ‘no pictures’ to the waiting photographers. (4)
………… You’ve probably seen photographers leaping around in this manner on TV
footage of celebrities arriving at airports and wondered why they do it – well often that’s
why.
(5)………… One time, Naomi Campbell refused to come out from behind a pillar. She
called up for a buggy and hopped on the back, so there I was chasing it, trying to get a
shot of her. But the next time I saw her she’d just got engaged and came up to me to show
me the ring.
But if today’s stars don’t make my job as easy as it was, today’s technology more than
makes up for it. When I started out it was much less sophisticated. I remember when the
British queen’s granddaughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, were just babies. I
heard that their mother, the Duchess of York, was coming through Heathrow with them.
She was carrying both babies in her arms. (6)………… I realised I had a good chance of
getting one of them onto the front page of the newspaper, which is always the
photographer’s aim.
So I called my editor to warn him, took the shots, then rolled up the film, labelled it, put
it in an envelope and organised for a motorbike dispatch rider to pick it up, take it back to
the newspaper offices and have it developed. It had taken three hours. Today, using
digital cameras and a laptop, the office gets images in three minutes.
A You get the impression that they enjoy the attention.
B I was lucky enough to get some lovely shots of them.
C Often it’s one of them who tips me off that a big star has just come through passport
control.
D That’s where you generally find the celebrities.
E The could be appearing in the arrivals hall at any time, night or day, of course.
F When that happens, they have to do what we call ‘duck and dive’ to get a shot.
G With some stars, however, you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get.
Would you turn off your engine, please?
I was walking around my neighbourhood in New York one spring evening two years ago
when I came across a stretch limousine parked outside a restaurant. The driver’s clients
were inside having dinner, and he had his engine running while he waited. It really
bothered me. He was polluting the air we breathe as well as wasting huge amounts of
fuel, so I knocked on the driver’s window.
I explained to him that he didn’t need to waste his boss’s money or pollute our air. I
addressed the issues politely and, after a ten-minute chat, he agreed to shut off the engine.
I felt empowered – I could make a difference to our environment. (1)………… So
whenever I see a driver sitting with the car engine running, I go over and talk to him or
her.
Six months later, I talked to a guy who turned out to be an undercover police officer. He
told me he wouldn’t turn off his engine because he was on a job, but asked me if I knew
there was actually a law against engine idling, as it’s called. (2)………… Sure enough,
under New York City’s traffic laws, you could be fined up to $2,000 for engine idling for
more than three minutes.
I had small business cards printed up that referred to the relevant law on one side and the
penalties on the other, and started to hand them out to idlers. (3)………… It’s surprising
how many people are unaware that they could get a fine. That’s why I start my encounters
the same way every time.
I say: ‘Excuse me for bothering you, but are you aware that it is against the law in New
York City to idle your car for more than three minutes?’ (4)………… They want to know
who I am, am I a cop? I tell them that I’m just a concerned citizen and want to make sure
we improve our environment and address our oil addiction.
We usually have a discussion and I always try to conclude the encounter on a positive
and polite note, saying how great it would be if they shut off their engine so we can all
have a better environment. (5)………… Most are convinced by these arguments. Indeed,
I’m successful seventy-eight percent of the time. Although, of course, there are people
who are aggressive or who won’t do it. My success rate with cops is only five percent.
I keep an Excel spreadsheet so that I have a precise record of each of my encounters. If I
get an aggressive reaction, I list their comments and highlight them in red. (6)………… I
don’t give up, however, and try to approach them professionally. But my feelings do get
hurt on occasion. Then I remind myself that because I make the first approach, I’m
actually the aggressor in this situation. My victims are just sitting there thinking: ‘Who is
this guy?’
To date, I have had 2,500 encounters and, overall, I have made a difference. I’m in touch
with the Department of Energy in Washington and my work is endorsed by the American
Lung Association. And recently a New York traffic cop wrote the city’s very first ticket
for idling.
A I also tell them that it saves money and avoids breaking the law.
B I decided to have these conversations on a regular basis after that.
C I find this fact always takes my victims by surprise.
D I went home and checked this out.
E It’s not the sort of mistake that you make twice.
F I try not to get affected emotionally if drivers respond in this way.
G I’ve been distributing them in this way ever since.
Paddle power
Before tackling white-water rapids in a kayak, you need to get your basic skills sorted
‘I guarantee you’ll be getting wet today,’ says my kayaking coach, Sarah Lind. I’ve come
to the Bala Watersports Centre in North Wales for a crash course in white-water
kayaking. If anyone knows what they’re talking about, it’s thirty-five-year-old Sarah.
Having started her kayaking career at the age of eleven, she went on to win a gold medal
for Great Britain. For years I’ve dreamed of paddling white water and this is my big
opportunity.
The sleepy Welsh town of Bala is the white-water capital of Britain. Local residents
include Matt Cook, who once came fourth in the freestyle world championships, and
former European freestyle champion Lynsey Evans. (1)………… These create a natural
playground for paddlers. One of the toughest sections of white water lies on the
Tryweryn river, which cuts straight through Bala. Graded four out of six (six being
impassable), it is a swirling mass of furious white water, interspersed by slippery rocks.
Used for the world championships, it’s where the world’s best paddlers pit their wits and
strength against nature. And later on today, it will be the venue for my first white-water
voyage.
Before allowing us near any white water, Sarah insists that we head out onto the calm
waters of Bala Lake to learn a few basic skills. (2)………… As I paddle my first few
strokes, it causes my boat to bob about alarmingly. I’m having trouble simply going in a
straight line.
The most important thing you need to master before going out into white water is the ‘low
brace turn’, which breaks down into three main elements. The first is the ‘sweep
stroke’. (3)………… While doing this you need to ‘edge’ – or cause the kayak to tip
slightly towards the side that you wish to turn. This is achieved by straightening the leg
that corresponds to the direction in which you wish to turn, while bending your other leg
and bracing it against the top of the boat.
Finally, you need to put your paddle into the ‘brace’ position: bar held against your
stomach, arms parallel with your shoulders. The idea is that if at this point you find
yourself tipping over too far, you can use your paddle to prevent the kayak turning
over. (4)………… I flounder around in the freezing cold lake like an ant stuck in a
puddle, and my breath is snatched away.
After we eventually master the basics, it’s time to tackle some world championship level
white water, on the Tryweryn. (5)………… I can hardly hear myself think. The first
section of the course involves crossing a segment of high-speed water punctuated by
slippery stone slabs. This is where the ‘edging’ technique I learned earlier comes into
play.
The next section involves traversing an even angrier patch of white water. All I
remember is paddling frantically through a narrow corridor of rocks, as the water
splashes up in my face and my boat bounces its way through the swirling torrent. (6)
………… Eventually, things slow down slightly and I’m able to take stock. This is it. I’m
off and running: racing down the river at ridiculous speed. Awesome!
A A stiff breeze is blowing across this massive open space.
B Basically, you use the paddle to turn the boat sharply in the opposite direction.
C Despite my understandable trepidation, Sarah is confident that she can get me to
complete it in one piece.
D Despite my best efforts, however, I end up in the water almost immediately.
E Only a shout of ‘Right paddle!’ from Sarah saves me from going over again.
F Standing on the bank, psyching myself up, the sound of the raging water crashing
over rocks is deafening.
G They’re attracted here by the huge number of rivers that cascade down from the
surrounding mountains.
I’m the last speaker of my language
I come from Chile and I’ve always been interested in my country’s history and culture. It
all started when I was about eight and I started to learn about the country’s indigenous
inhabitants. When I first found out about the native people of Patagonia, in the far south,
I had no idea that my mother’s family was from there and that her grandfather had been a
Selk’nam. The last speaker of Selk’nam died in 1974. I really wanted to learn Selk’nam,
so relatives on my father’s side who live in Punta Arenas, the southernmost town in
mainland Chile, sent me dictionaries. (1)………… But I had no idea what these sounded
like.
Then, when I was about eleven, I saw a television programme about the Yagán people
who lived on the island of Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost tip of South America. The
programme interviewed two sisters, Cristina and Ursula Calderón, and said they were the
only two speakers of their language left. (2)………… Only later did I discover that the
two languages are quite different; that the two peoples couldn’t communicate with each
other.
One day, my mother told me that although she was born in the capital, Santiago, her
grandfather was a Selk’nam from the north of Tierra del Fuego. Nobody had ever told me
anything about this before. When I asked why, she said that when she was young she had
been teased for looking different, and so she had just kept quiet about it.
When I was thirteen, I went to the south for the first time on my own to meet Cristina
Calderón. (3)………… I discovered that there used to be four thousand Selk’nam in
Tierra del Fuego. They were hunters of wild cats and foxes. The Yagán lived further
south and travelled by canoe all the way down to Cape Horn, but the Selk’nam moved on
foot.
Settlers from the north arrived in the nineteenth century and introduced diseases like
measles and typhoid, which affected the local people very badly. Now, there’s no way
back. I got hold of some recordings of a Selk’nam shaman from the 1960s and started to
study them. (4)………… Gradually, however, I began to understand how the words
sounded and began to reproduce them.
The Selk’nam express themselves using lots of prefixes and suffixes, and the sounds are
guttural, nasal and tonal. (5)………… For example, it has lots of different words for the
weather. The hardest thing in Selk’nam, however, is the verbs – they all sound a bit the
same. There are some English loanwords, such as ‘bread’ and ‘money’. Others are
descriptive: ‘read’ translates as ‘playing with words’ and ‘drum’ as ‘vibrating leather’.
Then there are words for modern things – for ‘telephone’, you have to say ‘speak from
afar’, and ‘car’ is ‘go on four wheels’. I speak the language well now. Cristina’s husband
spoke Selk’nam and apparently I sound just like him.
Because music is something that reaches lots of people, I started composing traditional
songs in Selk’nam and formed a band with two friends. This meant that they had to learn
some words, too. (6)………… I need to teach my language to more people because if
something happened to me, it would die out all over again.
A I felt a sudden desire to learn that one too.
B It was slow because I had no one to talk to.
C Yagán is quite different, however, because it has more vocabulary.
D This meant that I was able to start learning words, verbs and expressions.
E This was good because I didn’t want to be the only one.
F These turned out to be rather hard for me to pronounce, however.
G The trip seemed the best way to find out about my roots.
College students need their sleep!
Research into the connection between sleep and learning suggests that sleep is even more
important than previously thought.
Only a month and a half into her first semester at college, Liz, a student at Harvard
University, already wishes she had more time for sleep. Several mornings each week, Liz
rises before six to join her teammates for rowing practice. On days like these she seldom
sleeps more than seven hours per night, but it’s not as if she doesn’t try.
(1)………… She often misses opportunities to socialize in order to get her coursework
done and still get to bed at a reasonable time. Even without knowing just how important
sleep is to learning, she tries to make time for it.
This is not always easy, however. The many demands on her time include her chosen
sport, as well as activities like studying optional extra subjects. (2)………… She and
other students who think the same way as her sacrifice sleep to fit everything in. It isn’t
surprising to learn, therefore, that students represent one of the most sleep-deprived
segments of the population. Coursework, sports and new-found independence all
contribute to the problem.
Studies have found that only eleven percent of college students sleep well consistently,
while seventy-three percent experience at least occasional sleep issues, as Liz does. Forty
percent of students felt well-rested no more than two days per week. Poor sleep is no
longer considered a harmless aspect of college. (3)………… The results of this show that
it has significant impact on memory and learning.
Inadequate sleep negatively affects our learning processes. It is simply more difficult to
concentrate when we are sleep deprived; this affects our ability to focus on and gather
information presented to us, and our ability to remember even those things we know we
have learned in the past. (4)………… That is, the effect that many sleep researchers think
it has on memory consolidation, the process by which connections in the brain strengthen
and form into something more permanent.
A number of studies have shown that poor quality sleep can negatively impact on a
person’s ability to turn factual information or processes they’ve just learned into long-
term memories. (5)………… And if this opportunity is missed – such as when a student
stays awake all night – it generally can’t be made up. Even if sleep is ‘recovered’ on
subsequent nights, the brain will be less able to retain and make use of information
gathered on the day before. These findings shed new light on the importance of making
time for sleep, not only for college students like Liz, but for anyone who wants to
continue to learn.
Early in her first semester at Harvard, Liz feels like she is maintaining a healthy balance,
but only just. Trying hard to get the most out of her time in college, she admits it’s
sometimes hard to see sleep as an important part of her athletic and scholastic
objectives. (6)………… Rather than thinking of sleep as wasted time or even time off,
we should, they say, instead view it as the time when our brain is doing some of its most
important work.
A Although it may seem unnecessary to do these, Liz views them as essential.
B It also has a less obvious but possibly even more profound impact.
C Liz knows that she must nevertheless do her best to avoid it.
D Research suggests that the most critical period of sleep for this to happen in is the one
on the same day.
E In fact, Liz’s behaviour is not at all like that of other college students her age.
F But that’s exactly what many researchers say it is.
G Quite the opposite, actually, as research into its effects progresses.
Just because I’ve been on holiday doesn’t mean I have to be happy
‘Holiday hangover’, ‘back-to-work blues’, ‘post-travel depression’ – it’s a well-known
condition, and I’m suffering from it.
My cat. My tortoise. My friends. My bed. The list reads the same every time, but I still
write it. I write it on the last day of every holiday, to convince myself that going home
isn’t so bad. Then I feel utterly miserable. There are plenty of things I’m not great at –
driving, maths, returning library books on time – but the thing I’m worst at is coming
back to work after a holiday.
It’s an extreme case of being selfishly miserable. To have had a lovely sunshine break and
then return to the office, where everyone has been working hard without restaurant
lunches or morning swims, with a face like thunder is terribly bad manners. (1)…………
Given the number of names for it – ‘holiday hangover’, ‘back-to-work blues’, ‘post-travel
depression’ – it’s a well-known condition.
In a recent survey conducted by a travel website, 82 per cent of the 1,254 people asked
experienced post-holiday misery. (2)………… Probably just before they logged on to a
job vacancy website or started fantasising about retraining for work in the countryside.
Even if you manage to avoid end-of-holiday panic, and you feel refreshed, relaxed and
ready to face the world of work, you’re guaranteed to walk into stress, conflict and
injustice. (3)………… Or the surprise departmental reorganisation that took place while
you were away.
Still, it could be worse. Over three-quarters of people questioned said that their holiday
depression lasted for a month. (4)………… Perhaps they should have saved their cash
and not bothered going.
After years of practice, I’ve come up with a few things that help. A bit. The first is the list
mentioned above. (5)………… Unlike some people I know, I can’t just roll off an
intercontinental flight and roll in to the office. The third is concentrating on getting
through the first day back at work without running away, making a grand plan for a new
life or spending (too much) time on my own tearfully looking at my holiday photos
saying to myself: ‘I can’t believe this is my life.’
I feel sorry for my poor colleagues having to look at my long face today, but at least by
having my break now I’m getting my bad mood in early. (6)………… Then I can support
them in their hour (month?) of need. I might even lend them one of my pets.
A By September, on the other hand, when the schools go back and the main summer-
holiday season is over, I’ll be back to normal.
B The most content, with both their home and working life, appear to be those who stay
at home all summer.
C For instance, that highly important task you left with a colleague that’s been ignored
and later caused your email inbox to turn toxic.
D At least, though, I’m not the only fed-up wage slave to feel like this.
E The next one is making sure I have a day off everything between getting home and
going to work.
F Also, over two-thirds of them answered the next question, ‘Are you usually glad to be
home after a holiday abroad?’ with a – presumably unhappy sounding – ‘No’.
G Longer by at least a fortnight, I’d guess, than the holiday they’d taken.
Puffins in peril
Scientist Mike Harris explains that the puffin seems about to join the list of seabirds
whose numbers are declining.
It’s a grey day in early April on the Isle of May off the east coast of Scotland. Far out to
sea a small dot appears on the horizon. It rapidly increases in size, suddenly turning into a
puffin that lands with a splash on the water. This bird probably hasn’t seen land for five
months, but now it’s returning to its colony for the breeding season.
The first puffin is soon joined by others and together they bob on the sea. Newly returned
birds are nervous but, as the days pass, they gain confidence and begin reclaiming the
underground nesting burrows they made the previous year by tunnelling into the soft
earth on the top of the cliffs. (1)………… They have to hurry because it takes three
months to rear a chick and all the birds must leave by early August to spend time feeding
intensively before the winter.
I visit the island every April, eager to see how many of the adult puffins we have caught
and attached identification rings to have returned. (2)………… With a team of helpers I
counted every occupied burrow on the island – something we undertake every five years.
The island’s puffin population had been increasing every year for the previous 40 years,
and so we anticipated at least 100,000 pairs. To our dismay we found just 42,000. (3)
………… Experts from other research programmes have concluded it must be connected
to where puffins spend the winter months.
Last spring we also caught and weighed some returning adults and found they were
significantly lighter than the birds we caught 10 years ago. (4)………… Puffins are long-
lived and can cope with a few poor productive seasons, but not with such a large loss of
adults.
In early August, the puffin colonies empty rather abruptly. Virtually all puffins leave
within a week, though a few adults remain to feed a late chick. (5)………… I have
always believed, though, that few of them venture far from the North Sea. Now, however,
the development of instruments known as geolocators, small enough to be fitted around a
puffin’s leg, is enabling us to test this idea.
We fitted these units to some puffins two years ago and caught the birds again last year to
download the data. Some did remain within the North Sea, but others went much further.
For someone who has spent years watching puffins for only part of their lives, this new
technology is providing some fascinating information. (6)………… This would still
leave us with the question of what they eat in winter and whether there are sufficient
quantities of prey available.
The good news is that we now have an idea of the areas our puffins go to in winter, and
we can check whether conditions there might have altered due to climate change or
overfishing. Maybe we can then take some steps to help them. Hopefully it is just a local
problem, because there are in fact still plenty of puffins to see around the Scottish coast.
A We weren’t the only ones to wonder why this might be happening.
B From this moment on, we know remarkably little about where these birds end up and
what could possibly be affecting them there.
C But we should also take into account that if a young puffin survives the winter, it will
come back the following July.
D Other devices will also hopefully tell us how much time puffins spend diving for
food.
E This was further evidence that something unusual is happening at sea before they
return to the colony.
F Puffins are always among the earliest seabirds to lay eggs.
G Last year there was an additional task.
Inline Skating
The popularity of inline skating is growing all the time.
No doubt about it, inline skating is one of the world’s most popular street sports.
Different people call it different things. Rollerblade was the original American skate
manufacturer and that’s why many call it rollerblading. Others shorten this to blading,
while still others prefer inline skating (because the wheels on each skate are in line).
(1)………… Inline skating has taken the concept of self-propelled wheels into a new
dimension which allows skaters of the most basic ability to move with grace, speed and
style, and feel good about doing it. A huge attraction is that you can do it anywhere
where there is a smooth, hard surface and if you’re really keen, you can even do it off-
road too.
But the very popularity of the sport everywhere has created something of a problem. The
‘Ban all Skaters’ group, made up of opponents of the sport, has never been far behind. (2)
………… No matter– people will keep on skating wherever they can.
So the difficulty lies in changing the attitude of established local authorities, which are so
often dominated by older people who have no concept of the joy of inline skating, don’t
want anything to do with it, and simply dismiss the sport as a branch of the current youth
culture they can do without.
We know they are wrong. (3)………… It is a sport which offers everyone a brilliant way
to get up off the couch, whizz around outside, have fun, get fit, get involved, develop
skills and learn team-work.
In time, all skaters will be allowed to go about their business and co-exist in harmony
with other users of tarmac. (4)………… So skaters should take care not to adopt a selfish
attitude to others, because annoying other people might eventually lead to a situation
where the skaters’ own enjoyment or freedom of movement is curtailed.
Kids as young as five or six can learn to skate well. (5)………… And in between those
two extremesskating is no less important as a way for those intheir teen years to avoid the
trap of urban boredom,which can create problems in contemporary society.
To qualify as an inline skater, you just have to get through the basics of pushing off,
turning and stopping – all easy techniques which most people can learn to handle in half
a dozen sessions. (6)………… Next you can learn to skate faster, turn tighter, stop faster,
skate through slalom cones (just use tin cans) forwards and maybe backwards. Then you
can learn how to go up and down hills and perhaps some clever tricks as well.
A Inline skating is not just about kids whose wishes can be ignored.
B Once up and running, it’s all about consolidating what’s been learned, enjoying the
feel of your wheels and getting better.
C They all add up to the great new world of inlining.
D What’s more, with all the right padding and protection, adults can start to skate safely
at an age when they are collecting their pensions.
E In some areas it has been successful in implementing notorious and strict skating
prohibitions, such as the closure of most of London’s parks to skaters.
F The name doesn’t really matter; it’s the impact it has had that is important.
G Indeed, it’s all about the right to enjoy life’s little – and not so little – pleasures.
Has one of the mysteries of the ancient pyramids been solved?
A painting in a 3000-year-old tomb suggests how the Ancient Egyptians may have
transported the heavy stones used to build the pyramids.
Ever since the discovery of the first pyramid, scientists have wondered how ancient
Egyptians built these monumental structures that are visible even from space.
There are a number of theories about the construction techniques they used. (1)…………
Egyptologists had always wondered how workers were able to move the giant limestone
blocks. These weigh as much as 2.5 tons each, and the stone quarries from which they
were cut were often located hundreds of kilometres away from the pyramid sites.
Dragging them on basic wooden sledges, similar to those people use to slide down snow-
covered slopes in winter, was the obvious answer. (2)………… It now turns out that the
workers probably did have some assistance – from ordinary water! What is even more
amazing is that the answer to the Egyptologists’ puzzle has been staring them in the face
for many years, in a wall painting in the tomb of an ancient Egyptian king, or pharaoh.
The artwork, which depicts a pharaoh being pulled along by a large team of workers, has
one significant detail that had so far been misinterpreted – a man pouring water in front
of the sledge the pharaoh is being dragged upon. Egyptologists had always thought that
the man was performing some kind of religious ritual. However, some scientists now
believe that the water was being poured for a totally different reason. (3)…………
This revelation was made by researchers from the University of Amsterdam and the
Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter. The scientists arrived at this conclusion
after conducting extensive testing in their laboratory, by sliding a weighted tray across
both dry sand and sand that had been mixed with varying amounts of water. In dry sand,
heaps formed in front of the tray as it was dragged along. (4)…………
However, as the researchers added water, the sand hardened, which helped reduce both
the force needed to pull the tray and the friction against it. That’s because the water helps
form tiny water bridges, known as capillary bridges, between the sand particles, causing
them to stick together. (5)………… The force required to pull the sledge would have
been reduced by as much as 50% as the sand became stiffer, which meant that half as
many workers were needed to move the heavy stones.
There was a tipping point, though. After the moisture exceeded a certain amount, the
stiffness started to decrease and the capillary bridges melted away, causing the sand to
clump up around the tray once again. According to the researchers, the perfect balance
appears to be when the volume of the water is between 2 – 5% of the volume of sand. (6)
………… And so another step has been taken towards understanding the incredible feat
achieved by these ancient engineers. Now if we could only find a painting that would tell
us how the workers erected these impressive structures without access to modern
mechanics, that would be amazing!
A However, to do so would have required superhuman strength against the friction of
the desert sand.
B This allowed them to work out exactly how much of it had been used every time.
C This slowed it down dramatically.
D One question, however, had been left unanswered.
E The pyramid builders seem to have realised that this was the correct proportion.
F The effect of this turns out to be significant.
G It was to help the sledge move more easily across the sand.
Working as a TV news producer
Rob Cole has produced TV news for decades now, working on anything from
international celebrities to global conflicts. He shares the benefit of his considerable
experience in the industry
Rob’s time behind the cameras has coincided with huge changes in the way news is
reported – from a time when everyone bought local newspapers, through the birth of 24-
hour rolling news, and now the Internet. But what is the work like on a day-to-day basis?
Rob’s always worked in foreign news, so his focus is obviously on news from around the
world. As you can imagine, there’s a lot of that. Rob comes in early, having checked his
phone, social media, and listened to as many news programmes as he could. (1)…………
Running the foreign section is like a never-ending contest – constantly trying to get his
journalists’ news presented ahead of the TV station’s other sections.
Once you have a story it’s then a matter of making sure that wherever the journalist is, the
report comes into the building – through satellite, Internet or other routes – and it is ready
to run on air on time. (2)………… There’s nothing like getting a note from the producer
at another network congratulating on a job well done. The low points, on the other hand,
are much less pleasant: ‘I’ve had colleagues badly injured.’
So how can you become a news producer? Says Rob: ‘We get loads of applications. (3)
………… Don’t be put off; people in this business admire people who don’t give up
easily, for obvious reasons.’
You need to be keen to learn and, of course, take a real interest in current affairs. ‘You
have to be obsessed with news, constantly following it. Even if you’re a creative
producer, doing graphics, you still have to care about what’s going on in the world. Also,
some people think about going into the media just because it sounds exciting. That would
be a mistake; you have to really want to do the job. Luck’s involved too, of course. (4)
…………’.
In some ways, Rob’s job should remain fairly constant for the next few years. ‘They will
always need someone to make decisions and take responsibility for newsgathering.
However, what will change is the way in which news is delivered. When I started in TV,
the crew used to consist of a reporter, producer, a camera operator, a sound person, and
sometimes even a separate lighting person. (5)………… Now there’s just the reporter and
a multitasking camera operator who also edits and supplies the written material – if
you’re lucky!’
‘Before long there will be a crew of just one, shooting all their own material on a
smartphone, then editing and voicing that material, before sending it to head office,
where it ends up going straight on air. (6)………… Actually, this has already started to
happen. The technology will just get quicker and quicker and smaller and smaller.’
A You might write to just the right person at the right time.
B Turning the device around and pressing the live app button also enables live
broadcasting into the same programme.
C They would be loaded down with equipment and some of them would be linked by
cable.
D With this information, before any stories actually come in, he then decides on the
news priorities of the day.
E In those days it was possible to start a career in news without even going to
university: you went straight into training on a local paper.
F Making sure it does so matters, especially given the friendly competition with other
TV networks: ‘beating the other networks’ is a real highlight.
G I always endeavour to reply, but from my own experience too many people don’t get
back to you, so it’s best to keep trying.
 The ultimate green home: the WWF’s new headquarters.
Sandwiched between an incredibly ugly shopping centre and a busy main road, the
environmentalist Sir David Attenborough, no less, is planting a tree and declaring: ‘Today
is a historic day.’ He really means it.
Maybe our children’s future will be an overheated, desert-like world, but if it’s not, it will
probably look a lot like this. The new, highly environmentally friendly home of the
World Wide Fund for Nature, a hemispherical glass tube standing above a council car
park, was officially opened today, watched by a small but enthusiastic crowd. (1)
…………
Known as the ‘Living Planet Centre’, it has jumping panda animations that greet visitors
to its WWF Experience, where schoolchildren can interact with Ocean, River, Forest and
Wildlife Zones. Since the mid-20th century, many of the ideas behind humanity’s
attempts to protect animals and the natural world have been started by the WWF. (2)
…………
‘The World Wide Fund for Nature is one of the great hopes for the world,’ Sir David
Attenborough said. ‘This building enshrines that, and advertises it to the world.’ The
concrete is all recycled, as is the carpet and even most of the computer equipment, and
there are many solar energy panels. (3)………… In addition, new habitats and plant
species have been installed around the gardens, while indoors a home has been found for
three tall trees.
The sense of total calm inside, from the high curved ceilings to the plants and trees, is all
the more remarkable for the building’s urban location. It has been built between a canal
and a small area of woods listed as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. (4)………… The
contrast gives us an idea of what might just be possible in the future.
The WWF was set up in 1961. The organisation originally fought to protect individual
species, such as the Arabian oryx, from extinction. Eventually, the focus moved from
individual species to ecosystems: all the living things in one area and the way they affect
each other. Sir David, who is an ambassador for the WWF, said: ‘Now, it’s not just
individual ecosystems. Now the change is to a global approach. (5)………… That is
because the planet is one vast ecosystem. The WWF has been the leader in changing
everyone’s attitudes towards nature.’
Sir David is clear about the task ahead, and more importantly, unlike many
environmentalists, he believes it is not too late to make a difference. ‘You can’t turn the
clock back, of course. (6)………… But we can slow down the rate at which the numbers
are increasing, we can cut down the carbon we put in the atmosphere,’ he said. ‘It’s never
happened before that the whole world has come together and made a decision. To go as
far as we have done to reduce carbon is an impressive achievement. But you cannot have
unlimited growth in a limited situation. You can’t expand infinitely in a finite planet.
A Even so, it remains in an ugly corner of a fairly unattractive town centre.
B So even if you aren’t particularly concerned about the environment, as energy costs
rise you’ll want to save money on fuel bills.
C Other such features include extensive glass to increase natural light, natural
ventilation, rainwater in the toilets, and heat pumps that bring warm air up from 200
metres below.
D It is hoped their new home will be a living example of that.
E That means you can’t put back forests that are gone, not for a century, and the
population size is not going to shrink.
F If you want to do something, you have to persuade people of the world not to pollute.
G If humanity is to survive, they must have been thinking, it will do so living in
buildings of this kind.
Can we control our dreams?
Strange as it seems, the answer is yes – and it could help us solve our problems.
Do we have any influence over the often strange, wandering, night-time journeys in our
mind? Could we learn to dream differently, getting rid of repeated nightmares or finding
answers to the problems that we cannot solve in daylight hours? Strange though it may
seem, the answer is yes. Research suggests that, using practical and psychological
techniques, we can influence our dreams and use them to draw on the vast, largely
unused resource of our unconscious mind.
Deirdre Barrett, an assistant clinical professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School,
is convinced we all have the power to manage our dreams. ‘If you want to dream about a
particular subject,’ she says, ‘focus on it once you are in bed. (1)………… You can also
place an object or photo that represents the desired dream on your bedside table,’ Barrett
says.
Another key factor in using one’s dreams creatively is to avoid jumping out of bed the
moment you wake up. (2)………… ‘If you don’t recall a dream immediately, lie still and
see if a thought or image comes to mind,’ Barrett says. ‘Sometimes a whole dream will
come flooding back.’
The point of this second strategy is to make use of the information presented by our
unconscious as we sleep. It’s hard to put an exact figure on the ratio of our unconscious to
conscious mind, but psychologists estimate it to be nine to one. We may believe that
thinking is our best problem-solving strategy, but the power of our conscious mind is
relatively tiny. (3)………… So letting the unconscious mind work on it may be healthier
and more productive.
Barrett put this to the test in a week-long study with college students; she asked them to
use dreaming as a way of finding ways of dealing with a particular problem. (4)…………
‘If we’re stuck on a problem, it’s our waking, logical way of thinking that’s stuck,’ Barrett
says. ‘The dream’s power lies in the fact that it’s a different manner of thought – it adds to
and develops what we’ve already done while awake.’
Most of us enjoy the rich, pleasantly strange experience of dreaming (and we all dream –
some people just don’t remember it). But no one enjoys nightmares that keep coming
back, or the kind of unpleasant dreams from which you wake sweating. (5)………… ‘It’s
very common for them to have nightmares about being chased by a monster,’ says Delphi
Ellis, a counsellor and dream expert. ‘This often happens as they get older and become
aware of their place in the huge world.’
‘As an adult, troubling or frightening dreams are often an indication of diff cult issues
from the past,’ Ellis says. (6)………… They and all other kinds of dream are an
incredibly valuable resource, which most of us simply ignore. So learn to listen to them,
even the horrible ones – they’re always trying to tell you something.’
A It’s one in which you know you’re dreaming as the dream is occurring – the kind of
‘dream within a dream’ that film characters sometimes have.
B Even more anxiety-causing, if you’re a parent, are the scary ones that have such an
effect on your kids.
C Doing so means you’ll lose half of what your dream contained as the day’s
distractions take over your thoughts.
D About half of them dreamt about it and one-quarter of them solved it.
E Since dreaming is so visual, form a picture in your mind of something related to that
topic as you fall asleep.
F The more you ignore dreams like those, the more your unconscious turns up the
volume – so a nightmare is that message on full volume.
G Also, when this consists of going over and over negative or worrying issues in our
minds, it is strongly linked with stress, depression and anxiety.
Have we lost the ability to focus on a single task?
Daniel Goleman thinks so. Here, the bestselling science writer argues that we have
become a species distracted by modern technology.
The little girl’s head only came up to her mother’s waist as she hugged her mum, and held
on fiercely as they rode a ferry to a holiday island. The mother, though, didn’t respond to
her, or even seem to notice: she was absorbed in her tablet computer all the while.
Something similar happened a few minutes later, as I was getting into a shared taxi van
with nine students who that night were journeying to a weekend getaway. Within a
minute of taking their seats in the dark van, dim lights came on as every one of them
checked a phone or tablet. (1)………… But mostly there was silence.
The indifference of that mother, and the silence among the students, are symptoms of
how technology captures our attention and disrupts our connections. Teenagers, the
future of humanity, are at the centre. In the early years of this decade their text message
monthly count rose to 3,417, double the number just a few years earlier. (2)…………
The average American teen now gets and sends more than a hundred texts a day, about
10 every waking hour. I’ve seen a kid texting while he rode his bike.
Digital interaction comes at a cost in face time with real people, through which we learn
to understand non-verbal communication such as body language. The new generation of
natives in this digital world may be skilful on the keyboard, but they can be hopeless
when it comes to reading behaviour face-to-face, in real time. (3)………… Today’s
children are growing up in a new reality, one where they are connecting more with
machines and less with people than has ever been true in human history.
Then there are the costs of attention decline among adults. In Mexico, an advertising
representative for a large radio network complains, ‘A few years ago you could make a
five-minute video for your presentation at an advertising agency. Today you have to keep
it to a minute and a half. (4)………… ’ Faced with problems like this, some workplaces
have banned laptops, mobile phones, and other digital tools during meetings.
A college professor who teaches film tells me he’s reading a biography of one of his
heroes, the legendary French director François Truffaut. But, he finds, ‘I can’t read more
than two pages at a time. (5)………… I think I’m losing my ability to maintain
concentration on anything serious.’
After not checking her mobile for a while, a publishing executive confesses she gets ‘a
nervous feeling. You miss that moment of excitement you get when there’s a text. You
know it’s not right to check your phone when you’re with someone, but it’s an addiction.’
So she and her husband have an agreement: ‘When we get home from work we put our
phones in a drawer. (6)………… But now we try to get closer to each other instead. We
talk.’
A This is why they are unaware they upset others by stopping to read a text in the
middle of a conversation.
B If you don’t, everyone starts checking for messages.
C After that the temptation to go online and see if I have any new email becomes
impossible to resist.
D A few words were occasionally muttered while they texted or looked through social
media pages.
E If it’s in front of me I get anxious; I’ve just got to check it.
F In extreme cases, some sleep all day and play these games all night, rarely stopping
even to eat.
G Meanwhile, studies show, the average time they spent talking on the phone dropped
significantly.
Which teenager
1 says they are highly motivated?
2 has started to feel more confident?
3 is planning to open another business?
4 says that managing time can be hard?
5 says they learn from their mistakes?
6 says that their age surprises some people?
7 tends not to tell people how old they are?
8 wanted to improve an experience for customers?
9 says their work involves something they find easy?
10 realised what they wanted to do while helping someone else?
Four teenage business stars
A Rebecca Dundee, 16
I suppose it was obvious I had a head for business when I was about six. I used to make
my parents cups of tea in the morning – and charge them 20p for each one. And it was
another 20p if it needed reheating. And then about a year ago I was in a chain coffee shop
waiting in line to get my drink, and I just realised how dreadful the whole experience was
– dirty tables, rubbish Wifi and grumpy staff. And I thought ‘I bet I could do better than
that’. So a friend and I launched an app enabling people to access menus, order and
interact with each other. Since then I haven’t looked back. I was concerned that I wasn’t
doing too well at school, which was a bit depressing, but with the business going so well,
it feels great to be where I am now.
B Jimbo, 15
When people ask what I do, I tell them I advise people about their brand on social media.
They can’t believe I’m doing this while I’m so young. But I love it. The tricky bit is
getting everything done that I need to; sometimes there aren’t enough hours in the day!
I’ve been doing the job about six months, and it took quite a lot of effort at the start to
persuade my mum and dad that it wasn’t just a waste of time. But now they’re confident
I’m doing OK. Which is just as well, because now that I’ve launched an online magazine,
I should have several more projects on the way, as long as I can get the money together.
One’s going to be setting up a firm with my best mate – it should start to do quite well
after about a year. So watch this space!
C Sarah McFinny, 18
Using social media comes naturally to me, and it’s not something I’ve ever had to try to
get my head around. I’m in my first year at uni, and I was lending a hand to someone who
wanted to organise a social media campaign for a university sports club. I did lots of
work for her, setting it up and publicising it, and she couldn’t believe the results I got. It
was amazing! So I thought, ‘You know what – I could make some money out of doing
this sort of thing’. When I’m talking to clients, obviously I don’t shout about my age, I
mean you want to be taken seriously. When I graduate, I want to help my parents run
their business, or at least do that part-time. I’m excited about the future.
D Duncan Jackson, 15
Well, I’ve never liked spending money, even at a really young age. But now that I’ve
worked out how to make money, I’m really driven to get out of bed every morning and
make as much as I can. I basically run an online shop, and I’ve had over 100 customers so
far. It’s always nice when a customer visits the store and buys from you again – you
know you’re doing something right. I don’t always get things right though. In fact, there
are lots of things I’ve got very wrong, like setting my prices too high – or too low! But
that can be useful, because when something doesn’t go as planned, you can always adapt
and hope you do it better next time.
Which teenager
1 explains how admiring another person led to him accepting his own personality?
2 mentions how acquiring a new skill has made him approach other things in a similar
way?
3 shared their hopes with someone else?
4 has had a positive impact on other people’s lives?
5 admits to still having the same wishes for the future?
6 felt frustrated that he hadn’t done something he felt he should have done?
7 made efforts to fit in with his classmates?
8 took note of someone else’s experiences of life?
9 admits to struggling with something that is expected of him?
10 acted on some advice he was given?
Lessons for life
A Ben
Making mistakes is something I’ve always tried to avoid. I used to feel pretty terrible if I
thought I’d offended someone by saying the wrong thing, or if I messed up some
schoolwork because I’d rushed it. If you do something wrong, you know you’re meant to
acknowledge it, and I do, even though I find that tough! Anyway, last month I started
going to a Chinese class in the village where I live. I don’t find Chinese easy to learn
quickly; for a start, there’s a whole new writing system to memorise, as well as unfamiliar
pronunciation and grammar. If I’d sat in the classes and not said anything because I was
afraid to make mistakes, I wouldn’t have learnt anything. I’ve also realised I can apply
that to other parts of my life, too, and I do.
B Ali
I’ve always been ambitious – I want to be top of every class, captain of the football team,
get a great job and earn loads of money when I finish school. I told my grandma about
my plans one day and she said, ‘What if that doesn’t happen? Does that mean you’ll never
be happy?’ That made me think. My grandparents don’t like in a big house and they don’t
have a car. They don’t have a ton of money either. Yet, they love life. I asked Grandma
her secret. ‘Well, I’m not interested in material things,’ she said. ‘Look around you. Smell
those beautiful flowers, feel that sunshine on your back, laugh at Grandad’s silly jokes.
Don’t let go of your dreams,’ she advised me, ‘but don’t be disappointed if things don’t
quite work out the way you want them to.’ I’m still just as ambitious and tough on myself.
My character hasn’t changed, but now I appreciate the smaller things in life too.
C Nathan
Being shy, like I was as a little kid, isn’t great. You see the confident kids at school happy
to speak up in class, taking all the best roles in school plays and just generally not being
too worried by what other people think of them. I used to think being shy meant I was
boring, or didn’t have anything very interesting to say. I wished I could be different and
tried so hard to be more outgoing or think of stuff to talk about, that I’d come home from
school feeling exhausted every day. Then a new boy joined our class. He was quiet and
didn’t contribute much to conversations, but when he did speak, he was full of amazing
ideas and didn’t seem bothered by anyone disagreeing with him. That was great. He
wasn’t in the least concerned about whether people liked him or not either, and I learnt an
important life lesson from him: just be yourself.
D Jan
The greatest lesson I’ve learnt is not to be afraid to ask for help. If you’re struggling with
something at school and everyone else seems to get it, it can be hard to ask the teacher to
explain it again. I used to worry everyone would tease me about it. Then I got a bad mark
for a project I did and I knew that if I’d just asked for clarification on what we were
supposed to do, I could’ve done well. Next time there was something I didn’t understand,
I waited till the end of the class and asked the teacher about it. He said he wished I’d ask
in class and then he could explain things better if necessary. He said maybe other students
got confused too. So, next time, I spoke up. No one laughed and afterwards one or two
people even thanked me – they’d been worried about asking too.

Which writer
1 knew at an early age what career he would choose?
2 did not enjoy his education?
3 was not brought up by his parents?
4 was very critical of one person?
5 invented some details in his book?
6 worked on the book with another author?
7 described other people very well?
8 told of the good and bad times of his early career?
9 was confused about what he had to learn?
10 described how the place where he lived changed over time?
Reviews of famous autobiographers who wrote about being teenagers
A Winston Churchill – politician
Churchill wrote the first volume of his autobiography in 1930, nine years before
becoming Prime Minister of the UK. Called My Early Life, it covered the time from his
birth in 1870, when he grew up in a very grand house as the neglected son of a wealthy
aristocratic who were too busy to spend much time with him. Instead, he spent his days –
and developed his strongest bond – with the nanny who looked after him. Although he
went on to become an excellent writer and perhaps the outstanding European politician of
his day, the boy Churchill detested being made to study, and wrote entertainingly about
his schoolmaster’s attempts to teach him Latin. When instructed that ‘mensa’ meant ‘oh,
table’ and informed that this was what you would say if you were talking to a table,
young Churchill did not see why he needed to know this, and replied that he couldn’t see
the point. ‘But I never do,’ he said. His teacher didn’t see the funny side, which,
fortunately for us, makes the book all the more entertaining.
B Laurie Lee – poet
Laurie Lee’s classic memoir Cider With Rosie tells of his childhood in a remote valley in
England’s Cotswold Hills in the early years of the twentieth century. At the start of the
book, the valley seemed to have developed little in hundreds of years; by the end, a bus
service and electricity have arrived; Lee’s village was no longer so remote, but was now
fully connected to the modern world. Much of the book shows what a remarkable woman
Laurie’s mother was, raising him and his brothers and sisters with little help from anyone
else. As he grows older, he senses a feeling that he was born to be a poet. He was right of
course, and besides his poetry, Lee also produced plays, short stories and travel books, as
well as this autobiographical masterpiece, which is as alive now as the day it was written.
C Robbie Williams – singer
The former singer of the British boy band Take That released his autobiography You
Know Me after two decades being one of the most famous musicians on the planet.
Starting with his childhood in Stoke-on-Trent, it tells of the successes and hard times
Robbie experienced after becoming a superstar. You Know Me was clearly aimed at his
fans, many of whom would probably already have bought Feel, the 2004 biography of
Williams written by journalist Chris Heath, who also collaborated on this publication. So
how is You Know Me different? Well, there are plenty of anecdotes, gathered from
informal interviews Heath conducted with Williams, which provide insight not just into
the man himself, but into the music industry as a whole.
D Gerald Durrell – wildlife writer
British naturalist Gerald Durrell wrote this account of the years he spent aged 10 to 15
living on the island of Corfu. His eccentric family and the inhabitants of Corfu are
portrayed brilliantly. Gerald’s brother Lawrence in particular emerges as a bad-tempered,
mean and unreasonable young man. It’s tempting to think that Lawrence (who also
became a writer) must have been outraged by the book’s publication. But apparently he
both liked it, and praised its accuracy. Although it is an autobiography, not all the ‘facts’
in the book are actually correct: for example, some of the family actually lived in a
different part of the island, rather than all in the same home as the book claimed.

Which student
1 has done a lot of research into something closely connected to a job?
2 wants to do the same thing that someone she is close to does?
3 does not know how to get into her chosen profession?
4 understands that she is unlikely to be widely recognised for work she might do?
5 likes expressing her feelings through what she does?
6 enjoys researching details related to the job?
7 hopes to encourage others to take an interest in her subject?
8 became interested in a subject when she was taught about it?
9 enjoys sharing her knowledge of a subject with other people?
10 says the reason she would like to do a job is not what people might expect?
Dream jobs
We asked four young people what their dream job would be and why. Here are their
answers.
A Ava
‘A pilot. That would be my absolute dream job. It isn’t because I want to see the world,
which everyone immediately thinks when I say what I want to do, though it would be a
bonus if I got to spend time on the ground somewhere exotic. I don’t think that happens
much in reality, though. I don’t even like flying that much when I’m stuck in a passenger
seat staring out of a tiny window at the clouds. I’d rather be up front taking charge! One
of my hobbies is making model aeroplanes with my dad. I know they can’t fly, and I
know they’re nothing like the real thing, but every time we bring a new one home to
build, I go online and took up everything I can about it. I’ve not only built hundreds of
models but I’ve built up my knowledge about planes, too. I’m also really into physics at
school and I just think flying is really interesting.’
B Emily
‘I’ve had hearing difficulties since I was really young, and I often just zone out and stop
trying to keep up with things when there’s a lot of background noise – it can be tricky
trying to keep up with my friends’ conversations. My parents are both deaf, so I’ve been
able to use sign language for as long as I can remember. I’m teaching my friends now, so
we can communicate more easily if we’re somewhere noisy. They love it and I’ve
discovered how much I love teaching them. We have a laugh when one of them gets it
wrong and signs something funny by mistake. So my aim is to be a sign language teacher.
I’m unsure about how to go about it yet and it’s still a pretty new idea but I’m determined
to find out what I can about it and make sure I get the right qualifications.’
C Sophia
‘I want to be a poet. I’ve been writing my own poems for a couple of years. The kind of
stuff I do is called ‘slam’ poetry. It’s where you reflect on life experiences. It’s emotional
and passionate and comes straight from the heart. I got interested in it when a poet came
to school and gave us a workshop on it. He taught us about how to make the words flow
and how to say it aloud. Slam poetry’s performed in competitions and I’ve won two now.
I was so nervous the first time I stood up but then I focussed on the message I wanted to
get across to the audience and then it just seemed easy. I’d love to get my poems
published and carry on giving performances. People overlook poetry a bit but this is the
kind of style that gets noticed!’
D Mia
‘My mum’s a research scientist and I hope to follow in her footsteps. I’m pretty good at
science at school and I love biology. I think I’d like to work on developing medicines.
That’s something that can really change the world, make a big difference to people’s
lives. I’m fairly realistic about it, though. I know I’ll have to do years of study and
groundwork before I get to any of the really exciting stuff. Even then, I’m probably not
going to be a world-famous scientist, like Einstein. I know I’ll just be a tiny part of the
whole process but I still think it would be amazing to work on the next big discovery, the
next big cure. Imagine that! I also want to get more girls into science. A lot of the girls in
my class want to be actors or singers but that’s not very practical, is it?’
Which reviewer
1 managed to gain some of the knowledge they had hoped/expected to?
2 was pleased with the outcome of someone’s efforts shown in the programme?
3 says they were inspired to take action after watching the programme?
4 believes that certain facts about a subject will never be revealed?
5 realised something they had been doing wrong before seeing the programme?
6 says they admired the way a programme presented its special effects?
7 was initially unwilling to watch the programme?
8 was disappointed with one aspect of the programme they saw?
9 corrects something they have said earlier in their review?
10 says they regret not having taken more notice of a subject when they had the chance?
TV documentaries
A Dan Parker reviews Polar bear
I saw Polar bear with my whole family and I was impressed by how it managed to get
across some quite complicated information in a way that even my sister, who’s a few
years younger than me, could understand. I didn’t feel talked down to, either, like I
sometimes do: some documentaries provide only the most basic facts about an issue and
you’re often left with lots of unanswered questions. Polar bear approached the subject of
global warming in a fascinating way. A polar bear was tracked for a year and we saw its
habitat through its own eyes, observing how it tried to adapt to new challenges and seeing
first-hand the impact on its life that melting ice is having. I felt more determined than
ever to get involved in raising awareness about these issues, and I signed up to a local
environmental group for young people straightaway.
B Nelly Jones reviews Practice makes perfect
I love playing basketball but I never seem to get any better, no matter how hard I’m
working. Maybe that should be no matter how hard I think I’m working. That was the
point of Practice makes perfect. It documented a percussionist called Rob, who wanted to
get a place in an orchestra but just wasn’t making it, even though he’d been to a ton of
auditions and was an amazing player. An expert observed him practising one day and
noticed that Rob was playing rhythms he was so familiar with that he wasn’t really
thinking about them. He was advised to do something called ‘purposeful practice’ –
concentrating on what he was doing and trying to do it better. It was a real eye-opener for
me and I understood why I hadn’t improved my game for ages. Oh, and after spending
time with the expert, Rob got his dream job! That was the coolest bit.
C Lucas Martin reviews Dinosaurs
I’ve never really been into dinosaurs and I wasn’t in the least interested in watching
another documentary about them. My family wanted to see it so I just thought, ‘Well, I’ve
got nothing to lose’. I was instantly hooked! The special effects were incredible as they
often are in those kinds of programme, but I started thinking about how much the film-
markers actually knew, and how much was simply guesswork on their part. How did they
know what colour dinosaurs were? Is that really how the creatures moved? These are all
things that to my knowledge are too late to discover. I thought I’d learnt everything there
was to know about the different kinds of dinosaur but when the presenter mentioned that
there’d been hundreds of kinds I was pretty shocked. How come I hadn’t known that?
Perhaps I hadn’t paid enough attention at school. I definitely should have.
D Hayley Vickers reviews Making changes
The minute I saw this programme advertised, I knew I had to watch it. I’m really into
making films about issues which affect young people, and I’m always looking for ways to
improve my skills or present stuff in an attention-grabbing kind of way. The subject
matter of Making changes was already appealing (it was about the power of advertising
and how it can be used for the greater good), but it also focused on new media and I
thought I could pick up a few tips about getting messages across so that young people
like me can get their ideas heard in an adult world. The programme was interesting, but
although I did learn one or two things about improving my filming, I felt the content was
a bit repetitive. It was still worth watching, though.
Which person
1 wrote a book?
2 found a way to enable people to do something more quickly?
3 looked older than he was?
4 now visits other countries?
5 chose an unexpected career?
6 broke a record for raising money?
7 was surprised by his own popularity?
8 inspired other teenagers to succeed?
9 was looked after by a well-known person?
10 used feedback to improve an idea?
Teenage success stories
A Balamurali Ambati, doctor
Balamurali Ambati was clearly very talented as a boy, studied hard at school and did
well. Along with his older brother, he co-authored a medical manual aged just 11 aimed
at would-be doctors. It was already obvious what he wanted to become – a doctor, and so
he worked hard to achieve his dream. He graduated from New York University when he
was 13, began medical school when he was 14, attending the Mount Sinai School of
Medicine, also in New York. Being very tall (over 1 metre 80 centimetres), he didn’t
stand out as being different, and so people assumed he was the same age as the other
students on his course. He graduated aged just 17, becoming the world’s youngest doctor,
a record which he still holds. These days, Ambati is now Professor of Neurobiology at
the University of Utah, and works as a volunteer with the ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital,
practising and teaching in developing nations across the globe.
B Nick D’Aloisio, computer programmer
Aged just 15, Nick D’Aloisio made headlines with the app he created, Trimit, which
reduced news content into short summaries that could be processed in much less time
than would be needed to process the original text. When his app received funds from
Hong Kong, Nick became the youngest person ever to have received investment of this
kind. This helped Nick used to identify criticisms of Trimit’s using user comments, and
then to redesign the app as Sumly, which was released to much praise in December 2011.
Since then, he has published academic articles, studied for an Oxford University degree,
and continues to develop his business.
C Luka Sabbat, model
When you look at the Instagram feed of model, influencer and internet sensation Luka
Sabbat, it’s easy to see why he’s been called ‘the internet’s coolest teenager’. When he
started using social media, his name spread very quickly. ‘For some reason, people were
really into me. I don’t know why’ he says modestly. Even as a toddler, Luka was well
connected – his babysitter was high-profile model Lara Stone. For Luka and his career, it
seems that the only way is up. He models for top brands and it’s not unusual for a picture
of him just sitting on a chair to get over 30,000 likes in a matter of minutes. When Luka
has something to say, the online world sits up and takes notice.
D Boris Becker, tennis player
The German tennis player came to world attention as an unknown 17-year-old when he
became Wimbledon champion in London in 1985. His powerful serve, strength and speed
on the court enabled him to beat the South African Kevin Curren, then ranked the world’s
fifth best men’s player. The tennis world had never experienced such an extraordinary
result. When Becker was a young teenager, becoming a sporting superstar wasn’t really
on the cards. ‘The plan from my parents for me was to finish school, go to university, get
a proper degree and learn something respectable. The last thing on everyone’s mind was
me becoming a tennis professional.’ But he turned professional at the age of 16, and the
rest is history. Becker’s success prompted adolescents all over the world to take up the
game, hit the ball hard and try to do their very best. Becker now lives in Switzerland.

Which person
1 wrote a book?
2 found a way to enable people to do something more quickly?
3 looked older than he was?
4 now visits other countries?
5 chose an unexpected career?
6 broke a record for raising money?
7 was surprised by his own popularity?
8 inspired other teenagers to succeed?
9 was looked after by a well-known person?
10 used feedback to improve an idea?
Teenage success stories
A Balamurali Ambati, doctor
Balamurali Ambati was clearly very talented as a boy, studied hard at school and did
well. Along with his older brother, he co-authored a medical manual aged just 11 aimed
at would-be doctors. It was already obvious what he wanted to become – a doctor, and so
he worked hard to achieve his dream. He graduated from New York University when he
was 13, began medical school when he was 14, attending the Mount Sinai School of
Medicine, also in New York. Being very tall (over 1 metre 80 centimetres), he didn’t
stand out as being different, and so people assumed he was the same age as the other
students on his course. He graduated aged just 17, becoming the world’s youngest doctor,
a record which he still holds. These days, Ambati is now Professor of Neurobiology at
the University of Utah, and works as a volunteer with the ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital,
practising and teaching in developing nations across the globe.
B Nick D’Aloisio, computer programmer
Aged just 15, Nick D’Aloisio made headlines with the app he created, Trimit, which
reduced news content into short summaries that could be processed in much less time
than would be needed to process the original text. When his app received funds from
Hong Kong, Nick became the youngest person ever to have received investment of this
kind. This helped Nick used to identify criticisms of Trimit’s using user comments, and
then to redesign the app as Sumly, which was released to much praise in December 2011.
Since then, he has published academic articles, studied for an Oxford University degree,
and continues to develop his business.
C Luka Sabbat, model
When you look at the Instagram feed of model, influencer and internet sensation Luka
Sabbat, it’s easy to see why he’s been called ‘the internet’s coolest teenager’. When he
started using social media, his name spread very quickly. ‘For some reason, people were
really into me. I don’t know why’ he says modestly. Even as a toddler, Luka was well
connected – his babysitter was high-profile model Lara Stone. For Luka and his career, it
seems that the only way is up. He models for top brands and it’s not unusual for a picture
of him just sitting on a chair to get over 30,000 likes in a matter of minutes. When Luka
has something to say, the online world sits up and takes notice.
D Boris Becker, tennis player
The German tennis player came to world attention as an unknown 17-year-old when he
became Wimbledon champion in London in 1985. His powerful serve, strength and speed
on the court enabled him to beat the South African Kevin Curren, then ranked the world’s
fifth best men’s player. The tennis world had never experienced such an extraordinary
result. When Becker was a young teenager, becoming a sporting superstar wasn’t really
on the cards. ‘The plan from my parents for me was to finish school, go to university, get
a proper degree and learn something respectable. The last thing on everyone’s mind was
me becoming a tennis professional.’ But he turned professional at the age of 16, and the
rest is history. Becker’s success prompted adolescents all over the world to take up the
game, hit the ball hard and try to do their very best. Becker now lives in Switzerland.

Which person says that advertising

1 can be uninteresting if there’s a lack of variety?
2 has a mostly negative impact on the urban landscape?
3 can damage the appearance of the countryside?
4 may be a waste of energy resources?
5 can lead to a break of concentration in a job?
6 should not be allowed in certain public places?
7 can be a source of potential danger?
8 can sometimes make you feel better?
9 is good if it makes you think about something?
10 is useful in providing work for talented and creative people?
Advertising in public places.
like it or love it?
We asked five people for their opinions
A Rob Stevenson, lorry driver
The main problem is that the location of posters can be a safety hazard if they block your
view of junctions or road signs. I’m not distracted from driving by the content so much,
just by the fact that a poster is there. I’ve no time to read them or study them, though the
names of products must stick in your memory. Posters in fields get a lot of attention
because you certainly notice them as you drive down the motorway. They must be a
bonus for the farmer who gets an income from them, but I suppose they do make a bit of
a mess of the rural environment. On the whole, there aren’t too many posters on the roads
– not compared with some countries I’ve driven through.
B Josie Pelham, cabin crew
Walking through airports in uniform, I tend not to look around too much. That’s because I
run the risk of being asked questions by confused passengers who mistake me for ground
crew, but helping them is not my job. But adverts in airports have a captive audience
because people end up hanging around waiting for delayed flights in lounges or at
boarding gates, so in those places they must work well for the advertisers. When
travelling, an amusing advert can brighten up my day, but I do tend to see endless dull
adverts for banks round the airport and they don’t fit into that category! Planes are even
being painted externally to carry advertising. I saw one decorated to advertise house
music in Ibiza. How cool is that?
C Damian Stenton, lawyer
To be honest, I can take or leave street advertising – I don’t pay it much attention and
posters aren’t that obtrusive. I don’t even mind posters in the countryside, though I know
that’s an issue for some groups in society. Some of the paper posters are being replaced
by TV screens. I guess that enables the company to make more money, as they can switch
adverts easily – and it also saves paper. But it’s rather environmentally unfriendly as each
advertising screen obviously has to be powered by electricity. At a time when we’re all
being urged to cut down on consumption of precious resources, putting up TV screens
everywhere seems rather counterproductive.
D Danni Rochas, interior designer
I often feel surrounded by posters and advertising, it seems to be taking over our city. I
am reminded of an episode of The Simpsons where the town’s outdoor advertising comes
to life and hunts down the residents. I’m resigned to the fact that posters are ‘necessary’
commercialisation, but I find them less annoying when they ‘give’ something positive in
exchange for being such an intrusive presence on the urban landscape. Occasionally,
though, advertisers find a new angle on an issue that’s really thought-provoking and that
must be positive. So maybe I’d prefer it to exist rather than not.
E Naomi Hesketh, student
I try to walk straight past most posters as if they weren’t there, but some do manage to
grab your attention nonetheless. I really like those that are colourful or imaginative. I
think advertising allows lots of clever people to reach a wide public with their ideas, and
we all benefit from that. Why would you even look at a boring poster? I think production
values are important, too, in making you trust the advertiser. I agree with banning posters
from parks and on historic buildings, but there’s nothing wrong with them in shopping
streets and main roads. They make the environment brighter.

In which section is the following mentioned?

1 a reason for the writer not going on a country walk
2 the need to achieve something on one particular walk
3 one reason why walkers spend a lot of time looking at paths
4 not enjoying a meal whilst out on a walk
5 walking routes that become hard to follow in places
6 how interesting it might be getting to know strangers on a walk
7 the fact that group walking activities are growing in popularity
8 the amount of work needed to maintain paths for walkers
9 walkers feeling a need to compete with each other
10 paths maybe having been originally made by animals
A good walk
When songwriter and singer Roddy Woomble isn’t playing with his band,
he loves nothing more than going on long country walks. He tells us about his hobby.
A
I’m sure I’m not the only one who occasionally stops to think about the footpaths that
carry us over the hills. Who made them? Who was the first to walk that way – the sheep
or the shepherd? The dictionary definition of a path is ‘a track laid down for walking or
made by continual treading’ and also ‘the direction in which a person or thing moves’.
Somewhere in between I think you’ll find the mountain path. I am particularly fond of
watercolours or photos with paths in them. I also like it when old paths suddenly vanish
only to reappear a bit further on, to the frustration of many other walkers. I appreciate
also all the effort that has gone into the upkeep of mountain paths, so that they are still
available for recreational use.
B
Walking in upland areas, you get to know the paths pretty well since a good proportion of
your time is likely to be spent head down, gazing at them as you walk. This is never truer
than when you’re walking into wind and driving rain. That’s when your boots have to
pick your way over the slippery rocks and muddy puddles that constitute many mountain
paths and trails in the winter. But I’m no great fan of walking on my own. Occasionally
I’ll do it – I’ll read a few lines of Rousseau’s Reveries of a Solitary Walker to get myself
mentally prepared, then head out for a day of solitude. The problem is, halfway through I
usually get the urge to share my thoughts about things I’ve noticed along the way. Even if
you do bump into other walkers, this is not always something you want to do with
strangers. Time on your own is worthwhile, of course, but I think it’s better to mix it up
with some company.
C
On previous solitary rambles I’ve often reached the summit only to enviously watch a
group having a mid-walk picnic, happily chattering away, snapping pictures of the view,
while I sat, just out of sight, alone, brooding over a sandwich. I’ve forgone many days out
on the hills in order to avoid this feeling. Sometimes I wonder what it’s like to join a
group and take to the hills with people you’ve only just met. It’s fascinating to imagine
the group dynamics on such initial outings. For example, would there be long awkward
pauses in the conversation? Would you feel the need to keep a conversation going from
leaving the car to returning to it, or would it become an ego thing about how many hills
you’ve each climbed and how steep the path was?
D
On the other hand, is an established walking group a collective of like-minded,
interesting, articulate individuals, all enthusiastic for the outdoors? A place where
conversation is free-flowing, with long gaps left for each other’s thoughts, followed by a
shared meal afterwards? I’m assuming it’s both since walking clubs seem to be attracting
more members than ever. I must think about joining one. Another ambition of mine is to
climb the hill in front of me as I write this. I’m sitting at a picnic table outside the club
where my band is giving a concert later and, as I eat my lunch, I have an uninterrupted
view of the highest mountain in the British Isles, Ben Nevis in Scotland. As I say, I’ve
never been up it, but I have a brilliant photo which a friend took from the summit. It’s
said to be a vantage point like no other. There may be technically harder mountains in the
country, but there are none higher; which means lots of people feel an urge to go to the
top of it.

Which person
1 mentions how good it is being able to make your own decisions?
2 enjoys seeing employees make a success of things?
3 had to solve a technical problem before launching the business?
4 is surprised to have attracted such a wide variety of clients?
5 is happy to have received positive feedback from clients?
6 sometimes feels anxious about financial aspects of the business?
7 took time to decide what type of business to start?
8 was able to draw on experience gained in a similar working situation?
9 was keen to make use of a wide range of existing skills?
10 was keen to work on a more personal level with clients?
Starting your own business
We talked to four people who gave up working for somebody else and started their own
business
A Beautician
I had to rethink my future when the multi-national company I worked for as a marketing
executive decided to move my job to the USA. My life back then, wearing designer
clothes and taking regular long-haul flights, couldn’t be more different from today. Well,
I wanted a job where I’d have the chance to interact with people more, and saw a gap in
the market for a beauty salon locally. Working for yourself is great as you can make your
own mind up about things and you aren’t driven by someone else about when and how
you do that. But the flipside is that there’s nobody to share the burden with when you
wake up in the middle of the night worrying about how you’re going to pay the rent. But I
have no regrets.
B Gym owner
After seventeen years working in banking, I wanted to try something totally different. A
business that used a combination of my financial, sporting and parenting experience, but
which didn’t involve such long exhausting hours at the office appealed to me a great deal.
I came across the concept behind The Little Gym by accident when I was surfing the
Internet. It’s a novel concept that had gone down really well in the USA. It caters for
children from four months to twelve years, giving them good-quality physical instruction
and a cerebral work-out at the same time. Having control of my own life is a definite
high, as is seeing my staff doing a good job. Every day is different, so it’s never boring.
C Caterer
I worked for a big international company, but was no longer finding it rewarding. I’d
completed twenty years’ service, so I had some money saved up, but not enough to retire
on. But I took six months off and we went to stay with my wife’s family in Spain. It was a
good opportunity to ponder the question: ‘What next?’ That’s when we got the idea for
Tapas in a Box. We were in a bar eating the local Spanish food called ‘tapas’ and I
thought: ‘This would be perfect for people back home who want to have a great, relaxed
time with friends, without spending ages cooking.’ The challenge was then to work out
how to deliver the mix of foods all at once, because tapas includes things like raw
almonds and chilled cheeses as well as the hot things that need heating in an oven. Once
we’d cracked that, we were up and running. I can’t stress too much the thrill you feel
when a customer tells you they’ve had a great time. The sense of having gone from a new
idea to actually delivering something good is very motivating.
D Virtual PA
I’d been a secretary and personal assistant (PA) for twenty years and had begun to dread
the thought that I’d be at the same desk until I retired. When the company announced that
its European office was to close, I could’ve taken a drop in salary and found another job
locally, but decided to set up my own business instead. I got my idea because, in effect,
I’d been a virtual PA all along. My boss was usually only in the office a couple of days a
month, so we’d always worked remotely by email and phone calls. I thought I could offer
a similar service to other busy people. Now I’ve got all sorts of regular clients, including
surveyors, solicitors, an advertising agency and even an author. I never expected such a
mix. I can’t wait to see what challenges lie in store for me.

Which person’s father …

1 always had faith in his son’s abilities?
2 encouraged his son not to give up in the face of disappointment?
3 gave his son advice in a light-hearted way?
4 made his son realise the need to try harder?
5 may not have succeeded in passing on certain ideas to his son?
6 never blamed his son for mistakes that he made?
7 put no pressure on his son to follow in his footsteps?
8 reassured his son when equipment let him down?
9 showed his son how to perform practical tasks?
10 was willing to listen to his son’s suggestions?
What’s the best advice your father ever gave you?
We asked four successful young men.
A Tony: Racing driver
‘Drive it like you stole it and keep it on the black stuff!’ I was quite nervous when I first
started racing, but those were my dad’s jokey words of wisdom and they made me feel
better at the time. In the beginning, I had quite a few spins on the circuits – the very first
one was particularly scary because the car left the track, but he never said it was my fault.
I used to drive a Porsche 924 and pretty much every single race something would break,
but Dad would just say: ‘Don’t worry about the car, we can always fix it.’ I didn’t like
people behind me when I went round corners, but Dad was always telling me not to take
any notice, to focus on what I was doing. I’ve got a long way to go, but Dad’s really good
– he’s hardly the most polite person to have around if things don’t go well, but he’s my
role model.
B David: Record producer
Because Dad and I have always been close, there was no one moment when he imparted
some big philosophical piece of advice. I think his greatest gift has been his general
unwavering belief in me. Since I was about fourteen, he’s given me the opportunity to
input ideas and have my say about the bands we work with or the equipment we use,
which is amazing. When you’re part of a family business, it can sometimes feel as if you
have to be there, but my brother and I have done other things, and we’re back with Dad
again because we want to be. He left the decision to us. Dad’s also been good at giving
career advice because he’s done it and he’s got the experience. He’s given me that drive
and ambition to succeed.
C Andy: Buyer for a department store
I was probably Dad’s most unruly son. He tried to teach me a lot of things – how much
I’ve taken on board is another matter. But I don’t think I’m such a disappointment to him!
He’s a very cool dad, but he’s quite traditional in some ways. He’s always said that if you
want to succeed, then get on with it. If you’re going to do something, do it right away or
at least write it down so you don’t forget! I’m proud of my dad and how hard he worked
for us to have a lovely childhood and good lifestyle. Dad also taught me valuable skills
like how to change the oil in my car, how to play tennis and ski – although the last time
he saw me doing that he said he feared for his life!
D Simon: Rugby player
He had this catchphrase: ‘Under-prepare, and you prepare to fail.’ I heard it time and
again. A typical teenager when things went wrong, I was always trying to blame
everything and everyone but myself. He used his catchphrase and explained that if you
don’t put sufficient effort in, you’ll never get anything out of whatever it is you’re doing.
That’s stayed with me ever since, even now when I’m playing professionally. He’s always
given a fair amount of advice. He made me realise that if you just stick at something, no
matter how hard things get, then your time will come. It’s the hardest thing to hear when
things aren’t going well. At the beginning of the season, I wasn’t getting picked for many
matches. Then when the chance came to play, I really took it.

When talking about their bike, which cyclist

1 accepts the need to wear uncomfortable safety equipment?
2 advises people to make sure a new bike is comfortable to ride?
3 believes that false information was given by the seller?
4 disagrees with other people’s opinion of one of the bike’s features?
5 hopes not to get caught in bad weather on the bike?
6 feels that cycling is less frustrating than driving?
7 finds some cycle journeys easier than others?
8 feels that the bike matches the owner’s character?
9 was once the victim of bike crime?
10 was a professional cyclist for a short time?
I love my bike
Four young Dubliners talk about the joys of cycling in the city
A Erin
This old second-hand bike gets me from A to B all right because you don’t need flashy
sets of gears or anything like that in a city this size and it makes it less of a target for
thieves. But having said that, mine’s a very bright colour – it cheers me up, especially
when I have to cycle home in the pouring rain. I’ve always thought that the bike was a
good reflection of the real me actually, and I usually wear jeans when I’m cycling. I
might need to rethink that though because I’ve just started my own company, and my
outlook on life has changed a little. There may be times when I need to turn up looking a
bit more elegant! I’d say to anyone thinking of getting a bike, make sure the saddle’s right
before you part with your money. If you’re going to use it a lot, you don’t want to get
sore.
B Luke
I bought my bike from an Internet auction site and had to have it shipped from Germany
in pieces. I then paid to have it assembled here in Dublin – but it was worth it. I use it
every day and tend to wear everyday clothes and try and dodge the showers. I cycle all
over the city because it’s much quicker than walking and you don’t get snarled up in the
traffic, which can be a pain in a motor vehicle. At least on a bike you can keep moving.
The only tip I’d give to novice cyclists round here is keep a lookout for drivers turning
left, it’s easy for them to miss you because you can see what they’re doing but they can’t
necessarily see you. I worked briefly as a cycle courier – delivering letters and stuff. It
was fun, but I wouldn’t recommend making a career out of it!
C Claire
My parents picked this bike up for me in New York. It’s a red and black cruiser with a
burger-shaped bell – some of my friends think that’s a bit uncool, but I don’t really go
along with that idea. I’ve got two helmets, a summer and a winter version – but I still get
too hot on really sunny days. Still, you can’t really do without one, can you? I cycle down
to college in no time at all, but the uphill trek home takes me around thirty-five minutes. I
only take the bus if it’s wet. It’s quicker, but on the bike I can make my own mind up
about when I travel. I cycle in high heels, which you might think would be tricky, but is
actually easier than walking any distance in them. But I wouldn’t really recommend them
to other cyclists.
D Kieran
My bike’s an early 1980s racer and I bought it off an old man who sells junk out of his
garage. He reckoned it had once belonged to a professional cycling champion, but I think
he was making it up. I was looking for old cameras, but when I saw it I couldn’t resist it.
It did get stolen on one occasion, but then later that week I saw someone riding it up my
street. I grabbed him and gave him his taxi fare home so that I could take it back. My
advice to cyclists would be to wear fluorescent armbands, especially at night or in poor
weather conditions. They’re less uncomfortable than the waistcoats or jackets in the same
material. I’ve just invested in special raingear actually, but I don’t find it very
comfortable, to be honest, because as soon as the sun comes out, you feel overdressed.
Which of the groups
1 has a name that might give people a wrong idea of its activities?
2 wants to respond to feedback from users of a service it provides?
3 has put the results of its work on show to the public?
4 has found it hard to finance its activities?
5 offers advice to beginners in an activity?
6 provides a pick-up service for its users?
7 plans to start selling things to make money?
8 would use the prize money to publicise its activities?
9 noticed that something that was still useful was going to waste?
10 provides a service for people all over the country?
Future-Friendly Awards
Four local community groups run by volunteers have been nominated to win a cash prize.
Who do you think should win?
A CycleStreets
You’re keen to get on your bike, but you’re not so keen on bumping over poor roads,
sweating up hills or riding between all the large trucks on the main roads. Where can you
go? The answer is to ask www.cyclestreets.net, a journey-planning website for cyclists.
‘We aim to give newcomers the confidence to start cycling – with all its environmental
and health benefits – and to improve routes for those who already cycle,’ says
spokesperson Martin Lucas-Smith. The not-for-profit group is based in Cambridge, but
routes are available in all regions nationwide. Cyclists can get involved, too, by
contributing photographs and reporting obstructions or other issues. ‘We’ve done years of
unpaid work and winning this award would help us make some major improvements,
which the cyclists who contact us have been asking for,’ says Martin.
B Sefton Green Gym
If you visit Sefton Green Gym in Liverpool, don’t go expecting to see weights or rowing
machines – this ‘gym’ just has rows of lovingly tended organic fruit and vegetables. The
gym was set up to help local people improve their skills, make new friends and enjoy the
health benefits of gardening. Members range from young people with learning difficulties
to elderly people with health problems. ‘My dad went along after a serious illness to get
fit and make new friends,’ says Joanne Woods. ‘He’s worked hard to raise funds but with
limited success, and the gym faces closure if we don’t get any more.’ The award would
help the gym to expand by installing eco-friendly solar heating, as well as advertising for
new members and extending its links with the community.
C The Project Group
The Project Group, from the small town of Oswestry, helps people with health problems
and learning disabilities to build their self-esteem through creativity. This year, the group
has focused on using recycled materials, including making vases from waste paper and
pictures from recycled glass. Last year, it helped stage an exhibition of sculptures entirely
created from rubbish such as crisp packets, plastic bags and odd shoes. It has also created
posters for the local Wildlife Trust, and helped other community groups. ‘The whole
organisation is user-led, and our artwork can now be admired in many public buildings
and spaces in our region,’ says spokeswoman Jo Davis. ‘We also hope to use the award to
develop a retail range of recycled products to help fund our activities.’
D Cleanstream Carpets
Every year, an astonishing three-and-a-half million carpet tiles are thrown away in South
Wales and south-west England. Recognising that many tiles could be reused, a group of
volunteers formed Cleanstream Carpets to collect and supply them at affordable prices to
local organisations and community groups. Volunteers collect and grade tiles before
selling them from Cleanstream’s premises near Rhondda. Satisfied customers range from
local schools to a community furniture bank in Bedfordshire, and the tiles have even been
used to build refuges for endangered animals such as great crested newts. ‘Our unique
selling point is the guarantee that the product is diverted from landfill,’ says one
volunteer. ‘Winning the award would give us encouragement to explore other ways of
using other recycled material.’

Which student mentions …

1 a daily activity that was not enjoyable alone?
2 a good way of keeping travel plans flexible?
3 appreciating not having to waste time organising practical details?
4 becoming more tolerant of other people?
5 feeling better after keeping in touch with others?
6 having doubts at the beginning of a trip?
7 liking not having to agree an itinerary with others?
8 meeting people with a similar outlook on life?
9 missing having someone to help with decision-making?
10 the advisability of going for the best accommodation you can afford?
Solo travel in Australia
A Phil Morston
I remember sitting in the plane thinking to myself: ‘What have I let myself in for?’ The
first few days were scary: I was all on my own on the other side of the world with
nothing planned. But I soon met up with people to travel with. Of course, some you get
on with, others you don’t. Some, for example, had every day planned out day in minute
detail, when in practice things can change and it’s great to have the freedom to go with
the flow. And that’s easy enough to do. You can take the Oz Experience bus down the
west coast, jumping off whenever you want, then catching the next bus when you’re
ready to move on again. Being away for a year, you do occasionally get lonely. To cheer
myself up, I’d sit down and write a fortnightly email home about everything I’d been up
to.
B Leila Stuart
Without doubt, you meet all sorts of people when travelling alone. I even made a friend
on the plane out there. Some people are keener to make friends than others, of course, but
if someone’s chosen to do the same type of trip as you, you’ve probably got lots of ideas
in common. The advantages of a pre-planned tour are that you can get an agency to take
care of all the arrangements, which can be time-consuming to do yourself – but it does
mean that you’re tied to a predetermined itinerary, which wouldn’t suit everyone. There’s
also the safety aspect in terms of the places you visit often being very remote. If you go
off trekking in the wilds of a foreign country alone, it could be difficult to get help if
things went wrong.
C Danny Holt
Travelling solo creates opportunities to meet people. There’s no substitute for sharing the
experiences of the day with a companion, and being alone forces you to seek someone
out. I’d never have met so many people if I’d been travelling with friends. There’s also the
wonderful freedom to do what you like, when you like, without having to convince
anybody that it’s a good idea. However, there are downsides; meal times are something
I’ve never really got to grips with in all the years I’ve travelled alone. But my advice
would be to give solo travel a go – it can be very liberating. Maybe try a short trip to
begin with, just in case it’s not for you. Another thing is stay in the nicest places your
budget permits. Miserable hostels can really spoil a trip. And if you really are happy
being anti-social, a pair of headphones can ensure the person in the next seat doesn’t bore
you to death on the plane!
D Kerry Winterton
Fun as it is, travelling solo also has its low points, including occasional loneliness and the
pressure that you’re under to make your own mind up about everything. I chose to travel
alone because I wanted to do something different, but I did miss people from home, and
sometimes fell out with other travellers I’d teamed up with along the way. But I learnt to
accept that some people have different attitudes to mine; that you have to put up with
irritating people in hostels and accept not having as much privacy as you’re used to at
home. The best thing for me about travelling alone was that it was a brilliant experience
that enhanced my independence and helped me feel more self-assured. I knew I was on
my own, which made me make more effort to speak to people and by doing so I made
lots of great friends.

In which section do we read about …

1 activities that help Ian prepare for a trip?
2 Ian having problems finding his way on a trip?
3 the achievement that gives Ian the most satisfaction?
4 Ian need to stay awake because of an unexpected danger?
5 Ian’s desire to do something that few other people had managed before?
6 Ian feeling that a lot must be achieved in a lifetime?
7 an example of Ian not being successful at the first attempt?
8 a specific activity designed for people less experienced than Ian?
9 Ian seeing something that inspired him to go on further trips?
10 a delay that didn’t prevent Ian achieving something?
For the record
Ian Couch holds a number of records for adventurous trips.
A
Ian Couch and his travelling companion Ben had prepared themselves thoroughly for the
physical and mental demands of the 600 kilometre crossing of the Greenland ice-cap. But
two days into the trek, snow was blowing so forcefully there was no distinguishing sky
from ground and the temperature had hit -40°C. All they could do was blindly follow
their compass and hope they were heading in the right direction. Fortunately, conditions
did improve but improved visibility only revealed another potential danger: two male
polar bears were following their party. After more than fourteen hours of exhausting
skiing and running, they had to set up camp. Despite being exhausted, they decided to
take it in turns to sit on guard for hourly watches. The next day local hunters were sent to
chase off the bears and, although Ian and Ben had lost vital hours, they still completed the
journey in fifteen days – the fastest-ever British crossing. It’s just one of eight records
that Ian holds.
B
Ian became hooked on endurance events after a record-breaking row across the Atlantic
Ocean, and he’s drawn to tackling super-human challenges. ‘Partly it’s about finding out
what I’m capable of,’ says the forty-year-old, who was also part of the first crew to row
the entire Indian. Ocean unassisted, ‘and partly it’s knowing we have a limited amount of
time to see so many things.’ Two years ago, Ian set up Adventure Hub, an activity
company that offers support and advice to people who wish to test themselves with ocean
rowing, polar exploration, trekking or mountaineering. Ian has been doing his sort of
thing since childhood. While still at Atlantic in 2007. The appeal, he says, was because
there weren’t many challenges that either hadn’t been done before or were still unusual.
C
The crew rowed 2,600 miles and set a world record for the fastest thousand-mile row by
boat, despite battling incredible storms and close encounters with sharks and whales. He
recalls: ‘One morning, I came out of the cabin to take the dawn shift and a pod of forty
dolphins was swimming around the boat. At that moment, I decided I wanted to do it
again.’ The following year, Ian started training for the Greenland ice-cap expedition with
friend Ben. Hours spent on a cross-country skiing machine and dragging tractor tyres on
a harness around his home village to improve his fitness counted for little when Ben
suffered severe frostbite on his thumbs two days into the attempt and they had to be
evacuated by helicopter so that he could receive medical attention. Although hugely
disappointed at the time, the pair returned this April and claimed the British record.
D
Not one to rest for long though, six months later he was signed up to lead a crew of
twelve people on another trans-Atlantic rowing trip, for which he was awarded his
proudest world record to date: the fastest triple ocean crossing. While the four-hour sleep
rotas were a luxury for the father of two young children, Ian admits he missed his family
greatly. At Adventure Hub, plans are underway for another Atlantic row, for which the
boxer Jackson Williams has signed up. Nearer home, he’s recently organised a sixty-mile
ultra run that takes in forest, cliff-top and stony beach. ‘It’s a flat route, but a good way
for non-adventurers to push themselves out of their comfort zone.’ There’s also an
unsupported South Pole trip planned which, for the very first time, will be tackled not use
kites or dogs. It’s therefore just too tempting for this record-breaking adventurer to resist.

Which person
1 says that a guide must be able to react to unexpected events?
2 takes clients to a location which is starting to disappear?
3 had a sudden realisation that he wanted to be a guide?
4 says he can look back on his experiences with pleasure?
5 fulfilled a long-held ambition?
6 admits to taking tourists on the wrong trip?
7 lived close to where history was made?
8 enjoys seeing his clients’ sense of achievement?
9 criticises some of the people he guides?
10 mentions that his work changed someone’s life for the better?
Adventure guides
Four guides describe the benefits and drawbacks of taking tourists to some of the world’s
most scenic, beautiful but different terrain.
A Torfi from Iceland
The worst thing about being a guide in Iceland is when people haven’t bothered to bring
the right clothes for the weather. We like to say that there is no such thing as bad weather,
only bad equipment. I haven’t had any disasters but funny moments and blunders are
endless: locking myself out of the car in a mind-numbing blizzard, taking folks hiking
over a mountain when the schedule clearly said we should have been going rafting, being
stranded on a glacier in a blizzard with a broken-down car for 16 hours. This is a job that
provides a stream of good memories and friendship. The river Hvitá is my favourite place
for white-water rafting. I’d also recommend a visit to the glacier to hike across the ice –
you won’t be able to do that for much longer as the ice is melting at an alarming rate.
B Tulga from Mongolia
When I became a guide I had virtually no training at all, just a two-hour lecture about
what not to do. I had to learn from my mistakes. There were four Swiss people on my
first trip. When I met them, I said: ‘Hi guys.’ They gave me a strange look. I asked if
there was anything wrong but they said: ‘No, no problem.’ After two days, one of them
explained, ‘Guys means “goats” in our language.’ I felt terrible. On a later trip, clients
were upset because they were meant to see an ice gorge in the Gobi desert but our vehicle
broke down and we didn’t get there so they demanded half their money back. On a
happier note, I once guided a family whose son had behavioural problems, and the child
improved so much during the trip that a documentary was made about him called The
Horse Boy.
C Ngima from Nepal
I used to watch the trekkers going through my village to the mountain peak situated just
above it and that made me want to become a guide. The house where I grew up was on
the old trekking path to Everest base camp. This is the route Sir Edmund Hillary and
Sherpa Tenzing Norgay took to become the first people to climb Everest. We saw an
inspiring video about them at school. On my first job as a lead guide, as we crossed the
difficult Tashi Lapsa pass we had very heavy snowfall and one of our porters had to be
rescued by helicopter because he got frostbite and snow-blindness. We have many
beautiful places in Nepal but my favourite trek is up Mera Peak – from the summit you
can see five mountains above 8,000m, including Everest.
D José from Peru
I was working in a factory when a school friend who was a river guide took me on an
expedition. The moment our boat set off down the river I knew I had found the job for
me. After two months of training, I guided my first group. Ten years later, one of my
hands was badly damaged in an accident so it was impossible for me to continue. My
boss suggested I use my legs rather than my arms, and this was the start of my life as a
trek leader. You have to deal with lots of situations you hadn’t anticipated would occur.
There was the time when it snowed on the Inca Trail and the combination of snow and
sun made for blinding conditions. So we had to improvise sunglasses out of the silver
lining of our drinks boxes! I still love watching people’s reactions on arriving at the
summit of a high pass – it’s so much better to get there after a few hours’ walk than after
a comfortable car journey.

Which review
1 emphasises how enjoyable sleep is?
2 says certain aspects of our lives are becoming less distinct from one another?
3 points out that many people share a mistaken belief?
4 describes the structure of the book?
5 explains why we have certain experiences?
6 mentions a practical problem faced by scientists?
7 says the book shows that major developments have occurred in a field?
8 says the writer deals with issues that cause debate?
9 comments that our lack of knowledge regarding sleep is surprising?
10 says the reader learns how a technological advance caused problems?
 Four books about sleep
A Sleepfaring
Why do we sleep? Are we sleeping enough? How can we tackle sleep problems? Jim
Horne finds answers to these questions and many more in Sleepfaring, a journey through
the science and the secrets of sleep. He reveals what goes on in our brains during sleep,
and also gives some hints from the latest sleep research that may just help you get a better
night’s rest. In recent years, understanding sleep has become increasingly important, as
people work longer hours, styles of working have altered, and the separation between
workplace and home is being reduced by cell phones and the internet. Horne draws on the
latest research to reveal what science has discovered about sleep. Nor does Horne avoid
controversial topics; challenging, for example, the conventional wisdom on the amount of
sleep we actually need. For anyone wishing to know more about the many mysterious
processes that begin when we close our eyes each night, Sleepfaring offers a wealth of
insight and information.
B Dreaming
What is dreaming? Why are dreams so strange and why are they so hard to remember? In
this fascinating book, Harvard researcher Allan Hobson offers an intriguing look at our
nightly journey through the world of dreams. He describes how the theory of dreaming
has advanced dramatically. We have learned that, in dreaming, some areas of the brain
are very active – the visual and auditory centres, for instance – while others are
completely shut down, including the centres for self-awareness, logic, and memory. Thus
we can have visually vivid dreams, but be utterly unaware that the sequence of events or
localities may be bizarre and, quite often, impossible. And because the memory centre is
inactive, we don’t remember the dream at all, unless we wake up while it is in progress.
With special boxed features that highlight intriguing questions – Do we dream in colour?
(yes), Do animals dream? (probably) – Dreaming offers a cutting-edge account of the
most mysterious area of our mental life.
C Counting Sheep
Even though we will devote a third of our lives to sleep, we still know remarkably little
about its origins and purpose. Does getting up early really benefit us? Can some people
really exist on just a few hours’ sleep a night? Does everybody dream? Do fish dream?
How did people cope before alarm clocks and caffeine? And is anybody getting enough
sleep? Paul Martin’s Counting Sheep answers these questions and more in this
illuminating work of popular science. Even the wonders of yawning are explained in full.
To sleep, to dream: Counting Sheep reflects the centrality of these activities to our lives
and can help readers respect, understand, and appreciate that delicious time when they’re
lost to the world.
D Dreamland
Reporter Randall provides a brisk tour of sleep research and what it means for individuals
hoping to feel well rested. The author engaged with sleep research in part because of his
sleepwalking. Researching the world of sleep is obviously difficult because sleeping
subjects selected for studies rarely remember anything specific. Nonetheless, Randall
interviewed sleep researchers and read academic papers to learn what he could from those
who devote their careers to the science of sleep. The book is not a continuous narrative
but rather a loose progression of chapters about different sleep-related issues. For
example, Randall explains how the invention of electricity led to countless cases of sleep
deprivation; the lack of utter darkness after sunset is often the enemy of sound sleep. He
also emphasises the too-often neglected common-sense realisation that sleep is no void;
rather, it is perhaps one third of the puzzle of living well.

In which section does the writer mention

1 how a child’s background can affect behaviour?
2 that the results of Mischel’s long-term research were surprising?
3 reasons for questioning the results of the original experiment?
4 claims that training young children to resist temptation will have long-term benefits?
5 the proportion of very young children who were able to resist temptation?
6 an everyday example of the need for self-control?
7 that Mischel may have oversimplified the route to success in life?
8 that Mischel’s own life experience has influenced his work?
9 strategies employed by participants during the test procedure?
10 two major factors which affect everyone’s ability to resist temptation?
The Marshmallow Test
A psychology experiment carried out with a group of pre-school children in California in
1968 led to the development of ideas that are still relevant today.
A
In 1968, Walter Mischel set a challenge for a group of children aged three to five at the
nursery school his daughters attended in California. A researcher offered each of them a
marshmallow and then left them alone in the room. If they could resist eating the
colourful sweet until the researcher returned up to 15 minutes later, they would be given a
second sweet. Some children ate the marshmallow straight away, but most would engage
in unintentionally comic attempts to resist temptation. They looked all around the room to
avoid seeing the sweet, covered their eyes, wiggled around in their seats or sang to
themselves. They pulled funny faces, played with their hair, picked up the marshmallow
and just pretended to take a bite. They sniffed it, pushed it away from them or covered it
up. If two children were doing the experiment together, they engaged in a conversation
about how they could work together to reach the goal of doubling their pleasure. About a
third of the children, the researchers reported, managed to wait long enough to get the
second treat.
B
What Mischel, a clinical psychologist, wanted was to understand how children learned to
deal with temptation. Over the following years, the group of children remained friends.
When Mischel chatted to his daughters about their former classmates, he began to notice
an interesting pattern: the children who had exhibited the most restraint in the
‘marshmallow test’ were doing better in life than their peers. He decided to investigate
further. For more than 40 years, Mischel followed the lives of the nursery students. His
findings were extraordinary. It turns out that being able to resist a treat at the age of five
is a strong predictor of success in life: you are more likely to perform well at school and
develop self-confidence and less likely to become obese, develop addictions or get
divorced.
C
Mischel still teaches psychology at Columbia University and has just written The
Marshmallow Test, a book summing up half a century of research. When Mischel was
young, his family was forced to move from a comfortable life in Austria to the US. They
settled in Brooklyn, where they opened a bargain shopping store. Business was never
good and Mischel believes that moving from ‘upper middle class to extreme poverty’
shaped his outlook. He is concerned with trying to reduce the impact of deprivation on an
individual’s life chances. The conclusion he draws from his marshmallow research is
positive: some people may be naturally disciplined but the ability to resist temptation is a
skill that can also be taught. Teach children self-control early and you can improve their
prospects.
D
However, no single characteristic – such as self-control – can explain success or failure.
Some critics have pointed out that Mischel’s original subjects were themselves children
of university professors and graduate students – not exactly a representative sample.
Other scientists noted that variations in home environment could account for differences:
stable homes and one-child families encourage self-control, whereas in less stable homes
and those with many children, if you don’t grab a marshmallow now there won’t be any
left in 15 minutes. Mischel answers these critics by noting that studies in a wide variety
of schools found similar results. He acknowledges that the environment shapes our ability
to resist temptation and observes that genetics plays a role too. But he still believes that
the ability to resist temptation can be learnt and encouraged. I asked Mischel whether
self-control comes easily to him. ‘Not at all,’ he said. ‘I have great difficulties in waiting.
It’s still difficult for me to wait in a queue in the bank.’

In which section does the writer

1 suggest why Canaletto’s work was less appreciated in his home city than elsewhere?
2 give examples of how Canaletto tricks the viewer in his pictures?
3 claim that Canaletto’s paintings contain a kind of historical record of Venice?
4 tell us where Canaletto worked on the composition of his pictures?
5 mention the reason why Canaletto didn’t paint exactly what he had seen?
6 suggest a weakness in the work Canaletto painted away from Venice?
7 give some details of Canaletto’s initial painting technique?
8 say that Canaletto took a risk by specialising in a particular kind of art?
9 describe different artistic reactions to Venice?
10 refer to the effect Canaletto’s paintings had on artists in another country?
Canaletto and Venice
 An expert describes the close relationship between the great 18th century Italian painter
Canaletto and his home city.
A Canaletto’s lifetime subject was the city of Venice. Apart from the works done during
his decade in London, he painted virtually nothing else, and Venice has never been so
minutely and extensively painted by any other artist. His response to Venice was not like
the dramatic, emotional response of a visitor overpowered by the city’s haunting beauty
and magic, as the British painter Turner was later, for example. Canaletto’s paintings,
with their love of incidental detail, betray a deeper-rooted, more lasting attachment – the
affection of a native Venetian.
B Canaletto depicted the city as it really was, documenting the changes in the cityscape
over the years – Piazza San Marco being repaved, palaces being reconstructed, graffiti
appearing and disappearing. Above all, he suffused his painting with the natural light and
atmosphere of Venice which was second nature to him. When he went to London in
1746, Canaletto could not quite come to terms with painting the cooler tones and the
unsympathetic climate of England, and somehow his paintings of the River Thames
always ended up looking rather like the Grand Canal.
C In spite of his natural affection for Venice, Canaletto’s paintings were rarely bought
by his fellow Venetians. This was probably because the locals did not need reminders of
their city, and also because in Venice ‘view painting’ was not taken very seriously in
comparison with historical and religious painting, or even landscape and figure painting.
To become a ‘view painter’ at that time was quite a brave choice and, by the end of his
career, Canaletto had done much to raise the status of the genre. However, his influence
was felt more among painters in England, the home of his major patrons.
D Canaletto’s extraordinarily detailed and accurate scenes were perfect for the foreign
tourists in Venice, who wanted souvenirs or mementoes of their visits. The more accurate
the scene the better, in fact, and Canaletto’s first patron, Owen McSwiney, persuaded him
to change from his earlier picturesque and theatrical style to a more factual one. Instead
of loose brushwork and thick paint, alongside dramatic contrasts of light and shade,
Canaletto adopted more of a snapshot approach, which proved to be very commercial.
His colours became brighter, the paint surface smoother, and the scenes looked more
realistic. McSwiney wrote ‘his excellence lies in painting things which fall immediately
under his eye’, as if he worked directly from nature. At a casual glance, everything in his
pictures is instantly recognisable and looks exactly as it does, or did, in reality. In fact,
Canaletto never painted from nature – his pictures were created in the studio.
E In working out the compositions, he used his imagination and a certain artistic
licence. Although he paid the minutest attention to the detail of a decorative carving, a
ship’s sails or washing hanging out, Canaletto felt at liberty to distort and reorganise the
main objects in his paintings in the interest of dramatic effect. He would alter the
sweeping curve of the Grand Canal, for example, or include more in a composition than
could be seen from any single viewpoint. The clutter of traffic on the waterways looks
random and natural, but the position of each boat was carefully worked out to achieve the
best effect. In this way, he conveyed the essence of Venice even if he deceived the eye.
The drawings which formed the basis of his compositions range from rapid sketches of
ideas for painting, done on the spot, to large-scale fully detailed preliminary drawings.
Sometimes, he made precise drawings for engravers to copy, and occasionally he
produced them as works of art in their own right, in which case they were finished in the
studio.

Which person
1 is surprised at the job her friend now has?
2 is sure that this time their friendship will last?
3 thinks her life may have changed as a result of meeting her friend again?
4 feels that in one way she and her friend have similar personalities?
5 believes that even without the Internet they would have met again?
6 regrets losing contact with her friend years ago?
7 was initially unsure whether she wanted to talk to her friend again?
8 told her friend she was sad to hear what had happened to her?
9 was surprised at how little her friend’s appearance had changed?
10 admits she wrongly predicted her friend would never have a successful career?
Friends again
Five people talk about the school friends they have met up with again thanks to social
media websites.
A Nadia Hassan
Although we’ve been living in different countries for a long time, I know I should have
made more of an effort to stay in touch with Amina because we always got on well
together, even though we’re quite different people. For instance, I’m much more
ambitious than her and have no plans to start a family, whereas she already has two
children. It’s quite a contrast in lifestyle, and although it’s great that we’re both content
with our own lives – and we’ve enjoyed catching up with each other’s news – I don’t
really know whether in the future we’ll have enough in common to keep the relationship
going.
B Julia Nowak
The first thing that struck me was that Natalia still looked much the same as she had ten
years earlier, unlike some other people in their late twenties – especially those who have
had serious personal issues to deal with during that time. She’s also still very keen on
sports, which I’m not, but she remains as sociable as she ever was and I suppose we’re
quite alike in that respect. In fact, she was one of the first people I thought of when the
idea of contacting my old classmates occurred to me, and it’s great you can do that online
so easily. Otherwise you could lose touch with them forever.
C Olivia Morgan
Back in our school days I always liked Megan, but she was never keen on studying so I
sort of took it for granted that she would end up doing a job that didn’t require
qualifications. Now it turns out she went on to do really well academically and for two
years was a Philosophy lecturer at a top university. The other mistake I made was being
rather cautious about responding when she first got in touch with me online last autumn,
when in fact as soon as we saw each other on the screen we started chatting again as if
that ten year gap had never existed. I think we both quickly realised that we wouldn’t ever
let anything like that happen again.
D Maite Silva
I was delighted when Carla told me she has such a good job. Somehow I always knew
she’d do well, though I must confess that back then she was the last person I would have
imagined becoming an economist because she was pretty hopeless at maths. But when
she appeared on my laptop screen after all those years I was impressed by how mature
she sounded and looked, and in fact she might be having an influence on me. Ever since
we met up again, I’ve found myself taking a more serious attitude to my career, with
promotion now a real possibility.
E Yan Lin
When I realised my old classmate Ming was trying to contact me I didn’t hesitate for a
second in replying. Somehow I’d always known that one way or another we were bound
to run into each other at some point, because when we left school we’d both gone off to
do the same subject at different universities. What I hadn’t been prepared for, though, was
the news that she’d had to interrupt her studies owing to personal problems. I expressed
my sympathy, but she assured me she’d recovered and eventually graduated, and that
since then she’s been working in advertising. Which of course is exactly what I do, too.
Which person
1 misses a place they used to go to as a child?
2 states that tourism provides a considerable number of jobs for local people?
3 wishes local people had opposed the construction of certain holiday homes?
4 claims that tourism has destroyed a traditional industry?
5 blames the tourist industry for spoiling the local countryside?
6 feels that the presence of people from other cultures benefits the local community?
7 criticises the behaviour of tourists in their town?
8 says the town is wealthier than it was before it became a tourist resort?
9 believes that most of the profits from the local tourist industry go abroad?
10 is not convinced that so-called green tourism actually benefits the environment?
Living with tourism
Five people describe how tourism has affected their home town.
A Leonor Sousa
It can’t be denied that tourism has attracted investment, which has certainly raised living
standards here, but the cost in other respects has been extremely high. Take the effect on
the environment, for instance. When my parents were young this used to be an area of
fields and woods, but now everything is covered in concrete. The tourists themselves
aren’t responsible for this; it’s the construction companies, property developers and estate
agents who are to blame because they’re the ones making all the money. They’re all based
in the big cities and bring in their own people, so they hardly create any employment at
all for local residents.
B Yusuf Demir
When I was growing up in my home town there was a path I used to walk along to go to
school, and last summer I went to see if it was still there. It was, but the view from it had
changed completely. Now there is a vast shopping mall, with a cinema and cafés
alongside. I don’t actually mind that, because it means there are lots more things to do,
and I also like the fact that it has a really international atmosphere. It’s good for local
people to meet visitors from other parts of the world, try new kinds of food and hear
about different ways of living.
C Matt Walker
Tourism has changed this town so much, even in the years since I was at junior school. In
those days there was a football pitch near the harbour where we would kick a ball around,
but it’s gone now, which is a pity. In the harbour itself luxury yachts owned by people
from richer parts of the country have replaced the fishing boats, to the extent that there is
now no sign of what used to be the main source of income and employment locally. In
the evenings the town is certainly a lot livelier, but sometimes people start doing things
they would never think of doing back in their own home towns, and then the police have
to be called.
D Trisha Chandra
I was just a child when tourism first took off here and those incredibly ugly houses were
built for summer visitors. The residents really should have protested about that. It was all
the fault of the town council, who only ever thought in the short term and seemed to give
planning permission to anyone who applied to build anything. Nowadays there’s talk of
ecological tourism, but that’s just a way of making people feel less guilty about the harm
they are doing by making a few insignificant changes, such as re-using towels in their
hotel rooms.
E Daniela Navarro
I know some of the new hotels and holiday apartment blocks are unattractive, and that the
bars, restaurants and nightclubs that cater for tourists have changed the nature of the
town, but without them unemployment – particularly among the young – would be far
worse than it currently is. That, though, is as far as the economic benefits to the town go,
as the only ones making any real money out of all this are the big tour operators and the
owners of hotel chains, none of whom are actually based in this country. Also, very few
tourists learn our language. I know it must be difficult for them because most of them are
quite old, but it means there’s little communication between us and them.

Which person
1 bought a second-hand bike?
2 says their new bike is good value for money?
3 found it difficult to slow down at one point?
4 had to take their bike in for repair?
5 needed to put the bike together before they could ride it?
6 bought a new bicycle to replace one that had been stolen?
7 says that riding their bike up hills is tiring?
8 says they wish they had checked the size of the bike sooner?
9 had to get off their bike when they were riding to fix it?
10 compares cycling with another way of keeping fit?
My new bicycle
Four people talk about their bikes.
A Jonas Hagen
I bought my new mountain bike online and as soon as it was delivered to my home in kit
form I set to work. Once it actually looked like a bike and I’d checked that everything
seemed to be working properly, I set off down the road. All went well at first, but later on
I had a brief moment of panic when the brakes suddenly failed and I narrowly avoided
crashing into a hedge. I adjusted them when I got home, and since then they’ve been fine.
The only other adjustment I’ve had to make is to raise the seat to the maximum because it
turns out this bike is for riders whose inside leg measures considerably less than mine. I
should really have noticed that before I bought it.
B Lili Huang
I originally bought my bike just for occasional use, but now I go everywhere on it. It’s
great exercise, every bit as good as going to the gym. It feels just the right size for me and
somehow I always feel full of energy when I’m on it, even when my friends and I ride
into the mountains at weekends. I’ve only ever had one breakdown, which was when the
chain broke. Fortunately there was a garage nearby, where a very kind car mechanic
quickly got me back on the road. I don’t know what I’d do without my bike, which is
slightly worrying because a lot of people round here have had their bikes stolen. That’s
why I keep it in the hall downstairs, rather than in the street.
C James Thompson
This is only the second bicycle I’ve ever bought. It was on offer at the local cycle shop
and I think I got something of a bargain because on the whole I’ve been pleased with it.
At first I had some difficulties with the gears, but I managed to sort those out while I was
riding. It’s a very solid bike, though that does mean it’s rather heavy and I wouldn’t want
to have to push it far if I had a breakdown. It also makes pedalling up steep slopes hard
work, although fortunately most of the routes round here are reasonably flat. I don’t think
it’s the kind of bike anyone would want to steal, but I always secure it with a good strong
lock just in case. Recently I’ve also fitted more powerful front and rear lights so that
drivers can see me better after dark.
D Mia Doherty
I actually chose this bike in something of a hurry. I’d left my old one outside the sports
centre and when I came back it had just disappeared. I reported it, of course, but that was
the last I ever saw of it, and I needed a new one to get to work every day. I probably paid
more than I should have done for it, though I know the previous owner had looked after it
well and I haven’t had any trouble with it. Apart, that is, from a flat tyre which meant I
had to stop and mend it on the way home in the pouring rain. Riding it certainly helps
keep me ft, and even in weather like that I wouldn’t change it for a car. The only incident
I’ve had was when a dog ran out into the road in front of me, but the brakes did their job
superbly.

Which student
1 is studying at a university that was not their first choice?
2 has found it easier to make friends at university than they had expected?
3 wishes they had more time to take part in social activities?
4 chose their university partly because a relative had recommended it?
5 complains about the travelling time from their accommodation to the city centre?
6 wants to continue studying at the same university after they graduate?
7 praises the approach to teaching at their present university?
8 decided to study at the university because of its location?
9 sought the opinions of current students before choosing a university?
10 is finding student life less expensive than they had expected?
My university
Six first-year students say what life is like at their universities.
A Zehra Erdogan
There’s a club here for just about every sport or social activity you can think of, and
they’re a great way to get to know other students. I’d wondered whether I might feel
lonely here with my family so far away, but I needn’t have worried. There’s a group of us
who get on really well, and two are already talking about doing research here once
they’ve finished their first degrees. That’s my aim too.
B Ben Robertson
I had to take out a loan to cover my costs as a student here, but I quickly found there were
all kinds of expenses I hadn’t thought of, such as the cost of getting into town and back
from the student village, where I live. The buses aren’t cheap and it takes ages to get
there, too, but I didn’t check that when I chose this university. That’s something I could
have done quite easily online, but unfortunately I didn’t. Actually, the main reason I came
here was to be with my friends, who applied at the same time as I did.
C Anika Mishra
I found it relatively easy to settle in here, just as I thought I would, really. I’d done some
research on the various places offering the course I wanted to do, and what I found
particularly helpful were the online comments by people actually studying in each one.
Actually, this one had always appealed to me as my aunt did a research degree here and
said it was a good place to live and study, though unlike her I think I’ll move onto another
university once I’ve graduated.
D Lotte Peeters
Before I came here, people had been telling me I’d find it hard to live on my government
grant, but that hasn’t really been the case because during my free time I’m nearly always
in the halls of residence with the other students. There’s so much to do there that it
doesn’t matter that they’re quite a long way from the university, which is right in the
centre of town. In fact, I can’t do half the things I’d like to do because I’m a medical
student and I’m just too busy studying to join any more societies or clubs.
E Pablo Flores
Universities in different parts of the world tend to be quite similar in some ways, such as
the international mix of students, the atmosphere and even the buildings, but something I
like about studying here is that you spend a lot of your time in seminars with a tutor. So,
nearly a year on, I’m actually quite relieved I had my application rejected by the top
university on my list: if I’d gone there I would have spent all day taking notes in lectures.
The only downside is that the cost of living is quite a bit higher in this country.
F Maxim Kuznetsov
As I have family and friends living in several nearby countries, I needed to be somewhere
close to an airport offering budget flights. So studying here looked ideal, and though I’ve
noticed prices are quite high in the city, there’s plenty to do on campus and I rarely need
to go there. Actually, the only time I do that is when some of my old friends come to visit
me, and on those occasions we take the train. There’s a good service into town, and I can
get a discount by using my student card.

Which section
1 recommends paying the entrance fee?
2 states that the beach has featured in advertisements?
3 says visitors may be surprised by the water temperature?
4 points out that the water is quite shallow?
5 suggests visitors should take photos of the beach?
6 says visitors can walk on the beach in their bare feet?
7 mentions a pleasant smell from the trees?
8 advises visitors to get to the beach early in the day?
9 states that it is not always possible to visit the beach?
10 warns visitors to the beach to protect their skin?
Four of the world’s best beaches
Which are the best beaches on Earth? Here are our top four.
A Rodas Beach, the Cies Islands, Spain
Some of Spain’s most spectacular beaches lie in Galicia on the Atlantic coast, and
perhaps the most stunning of these are on the Cies Islands. These unspoilt and
uninhabited islands are a national park, with public access limited to the summer months,
and contain the perfectly-shaped Rodas Beach with its pure white sand and clear blue sea.
At first sight it almost seems tropical, until dipping your toe in the water encourages you
to spend a lazy day on the beach rather than dive in for a swim. There you can enjoy the
quiet, the warmth of the sun and the scent of pine from the nearby woods, and later on
have an excellent meal in the reasonably-priced fish restaurant close to the beach.
B Whitehaven Beach, Whitsunday Islands, Australia
Australia is famous for wonderful beaches, and Whitehaven must surely be one of its
very best. Set against a background of amazingly-green tropical forest, and with views
across the clear blue ocean to distant small islands, the sandy white beach is like
something from a picture postcard or a TV commercial. As you would expect in such a
sunny climate, the water is pleasantly warm, ideal for swimming on or below the surface.
The sand, in contrast, always remains cool as it is of a type that reflects the sunlight, so
you won’t need sandals. As the island has no permanent inhabitants, and most day
trippers leave by boat quite early, in the late afternoon and evening you can have the
place almost to yourself.
C Matira Beach, Bora Bora, Tahiti
Matira Beach on the Pacific island of Bora Bora has incredibly white sand, beautiful fish
swimming in clear blue-green water, and stunning sunsets. The air temperature hardly
varies around the year, and neither does that of the ocean – which is only waist high even
hundreds of metres from the shore. And unlike windier beaches nearby, Matira is quite
well sheltered. There isn’t, however, much shade, so it is advisable to use plenty of sun
cream, and the sand can feel uncomfortably hot unless you wear beach shoes or
something similar. There is no charge to visit the beach, yet it rarely becomes crowded at
any time of day. Everyone should go there at least once in life, and when you do, make
sure you have your photo taken as the sun goes down.
D Anse Source d’Argent Beach, Seychelles
This must be one of the most photographed beaches in the world, so don’t forget to get
some shots of your own, especially of the sea and the sand framed by the background of
enormous pink rocks, with tall palm trees right behind them. It’s easy to see why
commercials have been made there. The patches of brilliantly white sand between those
beautiful rocks make it the perfect place to spend a relaxing day, and it is well worth the
small amount it costs for access. The best spots – those with both sunshine and shade –
quickly get taken, so make sure you arrive well before the sun starts to beat down and the
sand heats up.

Which paragraph
1 gives an example of Jessica having good luck?
2 refers to the role of Jessica’s family in helping her achieve success?
3 suggests it is surprising that Jessica does not understand herself better?
4 mentions a previous sporting disappointment that Jessica had?
5 explains why Jessica is so popular with the local public?
6 explains why another athlete was surprised at Jessica’s performance?
7 mentions a painful childhood memory?
8 suggests that Jessica’s appearance can give a misleading impression?
9 says that Jessica’s relationship with someone can sometimes be difficult?
10 contrasts Jessica’s personality on and off the track?
Jessica Ennis: heptathlon Olympic champion
A There have been many great Olympic athletes in recent years, but few have been
taken to their country’s heart quite as warmly as gold medal winner Jessica Ennis. Her
quiet determination to succeed, her good humour when faced by setbacks and the
absolute joy she showed when finally becoming Olympic champion have all contributed
to this, as has the difficulty of the sport she has chosen to compete in: the heptathlon.
This involves turning in world-class performances in seven track and field events over
two days. At first sight, Jessica – at just 1.65 metres and 57 kilos – may seem an unlikely
winner of such a physically demanding sport, but once the action begins it soon becomes
clear she has the speed, strength and endurance to beat anyone.
B Jessica recognises that her normally easygoing nature is transformed into something
much fiercer when she has to compete. She knows that success only comes from being
highly motivated and totally focused on each event. In her autobiography Unbelievable,
she talks of the way she was picked on at school by bigger girls because of her
background and lack of size, and how that has made her determined to succeed,
particularly against taller and stronger athletes. She also points out that she is not from a
particularly sporting family and that her sister ‘absolutely hates sport’, but says she was
introduced to athletics by her parents, who have continued to give her encouragement and
support throughout her career as an athlete. Her mother was born in the UK and her
father in Jamaica.
C She gets on well with her family, as she does with her husband Andy, saying she
dislikes conflict and wherever possible avoids arguments with people. The only exception
is her trainer Chell, with whom she has a row ‘every day’. And although Jessica is a
psychology graduate, she is unable to explain how she acquired the tremendous self-
discipline that has enabled her to keep training to Olympic gold medal standard while so
many others have given up along the way. Of course, at that level nothing can be taken
for granted, as she discovered when a sudden injury put her out of the Beijing Games.
She describes that as the lowest point in her career. Typically, though, Jessica bounced
back, and once ft again began training just as hard as ever.
D By the time of the London Games in 2012 she was in the best shape of her life, and
on this occasion she was fortunate enough to remain free of injury. Some of the times she
recorded in the heptathlon were so fast that she would have achieved good positions in
the finals of track events such as the 200 metres. That brought to mind a race won two
years earlier against the world champion, who couldn’t believe she had lost to someone
who trained for seven different events. Since the London Olympics, Jessica has continued
to take part in competitions, receiving numerous awards including World Sportswoman
of the Year. She has also featured on a special postage stamp and has had a post box in
her home city of Sheffield painted gold in her honour.