Day after day

Exercise 1. a). Read the text and fill in the gaps to complete the text.
I’m Kevin. I’m twelve. My day is very busy. I ______ at 7 o ’clock in the morning, ______ and leave for school. It’s only 10 m inutes_______ to school so I never take a bus b u t_______a bike. I’m ______ late. Lessons start at 8 o ’clock. W e_______till 12. Then we have a lunch break from 12 to 2 o’clock. I______ go back home for my lunch. Then w e _______ again till half past four. My favourite subject is Social Studies. We learn about our city and our rights. After school I ______ with my friends. Then I _______ . In the evening my parents_______and I prefer to listen to my CDs or read books. I also tidy my room a bit because my mum gets angry if I don’t. I always______ around 11 o ’clock.
b). Read the text again and say why the boy tidies his room every evening.

Exercise 2. Read the text and mark the statem ents True (T), False (F), Not Stated (NS).

Pros and Cons of Watching TV

Television is very popular nowadays. We can have a clear idea what is happening in the world. We can have live information about sports events and competitions. One can have a weather forecast and plan several things beforehand. It is also a good source of entertainment which is very cheap. You can watch interesting programmes that are both entertaining and useful. If you want to travel but do not have enough money, you can enjoy travelling on TV (for example watching the Discovery channel or National Geographic channel). There is a scientific channel which is suitable for all ages. That is the fastest and cheapest way to improve your knowledge. However along with some positive sides it has its negative points. Watching too much television is wasting time. Some films are not for all ages. Watching too much television also does harm to your eyes and nerves. Older people lose their own opinion. They feel whatever is being shown on television is correct and should be practised as such. Nowadays TV is replaced by computer. Children spend too much time at the screen. Parents must always know what programmes their children watch on TV or the Internet and how much time they spend doing it.

1. We like television because it gives us information.
2. Television is the oldest and most popular mass media. 
3. There are some good educational programmes on TV.
4. Television is better than textbooks as you get live information.
5. The more you watch TV the more you learn.
6. Television is helpful for lovers of sport.
7. All TV programmes are for all ages.
8. Television helps people to have their own opinion.
9. Television is more popular than computers.
10. Parents must control what and how much their children watch on TV.

Exercise 3. Read the text and mark the statem ents True (T), False (F), Not Stated (NS).

Winston Churchill got up at 7:30 and stayed in bed until 11:00, then he ate breakfast, read several newspapers, the mail and dictated to his secre­taries. When he finally got out of bed, he took a bath, took a walk around the garden, and then settled in to work. At 1:00 p.m. he joined guests and family for a three-course lunch. Lunch lasted until 3:30, afterwhich he re­turned to his study to work, or supervised work on his estate, or played cards or backgammon with his wife Clementine. At 5:00 he napped for an hour and a half, took a bath again and got ready for dinner. Dinner was the highlight of his day, with much socializing, that sometimes went past midnight. Table talk, dominated by Churchill, was as important as the meal. After his guests left, he worked for another hour or so before going to bed.

1. Winston Churchill preferred early breakfast.
2. Winston Churchill was a famous politician.
3. After a walk Churchill sat down to work.
4. At lunch Churchill’s family often had guests.
5. Lunch usually lasted two hours and a half.
6. After lunch Churchill had a walk and played tennis.
7. Churchill played different games with his wife.
8. During the daytime Churchill had a sleep.
9. Churchill preferred to go to bed early.
10. Churchill liked socializing and was a good talker.

Feasts

Exercise 1. Read the text and fill in the gaps with the words from the box. One word is extra.

Celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day in Ireland

“Hello! My name is Cannelle. I a m ________ Ireland. Today I’m going to talk to you about an ________ festival in my country. On the 17th of March Ireland_______ a special festival________ Saint Patrick’s Day. On this day people________ green clothes and colourful hats. People______ _ the Irish flag or a shamrock on their faces. A shamrock is th e ________of my country. There are always huge parades and everybody wants to ________them. Many people com e Ireland from other countries t o in the parades. Everybody has a ________ time. You should come to Ireland some Saint Patrick’s Day to celebrate because it’s ________ !
Thank you for listening.”

Exercise 2. Read the text and match each paragraph to the headline. One title is extra.

1. HOW PEOPLE CELEBRATE NOW
2. WHEN CARD SENDING STARTED?
3. ST. VALENTINE DAY IN AUSTRALIA
4. WHAT IS VALENTINE’S DAY?
5. WHY IT IS CALLED VALENTINE’S DAY

A. Valentines Day, or St Valentine’s Day, is celebrated every year on 14 February. It’s the day when people show their affection for another person (or people!) by sending anonymous cards, flowers or chocolates with messages of love.

B. The day gets its name from a famous saint, but there are several stories of who he was. The most popular is that St Valentine was a priest from Rome in the third century AD. Emperor Claudius II had banned marriage because he thought married men were bad soldiers. Valentine thought this was unfair, so he broke the rules and arranged marriages in secret. When Claudius found out, Valentine was thrown into jail and sentenced to death. There, he fell in love with the jailor’s blind daughter. His love and belief in God cured her blindness, and when he was taken to be killed on 14 February he sent her a love letter signed “ From your Valentine”.

C. Gradually, St Valentine’s name started to be used mainly by men to ex­press their feelings to those they loved. Valentine’s Day became popular in the UK in the 17th century. By the 18th century it was traditional for people to exchange handwritten messages of affection. Printed cards soon replaced these, making it easier for people to say “I love you” secretly.

D. Today Valentine’s Day is a massive holiday, with celebrations of love worldwide from India to Iceland. But it’s not just about sending messages to people you love - you can also just say you care! In the UK, great money is spent by people on the most romantic day of the year: 22 million spent on flowers, 7 million red roses are sent, 12 million cards are sent. In 2001, when text messaging exploded, there were around 30 million WUBMV (Will You Be My Valentine?) messages sent! So, have a happy Valentine’s Day but remember: don’t feel left out if you don’t get a card -it’s the giving that counts!

Leisure activities

Exercise 1. Read the text and mark the statements True (T), False (F), Not Stated (NS).

My name is Dima. I am fifteen and I am a computer addict. I am fond of communication with other teens. That’s why I have a lot of friends all over the world. We send messages from one computer to another using e-mail; we have online conversations. I am a member of a computer club and I spend much time there. I think that my hobby will be useful in my future profession. Besides, I spend my free time in the sport club. I go in for kung fu. Recently films about kung fu have become very popular in Russia. This fighting itself is a great art, the result of many years of hard work and self-discipline. The man who made kung fu films famous was Bruce Lee. I am rather good at kung fu now, but I never use my skills to hurt anybody. Now people know what kung fu is, and I think it may become a sport of the future, because it develops your personality and your will.

1. The boy spends most of his time with his computer.
2. Dima is busy playing all day different computer games.
3. Dima prefers talking with his friends online.

4. Because of computer club activities the boy studies badly.

5. The computer club helps Dima to prepare for his future job.

6. They learn a lot of new technologies at the computer club.

7. In his free time the boy prefers to watch sport on TV but never does it himself.

8. A famous Chinese actor makes fighting art popular.

9. The boy likes fighting and hurting people.

10. The boy is sure kung fu develops the best qualities.

Exercise 2. Read the text and choose the right option.

A Useful Hobby

Dave is fond of listening to the short-wave bands on his radio. He likes looking for interesting foreign radio stations. When he finds a new station he writes down the details in a notebook and marks the place on the large map of the world. Now and then Dave’s mother complains about the noise he makes and the other day his father turned off his radio because he was tired of the sounds that came from it.

However, not long ago Dave’s hobby helped to save a person’s life. Dave was looking for new stations between the 19 and 16 metre bands when he came across a very weak signal in Morse Code: “SOS ... SOS ... Mary Jane ... Position latitude 400 N, longitude H O W ... Sinking fa s t... SOS.” 
A yacht, the Mary Jane, was in trouble in the Atlantic Ocean. Dave wrote down the details then called the police and gave them the information. The police informed the Navy and they sent a ship to save the man. The man wanted to reward Dave for helping him. So he gave Dave a new radio as a present. The new radio was larger and more powerful than the old one.

Dave listens to the short-wave bands on the radio _______.
a). to save people’s lives;
b). to earn money;
c). because it is interesting.

Dave’s parents _______ get angry because of their son’s noisy hobby.
a). never;
b). sometimes;
c). always.

3. While Dave is looking for new stations his radio sometimes makes _______ sounds.
a). horrible;
b). loud;
c). strange.

4. Dave’s father turned off the radio because he was _______.
a). annoyed by the sounds;
b). tired after work;
c). furious about the hobby.

5. One day when Dave was listening to the radio he _______.
a). learnt Morse Code;
b). talked with the police;
c). heard an important signal.

6. When Dave heard a faint signal he _______.
a). couldn’t understand it;
b). ignored the signal;
c). wrote all the details.

7. When Dave got the message from the yacht he informed _______.
a). the polic;
b). the Navy;
c). his parents.

8. The saved man was thankful and he _______.
a). bought a yacht for Dave’s family;
b). gave Dave a radio;
c). gave Dave’s parents a radio.

Exercise 3. Read the texts and match the names to the descriptions of the games. One name is extra.

1. SCRABBLE
2. DARTS
3. DOMINOES
4. BILLIARDS
5. CHESS

A. It is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, with 64 squares. Each player begins the game with sixteen pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns. Each of the six piece types moves differently. Pieces are used to attack and cap­ture the opponent’s pieces. The aim is to ‘checkm ate’ the opponent’s king.

B. It is a word game in which two to four players get points by forming words from individual lettered tiles on a game board. The game is played on a square board with a 15x15 grid of cells, known as “squares” . The words are formed across and down in crossword fashion and must appear in a standard dictionary. There are 29 different language versions.

C. This game is played by two or four persons, with twenty-eight pieces, often known as bones or tiles. Each piece is a rectangular bone with a line dividing its face into two square ends. Each end is marked with a number of spots or is blank. Each player takes one piece (a bone) and the piece with more spots starts the game. The game continues with each player put­ting down a bone that matches in number one end of the previous bone.

D. It is a game and a sport that combines talent, skill and even a bit of luck. The game is played between two players or two teams. Nine throws are generally allowed for each person as a warm-up before a game be­gins. The team with the arrow closest to the bull’s eye takes the first turn. Each player throws three pieces in his turn. The pieces must stay on the board for at least five seconds after a player’s final throw to count.