29.
9th
August
Dear Janet,
Thanks very much for your invitation to come down to Torquay for the weekend. I'd love to come, but unfortunately August is a bad time for me to get away. We're very busy with the tourists here. At the moment, I'm waiting for a group of Japanese tourists - I'm actually writing this letter at 'Heathrow Airport'. 'When they arrive, I have to take them to their hotel, and then tomorrow I have to take them on a bus tour of the city. I'm free on Sunday, but I must do some housework; so I'm afraid I can't come down to Torquay now. But I think I can visit you in October. Wouldn't you like to come to London for a day or two instead? I'd love to see you. You can help me with the tourists. What about next week?
Love,
Wendy

A. Complete the sentences.
1. Wendy lives in____________ and Janet lives in ______________.
2. Wendy is at the airport to meet_________________.

B. Mark the statements as True (T) or False (F).
_____1. Wendy wrote the letter on Friday.
_____2. Wendy is a tourist guide.
_____3. Wendy is very busy in October.
_____4. Wendy is going to visit Janet next week.


30.

EDUCATION AT HOME (1)
Some children in England don't go to school but they study at home. Do you think it's right?
Our reporter, Jean Anderson, went to talk to some children. The Richardsons live in a big old house, 20 kilometers from London. The family is large – two girls and three boys. Our reporter visited them on a Wednesday morning. The children were at home. She heard music inside the house, a piano and a guitar. A normal family? A normal day? Yes, but in one way the Richardsons are very different. The children don't go to school. Their parents, Marian and
Roger, teach them at home.

A.
1. What is Jean Anderson's job?
___________________________________________________________________________

2. How many children have Marian and Roger got?
___________________________________________________________________________

3. Why were the children at home on a Wednesday morning?
___________________________________________________________________________

4. Who teaches them?
___________________________________________________________________________
5. Where do the children study?
___________________________________________________________________________



Jean Anderson spoke to Marian Richardson. Marian said: "My husband and I don't like the schools in our town. We don't think the teachers are very good. The children don't learn much. Some children at these schools can't read. It's terrible. Go to the schools and look: the children fight, smoke and drink. Roger and I are both teachers. We can teach them more at home."

6. Mark the statements as True (T) or False (F).
___a) Mrs. Richardson likes the teachers in the town.
___b) Mrs. Richardson's children smoke and drink.

7. What can't some of the children do at the schools in their town?
___________________________________________________________________________

Jean Anderson also spoke to Ginny. Ginny is one of the daughters of the family. She said: "We all love music. I play the piano and Donald plays the guitar. My parents are very good at music and languages. The schools here are very bad. We learn more at home. I think we're lucky."

8. Mark the statement as True (T) or False (F).
____Ginny is happy because she thinks she learns more at home.

9. What does Ginny think about the schools in the town?
___________________________________________________________________________


31.

EDUCATION AT HOME (2)
About 4000 families are teaching their children at home, and they are doing very well. One example is the Tanner family from Hertfordshire. Eve Tanner, 27, and her 29-year-old husband James do not send their children to school. The Tanner children, six-year-old Stephen and eight-year-old Jason, study at home with their mother. They have a bright, comfortable study in their home. All around there are lots of books and the children's paintings are on the wall. James says, "Both Eve and I think we got nothing from school -only a diploma. We had no fun at all; in fact, everything was boring." Some parents who are teaching their children at home have a study program, but the Tanners don't. Eve says, "The children love books – they read all sorts of things. And, of course, we read story books together. I teach them writing and mathematics, too. They write shopping lists for me. Then they go shopping with me and pay for the things we buy." Eve and James take their children to the library, to museums, to concerts, to swimming pools and to gymnastics. They think these activities are very important. What do friends think? Eve says, "Most of them are very interested. Some friends are also thinking about teaching their children at home."

A. Mark the statements as True (T) or False (F).
___1. The Tanners live in Hertfordshire.
___2. Eve and James didn't go to school.
___3. Eve and James don't have a study program for their children.
___4. The children study only reading and writing at home.
___5. All Eve's and James' friends teach their children at home.

B.
1. How many people are there in the Tanner family?
__________________________________________________________________________

2. Why do Eve and James do lots of outside activities with their children?
__________________________________________________________________________


32.

JOHN LENNON
A lot of people remember John Lennon for his music with the Beatles. He was serious and creative, and many young people of the 1960's and 1970's thought he spoke for them. Lennon was born on October 9, 1940, in Liverpool, England. When he was a child, he listened to the music of rock and roll singers like Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard. At 15, when he was in art school, Lennon started his first rock-group, the Quarrymen. The members of the group were Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Pete Best, who played the drums. The Quarrymen later changed their name to the Silver Beatles and then the Beatles. When Pete Best left the group, Ringo Starr joined the Beatles as the drummer. Between 1958 and 1962 the group played in night clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg, Germany. Then the Beatles made a record called 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand' and had their first big success in Britain. 'Please Please Me' came a short time after that and it became number one. Lennon was both a singer and a songwriter. He wrote many of the Beatles' songs and most of these songs became number one all over the world. They were romantic and intelligent, and today's musicians still play them.
Lennon did not only make music and films with the Beatles. He also wrote two books, the first one in 1964 and the second one a year after that. In 1967 he acted in a film called How I Won The War. On December 8, 1980 John Lennon died in New York, shot dead outside his apartment building. Every year thousands of people come together in New York's Central Park to remember him. For many people in the world, he was someone very special.

Mark the best choice.
1. When he was very young, Lennon liked ____
a) the music of Little Richard
b) playing the drums
c) spending time in night clubs in Liverpool
d) New York's Central Park

2. ____was the name of Lennon's first group.
a) The Silver Beatles
b) The Beatles
c) The Quarrymen
d) Please Please Me

3. The Beatles became famous ____
a) in 1958
b) when Lennon was 15 years old
c) with the song ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand'
d) in Hamburg

4. In 1965 ____ .
a) Lennon left for the United States
b) Lennon wrote his second book
c) Pete Best left the group
d) Lennon was an art student

5. Which of the following is a true statement?
a) How I Won The War is the name of a book.
b) Many musicians today don't know anything about the Beatles.
c) Lennon died in Britain.
d) Lennon had great success with his songs.



33.

GUIDE TO GOOD EATIG by Tom COUSIN
A few days ago I was in Cornwell, the northern suburb of Bristol. It isn't big - about 14,000 people live there. I thought there weren't any good restaurants in Cornwell. I thought there were only some pizza houses and a few hamburger cafes. But I was wrong. A friend took me out to dinner last Saturday. We got off the bus at Cornwell Central, and walked down George Road to the post office. Then we turned left into a little street called West Lane, we walked a few meters, and we entered a small restaurant. The Rajah Restaurant has six tables, and there wasn't anyone there when we arrived. We had a wonderful Indian meal there. The Tandoori chicken was very tasty, and the curries were hot and delicious. The wine was good and cheap, the fruit salad was really exotic and the meal cost only £12 for two. Try it - but hurry. You can't seat 14.000 people at only six tables!

A.
1. Where can you eat in Cornwell?
a)________________________________________________________________________
b) _______________________________________________________________________
c) The Rajah Restaurant.

2. Where is the Rajah Restaurant in Cornwell?
________________________________________________________________________

3. Who went there last Saturday?
________________________________________________________________________

4. What did they have at the Rajah Restaurant?
________________________________________________________________________

B. Mark the statements as True (T) or False (F).
____1. Cornwell is a small place.
____2. They drove to Cornwell.
____3. The restaurant was crowded when they arrived.
____4. The writer liked the meal but he thought it was a bit expensive.

34.

NOTTINGHAM
Nottingham is a busy industrial, commercial and university town with almost 300,000 inhabitants. Close to the centre of one of Britain's richest coalfields, it is important in the Midlands for its many kinds of industry. Nottingham is an industrial city, but it is not at all ugly or dirty. Nottingham lies on the side of a hill near the River Trent, only a short distance away from Sherwood Forest, the famous home of Robin Hood. The city's castle is also quite famous, and Nottingham has three theatres, several cinemas, a very large university and various museums and galleries to look after the cultural needs of the town. Nottingham also enjoys some of the best sport in the country, with two professional football clubs, a first-class cricket ground (Trent Bridge) and the National Water Sports Centre in its large country park.

BANGOR
Centered round its university on the hill and its cathedral below, Bangor is one of the most attractive towns in North Wales. It is a small town with a population of only 13,000 and with little or no heavy industry. Therefore, it is still clean and quiet. Bangor is an important cultural centre. There is a theatre and a cinema and visitors should not miss the Museum of Welsh Antiquities or Bangor's famous public garden, Gardd yr Esgob. A little further away, there is Penrhyn Castle with its railway museum. For sports enthusiasts, Bangor has an 18-hole golf course and a large modern swimming-pool.

A.
1. Where is the home of Robin Hood?
___________________________________________________________________________

2. Why is Bangor a clean and a quiet town? (Give two reasons)
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

B. Mark the statements as True (T) or False (F).
____1. Going to a cinema and playing golf are two things that you can do in your spare time in Bangor.
____2. Nottingham is a clean and beautiful city.
____3. Except for two football clubs and a cricket ground, there are no other sports facilities in Nottingham.

35.

A LANGUAGE TEACHER'S PERSONAL OPINION
Why is English such an important language today? There are several reasons. Many newspapers send their reports to other newspapers in different countries in English - not in Spanish or Italian. English is also the language of the business world. For example, when a Mexican businessman buys something from a Chinese businessman he usually speaks English. At airports you can always hear English, and at the cinema you can watch a film in English. Today a lot of people want to learn this language. They go to language schools in England or take English courses in their own countries. Every day I see advertisements in the newspapers and on buses. They are about language courses. Sometimes they also advertise language cassettes in English. They say you can learn a second language very fast and easily.
They often say you can read plays by Shakespeare or books by Charles Dickens after you listen to the cassettes or after you go to the classes for three months. These advertisements are awful. I am an English teacher and I know that it is difficult to learn a new language. But a lot of people think these advertisements are true. They want to go to these short courses or buy those expensive cassettes. I don't understand them. How can someone learn a new language in three months? Are 'super teachers' teaching their classes? I really don't know. I don't think people can learn English from cassettes. When we speak a language we don't repeat sentences only. We use the language every day and everywhere. For example, we talk to our friends, our neighbors or to a waiter in a restaurant. You can't speak to a cassette. You can only repeat the questions and answers. We must talk to people and listen to them when we learn a new language. And this takes a long time. Not only three months!

A. Mark the statements as True (T) or False (F).
____1. Many businessmen can speak English.
____2. The language cassettes are not cheap.
____3. The writer likes the advertisements about language courses.
____4. The writer is a 'super teacher'.
____5. The writer thinks cassettes can teach you English very well.

B.
1. Where can you hear a lot of English? (Write two things.)
a) ________________________________________________________________________
b) ________________________________________________________________________

2. Who do we talk to every day? (Write two things.)
a) _________________________________________________________________________
b) _________________________________________________________________________