The idea of a family seems to exist in every culture around the world, but that doesn’t mean that the word ‘family’ has the same meaning everywhere. In fact, different cultures understand the word ‘family’ in different ways. One important difference in the way families are seen is the difference between the ‘nuclear family’ and the ‘extended family’. A ‘nuclear family’ only has two generations who live together, i.e. the mother and father and their children. Most families in Western Europe are probably nuclear families. In some cases, if the mother (or sometimes, father) is not married or is divorced we talk about a ‘one-parent family’. An extended family usually has three generations who live together or very near to each other, i.e. one or more children, their parents and their grandparents. In some places an extended family might include both sets of grandparents or even other relatives such as aunts or uncles.
2. Friends with the same interests
These are friends who have the same hobby or interest as you. Perhaps you play in the same football team or basketball team. You can have good conversations with these friends because you have the same interests, and you have learnt something about their character by playing sport or music with them or sharing some other interest with them. You can learn a lot about people by, for example, playing a sport with them. You can find out
if the person is honest, dependable, unselfish, and so on. With this kind of friend you can have a lot of fun, but you probably wouldn’t talk to them about your feelings or some problem you have.
3. Neighbourhood environment Are you aged between 14 and 19 years old? Do you care about your local environment?
Would you like to help make the area you live in better, cleaner, safer and more friendly?
If your answers are ‘yes’, ‘yes’ and ‘yes’, then read on! You may be surprised to hear that you can actually get money for improving your local community.
The ‘Big Lottery’ is giving money to groups of teenagers who want to become active citizens. We have £80,000 to give away. We’re looking for young people to take part in schemes and projects near to where they live.
4. A Letter Dear Diary,
Phew! I’m so glad that day is over. I was so worried all summer that my first day at my new school would be terrible.
I’m really tired, but my first day at school went well and I feel much better now.
First of all, we had to meet outside the school building. I was very nervous because my primary school only had 300 pupils but in the secondary school there are about 1,300. What a difference! The older pupils are really big. I felt so small waiting there in front of the school. The other problem was that I didn’t know anyone. My family moved over the summer holidays, because of Dad’s new job. So now I have to try to make some new friends. Standing in front of the school this morning, I wanted to be back at my old school with my old friends.
5. Back to School It’s school time again!
You’re probably feeling excited and maybe a little sad that summer is over. Some kids feel nervous or a little scared on the first day of school because of all the new things: new teachers, new friends, and maybe even a new school. Luckily, these ‘new’ worries only stay for a little while. Let’s find out more about going back to school.
Most teachers start the school year by introducing themselves and talking about all the things you’ll be doing that year. Some teachers give students a chance to tell omething about themselves to the rest of the class. When teachers do the talking on the first day, they will often tell you classroom rules so you’ll know what’s allowed and what’s not. Listen carefully. Find out if you need to raise your hand to ask a question.
6. New Subjects Dear Grandma,
How are you? I hope you are feeling well and your leg is improving. Can you walk a bit now? Is your neighbour, Mrs Lu, bringing you enough books to read? I hope so.
You’d love our school library, Grandma. There are so many books for all kinds of subjects. The other day I found a book about electronic engineering. I couldn’t really understand it but I hope to learn more about this topic sometime. This semester I have three new subject classes, so I thought I’d tell you about them.
I now study biology, which is really interesting. I’m learning all about the human body, where everything is and what it does. Did you know that we have a kissing muscle? It’s called ‘orbicularis’ and it’s a circular muscle that closes your mouth and moves your lips forward. I love biology; it’s so interesting!
7. The old man and my saxophone
I used to live in Kobe in Japan. On my way home on the bus every evening I used to look for a man who often played his saxophone near the river. He always looked upriver towards the mountains and he always looked so happy. I couldn’t hear his music because the windows were
closed on the bus but I imagined it to be loud and clear. I wanted to be like that man.
One night I went to Himeji, a city not far from Kobe. As I walked with my family along the river I saw a statue. It was a young man who looked just like me. He was wearing a cap and smiling. Around his neck was a leather strap and in his hands was a saxophone. He was lifting the saxophone to his lips and he was just about to play. My family walked on up the river towards the castle but I stayed there by the statue, dreaming of playing a saxophone on TV.
8. Do you like literature?
I really like reading and writing short stories. These are stories which are usually about six to twenty pages long which focus on an interesting person, a problem which the person had and what happened when the person tried to solve the problem. All societies seem to have an oral storytelling tradition in which people met together to tell each other short stories and in which parents told their children stories at bedtime. This was certainly true in England, in India, in Kenya, in Iran, in Mexico and in Japan. Was it true in China too? In many countries oral storytelling is still important but in most countries now stories are written down and published in books. My favourite collection of short stories is a book called The Story Giant by Brian Patten in which a giant knows all the
stories in the world except one. If he doesn’t find the last story he’ll die. In the book he gets four children from different parts of the world to tell him stories in the hope that he will find the last story so he can stay alive and pass the world’s stories on forever.
9. Smoke settles over South-East Asia
People could only see for about 50 metres in parts of Borneo yesterday and Singapore recorded its highest pollution for nearly 10 years as forest fires in Indonesia sent smoke across the sea to the rest of South-East Asia. Face masks have been given to hundreds of thousands of people in Malaysia, and in many places children stayed in their houses behind closed doors rather than walk through the smoke to go to school. Traffic stopped because people could not see out of their car windows, boats stayed in the harbour and some airports refused to let aircraft land. In Singapore, the air quality is measured every day. A measurement over 100 is considered unhealthy and at that level people who go outside will have problems breathing. Yesterday, the reading was 128 and hundreds of people went to hospitals to try to get medical help. Yesterday 500 fires were counted on satellite images. If there are many more fires they could cause serious health problems for people living in the region. 10. Crime and your life
It is unfortunate, but in South Africa where I live, all of us will be touched by crime at some point during our lives. Somehow it affects all of our lives. We hear about it through the media every day. Crime is becoming very difficult to control.
A businessman on his way home from work one evening was on a lonely stretch of road. Suddenly, as if from nowhere, he heard gunshots. A bullet went through the windscreen of his car and hit him in the heart. He died instantly. The police arrived soon afterwards and began searching for the killer. They never found him.
A young accountant was asleep in the bedroom of his house one night, when thieves broke in to rob him. As he slept, they took all of his possessions, leaving behind only the things in the bedroom where he was asleep. He woke up the next morning and his house was empty! The police have not caught anyone yet. 11. Do animals have emotions?
In our house we have the following pets: three lizards, a cat, three chickens and a rabbit. Actually, the chickens and the rabbit live in the garden, not the house. The lizards don’t laugh, the cat doesn’t cry, the chickens don’t smile and the rabbit doesn’t shout, so how can they have emotions? I have told sad stories to the lizards, but they never cry. I have told jokes to the cat, but it never laughs. I have given beer to the chickens, but they don’t smile. I have told the rabbit to his face that he is stupid, but
he doesn’t get angry. On the other hand, the cat gets angry when I pull its tail, the chickens look frightened when I chase them, the lizards fight each other if I don’t give them enough food and the rabbit kicks me when I try to pick him up. So perhaps they do have emotions. But these aren’t real emotions; they are just animal instinct. 12. International Friendship Day
‘A stranger is a new friend waiting to happen.’ ‘Two friends are one mind in two bodies.’
‘The difference between loneliness and happiness is one friend.’ ‘A friend is someone who knows your worst secrets, but loves you anyway.’
‘The best listeners are the best friends.’
‘You can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family.’ Did you know that the first Sunday in August every year is International Friendship Day (IFD)? IFD is a chance to bring a bit of happiness to the world by showing your friends how much you like them and how much you appreciate them too!
13. New Year celebrations
Many Chinese people around the globe celebrate Chinese New Year. The festival is known as the Spring Festival, and marks the end of winter. Chinese New Year is based around the lunar calendar. It starts with a new
moon and ends 15 days later on the full moon. This means that the day of New Year changes every year. This is different from the Western New Year, which is based on the solar calendar. The Western New Year always happens on January 1st.
In Chinese tradition, New Year’s Eve is when family members get together and have a reunion meal. It is a time of thanks for the year gone by and a chance to remember ancestors, who are responsible for luck and good fortune in the coming year.
Families also gather on the morning of New Year’s Day. In this gathering, red packets containing some money are given by senior members of the family, usually married, to unmarried junior members of the family. 14. Chinese and western food
This is a true story about a teenager from the UK. His name is Danny and he is now 16 years old. Ever since he was a young boy, his parents have had real problems making him eat healthy food. Like many young people in this country, Danny was happy to eat chips for breakfast, chips for dinner and chips for supper. His other favourite foods were chicken nuggets and fish fingers. One day, when Danny was 14, one of his friend’s parents invited him out for a Chinese meal. When he came back his parents asked him what Chinese food was like. “No idea,” Danny replied. “But the chips were nice.” His mother was an excellent cook and spent hours every day chopping vegetables and fruit. But however much she tried, she just could not make Danny eat any of them at all. Then last year, Danny and his parents went on holiday to Hong Kong. His parents were very excited about the trip but Danny really didn’t want to go. Guess why? Because he thought he wouldn’t be able to eat his favourite ‘western food’. 15. Peer pressure
Lily and I were talking to Lei about the party today. She says that her parents are going to be away for the weekend. Lei also says that her brother and his college friends will be at the party. They will be bringing the alcohol. Lei is really excited, she says that this party will not be as boring as the others we have had, because there will be no parents to tell us that we shouldn’t be drinking. I am not so excited about the party anymore. I am feeling uncomfortable that Lei’s brother and his friends will be there. They are much older than us and I have heard stories about the parties that they go to; none of the stories are good ones. I also think that we are too young to be drinking alcohol. Perhaps I should just stay at home.
16. Festivals of light
The Jewish Festival of Light is called Hanukkah. Hanukkah usually takes place in December. The story of why Hanukkah is celebrated is very old. It is told that a very long time ago, Jewish people called the Macabees were at war with a country called Syria. On the day that the Macabees won the war, they cleaned up their holy place, which is called a temple, because the Syrian people had been living there. They wanted to light their holy lamps to say thank you for the end of the war, but found only a very small amount of oil left over to do that. The Macabees lit the lamps anyway, thinking that they would soon go out. The lamps kept burning for eight days! The Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah every year by lighting a candlestick that has eight candleholders. Every night a new candle is lit so that on the eighth night, all eight candles stand together. Presents are given at this time and money is given to the poor.
17. National holidays
Japan has a Golden Week, which is four national holidays in seven days. It is one of Japan’s busiest holiday seasons. The holidays making up Golden Week begin on 29th April on Showa Day. This is the birthday of Emperor Showa who died in 1989. On 3rd May, it is Constitution Day. In 1947, two years after World War II ended, the new Japanese Constitution was put into place. Greenery Day used to be celebrated on 29th April, but in 2006 it was moved to 4th May. This day is for celebrating the
environment and nature. The last day in Golden Week is Children’s Day. The Boys’ Festival is celebrated on this day. Families pray for the health and success of their sons (Girls’ Festival is on 3rd March).
18. An ancient Olympic wrestler
You have all heard about the Olympic Games. Some of you may even be planning to compete in them one day. What you may not know is that the Olympic Games were first held in a country called Greece many centuries ago.
Milo of Croton was a legendary Olympic wrestler in ancient Greece. Milo won many Olympic gold medals. He won for the first time when he was a boy of 12. After that he didn’t compete again for eight years. When he once again wrestled at the Olympics, he won a gold medal every year for five years. Milo was more than 40 years old when he lost a match for the first time. He lost because his enemy made him tired, not because he was less strong than his enemy.
19. Chinese shadow plays
Dong Lin’s grandfather was a puppet maker. Dong loved going into the workshop. He loved the smell of the wood and the leather. Of course he loved to hear his grandfather talk about the puppets.
Grandfather Lin showed Dong how he made the puppets. The puppet
figures were made from very thin leather that usually came from the belly of a donkey. Once the puppets were made, they were put onto sticks. Very thin sticks were put onto the neck of the puppet that helped it to move. The puppets were painted in very bright colours, so that the shadows they made were very colourful. Some of the colours had special meanings. Black meant honesty, while red meant bravery. 20. Painters
Let us begin with the Chinese. The Chinese were creating works of art
long before
the beginning of written history. Gu Kaizhi is known as the founder of traditional Chinese painting, and his scroll paintings represented the painting style of the period. Gu Kaizhi loved painting portraits. His portraits were famous because he caught the spirit, as well as the look, of a person in his paintings. Wang Wei, the famous Tang poet, was considered as the founder of the Southern School of the Chinese
landscape painting. Rather than rendering a realistic image of a landscape, Wang is traditionally spoken of as the first to paint the inner spirit of landscape. Hui-Tsung was actually the last emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty. He loved painting flowers and birds. His paintings were very colourful. Unfortunately, he spent too much time painting and not enough time ruling his country. Gao Kegong painted landscapes because he loved nature. He did a lot of his painting in ink.
21. Collecting insects
Bee-keeping: Stone Age people used to eat honey that they stole from the hives of wild bees. They learned to make hives so that the honey was near their homes. The hives were first built of straw. Many people enjoy watching bees and learning their ways. Some people keep bees in glass-walled hives so that they can see what the bees are doing. They watch how the bees communicate by dancing in certain patterns. How the queen bee lays her eggs and the worker bees find food and care for the young. Bees can be kept in both the city and the country. The hives can be in back gardens or on the roofs of houses. Bees are easy to look after. You can make a lot of money by selling the honey. As a beginner, there are two ways to start. You can buy some worker bees and a queen bee to start a new hive, or you can buy a hive that is already working. It is very important to have your hives inspected by the state health inspector, to make sure that your bees are disease free. 22. The fast food culture
We have such busy lives that there is no time to cook or eat properly. It is easier just to buy something, already made, on the way to or from work. The result is overweight and unhealthy people.
We are eating a lot of carbohydrates (bread) and protein (meat and cheese) and not enough vegetables or fruit. This is understandable
because bread, meat and cheese are the foods that fill us up so that we are not hungry.
The foodstuff itself is not actually unhealthy; it is the way it has been cooked. Meat is fried in oil and not grilled. When we buy a salad or a sandwich, there are hidden fats in the form of mayonnaise or tomato sauce. The fries that go with every fast food meal are ordinary potatoes, but they have been fried in oil. These meals are cooked in a way that takes as little time as possible. This is why they have become known as fast foods. Even the drinks are bad for us. The fizzy drinks that come with every meal are full of sugar.
23. Healthy eating habits
It is also important to drink lots of water. Our bodies are made up of about 76% of water. We need to drink six to eight glasses of water a day. Water keeps our skin healthy. It also makes sure that our bodies work properly. If we do not drink enough water, we can get headaches, stomachaches and our kidneys will not work properly. It is important to read the labels on the foods in a shop. The labels tell us what the food has in it. It gives us information about how healthy the food is. This information will help us to eat healthily because we will know what we are putting into our bodies. Some people have food allergies. This means that if they eat certain things they may become ill. Some people become
ill if they eat nuts, wheat or milk. Food labels will tell us if there is anything in the food that may make us sick.
24. Important developments in medicine
Heart disease is one of the biggest killers in the world today. Luckily, something can be done about it. Someone who has an unhealthy heart can have a heart transplant operation. A heart transplant is when the damaged heart of a patient is taken out and a healthy heart is put in. It is sad, though, that the healthy heart has to come from someone who has died. Doctor Barnard from South Africa was the first person to do a heart transplant operation in 1967. Many successful transplants have been done since then.
25. Some of the most common disasters
An earthquake happens when the earth actually moves under the ground. Many hundreds of earthquakes take place every year, especially under the sea. We don’t even know that they are happening. If earthquakes happen in or near large cities, they can cause problems. The moving ground makes buildings shake and fall down. It causes cracks in the ground which may open up into very deep holes. People, animals and objects can fall into these holes and be lost forever. Water, gas and electricity pipes may be damaged. The result is flooding and fire. Fire is
the greatest danger during an earthquake, because it can destroy so much in such a short time. 26. My favourite shops
Thank you for your last email. Interesting to find out about where you go shopping in your country. The food markets in your country sound big. I think I would get lost!
The last time you wrote, you asked me if I like shopping. No, I don’t like shopping very much. The shops are often crowded with lots of people pushing their way around. While other people are trying to sell things that you don’t really want. Many European countries have fixed prices, so you can’t have any fun bargaining for a good price.
I do enjoy shopping, sometimes. I enjoy buying vegetables and fruit at markets where you can bargain for the price. I also like going to second-hand shops to buy clothes and books. In this type of shop, they sell things that have been used already but still look new. Charity Shops use the money they make to help poor people. I think these shops are a good idea; it means that clothes and books are not thrown away.
27. A South American City
Hi, I'm here in the sunny capital of Peru, Lima. You'll be pleased to hear that I arrived safely after a very long, boring and uncomfortable flight. The in-flight movies were terrible but it was better than talking to
the strange man next to me who constantly polished his glasses and talked nonsense all the way. Mandy slept most of the way. I was sick 4 times! The flight attendants were very helpful and moved me to another seat so I could lie down and sleep.
Our concern about getting a taxi from the airport into town so late at night was unnecessary, as there were hundreds of lime green VW Beetle taxis waiting for the new tourists. The hotel is lovely. It's an old colonial hotel in the heart of the city. It has large, grand wooden doors and a central courtyard full of tropical plants and two noisy parrots. Our room is on the top floor and so gets a pleasant cool breeze.
28. Sunrise at West Lake
A sense of calm and peace came over me as I sat looking across the West Lake at 6 am one morning. The golden morning sun was just coming up above the misty hills behind the lake and was starting to colour the water a golden colour. The small hills were perfectly shaped like piles of sugar, making a wonderful background to my lakeside view. As the sun rose and the mist cleared, the birds and insects seemed to come to life. I could see small dragon flies over the water, catching their breakfast, and a special kind of bird called Yu-Ying looking for their morning fish. I wasn’t sure how good they were at fishing but I expect they try to steal fish from the fishermen, in their tiny looking boats.
29. Student tips for language learning
Nicky: I’ve been learning English for the last 5 years and one of the things that has helped me to improve is reading. I love reading and often read during my free time. First I started reading easy things in English, like recipes for cooking and short stories that are written especially for language learners. Then I moved onto longer stories and newspaper articles. At first I found reading difficult because of the variety of vocabulary and the grammar, but this soon became easier and I found that I could understand more and more of what I was reading. I didn’t worry if I didn’t know all the words as I could still understand the main ideas. Reading has helped improve my English in many ways. I’m not only a better and quicker reader, but my spelling, writing, punctuation, grammar and vocabulary are all much better. I think I’ve improved faster than some of my friends who have been learning at the same time as me. So, I would say to everyone who wants to learn a language quickly should read.
30. Student tips for language learning
Pan Pan: One of the most important things that has helped me learn English is friends. For me, having friends to share experiences and learning with can make it more fun and less stressful. I used to panic and
get nervous about learning English, but I found learning with friends soon stopped this. When you are with friends you can ask them questions about something you don’t understand or you can discuss the meaning of something or the reason for using a particular grammar point. Now, I don’t get worried about learning English and I have more confidence to talk in the classroom because even if what I say is not correct English, my friends won’t laugh at me, because they understand me more. So, I think studying with friends can really help your English improve.
31. Student tips for language learning
Sam: If you have enough money and time, you can go to an English speaking country to learn English. I was lucky and went to study in a language school in Leeds in Britain. Here, I had a lot of opportunities to listen to and read English and also to speak English with British people. I lived with a British family for the first 2 months which was a great experience and helped improve my English quickly. I also learnt more about British culture and found many differences but some similarities between our countries. In my class I also met people from lots of other countries around the world which was really interesting. So, I think studying in an English speaking country like the UK is one of the best ways to improve your English.
32. Who from the past has influenced you?
Sally: Mother Teresa is one of the greatest influences in my life. As you know Mother Teresa’s work has been recognised and praised throughout the world and she received a number of special awards including the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize (1971) and the Nehru Prize for her promotion of international peace and understanding (1972). She also received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. So, why is she important to me? While she was in India teaching in a High School, she was sad to see the poverty of the people who lived in the nearby slums. So, she decided to help them. She didn’t have any money, but she left the school and started working with the poor. Soon she was joined by volunteer help and more money soon came too. I think she had incredible strength to move away from the comfort of the school and live and work with some of the poorest people in India. So, I truly admire her.
33. Who from the past has influenced you?
Katrina: My grandmother is one of the biggest influences for me. Although she had a quiet and rather ordinary life, she had to work very hard and overcome all kinds of challenges. She lived through one war, having to bring up her children at the same time, at times finding it difficult to find food and money. She spent many years looking after her two daughters alone. When her husband, my grandfather returned from the war, he was deeply affected by what he had experienced and slowly lost his mind. This was hard for my grandmother, but she was very
strong minded, she looked after her husband and kept working until she was quite old. One thing I remember about my grandmother is that she was always singing and we would often sing along with her. 34. A Mobile Future
In today’s world, many business men and women use a mobile phone. These people are an important part of the business world and help our economies develop. In fact in some countries even children and the elderly use mobile phones to keep in touch with family and friends. We know how useful it is to have a mobile phone, but do we know how safe these phones are? Some scientists say that mobile phones could be a risk to our health. So, money is being given to scientific research to find out if mobile phones may be harmful in any way.
35. The world is getting smaller
It sometimes feels as though the world is getting smaller. We can text friends in Ethiopia. We can buy fruit from Brazil in our local corner shop. We can listen to music made in India. We can email friends in China. So why is it that we know so little about our neighbours?
It usually helps people to have more knowledge and understanding about the world they live in and children are the decision-makers of the future. We should help them to act as responsible global citizens, able to shape
the world in the interests of all. It is important for children to learn more about how other people live in different parts of the world and to find out what problems they have in their communities and how they can help each other.
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