Three great TV shows
A Active Art
Active Art is a new show for 12–15-year-olds. Each week, the world-famous artist Tony
Moldino shows viewers how to make an amazing work of art. He’s great in front of the
camera and surprisingly funny. Last week’s show was all about painting faces. This
week, it’s drawing with pencil and next week, it’s digital photography. You can
see Active Art every Tuesday and Thursday at 5.00 p.m.
B Dance!
Dance! is a new drama for teenagers, about the lives of teachers and students at a
dance school in New York. The most important person in the story is Tina Giles, a
young girl from a poor part of town who dreams of becoming a big star. On her first day
at the school she meets Joe, Heather and John. They become close and together they
have many exciting adventures. Dance! is on every Monday night at 7.00.
C You and Me
The new series of You and Me returns this Saturday at 16.00 p.m. with a special show
that’s twice as long as usual. This show is perfect for the whole family to watch
together, as everyone will find something to laugh at. Each week, we get a different
story about the life of Harriet, a high school student. In this week’s episode, her
younger brother gets a part in the school play. Harriet wants to be in the play too and
does everything she can think of to make this happen!
1 Which show is on twice a week?
A Active Art B Dance! C You and Me
2 Which show is about a group of friends?
A Active Art B Dance! C You and Me
3 Which show teaches you how to do something?
A Active Art B Dance! C You and Me
4 Which show is a comedy?
A Active Art B Dance! C You and Me
5 Which show is about someone who wants to change her life?
A Active Art B Dance! C You and Me
6 Which show has a well-known star?
A Active Art B Dance! C You and Me
7 Which show is good for people of all ages?
A Active Art B Dance! C You and Me
How I spend my free time
Jay Portman describes his unusual hobby, hill running, and tells us why he
enjoys it.
Hill running is the sport of running up and down hills and mountains, through open
countryside. It’s not popular among my friends, but I love it. My dad took me and my
brothers out running when we were little, and then when I was about fifteen, I joined a
hill running club, called the York Merlins.
There are some excellent runners in the club. When we do our practice runs, I’m
always a long way behind them. But that doesn’t bother me. They’re all really nice and
often give me advice. What I love is being outdoors and finding all these beautiful
places I never knew were there.
We race against other clubs at the weekends. In these races, runners are told where to
finish, but not how to get there. You need a good map and compass so you don’t get
lost. Everyone starts together at the beginning, but later in the race you often find
yourself running alone.
Anyone can enter these races – you just get there in the morning, pay your £5, and
run. There are no T-shirts or medals for the winners. The most you get is a piece of
cake! Often there are international hill running champions taking part, but they are just
as friendly as everyone else.
That doesn’t mean it’s an easy sport. Last weekend I did a race in heavy rain and high
winds, and I was asking myself what I was doing out there. But I got to the end, and
that was an amazing feeling.
1 Jay’s first experience of hill running was with
A a club.
B some friends.
C his family.
2 How does Jay feel about the good runners in his club?
A He’d like to be as fast as them one day.
B He doesn’t mind that they are better than him.
C He thinks they should help slower runners improve.
3 What does Jay say is important in the races he enters?
A listening to the instructions
B staying close to other runners
C being able to find your way
4 What do we learn about the races from the fourth paragraph?
A They don’t have big prizes.
B They are only for local runners.
C They are free for some people to enter.
5 What does Jay say about the last race he did?
A The bad weather made it dangerous.
B He was very happy when he finished it.
C It wasn’t as difficult as some races he has done.
The Great White Shark
The great white shark is thought of as a killer, but this is not really (1)…………….. True,
one look is enough to confirm how frightening these creatures are. They can be
anywhere between four and five metres long and have around 300 teeth (2)
…………….. in rows. They can travel through the water at up to 24 kilometres an hour,
speeding up when they attack. However, of the 100 or so shark attacks on humans that
are (3)…………….. each year, only around a half of these are made by the great white
and most of these attacks do not lead to the person losing their life. Research has
shown that the shark will often carry (4)…………….. a test bite, and in many cases it
has been shown they will release a human. Unfortunately, (5)…………….. to the size of
the creature’s mouth this can still lead to the person being (6)…………….. injured.
1 A gained B won C fair D corrected
2 A put B done C made D arranged
3 A reported B said C told D placed
4 A in B up C out D on
5 A due B since C as D for
6 A mainly B importantly C seriously D strictly
Book Review
"Join Me" by Helen Wheeler and Jackie Townsend
When I first heard that my two favourite authors were going to write a book together, I
was really excited. Now I have read the book, and although I found it enjoyable to read,
I think that of the authors writes better on her own.
The story was a young woman who hires a man to become her boyfriend
in order to get her dream job. She did this after finding out that the boss preferred to
hire people were married or in a relationship as he considered
them reliable. But to be honest, I found the situation rather unbelievable,
as I don’t think bosses can select employees that way these days. I tell
you what happened as that would spoil the story for you. I’ll just say that I
was reading the book, I predicted what would happen. However. my prediction was
wrong, and the ending was a pleasant surprise.
