No ordinary teenager
Christiana Tugwell is not an ordinary person. She is the leader of an
environmental campaign. She wants to stop developers from
destroying an area of woodland in south east England, so that they
can build houses there. The campaigners are camping on the land.
Christiana speaks to the press when they come to the camp and
answers questions on the mobile phone inside the camp. But the
most surprising thing is that Christiana is only 15 years old.
Christiana first started protesting when she was only 9. She
campaigned against the fast food industry. In November she went to
the high court to stop 60 luxury houses being built on the woodland
near her home in Essex. Now she is living in a tent and helping to
construct tunnels under the earth, so that it is impossible for the
developers to start work. If the protesters are told to leave the land,
they will live in the tunnel.
She likes different things the other teenagers like. She wears an old
jumper and her hair is messy. Once she was bullied at school and her
mother decided to educate her at home. Her heroes are Martin
Luther King and Gandhi.
Her mum is also against the building development. She supports her
daughter, but she didnt want her to go camping. She vistis Chistiana
every day. Chistiana is angry about the building project and thinks
more people should be trying to help the environment. Im only 15
and Ive managed to set this up, she says. There are people with a
lot more money and time on their hands who could do so much more
than I can.
Environmental: external conditions/ecosystem/ambiance
Developers: builder
High court: supreme court
Tent: the place where you sleep in a camp
Set up: start
1 Are the following sentences TRUE or FALSE?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Christiana Tugwell is a very unusual young person.
She is the leader of a voluntary organization.
Christiana never speaks to the journalists.
She began protesting three years ago.
At the moment Christiana is living in a bungalow.
2 Match the words on the left with their right equivalent or
explanation on the right.
1. ordinary
2. press
newspapers.
3. tunnel
a. An underground passage
b. The name collectively given to the
c. common
3 Answer these questions on the text.
a. Why isnt Christiana an ordinary teenager?
b. What is she worried about?
Tenses. Complete with Present simple, Present Continuous,
Past Simple, Past Continuous, Future simple, Future Going to
or Present Perfect.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
This is the prettiest girl I .. ever (see)
I .. (see) her yesterday
..you ever .. (be) to Chile?
..you (be) in Chile last year?
She often . (call) me on Sunday but last Sunday she
(not call). She . (forget) to call.
They (do) some exercises now because their teacher .
(assess) them next week.
Assess= put a mark/grade
.. (be) you busy right now? What..you (do)?
your
brother(work)?
Where..he
(work)? .he ..(work) now? ............. he . (work)
last week? .he ..(work) next week?
What..you . (like) doing in your free time?
..you .. (like) reading or .you.. (prefer)
watching a movie?
I ..(be) busy now but I ..(see) you in five minutes
Modals. Complete with should/shouldnt, must/mustnt, have
to/dont have to or can/could/cant/couldnt.
a) _________________I take a seat, please?
b) We____________________ drop litter on the streets.
Litter:
rubbish/trash
c) I___________________________ swim when I was four.
d) He is a rich person, he____________________ to work
e) We_______________ go to the theatre or we________________ go to
the movies. You can choose
COMPLETE the sentences using the first, second or third
conditionals.
1. If the population growth doesnt slow down, pollution
_________________ (increase).
Slow down= reduce
2. The chances are nothing will be changed if you
_________________ action. (not take).
3. If you werent late, we ____________________ time for coffee.
(have)
4. If I were you, I ____________________ the school football team.
(join)
5. They would be back on time if they ____________________.
(hurry)
Rewrite the sentences in reported speech.
Ive been to the bank, said Frank.
____________________________________________________________
I really want to be a doctor, said Jenny.
____________________________________________________________
I dont like violent films, Chris, said my friend.
____________________________________________________________
The young boy took my bag, said the old woman.
____________________________________________________________
Were watching the people in that house, said the police officers.
____________________________________________________________
Vocabulary
Cross out three letters in each line and find adjectives. Then,
write the opposites.
1
2
3
4
5
LINTERLALINGENT ________________ _________________
HEALIRD ________________ _________________
ABOARDING ________________ _________________
CEASUTRAL ________________ _________________
OBARIGEHT ________________ __________________
Match the halves
1
2
3
4
5
get a happy/rich
live b the lottery/a prize
win c a happy marriage/ a long life
have
d ill/married/divorced
be e in the country/ downtown
Find two words related to feelings in each line
1
2
3
4
5
upsetrelaxed ____________ _____________
exciteddown ____________ _____________
anxiousproud ___________ _____________
angrysatisfied ___________ _____________
comfortabletired ___________ ___________
Use the words from the exercise above to complete the
sentences.
1
2
3
4
When
If you
When
If you
you are _____________, you want to rest.
are _____________, you are not happy.
you are ___________, you are happy with what you do or get.
feel ______________, you are calm.
Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big
deal. Just three stories. The first story is about connecting the dots.
It
before I
born. My biological mother
a young,
unwed graduate student, and she
So my parents, who
the night asking: "We
him?" They
to put me up for adoption.
on a waiting list,
a call in the middle of
an unexpected baby boy; do you want
: "Of course." This was the start in my life.
Writing: choose and write
Option 1: Write a short paragraph saying if you agree or not with this
statement:Girls and boys should be educated separately
Option 2: Write a short paragraph about how do you see yourself in
20 years time.
