Debut American Performance

It was arguably (38)_____ gig of her career so far, and Susan Boyle didn’t miss a beat. The Scottish singing sensation got a standing ovation during her first ever US performance, which (39)_____ by an audience of 25 million.

Forty-eight-year-old Susan sang I Dreamed a Dream — the song which rocketed her to fame — and her new single, a cover of the Rolling Stones’ song Wild Horses. (40)_____ a simple elegant black dress, and accompanied by a full orchestra, the former church volunteer belted out the track.

An audience member said, “People were crying and cheering her after her performance.” Music critics lauded her performance, predicting a number one album and success in the US — the country which numerous British-based acts (41)_____ it difficult to crack.

A prerecorded interview with Susan revealed her new, positive attitude to singing after a (42)_____ relationship with the new-found celebrity.

Debut American Performance

It was arguably (38)_____ gig of her career so far, and Susan Boyle didn’t miss a beat. The Scottish singing sensation got a standing ovation during her first ever US performance, which (39)_____ by an audience of 25 million.

Forty-eight-year-old Susan sang I Dreamed a Dream — the song which rocketed her to fame — and her new single, a cover of the Rolling Stones’ song Wild Horses. (40)_____ a simple elegant black dress, and accompanied by a full orchestra, the former church volunteer belted out the track.

An audience member said, “People were crying and cheering her after her performance.” Music critics lauded her performance, predicting a number one album and success in the US — the country which numerous British-based acts (41)_____ it difficult to crack.

A prerecorded interview with Susan revealed her new, positive attitude to singing after a (42)_____ relationship with the new-found celebrity.

Reading

Task 1

Some Psychological Tricks to Make People Like You Immediately

Most friendships develop so naturally that you don't even realize how or when they started. Sometimes, though, you want to make an effort to befriend a new acquaintance or become a better friend to existing pals. Read on to find out how to develop better relationships faster.

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This strategy is called mirroring, and involves mimicking the other person’s behaviour. In 1999, New York University researchers documented the “chameleon effect”, which occurs when people unconsciously mimic each other’s behaviour, and this facilitates liking. The psychological experiments showed that the participants were more likely to say that they liked their partner when their partner had mimicked their behaviour.

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People tend to like things that are familiar to them. It was discovered that college students who lived closer together were more likely to be friends than students who lived farther apart. This could be because students who live close by can experience more day-to-day interactions with each other. Under certain circumstances, those interactions can develop into friendships. Even if you don’t live near your friends, try sticking to a steady routine with them, such as going out for coffee every week or taking a class together.

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People will associate the adjectives you use to describe other people with your personality. According to Gretchen Rubin, “whatever you say about other people influences how people see you.” If you describe someone else as genuine and kind, people will also associate you with those qualities. The reverse is also true: if you are constantly trashing people behind their backs, your friends will start to associate the negative qualities with you as well.

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People are more attracted to those who are similar to them. This is known as the similarity-attraction effect. In his experiment, Theodore Newcomb measured his subjects’ attitudes on controversial topics and then put them in a university-owned house to live together. By the end of their stay, the subjects liked their housemates more when they had similar attitudes about the topics that were measured. If you hope to get friendly with someone, try to find a point of similarity between you two and highlight it.

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Self-disclosure may be one of the best relationship-building techniques. You can try this technique on your own as you're getting to know someone. For example, you can build up from asking them about their last trip to the movies to learning about the people who mean the most to them in life. When you learn personal information about another person, they are likely to feel closer to you and want to confide in you in the future.

Task 2

Cooking in the Classroom? Elementary!

The workplace of professional chef Catherine Pressler is a former storage room at Hunters Woods Elementary School. Outside Room 106, a sign proclaims, “Chef Pressler, Food FUNdamentals.” This is where students come to take part in a cooking-based course which began several years ago when Pressler was looking for a way to be active in her children’s school. Her kids aren’t in elementary school anymore, but Pressler has stayed. Named Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Volunteer of the Year, she is the creator of a highly detailed and organised series of classes for kindergarten through sixth grade that adds to themes from daily course work.

How is cooking connected with math, science or history? Just look: Kindergartners whip up a recipe inspired by a popular children’s tale, “Stone Soup’; as they handle the ingredients, they learn about geometric shapes, sorting, identification of fruits and vegetables, and the five senses. Lessons become more complex for the older kids. Fourth-graders prepare a grand menu from Colonial Virginia to review the state’s history, culture and natural resources. Hunters Woods Principal Stephen Hockett says, “Everything she does is amazing. To have children use their thinking skills and make connections to the real world is incredible. When kids are having a good time is when they learn the most.” Pressler spends up to 60 hours a week preparing lessons, buying supplies and teaching. She volunteers her time; the supply budget comes from student fees, the PTA and sometimes her own pocket. The program has grown so large that Pressler is looking for grants and other sources of income.

You have to see Pressler in action to truly understand the scope of her program, and her dedication to the kids. On a spring afternoon in Room 106, third-grade students arrive to find gleaming stainless-steel pasta machines and other carefully organized supplies waiting on clean tabletops. Pressler isn’t two minutes into the lesson before she gives the first hints that the program is about a lot more than cooking.

Pressler manages to talk without stopping, but without losing her young audience. Their eyes follow her as she springs around the room discussing history and geography, pulling down a world map here and pointing to an architectural poster there. Pulling out packages of pasta, she wows the kids with the variety of ingredients used to make different kinds of it, including soy, buckwheat, rice, corn and rye. Soon the class is shrieking with delight as they run dough through pasta machines and measure it for the longest-noodle contest.

Pressler is a role model with a diverse background. “I went to school in architecture and interior design. I’d always loved science, so then I went to graduate school in textile chemistry. Then I said, “I’m going to chef school now, as a hobby.” And I found that’s where my heart was. I worked as a pastry chef for a number of years and really loved that.” She missed interacting with more people, however.

Pressler says she dreams of expanding the program to reach more students at other schools or taking her program to television. Her recipe for success is to integrate learning with life, instill enthusiasm for learning in the children, and inspire them to achieve their heart’s desire.

Which of the following is TRUE of Catherine Pressler, according to PARAGRAGH 1?

Task 2

Cooking in the Classroom? Elementary!

The workplace of professional chef Catherine Pressler is a former storage room at Hunters Woods Elementary School. Outside Room 106, a sign proclaims, “Chef Pressler, Food FUNdamentals.” This is where students come to take part in a cooking-based course which began several years ago when Pressler was looking for a way to be active in her children’s school. Her kids aren’t in elementary school anymore, but Pressler has stayed. Named Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Volunteer of the Year, she is the creator of a highly detailed and organised series of classes for kindergarten through sixth grade that adds to themes from daily course work.

How is cooking connected with math, science or history? Just look: Kindergartners whip up a recipe inspired by a popular children’s tale, “Stone Soup’; as they handle the ingredients, they learn about geometric shapes, sorting, identification of fruits and vegetables, and the five senses. Lessons become more complex for the older kids. Fourth-graders prepare a grand menu from Colonial Virginia to review the state’s history, culture and natural resources. Hunters Woods Principal Stephen Hockett says, “Everything she does is amazing. To have children use their thinking skills and make connections to the real world is incredible. When kids are having a good time is when they learn the most.” Pressler spends up to 60 hours a week preparing lessons, buying supplies and teaching. She volunteers her time; the supply budget comes from student fees, the PTA and sometimes her own pocket. The program has grown so large that Pressler is looking for grants and other sources of income.

You have to see Pressler in action to truly understand the scope of her program, and her dedication to the kids. On a spring afternoon in Room 106, third-grade students arrive to find gleaming stainless-steel pasta machines and other carefully organized supplies waiting on clean tabletops. Pressler isn’t two minutes into the lesson before she gives the first hints that the program is about a lot more than cooking.

Pressler manages to talk without stopping, but without losing her young audience. Their eyes follow her as she springs around the room discussing history and geography, pulling down a world map here and pointing to an architectural poster there. Pulling out packages of pasta, she wows the kids with the variety of ingredients used to make different kinds of it, including soy, buckwheat, rice, corn and rye. Soon the class is shrieking with delight as they run dough through pasta machines and measure it for the longest-noodle contest.

Pressler is a role model with a diverse background. “I went to school in architecture and interior design. I’d always loved science, so then I went to graduate school in textile chemistry. Then I said, “I’m going to chef school now, as a hobby.” And I found that’s where my heart was. I worked as a pastry chef for a number of years and really loved that.” She missed interacting with more people, however.

Pressler says she dreams of expanding the program to reach more students at other schools or taking her program to television. Her recipe for success is to integrate learning with life, instill enthusiasm for learning in the children, and inspire them to achieve their heart’s desire.

What can be inferred from PARAGRAGH 2 about Pressler’s course?

Task 2

Cooking in the Classroom? Elementary!

The workplace of professional chef Catherine Pressler is a former storage room at Hunters Woods Elementary School. Outside Room 106, a sign proclaims, “Chef Pressler, Food FUNdamentals.” This is where students come to take part in a cooking-based course which began several years ago when Pressler was looking for a way to be active in her children’s school. Her kids aren’t in elementary school anymore, but Pressler has stayed. Named Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Volunteer of the Year, she is the creator of a highly detailed and organised series of classes for kindergarten through sixth grade that adds to themes from daily course work.

How is cooking connected with math, science or history? Just look: Kindergartners whip up a recipe inspired by a popular children’s tale, “Stone Soup’; as they handle the ingredients, they learn about geometric shapes, sorting, identification of fruits and vegetables, and the five senses. Lessons become more complex for the older kids. Fourth-graders prepare a grand menu from Colonial Virginia to review the state’s history, culture and natural resources. Hunters Woods Principal Stephen Hockett says, “Everything she does is amazing. To have children use their thinking skills and make connections to the real world is incredible. When kids are having a good time is when they learn the most.” Pressler spends up to 60 hours a week preparing lessons, buying supplies and teaching. She volunteers her time; the supply budget comes from student fees, the PTA and sometimes her own pocket. The program has grown so large that Pressler is looking for grants and other sources of income.

You have to see Pressler in action to truly understand the scope of her program, and her dedication to the kids. On a spring afternoon in Room 106, third-grade students arrive to find gleaming stainless-steel pasta machines and other carefully organized supplies waiting on clean tabletops. Pressler isn’t two minutes into the lesson before she gives the first hints that the program is about a lot more than cooking.

Pressler manages to talk without stopping, but without losing her young audience. Their eyes follow her as she springs around the room discussing history and geography, pulling down a world map here and pointing to an architectural poster there. Pulling out packages of pasta, she wows the kids with the variety of ingredients used to make different kinds of it, including soy, buckwheat, rice, corn and rye. Soon the class is shrieking with delight as they run dough through pasta machines and measure it for the longest-noodle contest.

Pressler is a role model with a diverse background. “I went to school in architecture and interior design. I’d always loved science, so then I went to graduate school in textile chemistry. Then I said, “I’m going to chef school now, as a hobby.” And I found that’s where my heart was. I worked as a pastry chef for a number of years and really loved that.” She missed interacting with more people, however.

Pressler says she dreams of expanding the program to reach more students at other schools or taking her program to television. Her recipe for success is to integrate learning with life, instill enthusiasm for learning in the children, and inspire them to achieve their heart’s desire.

What problems does Pressler face in teaching her course?

Task 2

Cooking in the Classroom? Elementary!

The workplace of professional chef Catherine Pressler is a former storage room at Hunters Woods Elementary School. Outside Room 106, a sign proclaims, “Chef Pressler, Food FUNdamentals.” This is where students come to take part in a cooking-based course which began several years ago when Pressler was looking for a way to be active in her children’s school. Her kids aren’t in elementary school anymore, but Pressler has stayed. Named Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Volunteer of the Year, she is the creator of a highly detailed and organised series of classes for kindergarten through sixth grade that adds to themes from daily course work.

How is cooking connected with math, science or history? Just look: Kindergartners whip up a recipe inspired by a popular children’s tale, “Stone Soup’; as they handle the ingredients, they learn about geometric shapes, sorting, identification of fruits and vegetables, and the five senses. Lessons become more complex for the older kids. Fourth-graders prepare a grand menu from Colonial Virginia to review the state’s history, culture and natural resources. Hunters Woods Principal Stephen Hockett says, “Everything she does is amazing. To have children use their thinking skills and make connections to the real world is incredible. When kids are having a good time is when they learn the most.” Pressler spends up to 60 hours a week preparing lessons, buying supplies and teaching. She volunteers her time; the supply budget comes from student fees, the PTA and sometimes her own pocket. The program has grown so large that Pressler is looking for grants and other sources of income.

You have to see Pressler in action to truly understand the scope of her program, and her dedication to the kids. On a spring afternoon in Room 106, third-grade students arrive to find gleaming stainless-steel pasta machines and other carefully organized supplies waiting on clean tabletops. Pressler isn’t two minutes into the lesson before she gives the first hints that the program is about a lot more than cooking.

Pressler manages to talk without stopping, but without losing her young audience. Their eyes follow her as she springs around the room discussing history and geography, pulling down a world map here and pointing to an architectural poster there. Pulling out packages of pasta, she wows the kids with the variety of ingredients used to make different kinds of it, including soy, buckwheat, rice, corn and rye. Soon the class is shrieking with delight as they run dough through pasta machines and measure it for the longest-noodle contest.

Pressler is a role model with a diverse background. “I went to school in architecture and interior design. I’d always loved science, so then I went to graduate school in textile chemistry. Then I said, “I’m going to chef school now, as a hobby.” And I found that’s where my heart was. I worked as a pastry chef for a number of years and really loved that.” She missed interacting with more people, however.

Pressler says she dreams of expanding the program to reach more students at other schools or taking her program to television. Her recipe for success is to integrate learning with life, instill enthusiasm for learning in the children, and inspire them to achieve their heart’s desire.

Which of the following is NOT TRUE of Pressler’s teaching techniques?

Task 2

Cooking in the Classroom? Elementary!

The workplace of professional chef Catherine Pressler is a former storage room at Hunters Woods Elementary School. Outside Room 106, a sign proclaims, “Chef Pressler, Food FUNdamentals.” This is where students come to take part in a cooking-based course which began several years ago when Pressler was looking for a way to be active in her children’s school. Her kids aren’t in elementary school anymore, but Pressler has stayed. Named Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Volunteer of the Year, she is the creator of a highly detailed and organised series of classes for kindergarten through sixth grade that adds to themes from daily course work.

How is cooking connected with math, science or history? Just look: Kindergartners whip up a recipe inspired by a popular children’s tale, “Stone Soup’; as they handle the ingredients, they learn about geometric shapes, sorting, identification of fruits and vegetables, and the five senses. Lessons become more complex for the older kids. Fourth-graders prepare a grand menu from Colonial Virginia to review the state’s history, culture and natural resources. Hunters Woods Principal Stephen Hockett says, “Everything she does is amazing. To have children use their thinking skills and make connections to the real world is incredible. When kids are having a good time is when they learn the most.” Pressler spends up to 60 hours a week preparing lessons, buying supplies and teaching. She volunteers her time; the supply budget comes from student fees, the PTA and sometimes her own pocket. The program has grown so large that Pressler is looking for grants and other sources of income.

You have to see Pressler in action to truly understand the scope of her program, and her dedication to the kids. On a spring afternoon in Room 106, third-grade students arrive to find gleaming stainless-steel pasta machines and other carefully organized supplies waiting on clean tabletops. Pressler isn’t two minutes into the lesson before she gives the first hints that the program is about a lot more than cooking.

Pressler manages to talk without stopping, but without losing her young audience. Their eyes follow her as she springs around the room discussing history and geography, pulling down a world map here and pointing to an architectural poster there. Pulling out packages of pasta, she wows the kids with the variety of ingredients used to make different kinds of it, including soy, buckwheat, rice, corn and rye. Soon the class is shrieking with delight as they run dough through pasta machines and measure it for the longest-noodle contest.

Pressler is a role model with a diverse background. “I went to school in architecture and interior design. I’d always loved science, so then I went to graduate school in textile chemistry. Then I said, “I’m going to chef school now, as a hobby.” And I found that’s where my heart was. I worked as a pastry chef for a number of years and really loved that.” She missed interacting with more people, however.

Pressler says she dreams of expanding the program to reach more students at other schools or taking her program to television. Her recipe for success is to integrate learning with life, instill enthusiasm for learning in the children, and inspire them to achieve their heart’s desire.

What are Pressler’s plans for the future?

Task 3

Famous Castles

Tintagel Castle

After a period as a Roman settlement and military outpost, Tintagel, Great Britain, became a trading settlement of Cornwall during the 5th and 6th centuries. The castle itself was constructed in the 13th century. Its remains are still breathtaking: steep stone steps and thick walls which encircle the great hall. There are many myths and unanswered questions surrounding Tintagel. It is even associated with the romance of Tristan and Isolde. The visitors of the local museum may see a display on the history of the site, including a series of finds from the medieval period excavations.

Which castle _________________?

Arundel Castle

Arundel Castle, Great Britain, is a restored medieval castle. Since the 11th century, the castle has been in the family of the Duke of Norfolk, and is still the principal seat of the family. Although the present Duke and Duchess still live in a section of the castle, the rest is open to the public. Arundel has been renovated and refurbished many times over the last seven centuries and its spectacular gardens and beautiful exterior have served as a shooting area for several movies. The modern castle may also be used for Corporate Events and Conferences.

Which castle _________________?