1. Read the text and answer the questions.

“IS IT WORTH BUYING THEM?”

Men have walked on the moon, transplanted hearts and invented machines to think for them. But they cannot cure the common cold. Scientists have been working on the problem for years but the most optimistic expectation was the hope that they would find a cure within the next 10 years. So what was their advice on coping with a cold meanwhile?

In urban areas we have about three colds a year and they are caused not by wet feet but by viruses which are always changing so that a vaccine prepared from one is useless against the next. But every year the pharmaceutical companies spend millions of pounds trying to persuade us that their product will help us get rid of our cold. They admit they can't cure the cold, but they do promise to relieve the symptoms.

We looked at 10 well-known brands of cold medicine and asked a doctor to explain, exactly what they contain, and his opinion on their effectiveness. Nearly all contained a painkiller, either aspirin or paracetamol. These help to reduce temperature and relieve general aches and pains. Aspirin can irritate the stomach, so paracetamol is generally preferred.

The worst thing about them was the cost. Advertising and packaging had increased the price of relatively cheap ingredients, and in many cases you could get the same relief from just paracetamol taken with a warm drink of lemon and honey.

Questions:

1. What is the text about?

2. What are common colds caused by?

3. Why is paracetamol generally preferred?

4. What caused the rise in the price of medicine for colds?

5. People can get the same relief from just paracetamol. Why do pharmaceutical companies keep on producing more and more new cold medicine?

6. What is the main idea of the text?

2. Read the text and say why nobody gave a blind man any money for his playing the violin and what made all the difference when Paganini played. Say if you play any musical instruments or have any other hobby. Speak about your hobby.

“THE BLIND MAN AND THE GREAT ARTIST”

Every day in one of the streets of Vienna you could see a blind man playing the violin. His dog sat near him with a cap in his mouth. People, who were passing them, dropped coins into the cap.

One day, when the weather was very cold, the man was playing for a long time, but nobody wanted to give him anything. The poor man thought that he would have to go to bed without supper. He was so tired and so weak that he stopped playing.

At that moment a young man came uр to him and asked him why he stopped playing. The blind man said he had played for two hours but nobody had given him anything. "Give me your violin. I shall help you", said the man. And with these words he began to play. He played so well that people began to gather and soon there was a big crowd. Everybody was eager to listen to the fine music and to thank the young man for the pleasure.

Soon the cap was full of money.

"I don't know how to thank you", said the blind man. "Who are you?"

"I am Paganini", was the answer.

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