The mystery of Okinawa

Takinashi always walks three kilometres a day, and he sometimes rides a motorbike. He often works in his garden, and he usually does martial arts in the morning. He is never stressed, and he is hardly ever ill. Not unusual you think? But Takinashi is _____ years old.

Takinashi lives on the island of Okinawa in Japan. In Okinawa people live a very long time. They are hardly ever ill. Many people live to be 100 – more people than in other parts of the world. Why? What is their secret?

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The Okinawans eat vegetables, fruit, fish, soya, and rice. They usually have seven portions of fruit and vegetables a day. People don’t usually drink much alcohol or smoke. They don’t eat much meat or fast food.

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Physical activity is very important for the people of Okinawa. Martial arts, walking, traditional dancing, and gardening are very popular with people of all ages.

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In many countries people have healthy diets and do exercise. But the unusual thing about the people in Okinawa is that they are not stressed. They are relaxed and take their time. Buses are hardly ever on time, and people often arrive an hour late for meetings. Every evening hundreds of people, young and old, go to the beach to watch the beautiful sunset. People often meditate to relax.

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Another important thing is that people often work until they are 80 – sometimes they until 90! In the Okinawan dialect there is no word for ‘retired’. They are busy and active all their lives. Old people don’t stay at home – they go out and meet friends.

When journalists ask people “What is the secret of your long life?”, they answer “We are happy, we are always positive, and we are never in a harry”.

Text 12.

1. Read and make up your own questions according to the text. (10 questions)

2. Translate the first paragraph of the text without dictionary.

The Tomatina festivals takes place on the last Wednesday in August in Bunol, Spain.The ‘tomato battle’ starts at 11 o’clock in the morning, and continues for two hours. During the Tomatina 35,000 people throw 125,000 kilos of tomatoes!

In January (the exact date changes every year) you can go to Ivrea in Italy and take part in the Carnevale d’Ivrea, where people throw oranges at each other. If you don’t want people to throw an orange at you, you have to wear a red hat!

Thailand has a Water Festival (Songkran) every April to celebrate the New Year. It starts on 13^th April and lasts for to days. People throw water each other all day and also at night.

Text 13.

1. Read and make up your own questions according to the text. (10 questions)

2. ranslate the first paragraph of the text without dictionary.

My hobby

Exercise 1. John is a reporter of a university newspaper. Here is his article about students of his university. Read the article and answer the questions.

Many students of our university have interesting hobbies. Lara is 17 years old. She can write poems and paint pictures. Tom is 18years old and he has very interesting hobbies. He can dance, design Internet sites and play piano. Robert is almost 16 years old. His hobbies are playing football and reading detective stories. Our students do many interesting things and they are very busy. They also love different subjects. Tom is the best student at math. Lara is good at art and literature and Robert is one of the best students at PE. Their hobbies help them study well too.

Text 14.

1. Read and make up your own questions according to the text. (10 questions)

2. Translate the first paragraph of the text without dictionary.

Text 15.

1. Read and make up your own questions according to the text. (10 questions)

2. Translate the first paragraph of the text without dictionary.