10. Schoolchildren Choose Their Career

Ten-year - old Courtney Oliver knows exactly what she wants EXACT

to be when she grows up - a veterinarian.  She is qualified

to be a registered Veterinarian Assistant who  supports ASSIST

a Veterinarian Doctor in their daily tasks. They could DAY

include feeding and exercising animals. Students can FEED/EXERCISE

receive training on how to follow directions, look TRAIN/DIRECT

after animals, talk to animal owners and juggle a lot of OWN

things at the same time. Courtney is lucky to have LUCK

a teacher like Dr. Shoemaker who says that Courtney TEACH

is an amazingly smart girl. AMAZE

11. A Chess Prodigy

Twelve-year old Daniel Naroditsky is the winner of the WIN

World Youth Chess Championships held in Antalya, Turkey. CHAMPION

When Daniel entered the competition, he was ranked the13th COMPETE

in the International boys’ division. Daniel played a match NATIONAL

every day, he won nine games. This amazing performance AMAZE/PERFORM

ensured him a place in the finals. Daniel started playing chess

at six. Soon he started playing in competitions, beating out COMPETE

first graders easily, and a chess prodigy was born. GRADE

12.

Most 11-year-olds are just happy to survive their first year MANY/SURVIVE

of middle school. However, Moshe Kai Cavalin is not like

most kids. He skipped elementary, middle and high SKIP

school and went straight to college at the age of eight. GO

While Moshe's parents knew he was smart, they had never expected KNOW/EXPECT

to put him in college this young. However, when

they tried to enroll him in a private school at the age TRY

of 6, he was turned down, because he was so smart TURN and the school was afraid he would be bored. BE BORED

The parents realized that he was ready for some real REALIZE/BE

high-level courses. East Los Angeles College agreed

to take him in. He could take only two courses: TAKE

Maths and Physical Education. Moshe did not disappoint. NOT DISSAPOINT He got A-pluses in both and hasn't looked back since. GET/LOOK

Soon he will graduate with an Associates Degree in GRADUATE

Liberal Arts. In fact, the young lad was so smart that

he helped to tutor his fellow maths students, some of HELP

whom were a decade older than him. OLD

Moshe now is planning/plans to take a little 'break' PLAN

to pursue his other passion - Martial Arts (боевые искусства),

where he has won quite a few medals. WIN

Module 8

1. a) 1. – D; 2. – B; 3. – 0; 4. – A; 5. – E; 6. - C

b) 1. F; 2. NS; 3. T; 4. F; 5. T; 6. F; 7. T; 8. NS; 9. T;

2. 1. b; 2. d; 3. a; 4. b; 5. b; 6. c; 7. b; 8. a;

3. 1. F; 2. F; 3. NS; 4. T; 5. T/NS; 6. T; 7. NS; 8. T;

4. 1. – D; 2. – B; 3.– 0; 4. – A; 5. – E; 6. – C.

5.

A World of Dolls

Yukiko Hattori from Japan has always loved dolls. She tells how she came to love them and shares a special experience of friendship.

My mother was able to make dolls out of anything. She used to make them for my two elder sisters and me. They were cornhusk (обёртка початка кукурузы) dolls, rag (тряпичные) dolls, eggshell dolls and even tiny matchstick dolls.

I enjoyed playing with them, but still, secretly, I dreamed of a store-bought doll like the one our rich cousin had. Her doll had beautiful blonde curls, and it could open and close its blue glass eyes and even say "Mamma." I never stopped admiring it, but I knew such dolls were too expensive for my parents to buy for all three of us.

One day my father came back from his business trip with three store-bought dolls! They were much smaller than our cousin's doll and their eyes were just painted ones, but I did not care about such differences. We each chose one and I named mine Misako.

Soon my sisters and I became devoted mothers. Our "children" kept us busy all day. We gave them a bath, dressed them, took them out for a walk. Several months later, they became more like real children—their faces and bodies became dirtier. I felt that Misako was closer to me than before because of these familiar changes.

“I have been taking care of my doll for half a year”, I wrote in a letter to my best friend, “and I feel really happy. I would be glad if I could have more little friends like my Misako”. (to be continued)

6.

A World of Dolls (continued)

But, by then, my sisters' interests moved to different toys. Their dolls were in a miserable condition. One had lost one of her arms, and the other was one-legged. Thus, I unexpectedly became the lucky mother of three children instead of just one. I enjoyed this feeling of being the only one in the world who could give them protection with a lot of love. Indeed, they made the rest of my childhood very happy.

Ten years ago I sent a letter to a readers' column of a magazine. I wrote about my dream doll which I always wanted to find and buy someday.

"The doll does not need to be a luxurious one, but she must look as if she listens when I talk to her, like the doll Emily in the book "A Little Princess". Several weeks later a letter and a parcel came from an unknown Japanese lady living in Colorado, U.S. (to be continued)

7. 1. b; 2. b; 3. c; 4. ; 5. b; 6. a; 7. b; 8. c; 9. c; 10. b; 11. c; 12. c; 13. a; 14. d

8.

Are You Ready For Some Bubble Football?

We have heard of artists becoming famous after launching themselves on YouTube, but a whole new sport being born off a video? That has to be a first. However that is how 'Bubble Football', a combination of soccer and zorbing (a sport that involves rolling downhill strapped inside a ball), has become popular not just in its birth country of Norway, but also all across Europe.

The best part is that the sport was 'invented' as a joke by the Henrick Elvestad and Johan Gold - hosts of Norwegian comedy sport show 'Golden Goal'. They thought it would be fun to try to play soccer while wearing a giant plastic bubble. So they posted a spoof (пародия) video of it on YouTube in 2011. To their surprise, thousands of people liked it and a new sport was born! It has become so popular that some online stores have started selling and even renting bubble football gear for people that want to play or try the game.

9.

Rock climbing, white-water rafting, and skydiving used to be considered dangerous sports, suitable for only a few brave people — the unusually fit. It’s different today, when it is common for families to take up such activities.

Why do people want to take part in dangerous activities? Some experts say it’s a natural human desire (желание) to test the limits of their courage and physical abilities.

Sports psychologist Frank Farley of Temple University in Philadelphia calls people who do dangerous sports “Type T” people. They are thrill seekers and risk takers. Farley has been studying such people for 35 years. “They’re the mountain climbers, the hang-gliders, the people who sail around the world in a ten-foot sailboat,” he says.

What are the reasons of the popularity of high-risk sports? Some say it’s due to more wealth, the development of high-tech equipment, and even the absence of traditional risks such as war. Others argue that ease of modern life is part of the reason. In addition, thrill seekers want to display a youthful, rebellious (бунтарский) attitude, whether they’re 16 or 46.

Farley says extreme sports always involve individual expression — even creativity.

10.

The Search for Adventure

Sailing across the Pacific

Can you imagine a 14-year-old boy sailing across the Pacific all by himself? That's exactly what Subaru Takahashi did. This Japanese junior high school student became the youngest person to complete a solo voyage across the Pacific. He started out from Tokyo on July 22, 1996 in a 9-meter sail boat and arrived in San Francisco on September 16, 1996.He had covered 10,000 km. Subaru said his voyage was thrilling. When Subaru arrived in San Francisco he told reporters that he wanted to sail around the world next. In an interview in Japanese, Subaru said he had been boating and canoeing since an early age.

11.

They're Into Extreme Sports!

A group of international students are discussing extreme sports.

1. I don't know what makes people absorbed in sports. Many athletes have some physical problems. Usually they suffer the pain and keep on doing sports. Sports have some attractive power. We seek thrills because we are young. The older we are, the safer life we prefer. When I ski, I know jumping from a hill is dangerous, but it's fun. Human beings always try to overcome something. We get joy when we overcome difficulty.

2. My personal opinion about people who participate in extreme sports is that they enjoy doing this because they feel enormous satisfaction that is bigger than the feeling of the possible risk of death. This kind of person gets through this practice a strong spirit of strength. They are trying to do the best with their lives. For them, nothing is comparable to the emotions that they can feel. It is something that gives them motivation in their lives.

3.When most people talk about sports, they say that it is a useful activity. For most people, that statement is true.

However, there are different kinds of sports which can cause people to be injured or handicapped, or even killed. These are extreme sports such as snow boarding, speed skating, bungee jumping, and ice climbing.

Perhaps many people will have questions in their minds about the usefulness of these sports.

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