II. Read the text and say why British schoolchildren hate eating fruit and vegetables. What food do they prefer? What are your eating habits?

WHY DON’T BRITISH SCHOOLCHILDREN WANT TO EAT FRUIT AND VEGETABLES?

There’s nothing wrong with having a can of Coke every now and then but four cans a day is asking for trouble. Did you know that a can of Coke contain about eight teaspoons of sugar and artificial sweeteners? As a result, many modern kids suffer from such illnesses as diabetes, cancer and teeth decay. And, of course, there are more and more children who are extremely overweight or even obese.

Unfortunately school dinners play an important role in this sad situation. Often school dinners offer overcooked vegetables as the ‘healthy’ option against more appealing pizza, chips and burgers. ’My school mostly sells chips with everything you can think of – pizza and chips, chips and cheese, chips and gravy… it does of course sell some healthy things but the thing is they look extremely boring!‘ says 13-year-old Anna Smith.

In Britain, children can either choose to bring their own lunch or buy their lunch at school. Children from poor families can have free school dinners but many of them don’t take them for various reasons. Here are some of the common complaints: ’I hate my school dinners. The food is so disgusting.’

‘I never have school dinners because it’s the same food day in, day out.’ ‘Our dinners are always cold!’

Билет № 12

I. Read the text and answer the questions.

 

Running a business can be stressful at any age, but when you're just 15 and have to juggle it with going to school and doing your homework, it's even more remarkable. And that's exactly what young entrepreneur, Luisa Bundy, designer of a range of soft toys called Little Bundles, has done. It all started when Luisa's mother bought her some modelling clay for her 12^th birthday and she began experimenting with making small model figures based on her friends at school. The first batch went down a storm, and her friends encouraged her to make more. So she did, handing them out at Easter instead of eggs. As word spread around the school, Luisa introduced a form so she could take orders during the day and make the figures over the weekend. Her mother used to come to find piles of order forms spread out on the kitchen table. She thought Luisa was going to get into serious trouble for doing business in the playground. But teachers' names were on the order forms too.

Two years later, Luisa had made 13,000 Little Bundies. Prior to this, she had spent most weekends and holidays researching craft fairs across the south of England. At one fair she sold 250 figures in an hour at £2 a go. And she even researched the number of people that usually turned up to each fair, so she know exactly the number she needed to make for the customers there. When she noticed that the majority of customers were buying the toys as gifts she designed a range of gift cards to accompany them.

At this point, the volume of work was becoming overwhelming and she decided to seek advice from Sir Richard Branson, who had begun his Virgin empire as a teenager. On his advice she set up Bundy Creations Ltd, with her mother as director.

Last year they took on the cost of exhibiting at a craft fair in the north of England and it paid off. They were spotted by a major toy manufacturer, which quickly signed the figures to a three-year soft toy licensing deal. According to the manufacturer, they have already practically sold out.

Answer the questions.

1. How old was Luisa when she first started making clay models?

2. Did the first figures she made get a positive reaction at school?

3. How did she know how many people would come to the gift fairs?

4. Who did Luisa contact to ask for advice?

5. Who discovered Luisa's model figures at a gift fair last year?

 

 

Билет № 13

I. Read the text and answer the questions

STONE SOUP

One day an old man whose clothes were very old came to a woman’s house. He looked terrible. “Excuse me”, said the old man, “I’m thirsty and very hungry. Could you give me some food, please?” But the woman was very greedy.

“Go away”, she said, “I haven’t got any food”, “Oh”, said the old man. “That’s a pity. I’ve got a magic stone. I can make soup with it. But I need some water”. “Well, I’ve got a lot of water”, said the greedy woman. “A magic stone, oh?”

She brought a big pan of water. The old man put the stone into it. After a while he tasted the soup. “M-m-m-m. It’s very good,” he said, “it just needs some vegetables. It’s a pity you haven’t got any vegetables”.

“Oh, I can give you some vegetables”, said the woman. She ran away, and soon brought some potatoes, carrots and other vegetables. The old man put the vegetables into the pan. “Is it all right now?” asked the woman. “Yes, but it needs some meat”. “Oh, I have some”, said the woman and ran away. She came back with some meat, and the old man put it into the pan.

“Right”, said the man. “I can’t see the stone now. So the soup is ready. Bread is very good with stone soup. It’s a pity you haven’t got any bread”. “Oh, I’ve got some bread”, said the woman. She went away and soon came back with some bread in her hands. She put it on the table.

The woman tasted the soup. “M-m-m-m. This stone soup is very tasty, and you have made it with that magic stone”.

When they ate the soup, the old man said: “Here is the magic stone. You can keep it”.

“Oh, thank you”, said the woman. But remember”, said the old man, “for the best soup you need some meat, vegetables and some salt, too”.

 

Questions:

1. How did the old man look like?

2. Why did he ask for some food?

3. What kind of soup did he make?

4. Why did the old man decide to make a stone soup?

5. How can you characterize the old man?