Paranormal

I was nine years old when my best friend and I were obsessed with the super natural. We loved to watch movies and documentaries about ghosts and aliens. I was so obsessed that everything I owned was alien themed. My whole room was full of alien dolls and posters and I was always reading a new book about how aliens were invading earth.  When we had free time we would also really enjoy turning on our toy radios and imagine that we were listening to aliens trying to communicate with earth.  I would have day dreams of being on TV as being the first one to communicate with life outside of earth and I would be famous worldwide.

One night I was playing video games in my room and it was getting close to my bed time. My mom yelled at me to stop playing video games and take a shower so I can get ready for bed. I really did not want to go to bed so I begrudgingly turned off my video games and went and took a shower. While I was in the shower I started to fantasize about ghosts and aliens and how I would fight them if they ever came to earth. I was still in a daze of a world of fantasies as I was turning off the shower and started to walk over to my bedroom. Then suddenly as I crossed through the door I felt a hand grab my ankles and I fell right into my face. With my face full of horror I turned around and there was nothing there, but...I could still feel as if something was holding my feet in the air. The next thing I remember is my mom waking me up and asking me why I fell asleep on the floor like that. To this day I always wondered what really happened.

Vocabulary  search a synonym:

1. Obsessed -

2. Themed -

3. Super Natural -

4. Radio -

5. Communicate -

6. Day Dream -

A Strange Occurrence

We were standing on the bridge, trying to catch some fish for supper when a small red plane flew almost directly above our heads. We could even see the pilot's face. 

"What on earth is he up to?" I asked. I felt rather annoyed. "I think he's in trouble," Jack said. "His engine is making a strange noise." "Well, we can't do anything, can we?" I said. "We can't even phone from here." We were on a boating holiday and we were miles from the nearest town. "We can follow the plane down the river," Jack said.

 "Come on! Let's go!" I must admit I liked the idea. There were not many fish in that part of the river and I was bored. We dropped our fishing lines and ran towards our boat. It lay under some bushes about a hundred yards down the river. Luckily, the engine started almost at once and soon we were roaring down the river.

 "But can the pilot land here?'' I asked Jack. He came to this part of the country for a holiday almost every year and he knew the area well. "There's a lake about fifteen miles down the river," Jack said. "If the pilot really is in trouble, he'll probably try to land there." 

The river was already becoming wider. We went round a bend and there was the lake in front of us. "Can you see anything?" Jack asked. I looked across the lake. 

"No, absolutely nothing," I replied. "Wait a minute, though. 

There's something in the water, near that island in the middle."

 It was the small red plane! We raced across the lake. By the time we reached the island, the pilot - a very young woman! - was sitting on top of the plane. 

"Hi!" she called out to us. "Thanks for coming to help me. I'm sorry I disturbed you while you were fishing. Anyway, would you like some fish for supper?" She reached into the plane and pulled out a large fish. 

"There's plenty more in here!" she said, laughing.

 Choose the right answer.

1 When the plane flew over their heads-, Jack and his friend were:

a) having supper         b) fishing         c) doing nothing

2 Jack said, "I think the pilot's in trouble"_ because:

a) the plane was making a strange noise         b) they could see the pilot's face                     c) the plane was very low

3 Jack knew the area well because:

a) he had a boat     b) he often came there          c) he lived there

4 They saw the plane in the middle of:

a) the lake            b) the island                c) the trees

5 When they reached the island, the pilot:

 a) was fishing      b) was waiting for them        c) was swimming

My last summer holidays

Louise, 15, Spanish

In my last summer holidays I travelled with my class to England to attend an English course in Newcastle. We stayed two weeks there and three days in London. We all stayed with English families. They were very nice and friendly and we practised our English a lot. The only thing I really disliked were the morning lessons because I had to get up very early and sometimes the lessons were a bit boring.

In London we visited some fantastic monuments, like the Tower of London and Buckingham Palace, and watched a famous musical show, Cats. I enjoyed it very much.

We met some English teenagers and had time to visit some shops and buy a couple of souvenirs. We had a great time.

Tim, 17, English

I enjoyed myself a great deal. For the first time my parents let me to go on holidays with a group of friends. We decided to go by bike. The weather was terribly hot. We really suffered a lot and after two days we were already very tired because we had to carry our rucksacks and several bottles of water all the time.

We visited some beautiful places I will always remember.

Of course I missed my family very much, but my holidays were so fantastic that I didn’t want to go back home!

A. TRUE or FALSE? Correct the false sentences with information from the text:

1. Louise visited two English cities.

2. She stayed in a youth hostel.

3. She didn’t like the musical show.

4. Tim’s holidays were very tiring.

5. He wanted to go back home as quickly as possible.

B. Find in the text words that mean the opposite of:

1. first-                                        2. without-

3. late-                                        4. interesting-

Lost and Found

The two boys walked slowly across the valley. Then suddenly Fred stopped and sat down on a large stone. "It's no use," he said. "I can't go any further. I'm absolutely exhausted!" George looked at him for a minute. "Oh come on!" he said. "It's not very far now. Only five or six miles at the most." "Yes, but it's uphill most of the way," Fred said. He pointed to the path in front of them. It went straight up the side of the valley. George sat down too. For a while, the two boys said nothing. Then Fred pointed to some trees about half a mile ahead. 'There's a hut among those trees," he said. "Perhaps we can spend the night there. ''l will go and take a look," George said. He ran down the path towards the hut and vanished among the trees. Fred followed more slowly. "What's it like inside?" he asked when he reached the hut. "Not bad," George called back. "It feels a little damp, but there's some wood in the corner, so we can light a fire." The two boys cleaned out the hut and lit a fire. Then they had supper. They were both tired and they did not talk much. Before they went to bed, they put plenty of wood on the fire. George fell asleep almost at once, but Fred lay awake for a long time, watching the flames. Then he too fell asleep. Suddenly, he was awake again. The fire was nearly out. He could hear noises outside. It sounded like voices. He woke George up. "It's only the wind," he grumbled. "Go to sleep again!" However, it was not the wind! The voices came nearer until they were just outside the hut. The door opened and a light shone on their faces. 'They're here!" a voice called out. A policeman was standing in the doorway. He addressed the two boys. "You've given us a lot of trouble," he said. "We've looked all over the valley for you two!"

Choose the right answer

Fred wanted to stop, but George wanted to:

 a) go back    b) go on        c) talk

The path in front of them was:

 a) long          b) easy        c) difficult

The boys lit a fire because:

a) they could not see      b) the hut was damp       c) they wanted to cook .

After supper, the boys:

a) went to bed         b) sat and talked        c) cleaned out the hut

Fred woke up because:

a) he heard a noise       b) he was afraid       c) he was cold

The policeman who came to the hut:

a) wanted to sleep there    b) was looking for the boys      c) wanted to catch the boys

What a Surprise!

We had an enormous apple tree in our garden only a few yards from the kitchen window. "We really must cut that tree down," my husband said, soon after we moved into the house. "I'm sure it's dangerous." "Don't be silly," I said. I quite liked the tree myself. "It's quite safe. It isn't going to fall down on the house!" "Well, I read something in the paper only the other day," he said. "A tree crashed into a woman's bedroom during a storm. She was going to get rid of the tree and now she's in hospital!" In the end, after several arguments of this kind, we asked a couple of workmen to come along and cut the tree down. It was not an easy job. In fact, it took them all morning. But at last the tree was lying on the ground. "What about the roots?" the men asked. "Shall we take them out too or leave them?'! "Oh, take them out," I said. "Let's make a good job of it!" This took all afternoon and I was beginning to think about the size of the bill! There was also a big hole in the garden! "You'll be able to put all your old rubbish in there!" the men said as they left. My husband climbed down into the hole and began to look around. "Hey, look!" he called up to me. "There are some old coins here! And think they're gold!" I climbed down into the hole and we started to dig around, hoping to find some more coins. We did - and we also found a small metal box. We broke it open. It was full of jewellery - rings, necklaces, and bracelets! "Gosh!" I said, "I suppose someone hid these things in the ground - perhaps during a war!" "They're probably worth a small fortune!" my husband said. "Well, aren't you glad now that you got rid of that old tree?"

Choose the right answer.

1 The man wanted to get rid of the apple tree because it was:

a) too near the house       b) too old         c) too big

2 The man's wife liked the tree but in the end she:

a) went to hospital       b) agreed       c) helped to cut the tree down

3 The men who came to cut the tree down:

a) had to work hard       b) argued a lot       c) worked during a storm

4 The workmen made a big hole because:

a) they were looking for money    b) they wanted to hide some rubbish    c) they took out the roots of the tree

5 When the man climbed down into the hole, he found:

a) some money b) some rubbish c) some apples

6 Later, the man and his wife found a box. The things in the box were:

a) valuable     b) important        c) useful

Slow-Fried French Fries

There are certain foods that are better when not made at home, like french fries. To achieve golden-brown perfection, you have to fry them twice: first at a low temperature, to poach them; then at a high heat, to crisp them up. Very tasty, very much a pain in the neck. A few years back, I read about how French chef Joel Robuchon supposedly does it at his house: He puts sliced potatoes in a pot of cold oil, turns on the heat, and lets them go. It sounds too simple to work. But as the temperature rises, the potatoes cook from the outer layer in until the fries are wonderfully crunchy outside and creamy in the center. You'll never make fries any other way-even if you've never made them before.

put a û in the right box:

1. The word chef (in line 6) means

a person in charge of a hotel

a person who cooks

a person who waits on people

2. In the text fry (line 3) means:

 to cook in a pan over heat with use of fat

to cut something into pieces

to slice something

3. The word twice (in line 3) means:

one time

two times

three times

4. In the text poach (line 4) means:

to cook in salty liquid

to cook in a boiling liquid

to fry

5. French fries are better when cooked

at home

in a restaurant

in a factory

6. The French chef J.R. has his

own recipe

doesn’t know how to make French fries

doesn’t cook French fries at all

The Easter rabbit is ill

It is the week before Easter and Ben

Hopswood, the Easter rabbit, is very sad. He has got the flu and must stay in bed. His house is full of red, blue,yellow, pink and green Easter eggs. They are in each room of his house. They are on the table, on the shelves, in the fridge, in the cupboards, on the chairs and on the sofa.

Every year Ben hides the Easter eggs for the children. But this year Ben cannot do it because he is ill. He asks his cousin Jim, the Easter bunny,  for help. Jim wants to help him, but he cannot do this all alone, because he must also hide eggs for the children in his village.

“I need some more help“ Ben thinks. “I cannot ask the hens because they are too weak. I cannot ask the wolf. He would eat the eggs. I cannot ask the cat. She would play with the eggs. Who can help me?“ Ben thinks and thinks and then he´s got an idea. „I could ask the squirrels for help. They are good at hiding

their nuts. Maybe they will help me.“

Ben sends Lizzie, the hen, to the squirrels.

They live on the big trees in the wood.

A squirrel is looking down from a tree.

“Hi, Lizzie! What´s up?“ And Lizzie tells them that the Easter rabbit is ill. “Ben needs your help. He cannot hide the Easter eggs for the children because he´s got the flu. Could you help him, please?“ says Lizzie. The squirrels like Ben Hopswood and want to help him. They love the idea of hiding eggs.

On Easter Sunday the squirrels go to Ben very early in the morning. They take the Easter eggs and and go to the park. There they hide the eggs for the children.

Jim, the Easter bunny, hides the eggs in the gardens. He hides them behind the trees, in the grass and under the bushes.

 Later in the morning the children can find eggs in their gardens. But the children cannot find eggs in the park. They think that there are no Easter eggs in the park this year. But there are a lot of eggs. They are high up in the trees and deep down in the ground.

Squirrels can really hide things very well !!!

Answer the questions!

1 Why cannot Ben hide the easter eggs?
…………………………………………………………………………
2 How does ben feel?
…………………………………………………………………………
3 What animals cannot help him?
…………………………………………………………………………
4 Who goes to the squirrels?
…………………………………………………………………………
5. When do the squirrels hide the eggs?
…………………………………………………………………………