more

culture
4
MORE!

Herbert Puchta & Maria Cleary

With CD-ROM/Audio CD
HELBLING LANGUAGES
www.helblinglanguages.com

MORE Culture 1
by Herbert Puchta & Maria Cleary
© HELBLING LANGUAGES 2008

All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior
written permission of the Publishers.

Reprinted 2009

Acknowledgements

The publishers would like to thank the following for their kind permission to reproduce the following
photographs and other copyright material:

Alamy p 5, p 8, p 9 (Stonehenge, Westminster Palace, Industrial revolution), p 10 (lake district), p 12, p 14, p
19 (parent shouting, Tom) , p 22, p 24, p 25, p 26, p 27, p 28 (CD: Food Icons, CD: Ultimate Food, obese teen),
p 29, p 31, p 32, p 34 (Diane, Philip), p 35, p 36 (Diane, Philip), p 38 (football player), p 39, p 40, p 41, p 42
(bungee-jumping), p 44, p 45, p 48, p 49 (buy nothing day), p 50, p 52, p 54, p 55 (music class), p 57, p 58 (Gone
with the wind), p 59, p 62; AidAfghanistan p 22 (Afghanistan school); Christ’s Hospital School p 18 (Christ's
Hospital Uniform); Zefa/Corbis p 9 (boy and girl), p 10 (Loch Ness), p 14 (kids playing hockey), p 18 (Emma), p
19 (Terence), p 20, p 25 (spaghetti in tin), p 34 (kids playing hurling), p 36 (Rory), p 38 (Michael Jordan), p 42
(extreme sport), p 47, p 49 (girl), p 55 (Katie Melua), p 58 (The New World, Mississippi Burning), p 60; Penguin-
Puffin Books p 51 (Talking Turkeys cover); Benjamin Zephaniah p 51 (himself).

Illustrated by Lorenzo Sabbatini, Roberto Battestini.

Design and layout by Oxford Designers & Illustrators

Cover design by Capolinea

Edited by Deborah Friedland
Printed by Bieffe

Every effort has been made to trace the owners of any copyright material in this book. If notified, the publisher
will be pleased to rectify any errors or omissions.
Contents
Module Level 1

Module 1
Geography The United Kingdom 4
Geography
London
Cross-curricular
links ➜ Geography

Module 2
School School life 8
The education system
School subjects

Cross-curricular
links ➜ Citizenship and Social
Studies

Module 3
Food British food 12
Meals
Chocolate
Food from around
the world

Cross-curricular
links ➜ Science

Module 4
Sports Ball games 16
Hurling
Football
Cricket
Cross-curricular
links ➜ Physical Education

Module 5
Festivals Multicultural Britain 20
Chinese New Year
Saint Patrick’s Day
Notting Hill Carnival
Diwali
Cross-curricular
links ➜ Social Studies and
History

Module 6
Entertainment TV and music 24
Soap operas
Young people and
music

Cross-curricular
links ➜ Social Studies and Music

3
 MODULE 1
The United Kingdom
Which of these countries is not part
of the United Kingdom?

Eire (Republic of Ireland)

Northern Ireland England

Wales Scotland
HIGHLANDS

Loch Ness
Now listen to the CD and check.
Aberdeen
2 Write the countries on the map.
Then listen again and underline the
Ben Nevis
capital city of each country.

What is the capital of the United

Kingdom?
…………………………..……………
Glasgow Edinburgh

Derry Newcastle
SPERRIN
MOUNTAINS
Belfast Lake
Lough
District
Neagh
PENNINES

Galway Liverpool Manchester

Dublin
R. Shannon
Snowdon

Birmingham
CAMBRIAN
MOUNTAINS R. Severn
Cork
Oxford
London

On the map find: Cardiff

R. Thames
1 a lake in Northern Ireland.
……………………………
2 a mountain in Scotland.
……………………………
3 a river in Eire.
……………………………
4 a mountain range in England.
……………………………
4 5 a city in Wales.
……………………………
 LEVEL 1
Postcard from London

Dear George,
don Eye. It is
This is the Lon
the centre of
a huge wheel in
5 metres high
London. It’s 13
e all the
and you can se
in London from
famous places
e 32 capsules
the top. There ar
om for 25
and there is ro
psule. That’s
people in each ca
time!
800 people each
How are you?
lasgow!
Love to all in G
A li!

A view over London Trafalgar Square is north-west of

The London Eye is the biggest
observation wheel in the world.
From the top, you can see for 25
kms in each direction. Here are
some of the famous landmarks
you can see.
the London Eye. It commemorates
Admiral Nelson’s victory in the
Battle of Trafalgar against
Napoleon in 1805. Nelson’s
Column is in the centre of the
square and it is 61.5 metres high.

Buckingham Palace is south-west Covent Garden is north of the

of the London Eye. It is the London Eye. It is a famous covered
Queen’s home. It’s really big. market. It is full of shops
There are more than 600 rooms, and stalls with
including 52 bedrooms. There are lots of nice
also over 400 servants and 39 clothes and
royal guards. crafts.

The Globe Theatre is east of the

London Eye. It is one of London’s Where is it?
most famous theatres. It is an Now add the
exact replica of the original Globe directions to
Theatre where Shakespeare first the landmarks
performed his plays. It is a round above on
theatre and there is no roof. the map.
5
 MODULE 1 What is the
capital of Wales?
Exercises
talk A Look at the map on page 4. It’s Cardiff!
In pairs ask and answer
questions.
Where is the It’s in the north-west
Lake District? of England.

B Answer true (T) or false (F) below. T F

Correct the false sentences.
1 Galway is the capital of Eire. ……………………………………………….
2 The Cambrian mountains are in Wales. ……………………………………………….
3 The Thames is a long river in Northern Ireland. ……………………………………………….
4 Ben Nevis is a mountain in Scotland. ……………………………………………….
5 Cork is north of Dublin. ……………………………………………….
6 Liverpool is close to Manchester. ……………………………………………….
7 Newcastle is close to the border with Wales. ……………………………………………….
8 Edinburgh is east of Glasgow. ……………………………………………….

C The Union Jack is the flag of the United Kingdom. It is made up of three flags.
3 Listen to the descriptions and draw the flags.

Saint George’s Cross Saint Andrew’s Cross Saint Patrick’s Cross

Saint George, Saint Andrew and Saint Patrick are the patron saints of three
countries. Find out the names of the countries.
1 Saint George is the patron saint of ………………………………………………………………………………….
2 Saint Andrew ………………………………………………………………………………….
3 Saint ………………………………………………………………………………….

D Look at the UK fact file then complete one for your country.

Name. The United Kingdom Name.

Anthem: God Save the Queen Anthem:

Capital: London Capital:

Largest city: London Largest city:

Founded: 1801 Founded:

Population: about 59 million people Population:

2
Area: 244,820 km Area:

Currency: pound sterling Currency:

talk Now talk about your country with a partner.

6
 LEVEL 1
E Look at the UK coat of arms and read the explanations.

The crown means a Gold means generous.

king or a queen.
Red means strong.

The lion means bravery. White means honest.

The unicorn means strength. Green means hopeful.

The shield has the symbols of The motto is the phrase that
the four countries in the UK. represents a country. The motto of UK
means ‘God and my right’

F Draw a coat of arms.

Here are some other symbols.

Drum – war Fox – clever Bear – strong Dog – loyal Snake – clever

Now choose colours and design

your coat of arms. Use colours and
symbols that represent you and
your hobbies. Invent new symbols.

Blood red – lucky in battle

Blue – loyal
Dove – peace
Purple – royal

Black – sadness

Dolphin – love Donkey – patient Cat – free Bee – busy Elephant – luck

talk G Play a guessing game.

In groups put your coats of arms This is Anna’s coat
on a table. Guess who each coat of arms because she
of arms belongs to. is patient and clever.
Is it yours?

H Portfolio
In groups of four decide on a motto for the
class. Then design a coat of arms.
7
 MODULE 2
School life
Primary School
Children go to primary school between the ages
In Britain, children must go to school between the of 5 and 11.
ages of 5 and 16. This is called compulsory education Age 5–7 Key Stage 1
and it is free. Schools must teach the National Age 7–11 Key Stage 2
Curriculum, which is divided into Key Stages. Students
At the end of Key Stage 2, students choose a
must do tests at the end of each Key Stage.
secondary school.
Secondary School
Age 11–14 Key Stage 3
Age 14–16 Key Stage 4
At the end of Key Stage 4, students do GCSE
(General Certificate of Secondary Education)
exams.
When they are 16, students can choose to leave
school or to stay at school for another 2 years
and study for their A-levels or AS levels. You
need at least 2 A-levels in order to go to
university. You can study for A-levels at
secondary school or at Sixth Form College.

Children wear uniforms to school in Britain.

Most students eat their lunch in Students don’t usually wear a

Most schools encourage sports uniform at Sixth Form College.
the school canteen. Some students
and have their own teams.
bring their own lunch, others buy
Popular sports are football,
a meal in the canteen.
hockey, basketball and athletics.

talk In pairs answer the questions.

Public schools
What age do children start school
In Britain, public schools are private and students have to pay
in your country?
fees in order to study there. There are more than 250 public
What types of schools are there?
schools and they are usually very expensive. The fees can cost
When does compulsory education
up to £5,000 a term.
stop?
The most famous ones are Eton and Harrow.
What tests must students do?

8
 LEVEL 1

What do you study?
In Britain, students can choose
what they want to study when
they are 14. The subjects that they
choose influence the jobs they are
going to do when they leave
school. Students must study
English, ICT (information and
communication technology),
mathematics, science, citizenship,
PE (physical education) and
religion. They must also do
courses in career education, sex
education and vocational subjects
which give practical work-related
skills.
Students don’t have to study a
foreign language.

Thinkwell High Timetable

Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Monday
9.00 – 9.15 M O R N I N G A S S E M B LY

ICT Music History Citizenship

9.15 – 9.55 French
ICT Maths French Maths
9.55 – 10.30 Maths

10.30 – 10.40 BREAK

English History Religion Careers

10.40 – 11.20 Science
English Science Geography Science
11.20 – 12.00 Science
French Science Maths French
12.00 – 12. 35 Religion

12.35 – 13.10 LUNCH

Maths English English PE

13.10 – 13. 45 English
Geography Citizenship Geography PE
13.45 – 14.20 History
Geography PE ICT Drama
14.20 – 14.55 Art
Careers PE History ICT
14.55 – 15.30 Art

Homework

Listen to Bonnie and Jack. Answer the questions.

8 What homework have they got? Tick the
subject then listen again and write what they
have to do.
Art ……………………………………….
English ……………………………………….
History ……………………………………….
Maths ……………………………………….
Music ……………………………………….
Science ……………………………………….

What day of the week is it? ………………………………….

9
 MODULE 2
Exercises
A Answer the questions.
1 When do children start school in Britain? ……………………………………………………………….
2 How many years do they stay at primary school? ……………………………………………………………….
3 How long is compulsory education in Britain? ……………………………………………………………….
4 When do students usually do tests? ……………………………………………………………….
5 What do students do after Key Stage 4? ……………………………………………………………….
6 What is Sixth Form College? ……………………………………………………………….

talk B Look at the Thinkwell timetable. Ask and answer questions.

How many lessons

do students have How long is
every day? their break?

How long do What time does

lessons last? school start/finish?

C Compare timetables.
Compare your timetable with the Thinkwell timetable.
Write the main similarities and differences.
Which timetable do you like best? Say why.

D Listen and fill in the table.

9
Good at Bad at Likes Doesn’t like

Jack

Bonnie

Simon

10
 LEVEL 1

talk
E Talk in pairs.
Talk about your favourite and least favourite subjects.
What are you good at/bad at?

F Share the results with the class.

What is the most/least popular subject in class?
What are most people good at/bad at?

G Read the text about citizenship.

Fill in the gaps with the correct verbs from the list below. Listen to the CD and check.
10
are teaches helps learn is talks

(1) (2)
Citizenship ………… a new subject on the National Curriculum. It …………
(3)
you about yourself and your identity. It also ………… about your rights and
(4)
it ………… you to understand your place and responsibility in society.
(5) (6)
In citizenship you ………… that you ………… a citizen of your local
community (your town, school and family), of your nation (England, America,
Italy) and of the world.

H Do you study a subject like citizenship? Do you think it is a good idea?

What subjects would you like to study?

I Portfolio
Citizenship helps you to
think about your identity.
Make a mind map of all
the things that influence school
your identity.
family

e
me
friends

TV

11
 MODULE 3
British food
People in Britain usually eat three meals every day: breakfast, lunch
and dinner. They also eat lots of snacks in between.

Choco-holics
British schoolchildren eat lots of
snacks. Young people spend about
£2 every day on crisps, sweets and
soft drinks. But their favourite
snack is chocolate! Chocolate is
made from cocoa beans. The
ancient Aztecs worshipped the
cacao tree and used the beans as
money. They made an energy
drink from the beans. When
European explorers came to South
America, they brought the beans
back to Europe. The first British
chocolate factory opened in
London in 1657. Soon there were
Listen and complete the text with the correct words. chocolate factories all over
14
Europe. Milk chocolate was
cereal eggs meat potatoes milk invented in 1875. It is now the
most popular kind of chocolate in
ice-cream Fish toast sandwich the world.

Breakfast is the first meal of the day. Most people have 1……………. Do you know?
with butter and jam and a bowl of 2…………….. . They drink juice or Chocolate contains over 300 chemicals,
tea. Children often drink 3……………... . The traditional English including seratonin, which makes you feel
breakfast is a cooked meal with bacon, sausages, 4……………... , beans good. That is why you often want a bar
and toast. It’s popular with tourists and on Sundays, when people have of chocolate when you are feeling sad.
time to prepare and eat it.
Lunch is in the middle of the day. It is often a light meal such as a bowl
of soup, or a 5……………... and some fruit or a yogurt. Lots of people True or false?
bring packed lunches like this to school or work. Most schools have A museum in Liverpool is
canteens, where they serve hot meals. giving chocolate covered
insects to visitors! It wants to
Dinner is in the evening. It is usually the main meal of the day. A typical
introduce people to food
British meal is 6……………... (or fish) and two types of vegetables
from other cultures. People
( 7……………... and another vegetable like peas or carrots). Because of
eat insects as food in many
their busy lifestyles, people don’t always have time to cook and they
countries throughout the
often buy takeaways. 8……………... and chips, and Indian and Chinese
world, including Japan,
meals are the most popular takeaways. People in Britain also eat a lot
Australia and South America.
of ‘ready meals’, meals you can buy in the supermarket that are ready
to eat – all you have to do is heat them up. People often eat a dessert, True False
9
……………... or a pie, after their dinner.
12
 LEVEL 1

BRITAIN IS A MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY

AND IT IS MOST OBVIOUS WHEN YOU
LOOK AT THE FOOD ON OFFER!

You can buy stir-in sauces in order

to make your favourite Indian and
Chinese meals at home.
Tea is the most popular drink in
Britain and the British drink 165
million cups of tea every day.

Pasta is very popular. Spaghetti

bolognaise (it’s also called ‘spag
bol’) is a favourite. You can even
buy it in tins, ready to eat. It’s
spaghetti with a meat and
tomato sauce.

Where do the foods come from?

Fill in the table.
Burger and chips are not the same Cereal is the favourite breakfast
pasta without ketchup, a spicy tomato food. Porridge is popular in
tea sauce with a secret recipe. winter as it is warm.
burger
ketchup We are Britain
porridge Read this poem by Benjamin Zephaniah.
His parents feed him rice and peas
When you go home look in the And fancy looking greens
food cupboard or fridge. Write
Sometimes they give him nuts and seeds
down the foods you see. Can you
And various string beans
find food from these countries?
They also give him channa dhal
China Tomato soup and pike
India But Jaguar just says loud and clear
Italy ‘It’s pizza that I like.’
Scotland
Now substitute the names of the foods with foods you know and make
USA
it real for you.

13
 MODULE 3
Exercises
A Answer the questions.
1 When do people eat lunch? …………………………………………………………….
2 What is usually the main meal of the day in Britain? …………………………………………………………….
3 What do most people eat for breakfast in Britain? …………………………………………………………….
4 Who usually eats the traditional English breakfast? …………………………………………………………….
5 What are ‘ready meals’? …………………………………………………………….
6 When do you eat dessert? …………………………………………………………….
7 What is a typical British dinner? …………………………………………………………….

B Listen to Simon. What does he eat during a typical day?

15
Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

Snacks

talk C Talk to a partner. Do you think Simon eats a healthy diet? Why/Why not?

D Read the following list of adjectives. Write a food for each adjective.
bland Rice
……………………… salty ………………………
chewy ……………………… soft ………………………
creamy ……………………… sour ………………………
crunchy ……………………… spicy ………………………
hot ……………………… sweet ………………………

14
 LEVEL 1
talk E In pairs test each other by describing a food.

It’s soft and creamy.

It’s cold. It can have
lots of flavours. Is it ice-cream?

No, you drink it. Is it a milkshake?

Yes!

F UK or US? Match the British food names with the American equivalent.

1 sweets a cookies
2 crisps b French fries
3 biscuits c zucchini
4 courgettes d potato chips
5 chips e candy

G The British eat an average of 105 kg of potatoes every year. That’s 2 kg

16 per person every week. But potatoes are not originally from Britain. Read
these potato facts and answer true (T) or false (F). Listen and check.
Correct the false sentences. T F
1 Potatoes originally came from Peru.
2 Potatoes were popular as soon as explorers brought them to Europe.
3 Many people thought potatoes were poisonous.
4 Potatoes were only for rich people.
5 The government paid farmers to grow potatoes.
6 When the potato crop failed in Ireland in the 1840s, a million people died.
7 There are 25 varieties of potatoes in the UK.

H Portfolio
Make pancakes (makes 15 pancakes)
Put the instructions 1 Add the rest of the milk and
250 g of plain flour
in the correct order. keep beating until there are
A pinch of salt
Then copy out the no lumps.
Oil or butter for frying
recipe and say how 2 Pour in a little of the
500 ml of milk
you served them. pancake mixture until it
2 eggs
Draw a picture covers the base of the pan.
3 Make a hole in the middle of the
flour
and describe
how your and break in the eggs.
4 Pour in half the milk and beat
the milk and eggs into the
pancakes
tasted. flour.
5 Heat the oil or butter in a frying
pan.
6 Put the flour and salt in a bow
l.
7 Now enjoy your pancake.
8 When the pancake is cooked on
one side turn with a
knife or toss in the air.
9 Cook on the other side for a few
seconds.

15
 MODULE 4
Ball Games
Ball games are the most popular sports. There are more than 30 sports you
can play with a ball. Look at the pictures. What sports are these teens doing?

Rory, 14, Kilkenny, Eire

“I play hurling for my school, St
John’s College. Hurling is the
second-fastest team sport in the
world and it is Ireland’s national
sport. It’s so fast that the referee
has to be very fit to keep up
with the players. There are 15
players (called hurlers) on each
team and the teams can score
goals or points. A goal is worth 3
points. Players have a stick called
a hurley and play with a small
ball called a sliotar (it rhymes
with litter).
The ball can go up to 150 km an
hour. Most players wear helmets
and gumshields (over their teeth)
to protect themselves. You can
hit the ball across the grass or through the air. You can also run while bouncing the ball on your stick, but
this takes a lot of skill. I play midfield, so I’m a link between the defenders and the forwards. You need to be
quick and very fit as you spend most of the match running up and down the pitch. My dream is to play for
my county, Kilkenny, and win an All-Ireland medal.”
Hurling is one of the oldest games in Ireland. It is played in schools and clubs and the best hurlers play for
their counties in the All-Ireland championship to find the best county team in Ireland.

Diane, 15, Swansea, Wales

“I play football with the school team. I love football. We
train twice a week, three times if there’s a match. We
usually train after school. Our coach makes us work
hard. We start with warm-up exercises and then we
practise dribbling or tackling. At the end, we sometimes
play a short match. I’m a striker which means it’s my job
to score goals. I have to be quick and make the most of
every opportunity. I also need to be very precise. Being a
striker is a big responsibility. If I don’t score, the team
doesn’t win. The worst things are the tackles. Defenders
will do anything to stop you from scoring. My favourite
player is Michael Owen. He’s one of the best strikers in
the world.”
Football, or soccer as it is also called, is Britain’s national
sport. It is also the largest spectator sport (more people
watch football than any other sport!). Almost 1 in 3
people watches football regularly and nearly everyone
supports a team. Some of the top teams are Manchester
United, Liverpool and Chelsea. Women’s football is the
fastest-growing sport in the world.

16
 LEVEL 1

Phillip, 13, Croydon, England

“My favourite sport is cricket. I started playing when I was 9.
Cricket is a team sport and there are 11 players in each team.
The teams take turns batting and bowling. Here is a photo of
me batting but I like bowling best. You need to be strong
and fast to be a good bowler. When you bowl, you throw
the ball to the person on the other team who is batting.
They have to hit the ball as far as they can, then run between
2 sets of sticks called stumps to score runs. The team that is
bowling tries to ‘bowl out’ the batting team by throwing the
ball to the stumps before the player has finished a run. The
team with the highest number of runs wins. Easy? No?!
My favourite player is Simon Jones. He’s England’s fastest
bowler. He can bowl the ball at speeds up to 160 kph!”
Many schools now play inter-cricket at school. Inter-cricket is
special cricket for 12 to 14-year-olds. There are fewer players
in a team and the ball is soft. Players also wear coloured
clothes to make it more fun. Inter-cricket helps develop
cricket skills and introduces young people to some of cricket’s
complicated rules.

Here are some other facts about the sports described.

Write the sport.
1 Players usually wear white.
………………………………………………………………
2 Sticks are different lengths in different counties.
………………………………………………………………
3 Sometimes players have to wait for a long time for
their turn to hit the ball.
………………………………………………………………
4 The Romans introduced this game to England.
………………………………………………………………
5 Girls play a similar but less dangerous version of
this game, called camogie.
………………………………………………………………
6 In the 12th century, teams of up to 500 people
played this game in the street.
………………………………………………………………

Listen to the match commentary.

20
What is the sport?
……….......……………….……………..............…..
What is the final score?
……….......………………...............………………..

17
 MODULE 4
Exercises
A Match the sports terms with their definitions.
1 striker a person who trains a team
2 coach b stick used to hit a ball
3 referee c kick the ball past another player without losing control
4 defender d person who scores goals
5 dribble e neutral person who decides if play is fair
6 bat f person who stops players from scoring

B Match these ball sports with the pictures.

1 badminton a g
2 volleyball
e b
3 tennis
4 baseball
5 rugby
6 basketball h c
7 hockey d
8 snooker

talk C In pairs compare the three sports.

See how many similarities and
differences you can find.

You score goals in

There are 11 players hurling and football
in both football and but in hurling you
cricket teams. also score points.

D You are interviewing one of the three young people. Write the questions. Decide who it is.
Q: …………………………………….......……… Q: …………………………………….......………
A: Usually twice a week. A: The most important thing is to be quick.

Q: …………………………………….......……… Q: …………………………………….......………
A: It’s after school. A: Michael Owen.

Rory Diane Phillip

18
 LEVEL 1
talk E Now in pairs role-play interviews with the
other two young people.

Hello, Phillip,
what’s your My favourite
favourite sport? sport is cricket.

F Listen and fill in the gaps.

21

Long ago in Ireland there was a 1……………………… called

Conor. His soldiers were called the Red Branch Knights and
they were the 2……………………… and bravest men in
Ireland. Conor had a nephew called Setanta. Setanta was only seven but
he was very strong and 3……………………… . He decided to go to his
uncle’s palace and 4……………………… to become a Red Branch
Knight. He loved hurling and he brought his hurley and
5
……………………… with him. On the way, he met a group of boys.
They were older and 6……………………… than Setanta. They were
playing hurling. Setanta started to play with them and he was the
best 7……………………… of them all.
King Conor arrived on his horse. He saw Setanta and said: “I’m
going to Culann’s house for dinner. Come with me.” “I’ll come later,
uncle,” said Setanta. “I want to finish my 8………………………. .”
So Conor went to Culann’s house and Setanta played with his
new friends. When the game was over, Setanta walked
towards Culann’s 9………………………. . Culann had a very
fierce dog that guarded his house. Culann loved the 10………………………. When the
dog heard Setanta coming he barked and barked. When Setanta got closer, the dog
jumped in the air. Setanta lifted his 11……………………… and hit the ball so hard that
he killed the dog.
When the people in the house heard the noise, they ran outside. They were
12
……………………… to see that Setanta was alive. But Culann was 13……………...……
because his dog was dead. Setanta was so sorry that he promised Culann that he would
guard his house until he found a new dog. From that day he was called Cuchulainn
because Cuchulainn means ‘the dog of Culann’ in Irish. He became the strongest and
14
………………………Red Branch Knight in Ireland.

G Hurling is the second-fastest team sport in H Portfolio

the world.
Write a description of your favourite sport.
What is the fastest one? Use the texts on pages 34 and 35 as a model.
a Football b Hockey c Rugby Illustrate it with photos and illustrations.
19
 MODULE 5
Festivals

Multicultural Britain
Britain is a multicultural society and
this is reflected in the variety of
festivals that take place throughout
the year.

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is the most
important festival for people in
China and Chinese communities
throughout the world. Chinese
New Year is also called the Spring
Festival and it falls on a different
date every year. The festival starts
on New Year’s Day and lasts for 15
days. Families gather together on
New Year’s Eve for a big feast.
Parents give their children red
envelopes with money in order to traditional costumes. One of the “I love Chinese New Year,” says Yi
wish them luck (red is a lucky most popular events is the dragon Soon from Glasgow. “The only
colour in China) and fortune (the dance. There are also fireworks problem is that you don’t get the
money symbolises good fortune). displays and people put up red day off school or work like you do
There are also colourful parades banners with New Year’s in China.”
on the streets with people in greetings.

Listen and answer the

26 questions.
1 What is the shamrock?
2 What did Saint Patrick
use the shamrock for?
3 What is a leprechaun?
4 What is it like?
5 What is the name of
the Irish flag?
6 What do the colours
represent?

and biggest ethnic communities in

Saint Patrick’s Day
Saint Patrick is the patron saint of
Ireland and his feast day is on
March 17th. Saint Patrick’s Day is
celebrated by Irish people all over
the world and in Britain the most
important celebration is in
London. Over 15% of Londoners
say they are Irish and the Irish
community is one of the oldest
the city. There is a big parade
through the streets with floats
and traditional Irish music and
dancing. People dress up in green
costumes and green wigs and
many people paint their faces
green, white and gold, the colours
of the Irish flag.

20
 LEVEL 1

Notting Hill Carnival

Over a million people come to
London every August for the
Notting Hill Carnival. The carnival
is a celebration of Caribbean
culture and it is one of the largest
street festivals in the world.
Participants spend months
preparing their costumes, floats
and music for the carnival. One of
the main competitions in the
carnival is mas. Mas means
masquerade. All the costumes and
floats take part in the mas
competition and there are prizes
for the best ones. Lawrence Noel
is the most famous mas maker. He
made the first ever costumes in
1973. He uses wire to make the
structure of the costumes then he
covers the wire frame with
colourful material. Lawrence
learned how to make costumes
with his father in Trinidad and he
now works with his son Roland.

Diwali
Listen to this description of Diwali and complete the
27 paragraph below.
1
Diwali is the Hindu Festival of ………………… . It is
2 3
held in either ………………… or …………………
every year. It is a celebration of the beginning of
Autumn, which in most areas is also the Indian New
Year. The name Diwali means ‘row of lights’. There
are many Diwali stories. One says that Diwali
celebrates the 4………………… of King Ram and his
wife Sita from the 5………………… , where they
spent 14 years in exile. When they returned it was a
dark moonless night and people put lights outside
their 6………………… , to show the new king and
queen their way. Nowadays we put 7…………………
called divas outside our doors and windows and
make rangoli patterns outside our 8………………… .
Diwali is quite a big festival here in Birmingham, but
one day I’d love to celebrate it in 9…………………. .

21
 MODULE 5
Exercises
A Which festival? Read the clues and decide the festival.
1 There are competitions for costumes and floats. It’s …………………………………………………….
2 Irish people celebrate it. It’s …………………………………………………….
3 It began in the Caribbean. It’s …………………………………………………….
4 It is celebrated during Autumn. It’s …………………………………………………….
5 There are parades with dragon dances in the street. It’s …………………………………………………….
6 People remember the return of King Ram. It’s …………………………………………………….
7 People dress up in green clothes and wigs. It’s …………………………………………………….
8 Children get money in red envelopes. It’s …………………………………………………….

B Bonnie and Jack are getting ready for Notting Hill Carnival. Listen then
28 choose the correct picture.

1 2

C Write about a festival you know. Illustrate your text with a photo or picture.

talk D Test a friend by describing a festival (see A above). Can they guess what it is?

It’s a winter festival.

Is it Christmas?

No, it isn’t./Yes, it is.

22
 LEVEL 1
E Read then complete the chart.
Chinese New Year is based on the lunar (moon) calendar and falls between
January 21st and February 19th. Each year is dedicated to one of 12 animals.
Look at the chart. What year were you born in?

Listen and find out the characteristics of each Chinese sign. Write them in
29 the chart. Do you agree with them?

F Portfolio
Make a Diwali light. You’ll need:
• A jam jar
• A tea light
• Coloured tissue paper and/or foil
• Sequins
• Glue
• Scissors
Cut a piece of tissue paper that is
long enough to cover your jam jar.
Decorate the tissue paper with
small pieces of foil, coloured tissue
and sequins. Stick the decorated
tissue paper onto the jar, making
sure there is no paper inside the
glass. Place your tea light inside
and light it carefully.
23
 MODULE 6
TV and Music

TV or not TV?
80% of teens in the UK say that
watching TV is one of their
favourite pastimes. Over half of
them say they that would like to
be a TV presenter when they grow
up. Their favourite programmes
are Top of the Pops, reality TV
shows such as Big Brother and X
Factor, and soaps such as
EastEnders and Neighbours.

What are soaps?

Soaps, or soap operas, are TV and
radio programmes in episodes.
Most soaps follow the lives of a
group of characters who live or
work in the one area. Popular
soaps are on television for years.
You can see the characters as they grow up, get jobs, fall in and out of love, etc. The
stories are usually very dramatic and every episode has a surprise event. Soap operas
get their name because the first soaps had advertisements from soap companies.
Do you watch soap operas?
………………………………………………………………………………………..
Which one/ones?
………………………………………………………………………………………..

Now listen to Tracy from London and answer true (T)

35 or false (F). T F What do you think?
1 Tracy is an actress in a soap opera. A new invention called
2 Tracy studies soap operas at school. Square-eyes will encourage
young people to do exercise
3 The class discusses the theme of the soap opera.
by giving them extra time
4 They watch lots of different soap operas. watching TV. You simply put
5 Not many young people watch soap operas. Square-eyes into your shoe
6 Tracy thinks that studying soap operas is a good idea. and it records how many steps
you take in a day. Square-eyes
then sends the information to
the television and it calculates
how much watching time you
have earned. The more you
walk the more TV you can
watch in the evening.

Do you think this is a good or

bad idea?
talk In pairs talk about the pros and
cons.

24
 LEVEL 1

Mad about music!

What have The Beatles, Coldplay,
Craig David, Gorillaz, James Blunt,
Joss Stone, and Sugababes got in
common? They are all British!
Even Madonna has British
citizenship now. Britain is famous
for pop music.

The Brit School

The Brit School in London is for
young people who dream of
becoming pop stars. At the school
students learn about all aspects of
the music business: producing,
singing, writing, playing, dancing,
recording and managing. At the
end of the course students do a
BTec exam, which is like 3 A-Levels
(the state exams students do at 18
in Britain). 16-year-old Khadine is
studying at the school. “I want to be a record producer. I’ve got 40 hours of lessons every week plus I spend
another 15 hours practising the guitar and violin. It’s hard work, but there’s a lot of variety.”
Famous musicians visit the school and play concerts there. Talent scouts often come to listen to the young
people. One famous ex-student is Katie Melua.

Listen to the CD and complete the fact file on Katie Melua.

36

YES to music!
S) is a music organization
Youth Entertainment Studios (YE
r areas of London. Growing
that helps young people in poo
can be difficult and young
up in a poor area of a big city
e problems with the police.
people often join gangs or hav
ple. Young people can learn
YES runs courses for young peo
out how to become a
how to play an instrument or find
per R-9 joined YES when he
sound engineer or producer. Rap
I was always in trouble. I
was a teen. “Before I joined YES
But I was always into music.
Name: Katie Melua was in a gang and I used drugs.
has a record company with
Born: YES changed my life.” Now R-9
de Me Do It is about
Date of Birth: his friend Ace. His single They Ma
ng in yourself and not giving
growing up. “It’s about believi
Places she has lived: I believed in myself. I hope
in to the gangs. Thanks to YES
School: other young people can, too.”
Languages:
Favourite Singer:

25
 MODULE 6
Exercises
talk A Answer the questions. Talk about them in pairs.
1. When do you usually watch TV? …………………………….
2. How much TV do you watch every day? …………………………….
3. What are your favourite programmes? …………………………….
4. How many TVs are there in your home? …………………………….
5. Who decides what you watch? …………………………….

B Read the information about TV in America and try to guess the missing
37 numbers. Listen and check. Are you surprised?

1……………………… % of American American teens watch

4
families have TV sets. ……………………… hours of TV
2
every week.
……………………… % of American
homes have more than 3 TV sets. Young Americans will have seen
5
3………………………
……………………… murders on
% of American
TV by the time they are 18.
teens have a TV in their bedrooms.

C In groups write a scene for a soap opera. Use the characters below.
Then act it out.

Sadie Summers. David Lee. David is 44 Mike Lee. Mike is

Sadie is 45. She and his wife is dead. 16 and is Brian’s
is divorced He is Sadie’s boss. He friend. Mike loves
with 2 teenage likes Sadie and would sport and he
children, Jade, like to help her but wants to be a
13 and Brian, she is too stressed to footballer. He isn’t
15. She is notice. He can see interested in girls
always stressed that Jade has and he can’t
and she problems with understand Brian.
works a lot. school but he He thinks Jade is
doesn’t know how annoying.
to tell Sadie.

Jade Summers. Brian Summers. Hannah Lee. Hannah

Jade hates school He is very shy and is 14. She is in Jade’s
and sometimes unsure of himself. class but they are not
she doesn’t go He fancies lots of friends. Hannah
although her girls but he hasn’t studies hard and
mother thinks she got the courage wants to go to
is a good student. to ask them out. university. She likes
She fancies Brian’s Jade always Brian but she is too
friend Mike. makes fun of him. shy to talk to him.

26
 LEVEL 1

D Listen to Andy. Tick the things he says

38 about musical instruments.
They make you more confident.
They make you shy.
They make your hearing better.
They make your concentration better.
They stop you from talking during class.
They help you listen better in class.
They stop you from watching too much TV.
They stop you from doing things.

Do you agree or disagree with him? Discuss in pairs.

E Rap is one of the most important musical trends of the moment. Raps
39 often have strong social messages. Read this rap by teen rappers Ablaze
and Shudda. It was the winner of the Fairtrade Rap Competition. Try to
guess the missing rhymes. Listen and check.
Here’s a little rhyme – it’s about fair 1 …………………
No exploitation – everyone gets paid
With Dubble- the farmers get their fair share
Now that’s what I call a trade that is 2 …………………
It’s not easy work growing cocoa 3 …………………
In the heat of Ghana there are human beings
Slaving away so that we get our treat
Bending over backwards and out working their 4 …………………
But with fair trade all this can stop
More kids can go to school and they can do their weekly 5 …………………
So what are you waiting 6 …………………?
Get out there – buy some Dubble bars then go and buy some more
Coz we can make this whole thing fair but we just need some help from 7 …………………
So when they get up in the morning they wake up to something new
Coz right now the conditions are bluntly unfair
So please help the farmers and show that you 8 …………………!
What we need in this world is something fair
Something that is evenly shared.

F Listen to the second version and shout out the missing words or phrases.
40

G Portfolio

Write your own rap. Choose one of the

following themes.
Homework Gangs
War Loneliness

27
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