READING 1

STOATS PORRIDGE

0   Breakfast is said to be the most important meal of the

day. It gives us the energy we need to go out and work,
learn and play. But how many of us take the time to make
and eat a healthy breakfast every day?

1   In Scotland, porridge is a traditional breakfast

cereal. It is made by mixing oats with milk and is served
hot with salt, sugar or honey. It is healthy and filling –
you won’t feel hungry after eating a bowl of porridge.

2   In 2004, Scotsman Tony Stoats got an idea for a new

business – mobile porridge vans. Tony worked as a salesman
and travelled a lot for his job. He noticed that most
modern fast food was not very healthy and he often felt
hungry soon after eating it. 

3    In 2005, Tony and his business partner, Bob, bought a

van and started selling fresh porridge at music festivals
across the UK. Stoats vans offered a healthy alternative to
popular festival foods like burgers and chips. They served
several different flavours of porridge including the
traditional ‘Stoater’ porridge with salt, honey, whisky and
white chocolate. The crowds loved it!

4   Tony always talked to his customers at festivals, to

find out what they wanted. They said that they would like
oat bars – something delicious and healthy that they could
eat with a cup of tea or coffee. Tony listened to his
customers, and there are now eight different kinds of
Stoats oat bars that you can buy in shops or online.

5   The business grew quickly and now Stoats sell porridge

oats, snack bars, food boxes and many other healthy
products in over 1,000 shops across the UK. They still tour
the music festivals every summer, and they have Porridge
Bars at Edinburgh Farmers' Market every Saturday. Cara Hind
buys Stoats porridge every weekend. ‘I don’t just buy the
porridge because it’s healthy,’ she says, ‘it’s because I
love the taste. It’s the best way to start the weekend!’

A The benefits of porridge

B The meal we need the most
C Tony’s business at the moment
D An idea for a new business
E     Taking the business to music festivals
F Some new oat bars
READING 2
KRZYSZTOF

I  met Krzysztof when I was a student in Edinburgh. My

flatmate was at home in Ireland for the summer, so
Krzysztof  rented  his room for a few weeks. My first 
impression of Krzysztof was that he was very young, but
confident about travelling and 1 __________ new people. He
was a guitarist in a band that was going to play at the
Edinburgh Festival of music and arts. Before Krzysztof, I
had  never  met anyone who was Polish. He taught me a lot
about Poland and Polish culture and he 2 __________ had a
funny story to tell! Now he’s very different – he runs his
own successful media company. But he still tells great
stories, plays great music and 3 __________ a good party!

HIROMI

Hiromi and I met in a lift. I worked on the seventh floor

of a large office building and one day we got  into  the
lift at the same time. I was on my lunch break, and the
lift always took a long  time, so I asked her where she
was  4 __________. She replied that she was from Japan, but
that she was studying at the language school in my
building. She said she was quite shy and she found it
difficult to meet people and practise her English. I
invited her to have lunch with me in the coffee shop
downstairs and we had such a 5 __________ time chatting
that we decided to meet again. Six years later, she lives
here in Australia and she is my best friend

NICE
LOVE 
BAD
NEVER
FROM
MEETING
EATS
ALWAYS
READING 3
MOUNTAIN GORILLAS

What would you do if you saw a mountain gorilla? Most

people would probably be very afraid and run away! That’s
because gorillas have a very frightening 1 __ : they are
huge. Male gorillas weigh twice as 2 __ as female gorillas.
They can grow up to two metres tall and can weigh more than
200 kilogrammes. Gorillas can also make a lot of noise.
They can roar, bang their chests and bare their teeth. In
fact, these aggressive displays are very rare and male
gorillas only do it when they are protecting 3 __ families.

The truth is that gorillas are incredibly intelligent,

gentle and social animals that stay together in small
family groups. The leader is the largest male, called the
‘silverback’. That’s 4 __ of the beautiful silver fur on
their backs. They spend almost all of their time on the
forest floor, eating and sleeping. They are mainly
vegetarian, although they eat some insects. Young gorillas
often play together. They run about and 5 __ trees. At
night, the animals make a nest to sleep in. The lighter
gorillas nest in trees. The heavier gorillas make nests on
the ground, and the babies sleep with their mothers.
Gorillas 6 __ attack humans. They only fight when something
or someone attacks them or their young. In that situation,
they will fight to the death. Hunters looking for baby
gorillas may have to kill a whole family to get what they
want. Sadly, there are less than 650 mountain gorillas left
in the wild, which means they are now an endangered
species. These gorillas only live in the mountain jungles
of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.