1.

Read the text carefully and then do the activities below:

PROGENITOR OF SOCIAL MEDIA

progenitor : parent / originator

Christopher Isaac Stone (Biz) founded Twitter with his friend Dick Costolo in

2006. Several years later Twitter reached 5000 users. Now, 225 million users

post a billion tweets every 48 hours. In 2008, Facebook owner, Mark Zuckerberg

tried to buy Twitter for U$ 500 million, but his offer was turned down. The

following year, Twitter was worth U$ 30 billion.

Biz grew up near Boston, USA, in 1974. He did not have an easy childhood. His

parents got divorced and as they had very little money, he had to get a job

running errands and in a store. His friends were wealthy so he tried to hide

his poverty from them. He lived on welfare and his debts ran up to U$75.000.

He studied art at college but dropped out, moved to California and started

working for Google.

Now, he lives in Marin County, where he helps the poor, works in the film

industry and writes books. He is a vegan and has produced a documentary

called Eating animals.

His latest project is a social network called SUPER. Its aim is to allow users to

express their feelings using superlatives. Withe SUPER, the user can start a

phrase using “the best”, “the worst”, “the craziest '' and finish the sentence the

way they like. Then, the sentence is turned into a colourful banner and pasted

on an image they like. “ If something is fun, then people will use it and it will

surely become important. Creativity and innovation are essential when

inventing technology,” he says.

Biz has been given many prizes. He was named ENTREPRENEUR of the decade

and TIME listed him as one of the 100 most influential people in the world for

developing new forms of media.

A. Match the words in bold to the right definitions:

a. turn down 1. goal, objective

b. errand 2. important, famous

c. wealthy 3. modernization

d. drop out 4. a long piece of cloth with words written on it

e. documentary 5. businessperson, executive

f. aim 6. reject, say no

g. banner 7. rich

h. innovation 8. abandon, quit

i. entrepreneur 9. a programme that gives information about

a topic

j. influential 10. job, assignment

B. Now read the article again and identify the main

facts about Biz Stone’s life and career.

Complete the table

Biz Stone

CHILDHOOD ● __________________________________
&
EARLY LIFE ● __________________________________

● __________________________________

● __________________________________
EDUCATION AND
CAREER ● __________________________________

● __________________________________

● __________________________________
BELIEFS & OPINIONS
● __________________________________
C. Write 10 questions to ask Biz Stone ( the answers should be found in the
text you have read about him).

EG: Who did you found Twitter with?

1.______________________________________________________________?

2.______________________________________________________________?

3.______________________________________________________________?

4. _____________________________________________________________?

5.______________________________________________________________?

6._____________________________________________________________ ?

7. _____________________________________________________________ ?

8.______________________________________________________________?

9.______________________________________________________________?

10. ____________________________________________________________?
2. Read the article below and do the activities below it:

WHAT DEGREE ?
Education fairs provide students with large amounts of information about what to
study at university and what university to choose.
It’s best to have an idea of what you want to find out, before attending the fair,
so that you do not end up confused and not knowing what to do. The problem is
education fairs give too much information!

Ask yourself these questions:

What do I want to study? How much is it all going to cost?

Only you can answer this question.
However, if you have no idea of what
to study, an education fair may help.
If you are planning to study abroad
( not in your country), you should ask
the following questions:
Prices vary considerably. Some degree
courses are much more expensive
than others. Your parents will have to
pay, apart from education, things such
as:

1. Is the university good at ● housing and electricity.

dealing with overseas
students?
2. Is there a special office to deal
with the needs of overseas
students?
3. Are there many international
students ? How many? Where
do they come from?
4. If things go wrong, is there any
support?
5. Are there any counsellors?
6. Is there a community from your
country?
● books and computers
● transport
● clothing
● entertainment
● travel
Capital and large cities are more
expensive than other parts of a
country, but they have more to offer.
There are cinemas, sports and cultural
events and shops among other
things.
It is important to ask the university
how much money you will be
spending per year.

GLOSSARY:

● overseas: in or from another country

● support: help

● counsellor: someone who is trained to listen to people and give them

advice about their problems
Answer the questions:

1. Why do students attend education fairs?

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

2. In your opinion, why is it important to know if there are students from

your country ( if you decide to study abroad)?

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

3. In your opinion, what things could go wrong at a university overseas?

● ___________________________________________________________

● ___________________________________________________________

4. According to the text, why are larger cities a better place to live in?

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

5. What is “housing”?

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________
Keep on reading the article and then do the activities below:

Am I taking up a good degree What else is there to think about?

course?
University is not only about studying.
Before you decide what to study, here You should have fun as well! What
are a few more questions to ask happens outside the classroom is also
yourself: important!

1. Is it easy to get a job after 1. Do orchestras perform

graduating? concerts regularly?

2. Do you get any work 2. Is there a Science or art fair in

experience at university? town?

3. Are the staff qualified? 3. Is it easy to travel from the

4. How much will you learn? How
many lectures and courses
are there a month?
5. What do students at university
think about the course?
town to other places?
4. Is the town good for shopping?
5. Is the town an attractive place
to walk around?
6. Are the local people friendly?

Before making a decision as to what Take your time to think. Do not make
to study, talk to any friends you may any decisions in a hurry! There are so
have at university. They will share many universities to go to!
their opinions with you.

Which of the words in bold match the definitions below?

1. A formal talk on a serious subject given to a group of people, especially

students: _____________________

2. Behaving in a pleasant, kind way towards someone:____________________

 3. A large group of musicians who play many different instruments together and
are led by a conductor:____________________

4. Beautiful, interesting:_________________

5. A large public event where goods are bought and sold : _________________

C. Article: AFRICA MERCY

Read the magazine article about working on the Africa Mercy, a hospital
ship anchored off the coast of Sierra Leone. Then, do the activities
below it.

The Africa Mercy is a floating hospital. It weighs 16,500 tons and is 160
metres long. There is room for 450 people: doctors, nurses, patients and
the ship crew. The Mercy is equipped with 6 operating theaters, intensive
care unit , recovery for 78 patients, an ophthalmic unit and two CT
scanners. Over the next months, her staff will perform 7,000 operations.

2000 volunteers, including surgeons, nurses, teachers and mechanics

from different nations work on the ship. The Mercy has transformed, by
simple surgery, the lives of thousands of people. These are surgeries that
would take only ten minutes in a regular hospital.

Dr. Gary Parker is Chief medical officer. He lives on the ship with his wife
and two children in two small cabins. His wife teaches Latin and he
spends most of his time in the operating theatre. He is an expert on head
and face injuries caused in war.

Dr. Parker’s children go to school on board, together with 50 other

children. This school is very unusual since it has to teach children how to
fill their free time because they are quarantined to the ship. Spending
the whole day on the ship can be intense and the hardest part is
forming relationships. People get very close, but at some point, they
leave the ship and saying goodbye is heartbreaking.

Sandra Lako, a doctor on the ship, says getting water is really hard.
Sometimes, there is only one bucket of water and a bar of soap on each
ward of 40 patients for nurses and caretakers to wash their hands. Can
you imagine how difficult it is to wash sheets and towels? Sandra lived on
this ship when she was a child and later decided to become a doctor and
work on it.

“The hardest thing about my job is telling people you can’t help them,”
says Sandra. “We can only take on the most severe cases, those which
can still be helped. Sadly, we can’t save everyone.”

1. Look, in the text, for synonyms for the words in bold:

a. perform:________________________

b. nations:________________________

c. transformed:____________________

d. unusual:________________________

e. quarantined:____________________

f. intense:________________________

g. hardest:________________________

h. leave:__________________________

i. heartbreaking:___________________

j. severe:_________________________
2. Write sentences to illustrate the meaning of the following words:

Example:

a. patients : The ward was full of patients in great pain.

b. nurse:________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

c. nations:_______________________________________________
______________________________________________________

d. wife:_________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

e. expert:_______________________________________________
______________________________________________________

f. towel:________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

g. injuries:_______________________________________________
______________________________________________________

h. ship:__________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

i. operating theatre:______________________________________
______________________________________________________

j. operations:____________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH

This is part of a letter written by a prospector to his

cousin during the California Gold rush.

prospector: a person who looks for gold.

After many delays, we set sail to El Dorado. The weather was warm and
the wind was light. Our ship was slow and consequently, our voyage was
slow and tedious. One sailor fell into the water and as he could not swim,
ropes and wooden boards were thrown to him. He caught one and held
onto it, till a small raft was lowered from the ship to rescue him. He was
terrified, but fortunately, he was not hurt. One day, we were hit by a
terrible storm which ripped our sails. We fixed them and kept on sailing at
a rate of 10 knots per hour.

On the fifth day we spotted an object that called our attention. The great
hills of San Francisco began to show their highest points and we were
soon sailing along a channel between them, which led us to the city of
San Francisco. When we were given the order to anchor, we did so among
a fleet of vessels of all kinds and sizes.

We then got on a schooner and kept sailing along the

coast. At one point, our vessel fell on her side and
filled with water. As it became darker, our captain told
some of us to go on shore. Some sailors left the
vessel but I stayed with the captain and almost got
covered in water.

We lay down to rest and after a while we were woken up because the
water was rising fast and it would soon cover us. Our feet and our
blankets got wet, so we got some old logs to stand on. It was the worst
weekend ever. At night, the captain sent a vessel and took us back to the
ship and we continued our trip to Sacramento.

We hired a team of ox to carry our luggage and

headed towards a town called Hangtown, which had
got its name from the fact that three people had been
hung there for stealing and trying to commit murder.
We slept peacefully outdoors that night. After four
days, we reached the place we had been looking for, a place
full of diggings and holes.

We put up our tents and got our shovels, picks and pans
and set out. We were sure we would find gold, but as we
didn’t have any experience, that first day, we did not get any.
However, by watching other people and trying hard, we soon found some
metal.

Many people that come here are not lucky. Some do not find any gold,
others catch diseases and die or find themselves begging for a trip home
because they have no money. However, there is plenty of gold. The
matter is that some people are too weak and fall ill and others are simply
unlucky and do not find any gold.

1. Make a list of the unpleasant experiences involved in being a

prospector ( when looking for gold)

Example: The voyage was long and exhausting

● ______________________________________________________

● ______________________________________________________

● ______________________________________________________

● ______________________________________________________

● ______________________________________________________

● ______________________________________________________

2. Find words in bold from the text matching the following

definitions:

a. A tool used for digging or moving sand, coal, or snow ___________

 b. a thick piece of tree trunk or branch, especially one cut for burning
on a fire ______________

c. A passage of water where ships can travel_____________

d. a long journey, especially by ship________________

e. a covering made of cloth that is used especially on a bed to keep

you warm________________

f. illnesses ______________

g. a portable shelter made of fabric where people sleep when they go

camping ________________

h. not physically strong ______________

i. very frightened________________

WHAT’S AN AMISH WEDDING LIKE?

Watch the video below to learn who the AMISH are:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaglQcUlC1Q

Now, read the text and do the activities below it:

A typical Amish wedding begins at four in the morning, after the cows are
milked and the daily farm chores done.
There are also last minute preparations to take care of. Helpers arrive
around 6.30 am, and by 7.30, after breakfast, the bride and groom’s
families get ready to welcome the guests. Around 200-400 people are
invited to the ceremony, which is held at the bride’s home.

The ceremony is extremely long. It lasts three hours. The minister gives
advice to the couple while the guests sing hymns. Afterwards, a prayer,
Bible reading and a sermon take place. Then, the minister asks the couple
if they are willing to get married. Once they say YES, the minister blesses
the couple. A final prayer closes the ceremony.

That’s when the celebrations begin. The women rush to the kitchen to get
ready to serve dinner while the men arrange the tables in the living room.
The tables are full of roasted chicken with mashed potatoes, salads, bread
and butter and fruit salad.

The single women sit next to the bride and the single men next to the
groom. After lunch, they all spend the afternoon playing games and
matchmaking. Later on, there is an evening meal, which starts at 5 pm.
The parents of the bride and groom and the older guests sit at the main
table. They are the ones to be served first. Supper consists of stewed
chicken, fried sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese and lemon cake and
cookies. The party ends around 10.30 pm.

Glossary:

● Chore: a job that needs to be done regularly ( e.g: cleaning the

house).

●
 ● Groom Amish groom

● Minister: a religious leader.

● Hymn: a song that Christians sing to God.

● Matchmaking: the activity of arranging marriages or romantic

relationships between people.

● Supper: a meal eaten in the evening.

a) Answer the following questions

1.When does a typical Amish wedding begin?

___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

2. What time does the family get ready to welcome the guests?
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

3. Make a list of the steps involved in the ceremony.

● ________________________________________________
● ________________________________________________
 ● ________________________________________________
● ________________________________________________

4. What do the guests do after lunch?

___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

5. What do they have for supper?

___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

b) Now, it is your turn to write a description. Below, you will find an

example so that you can get ideas.
Read the description below:

___________________________________________________________

Our annual sports day, which usually takes place in September, is always
full of fun and excitement. The entire school, including the playground, is
decorated with flags, colourful banners and flowers. Many boys and girls
take part in the event.

Preparations for the event start a week earlier. On sports day, our
principal formally declares the day open at 10 am. The games include
 football and basketball matches, races, jumps and other track events. I
always take part in the 50 m and 100 m races. Last year I received a
silver cup and the team from my class won the relay race.

The event comes to a close with the distribution of prizes, which are given
away by our principal. The Air is filled with joy and friendliness. We are
all so happy! The following day is declared a holiday by our principal.

___________________________________________________________

(See activity below)

Describe either Edmund Rice Day OR sports day at your school.

*When does the _____________________________________
event happen?
_____________________________________
*Where does the _____________________________________
event happen?
INTRODUCTION
_____________________________________
*How is the place
_____________________________________
decorated?
_____________________________________
*Who participate in
the event? _____________________________________
_____________________________________
*How do students
feel? _____________________________________
 _____________________________________
_____________________________________

*What happens? _____________________________________

DEVELOPMENT
_____________________________________
*What do you do?
_____________________________________
*How do you feel?
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________

_____________________________________
*What happens at
_____________________________________
the end?
_____________________________________
CONCLUSION *Who gives out
_____________________________________
prizes?
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
*How do you feel?
How do your _____________________________________
friends feel?
_____________________________________
 UNIT 2
LANGUAGE
BOOKLET

Name:________________________