Reading, 9 F, II term (Focus 2)

Read the texts. Match the people 1-5 with the best option for what to do after finishing school A-Г

Read the text. For the question, choose the correct answer, A, B, C or D.

No more plastic bags

In 2011 a new law, the first of its kind in the UK, was passed in Wales. Shops were no longer allowed to give away free plastic bags to their customers. Instead, they had to charge a tax of 5p per bag, which was collected and given to charity. The results were amazing – within a year, the demand for supermarket bags fell by about ninety-six percent. The extra charge was enough to make Welsh shoppers change their habits and remember to take their own bags whenever they went shopping. The tax was the result of a huge campaign, which was supported by a national newspaper, the Daily Mail, as well as various politicians and green campaigners. It is increasingly popular too. When it was introduced, it was supported by about fifty-nine percent of the Welsh population, but after only six months the figure was seventy percent. There is no doubt that plastic bags are bad news for the environment. Every year in the UK about eighteen billion (18,000,000,000) plastic bags are given away by supermarkets – that’s about 290 bags per person. Most of them end up in landfill sites, where they remain for hundreds of years, polluting the environment. Wildlife is affected too. For example, every year a million seabirds die when they mistake bags floating on the sea for food. All this is bad enough, but plastic bags damage the environment in other ways too. Before they reach the shops, they have already travelled thousands of miles – most of them are made in China or India and then shipped to countries in Europe, including the UK. Then, when they have been used (for an average of twenty minutes each) and thrown away, they are often shipped back again, because we are running out of space here. The solution to this problem is obvious – stop producing so many plastic bags, and stop giving them away – but shoppers in the UK have been very slow to change their ways. However, the success of the Welsh tax shows that it is possible to change people’s shopping habits. According to researchers from Cardiff University, part of the reason for the popularity of the tax is that the money goes to charity, not the government. Certainly, hundreds of thousands of pounds have been raised since the tax was introduced. The money has gone to a variety of good causes, including local children’s charities and the RSPB (the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds). It is safe to conclude that the plastic bag tax has brought positive change to Wales.

1. In 2011,

Read the text. For the question, choose the correct answer, A, B, C or D.

No more plastic bags

In 2011 a new law, the first of its kind in the UK, was passed in Wales. Shops were no longer allowed to give away free plastic bags to their customers. Instead, they had to charge a tax of 5p per bag, which was collected and given to charity. The results were amazing – within a year, the demand for supermarket bags fell by about ninety-six percent. The extra charge was enough to make Welsh shoppers change their habits and remember to take their own bags whenever they went shopping. The tax was the result of a huge campaign, which was supported by a national newspaper, the Daily Mail, as well as various politicians and green campaigners. It is increasingly popular too. When it was introduced, it was supported by about fifty-nine percent of the Welsh population, but after only six months the figure was seventy percent. There is no doubt that plastic bags are bad news for the environment. Every year in the UK about eighteen billion (18,000,000,000) plastic bags are given away by supermarkets – that’s about 290 bags per person. Most of them end up in landfill sites, where they remain for hundreds of years, polluting the environment. Wildlife is affected too. For example, every year a million seabirds die when they mistake bags floating on the sea for food. All this is bad enough, but plastic bags damage the environment in other ways too. Before they reach the shops, they have already travelled thousands of miles – most of them are made in China or India and then shipped to countries in Europe, including the UK. Then, when they have been used (for an average of twenty minutes each) and thrown away, they are often shipped back again, because we are running out of space here. The solution to this problem is obvious – stop producing so many plastic bags, and stop giving them away – but shoppers in the UK have been very slow to change their ways. However, the success of the Welsh tax shows that it is possible to change people’s shopping habits. According to researchers from Cardiff University, part of the reason for the popularity of the tax is that the money goes to charity, not the government. Certainly, hundreds of thousands of pounds have been raised since the tax was introduced. The money has gone to a variety of good causes, including local children’s charities and the RSPB (the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds). It is safe to conclude that the plastic bag tax has brought positive change to Wales.

1. Every year in the UK 18 billion plastic supermarket bags ...

Read the text. For the question, choose the correct answer, A, B, C or D.

No more plastic bags

In 2011 a new law, the first of its kind in the UK, was passed in Wales. Shops were no longer allowed to give away free plastic bags to their customers. Instead, they had to charge a tax of 5p per bag, which was collected and given to charity. The results were amazing – within a year, the demand for supermarket bags fell by about ninety-six percent. The extra charge was enough to make Welsh shoppers change their habits and remember to take their own bags whenever they went shopping. The tax was the result of a huge campaign, which was supported by a national newspaper, the Daily Mail, as well as various politicians and green campaigners. It is increasingly popular too. When it was introduced, it was supported by about fifty-nine percent of the Welsh population, but after only six months the figure was seventy percent. There is no doubt that plastic bags are bad news for the environment. Every year in the UK about eighteen billion (18,000,000,000) plastic bags are given away by supermarkets – that’s about 290 bags per person. Most of them end up in landfill sites, where they remain for hundreds of years, polluting the environment. Wildlife is affected too. For example, every year a million seabirds die when they mistake bags floating on the sea for food. All this is bad enough, but plastic bags damage the environment in other ways too. Before they reach the shops, they have already travelled thousands of miles – most of them are made in China or India and then shipped to countries in Europe, including the UK. Then, when they have been used (for an average of twenty minutes each) and thrown away, they are often shipped back again, because we are running out of space here. The solution to this problem is obvious – stop producing so many plastic bags, and stop giving them away – but shoppers in the UK have been very slow to change their ways. However, the success of the Welsh tax shows that it is possible to change people’s shopping habits. According to researchers from Cardiff University, part of the reason for the popularity of the tax is that the money goes to charity, not the government. Certainly, hundreds of thousands of pounds have been raised since the tax was introduced. The money has gone to a variety of good causes, including local children’s charities and the RSPB (the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds). It is safe to conclude that the plastic bag tax has brought positive change to Wales.

1. Most plastic bags in the UK

No more plastic bags

In 2011 a new law, the first of its kind in the UK, was passed in Wales. Shops were no longer allowed to give away free plastic bags to their customers. Instead, they had to charge a tax of 5p per bag, which was collected and given to charity. The results were amazing – within a year, the demand for supermarket bags fell by about ninety-six percent. The extra charge was enough to make Welsh shoppers change their habits and remember to take their own bags whenever they went shopping. The tax was the result of a huge campaign, which was supported by a national newspaper, the Daily Mail, as well as various politicians and green campaigners. It is increasingly popular too. When it was introduced, it was supported by about fifty-nine percent of the Welsh population, but after only six months the figure was seventy percent. There is no doubt that plastic bags are bad news for the environment. Every year in the UK about eighteen billion (18,000,000,000) plastic bags are given away by supermarkets – that’s about 290 bags per person. Most of them end up in landfill sites, where they remain for hundreds of years, polluting the environment. Wildlife is affected too. For example, every year a million seabirds die when they mistake bags floating on the sea for food. All this is bad enough, but plastic bags damage the environment in other ways too. Before they reach the shops, they have already travelled thousands of miles – most of them are made in China or India and then shipped to countries in Europe, including the UK. Then, when they have been used (for an average of twenty minutes each) and thrown away, they are often shipped back again, because we are running out of space here. The solution to this problem is obvious – stop producing so many plastic bags, and stop giving them away – but shoppers in the UK have been very slow to change their ways. However, the success of the Welsh tax shows that it is possible to change people’s shopping habits. According to researchers from Cardiff University, part of the reason for the popularity of the tax is that the money goes to charity, not the government. Certainly, hundreds of thousands of pounds have been raised since the tax was introduced. The money has gone to a variety of good causes, including local children’s charities and the RSPB (the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds). It is safe to conclude that the plastic bag tax has brought positive change to Wales.

1. The tax is popular in Wales because the money

No more plastic bags

In 2011 a new law, the first of its kind in the UK, was passed in Wales. Shops were no longer allowed to give away free plastic bags to their customers. Instead, they had to charge a tax of 5p per bag, which was collected and given to charity. The results were amazing – within a year, the demand for supermarket bags fell by about ninety-six percent. The extra charge was enough to make Welsh shoppers change their habits and remember to take their own bags whenever they went shopping. The tax was the result of a huge campaign, which was supported by a national newspaper, the Daily Mail, as well as various politicians and green campaigners. It is increasingly popular too. When it was introduced, it was supported by about fifty-nine percent of the Welsh population, but after only six months the figure was seventy percent. There is no doubt that plastic bags are bad news for the environment. Every year in the UK about eighteen billion (18,000,000,000) plastic bags are given away by supermarkets – that’s about 290 bags per person. Most of them end up in landfill sites, where they remain for hundreds of years, polluting the environment. Wildlife is affected too. For example, every year a million seabirds die when they mistake bags floating on the sea for food. All this is bad enough, but plastic bags damage the environment in other ways too. Before they reach the shops, they have already travelled thousands of miles – most of them are made in China or India and then shipped to countries in Europe, including the UK. Then, when they have been used (for an average of twenty minutes each) and thrown away, they are often shipped back again, because we are running out of space here. The solution to this problem is obvious – stop producing so many plastic bags, and stop giving them away – but shoppers in the UK have been very slow to change their ways. However, the success of the Welsh tax shows that it is possible to change people’s shopping habits. According to researchers from Cardiff University, part of the reason for the popularity of the tax is that the money goes to charity, not the government. Certainly, hundreds of thousands of pounds have been raised since the tax was introduced. The money has gone to a variety of good causes, including local children’s charities and the RSPB (the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds). It is safe to conclude that the plastic bag tax has brought positive change to Wales.

1. In this article, the author shows

Read the texts. Match questions 1-5 with the people.

Who…

1 sees positives and negatives about their school? __        [Saba, Hayley, Kyle]__

2 would like more people to study the same way as them?        [Saba, Kyle, Hayley]_

3 found their school strange in the beginning? _        [Saba, Kyle, Hayley]

4 misses things about normal school? _        [Saba, Kyle, Hayley]

5 wasn’t happy about their new school before they started?        [Saba, Kyle, Hayley]

Unusual schools

Saba, Bangladesh

I’m so lucky that I have a new school. I live in Bangladesh and we have big problems with the weather. During the rainy season there are a lot of floods, and my old classroom used to get full of water and for weeks I missed lessons. My new school is on a boat so even when the weather is bad we can still study. The boat sails along the river and picks up the children close to their homes. Once everyone is on the boat, our lessons start. It was quite funny at first to feel the room moving as you learnt Maths, Science and all the other subjects but I’ve got used to it now. I think it even helps me to concentrate. It’s not that different to a traditional classroom really. We have desks, a whiteboard and even computers.

Kyle, Australia

When I finished primary school, my parents decided I had to go to a different school to all my friends. I was unhappy at first, but I realise now it was a good decision. Lakeside Academy is very different to most schools. My other friends all have to go to the same compulsory lessons and do everything they are told to do. At Lakeside, each student has their own learning plan. At the start of each semester, every student has a meeting with their teacher and their parents to discuss their goals and what they want to focus on. We still have lessons, but we can choose the subjects that we are most interested in or that are most important for us to improve. All our classes are mixed-ability too so there is less competition, and we never have to learn things by heart. There are a few places like this in Australia, and I hope there will be more in the future.

Hayley, Wales

My sister and I don’t go to school anymore. The journey used to take over an hour and we were so exhausted when we got to school that we couldn’t keep up with the other students. Our parents decided that it would be better for us to learn at home, so they are our teachers now. We each have our own schedule that our mother helped us to make. She teaches us Maths, English, History and French. Our father teaches us Science and Geography. We both get better grades now although we do have some extra lessons online and with a tutor who comes to our house. I like it because when we are good at a subject, we can learn more quickly. We don’t have to wait for other students to catch up. But I do miss my friends. I go to summer school every year to make friends and spend time with other teenagers, but it’s not the same as seeing your friends every day. At least I have my sister.