Listening and reading Africa There are 53 countries in Africa and about 900 million people. In the north, there are deserts and in the middle, where the equator is, it is tropical. In the south, there are big plains and a desert called the Kalahari. Africa is very famous for wild animals. There are very big herbivores such as giraffes, elephants and hippos and big carnivores like lions and crocodiles. There are many national parks which are very popular with tourists. There are a lot of natural resources in Africa including oil and minerals. Unfortunately, Africa is also very poor. Today, 380 million Africans are poor. Why? There are one thousand languages or more in Africa so African culture is very rich. African music is very varied. One famous musician is Ali Farke Touré from Mali. African dancing is wonderful and the clothes are beautiful and colourful. Education and health care is very important for the future of Africa. 155 words Grammar: there is, there are Some Questions 1 How many countries are there in Africa? ............................................................................................................................ 2 What big herbivores are there in Africa? ............................................................................................................................ 3 How many languages are there in Africa? ............................................................................................................................ 4 What is important for Africa’s future? ............................................................................................................................ www.autoenglish.org Written by Bob Wilson ©Robert Clifford McNair Wilson 2009 Listening and reading  Freshwater Dolphins  Do you know about freshwater dolphins?  Freshwater dolphins live in rivers and estuaries in South America and Asia.  Let’s go to the Amazon.  The Amazon is the second longest river in the world. Only the Nile is longer than the Amazon.  The Amazon dolphin is the biggest freshwater dolphin and also the most intelligent. Their brains  are 40% bigger than human brains. They like to play with the indigenous people of the Amazon  and also they rescue people when they fall out of their canoes. They are pink.  Another South American freshwater dolphin is the River Plate dolphin. The estuary of this river  is between Argentina and Uruguay and it is the widest estuary in the world. These dolphins are  smaller than the Amazon dolphins. However, their noses are longer.  Let’s go to the Mekong.  The Mekong river flows from Laos to Cambodia. It is the tenth longest river on the planet and  has one of the richest biodiversities. This means the number of different plants and animals  living in one area. Very sadly, there are only 50 Mekong dolphins alive. They are dying because  of pollution from goldmines and because politicians are not doing anything to help.  Let’s go to the Indus River.  Special dolphins also live in the Indus River, which is the longest river in Pakistan and the 21 st  longest river in the world. Similar dolphins live in the Ganges, which is the 39 th  longest river in  the world. Both these dolphins need help from politicians to save them from pollution.  Let’s go to China.  The Yangtze River is the third longest river in the world but it is very polluted. All the beautiful  Yangtze River Dolphins are now dead. This is very sad for future generations of Chinese people  who will never see their Yangtze dolphin.  Let’s go to Peru.  There is some better news. In the Amazon, the Peruvian Forest Police help the pink dolphins.  They stop logging, that means cutting down trees, and they stop commercial fishing. There are  now more dolphins in Yarapa than 20 years ago. It is very important for Brazil to do the same.  And let’s go to Thailand...  ... to Songhkla Lake. Here the Thai Marine and Coastal Resources Department  protect the  dolphins living in the lake. Songkhkla Lake is the largest natural lake in Thailand.  The politicians in Brazil, Cambodia, India, Laos and Pakistan must do more to protect their  beautiful freshwater dolphins.  404 words  Grammar: comparative and superlative adjectives, ordinal numbers. www.autoenglish.org  Written by Bob Wilson ©Robert Clifford McNair Wilson 2009  Listening  Listening Mind Map  T IT L E : ………………………………………………………………………..  K E Y  P O I N T S  D E T A I L S  E X T R A  N O T E S  • @ ‚ ƒ • @ ‚ ƒ • @ ‚ ƒ • @ ‚ ƒ • @ ‚ ƒ www.autoenglish.org  Written by Bob Wilson ©Robert Clifford McNair Wilson 2009  Listening and reading Meerkats Meerkats are small omnivorous mammals and they are from the mongoose family. They live in underground cities in Botswana and South Africa. They live in groups of between twenty and fifty individuals. Each group has a king and a queen. An adult meerkat weighs about three quarters of a kilo and is about 30 cm long with a long tail. They have brown noses and small ears which close when they dig tunnels. Their normal expression is friendly and thoughtful at the same time. Meerkats mostly eat insects such as centipedes but also eat plants, eggs and snakes. Meerkats are friendly and very clever. When the group hunts or plays, two meerkats watch for danger. They start barking when they see danger and all the meerkats run into the tunnels. They have special cries which mean ‘eagle’ and ‘snake’. Meerkat parents teach their children how to eat scorpions and they sometimes have babysitters so they can go out. When the young leave the tunnels for the first time, the whole group comes to celebrate the occasion. There is now a famous TV series called Meerkat Manison. It is about the adventures of a real meerkat group in the Kalahari Desert in Botswana. The show is very popular in Australia, the US and Britain and there are now three series to watch. 221words Grammar: the present simple tense Some Questions 1 Where do meerkats live? ............................................................................................................................ 2 What do meerkats eat? ............................................................................................................................ 3 When do meerkats have a celebration? ............................................................................................................................ 4 What is the name of the famous TV show about meerkats? ............................................................................................................................ www.autoenglish.org Written by Bob Wilson ©Robert Clifford McNair Wilson 2009 Listening and reading Penelope Cruz Penelope Cruz is a beautiful Spanish actress and Oscar winner. She is in more than 40 films and Vicky Christina Barcelona is one of her best films. It is about two young Amercian women in Barcelona and the director is Woody Allen from New York. It is a brilliant film and is now available on DVD. Penelope Cruz is also a trained ballet dancer and is fluent in Spanish, French, Italian and English. She is 1.63 m tall. She is a vegetarian and her hobby is dominoes. Penelope’s family is from Alcobendas near Madrid. Her mother’s name is Encarna and she is a hairdresser. Her father’s name is Eduardo and he is a car mechanic. Her brother is also called Eduardo and he is a singer. Her sister Monica is an actress like Penelope and she is famous on TV in Spain. More great films with Penelope Cruz are Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and All the Pretty Horses and in Spanish Belle Epoque and All About My Mother. Her next film is called Nine. Penelope’s friend is Javier Bardem and he is also a famous international film star. He is in the film Vicky Christina Barcelona with Penelope and he is also an Oscar winner too. Javier is in more than 25 films. One of his best films is No Country for Old Men. His Oscar is for this film. He is 1.83 m tall and his hobbies are painting and rugby. Javier is the son of famous Spanish actress Pilar Bardem. His brother and sister are actors and his grandparents too. Other great films with Javier are Before Night Falls, The Sea Inside and Mondays in the Sun. 279 words Grammar: verb BE in present simple Some Questions 1 Who is the director of Vicky Christina Barcelona? ............................................................................................................................ 2 How tall is Penelope Cruz? ............................................................................................................................ 3 Is she a vegetarian? ............................................................................................................................ 4 What is her mother’s name? ............................................................................................................................ 5 What is her father’s job? ............................................................................................................................ 6 Is her sister also famous? ............................................................................................................................ 7 Is Javier Bardem also an Oscar winner? ............................................................................................................................ 8 How tall is Javier? ............................................................................................................................ 9 What are Javier’s hobbies ............................................................................................................................ www.autoenglish.org Written by Bob Wilson ©Robert Clifford McNair Wilson 2009 Listening and reading Rafa Nadal Rafa Nadal was born on a Spanish island called Majorca on 3 June 1986 where his family lived. He started playing tennis when he was three. Although he is right-handed, he changed to playing left-handed when he was eight years old. He also really liked football but stopped playing because he needed more time for school. His uncle Tony helped Rafa to become a professional. When Rafa was 14, the Spanish tennis federation wanted Rafa to leave the island of Majorca and move to Barcelona. However, his family didn’t want this so the Spanish federation decided to reduce the financial help for Rafa’s career. This decision by the Spanish federation of tennis was very stupid and very typical. Rafa tried to win Wimbledon twice before taking the title from his friend Roger Federer in 2008. They played the longest Wimbledon final ever and hero and former-champion John McEnroe called it the best tennis match in history. In the same year, Rafa became the best player in the world. 168 words Grammar: the most common regular verbs Some Questions 1 Where was Rafa Nadal born? ............................................................................................................................ 2 Why did Rafa stop playing football? ............................................................................................................................ 3 Who helped Rafa to become a professional? ............................................................................................................................ 4 When did Rafa win Wimbledon? ............................................................................................................................ www.autoenglish.org Written by Bob Wilson ©Robert Clifford McNair Wilson 2009 Listening and Reading The Three Bears Three kinds of bears live in Alaska. These are the white bear, the black bear and the brown bear. White bears, or polar bears, usually live on the ice and nearly always eat meat, especially seals. They often catch seals by waiting near their breathing holes in the ice. White bears always have a wash after meals. Black bears normally live in forests. They eat a lot of plants and really love honey. Black bears sometimes steal nuts from squirrels. A black bear can occasionally attack a moose. Black bears are very popular with people. Teddy bears come from black bears and Winnie the Pooh too. Brown bears, or grizzly bears, nearly always live in the mountains. Once a year, the brown bears go to the rivers and lakes to catch salmon. Brown bears love blackberries, blueberries and huckleberrries. Bears rarely attack humans. White bears are very, very dangerous but there are not many people where they live. You must never go near a white bear. If you meet a black bear, you shout at him until he goes away. However, if you meet a brown bear in the forest, you lie down and play dead. It is very important not to confuse brown bears with black bears. Also, when you go camping, you always put your food and rubbish in special containers so that the bears don't smell them. 230 words. www.autoenglish.org Written by Bob Wilson ©Robert Clifford McNair Wilson 2010 Listening and reading How to Save the Planet (and yourself) GIY stands for grow it yourself and is about a new fashion for growing your own food. There are a lot of reasons why growing your own food is a good idea. GIY cuts down your carbon footprint. Your carbon footprint is the quantity of carbon dioxide gas, or CO 2, you make go into the atmosphere. Too much CO2, causes global warming and climate change. Food in supermarkets travels a long way in ships and lorries which produce a lot of CO2. When you buy food from a supermarket, you need to ask, “How many food miles does it have? Also, buying vegetables grown in heated greenhouses increase your carbon footprint a lot. If you buy as much food as you can in season from your region, you help save the planet. If you grow as many vegetables as you can at home, then you are helping a lot more because you use a lot less water. Vegetables you grow yourself are also good for your body because they contain a lot more minerals, nutrients and antioxidants than supermarket vegetables and they don't contain any chemicals such as fungicides, insecticides or chemical fertilizers either. Your vegetables are also the freshest and the tastiest you can get. If you GIY, you learn a lot about plants and farming and it can be very useful for teaching children about nature and where food comes from too. How much money can you save? To begin with, seeds are a lot cheaper to buy than vegetables. Then, there are two ways to save even more. Firstly, plant the most expensive vegetables such as leeks. Secondly, plant the most productive. One courgette plant produces so many courgettes that you can give a lot of them to friends and neighbours, which makes you very popular. Cucumbers, green beans, peas, raspberries, strawberries and of course tomatoes are great too and they are all very easy to grow. Herbs are expensive to buy so you can never grow too much basil, mint, parsely, rosemary or thyme. Experts say it is best to buy cheap vegetables like onions and potatoes directly from local farmers. Don't worry if you don't have much space. To GIY, you don't even need a garden. You can use pots on your balcony for growing aubergines, broad beans, peppers and tomatoes. What's more, don't worry if your space doesn't get much sun. In that case you can plant endives, lettuce, peas, radicchio and spinach. Basically, growing your own vegetables is a win-win situation. You are richer, you have a healthier planet, a healthier social life and a healthier body and mind. 437 words www.autoenglish.org Written by Bob Wilson ©Robert Clifford McNair Wilson 2010  ... by Bob Wilson ©Robert Clifford McNair Wilson 2010 Listening and reading How to Save the Planet (and yourself) GIY stands for grow it yourself and is about a new fashion for growing your own food... Written by Bob Wilson ©Robert Clifford McNair Wilson 2009  Listening and reading Meerkats Meerkats are small omnivorous mammals and they are from the mongoose family They live in underground cities in Botswana and South Africa They... ©Robert Clifford McNair Wilson 2009 Listening and reading Penelope Cruz Penelope Cruz is a beautiful Spanish actress and Oscar winner She is in more than 40 films and Vicky Christina Barcelona is