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In the text on page 2, you could scan to find out how many people there are in the conversation.1 Scan the conversation on social media on page 2 and answer the questions.a How many diff
READING PLUS Cambridge English Empower A2 Unit Meeting people SPEAKING a Ask and answer the questions with a partner b Find words or phrases with these meanings How you usually talk to your friends … ? • by phone • Skype / FaceTime • other • in person • on social media Is it easier to meet new people in person or on social media? Why? READING c Choose the best ending for the sentences Toni Perez … a wants to visit London one day b thinks Chris is a man’s name c doesn’t want to meet Chris Tom Schulz … a speaks only German b is on holiday in London c is the husband of a singer Chris Cross … a is from Ireland b teaches people how to ski c is a good friend of Martin Teal Martin Teal … a is very quiet and not very friendly b knows a person with the surname Cross c wasn’t very popular on the ski course BETTER READING: SCANNING Sometimes you need to scan (look at the text quickly) to find specific information In the text on page 2, you could scan to find out how many people there are in the conversation Scan the conversation on social media on page and answer the questions a How many different people (apart from Toni) comment on Toni’s post? b How did the design of the text help you to find the answer? a Read the conversation on page and answer the questions Who … ? says he went skiing knows a man who lives in London says she’s travelling somewhere plays a musical instrument works with tourists likes Christina Cross Cambridge English Empower A2 © Cambridge University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE people you know (Toni’s post) from the area where you are (Toni’s post) take you to interesting places (Simone’s comment) to say something that’s true (Martin’s comment) meet (Chris’s comment) SPEAKING a Ask and answer the questions with a partner Do you … ? use social media to get help from friends post photos when you travel like to have somebody local to show you around a new city Unit Profile Wall Friends Chat Games Toni Perez added new photo mins Off on my travels! Hi everybody This is me at the airport on my way to London! Does anybody have any contacts in London? It would be nice to meet somebody local! Like Comment Share Ariel Dante I know someone in London His name’s Tom Schulz He’s from Austria, but he works in London He’s really cool, speaks English, French and German, and he’s a brilliant guitar player He’s married to a famous Brazilian singer But I think he’s on holiday at the moment so maybe he isn’t in London Toni Perez Oh, what a pity! Simone Blanc I know somebody you could contact My friend Chris lives in London Toni Perez Chris? What’s he like? Simone Blanc She She’s a woman! She’s fantastic – very warm and friendly She works in the British Museum, actually She’s brilliant – she speaks about five languages She knows a lot about the history of London I’m sure she would be happy to show you around Toni Perez That would be great! What’s her surname? Simone Blanc Her surname’s Cross You can message her here: Chris Cross Martin Teal Cross? That’s strange I know an Irish woman in London with the same surname But her first name’s Tina We were on a skiing course together last winter I think she’s a tour guide, but I can’t understand why – she’s very quiet and she isn’t very friendly She wasn’t very popular on the course, to be honest! Simone Blanc Wait a minute – Tina Cross? From Ireland? I think it’s the same person Her full name is Christina Cross Her friends call her Chris, but some people call her Tina She works as a tour guide in the British Museum Chris Cross Yes, that’s me Nice to hear from you again, Martin Teal! Thanks for your kind words, Simone Blanc! I’d love to get together with you in London, Toni Perez Send me a message when you get here! Cambridge English Empower A2 © Cambridge University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE Unit READING PLUS Cambridge English Empower A2 Unit Queuing SPEAKING a a Read text A on page again Which of these things you know that Matt does in queues? How you know? Ask and answer the questions with a partner eat read listen to music watch films sit draw pictures These people are waiting in a queue Do you mind queuing? What you while you’re waiting? READING b Read text B Decide if the sentences are true or false BETTER READING: SKIMMING It’s often useful to skim a text (read the text quickly to get a general idea of what it’s about), before you spend time reading more carefully We skim a text when we’re not sure whether or not to read it If we decide it looks interesting or useful, we then read it again more carefully People who use IQ4U think it’s good IQ4U can get a new passport for you If you use IQ4U, you don’t have to queue to buy things IQ4U will deliver things to your home for free IQ4U customers don’t like waiting in queues c Find words in the texts with these meanings To get money for the work you Something to put power into your phone or tablet A page with questions about your personal information Skim texts A and B on page Match one text to Harry and the other to Emma Harry: ‘I don’t have much time.’ Emma: ‘I’m looking for work at the moment.’ Believe somebody; not worry that somebody is bad Take something to an address for someone Money for the bus, train, etc A job you can pay people to for you SPEAKING a Ask and answer the questions with a partner Would you use the IQ4U service? Why / Why not? Do you think the IQ4U service would work in your country? Why / Why not? Do you know any other unusual services like this one? Cambridge English Empower A2 © Cambridge University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE Unit A Wanted: IO4U.com Professional queuer He gets money for doing nothing Earn up to £150 a day TIRED OF QUEUES? IO4U.com Contact IQ4U.com (“I queue for you”) Meet Matt Hayes Be like Matt – Come and work for IO4U.com! B No experience needed Here’s what Matt says about it: ‘Everybody hates waiting in queues, right? But it’s all about being ready for it I always take a tablet with some movies, plus a charger, a picnic, a good book and a beach chair It’s not so different from being at home – and you get money for it What’s not to like?’ Simply log on to IQ4U and fill out the form! Who are we? IO4U.com is the first queuing service in the city You can trust us – our customers are always happy to give us five stars, and we want to keep it that way! What can we for you? Service 1: Wait & Call This is good when you need a new passport, for example We take your place in the queue When we are near the front of the queue, we call you to come and your business Service 2: Stand & Deliver This is good for concert tickets or new technology products We stand in the queue, buy your ticket or new phone and then take it to your address How much does it cost? You pay £20 for the first hour and £15 for each hour after that, plus travel costs for our Stand & Deliver service Our promise to you We get what we wait for, or you don’t pay! What customers have said about IO4U.com ‘For me, queuing is terrible, like a slow death IQ4U gives me my life back!’ ‘When a guy from IQ4U arrives with my ticket in his hand and a sleeping bag under his arm, I know it’s a good service.’ ‘Why did it take so long for somebody to start the IQ4U service?!’ Cambridge English Empower A2 © Cambridge University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE Cambridge English Empower A2 Unit READING PLUS Unit Tourism SPEAKING a Look at the pictures and answer the questions with a partner Where are these places? Why millions of tourists take photos of them? What is the typical picture postcard image of your country? c b a The Blue Mosque The Statue of Liberty READING BETTER READING: PREDICTION You can read more easily when you have an idea of what the text will be about The title and pictures can help predict this Look at the title of the text and the photo with its caption on page What you think this text will be about? Tick ✓ two of the topics below Now skim (read the text quickly) to see if your ideas are correct Italy from north to south The daily life of a gondolier What gondoliers think of their customers The history of Venice Airport a Read the text again Match paragraphs 1–4 with topics a–d below Were your predictions in exercise correct? a b c d The gondoliers of Venice Marco and his gondola The city and the tourists Marco’s job and the customers b Answer the questions Who or what … ? cost 50,000 euros sings Italian songs got her licence in 2010 usually fail the exam sells things for tourists Cambridge English Empower A2 © Cambridge University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE The Eiffel Tower c Find words in the text with these meanings Not big from side to side (paragraph 1) A tool for taking photos of yourself with a smartphone (paragraph 2) A document you need to become a gondolier (paragraph 3) Things which tourists buy to remember a place (paragraph 4) Large numbers of people (paragraph 4) d Choose the best endings for the sentences Marco … a is famous c likes taking photos b is careful with his gondola Marco’s customers … a are all very nice c often sing b are always dangerous Gondoliers have to … a pass an exam b be Italian c be men The streets of Venice are … a full of normal shops c full of tourists b good to walk along Unit Interview with A gondola on a canal in Venice a gondolier Everybody wants a photo of Marco, but not because he’s famous It’s because of the boat he owns – the typical boat of Venice, a gondola He spends each day going along the narrow canals of the city, but he never hits the walls ‘I don’t want to damage the gondola,’ he says ‘It cost 50,000 euros!’ ‘Do you enjoy your job?,’ I ask ‘It’s all I know’, Marco replies His father was a gondolier, and Marco learned how to move a gondola around Venice a long time before he learnt to drive a car I ask him about his customers ‘They’re a mix of people – some are very nice, others are crazy,’ he says ‘They always use their selfie sticks to take photos, and they sometimes get in the way of other boats – it’s quite dangerous, actually And they often start singing Italian songs like O Sole Mio while we’re going along the canal What a terrible noise!’ by Emma J Tang There are around 450 licensed gondolas in Venice today However, we don’t see any women gondoliers, so I ask Marco about this ‘There’s one’, he says ‘Her name’s Giorgia, and she got her licence in 2010.’ I’m a bit surprised there is only one woman gondolier, but Marco doesn’t understand either ‘I don’t know why there aren’t more,’ he says ‘I know that women sometimes try to get a licence, but they usually fail the exam.’ He explains that the exam is very difficult, including knowing about the weather, finding places in the city, knowing about history and speaking foreign languages ‘But I don’t suppose it’s more difficult for a woman than it is for a man,’ he adds I want to know what Marco thinks of his home city, Venice ‘It’s crazy,’ he says ‘You can’t walk along the streets easily anymore because of the crowds So many people! And it’s hard to find a normal shop – most of them only sell souvenirs for tourists.’ When he has a few days free, Marco always goes to the mountains ‘It’s nice just to walk normally,’ he says But then he always returns to Venice and the tourists ‘Tourists,’ he says, ‘We can’t live with them, but we can’t live without them!’ SPEAKING a Ask and answer the questions with a partner What you think it would be like to live in a place with a lot of tourists? Do you prefer crowded or quiet places? Do you like meeting new people? Why / Why not? Cambridge English Empower A2 © Cambridge University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE Cambridge English Empower A2 READING PLUS Unit Food SPEAKING a What is your favourite dish? Tell a partner Talk about … • What it’s made from (e.g rice, chicken, eggs) • Why you like it READING a Look at the pictures in the text below and on page Which of these foods you think are dangerous? Why? b Read the text Was any of the information surprising? Why / Why not? Death in a Dish! How you like your food? Tasty? Healthy? Interesting? Cheap and easy to prepare? Or maybe you’d like a bit more than that – maybe you’d like it to be dangerous too? If you’re one of these people, then a dish of pufferfish is the food for you! It’s a strange animal and looks like a swimming football But more about that later First let’s have a look at some more common dangerous foods Red meat It’s not going to kill you immediately, but it’s often full of salt and fat And if you eat too much of it, you increase the amount of bad cholesterol in your blood, you increase your blood pressure and you put yourself in danger of heart disease That’s why people who don’t like to eat dangerously go for healthier food like salad But that’s not completely safe either Salad This is maybe the most dangerous food there is, and that’s because it can be covered with bacteria such as salmonella Greens such as lettuce go through many hands on their journey from the field to your plate, and they’re not always clean hands! Cambridge English Empower A2 © Cambridge University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE Unit Mushrooms We all knew about this one already, right? There are some very dangerous mushrooms out there You know the amanita mushroom, for example – it’s got a lovely red top with white spots on it? That’s one to stay away from unless you want to make yourself really ill But there are of course lots of mushrooms which are good and safe to eat If you want something that’s definitely dangerous, then let’s return to the pufferfish Pufferfish Our swimming football is a very popular dish in Japan, but some parts of the fish contain a very strong poison called tetrodotoxin, 1,200 times more dangerous than cyanide You don’t need to eat a lot of it – one fish can kill 30 people! You need special training to prepare pufferfish safely The dangerous parts must be cut out very carefully This means that a meal of fugu (its name in Japanese) can be very expensive They say it’s delicious, but there is a price to pay – and not only in money Each year around 50 people have to go to hospital after eating it, and some of them die So over to you – if someone offers you a dish of fugu, what will you do? BETTER READING: d Find one true sentence below Correct the false sentences GUESSING THE MEANING OF SPECIALIST WORDS No matter how well you speak a language, there will be words you don’t know These will sometimes be specialist words, for example science or technology words You can still understand the text, but you will need to guess what kind of thing the word refers to Looking at other words before or after the specialist word can help Find these science words in the text on page Read carefully the sentences where you find them and decide what the words are examples of amanita cholesterol cyanide salmonella tetrodotoxin Eating red meat gives you heart disease Salad is bad for you Amanita mushrooms are safe to eat All mushrooms are dangerous A dish of pufferfish is expensive Eating pufferfish will kill you SPEAKING a The text begins and ends with questions Ask and answer them with a partner How you like your food? Tasty? Healthy? Interesting? Cheap and easy to prepare? If someone offers you a dish of fugu, what will you do? c For each sentence, answer the question, ‘What is it?’ It looks like a swimming football It puts you in danger of heart disease It may be covered in bacteria It’s red and white It’s more dangerous than cyanide It can kill 30 people Cambridge English Empower A2 © Cambridge University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE READING PLUS Cambridge English Empower A2 Unit Shopping SPEAKING a READING What you know about Canada and the city of Montreal? Talk about some of these things: • location • climate • buildings • people a Read the text What kind of book you think it comes from? • language MONTREAL’S Underground City No trip to Montreal would be complete without a visit to the underground city, or RÉSO as it’s known It’s used by half a million people every day and is the largest complex of its kind in Canada, or the rest of world So what is it, and what can you there? What is RÉSO? RÉSO is 32 kilometres of tunnels which join together office buildings, shopping malls, art centres, concert halls and university buildings There are bus, train and metro stations serving the complex Although it’s called an underground city, some of the tunnels are on or above the ground – it would be more correct to call it an indoor pedestrian complex But being indoors is a good thing in a town where winter temperatures can drop below –30°C! Shopping You can easily spend a day shopping in RÉSO There are over 2,000 shops, including two large department stores If you need to break for a meal, there are 200 restaurants There are even hotels if you want to make your shopping trip longer! Cambridge English Empower A2 © Cambridge University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE Entertainment There are 40 cinemas to choose between as well as concert halls and art exhibitions from the most important Montreal museums There is also a hockey arena and a library, and if you want to continue later into the evening, there are a number of nightclubs Business With around 1,200 offices as well as a lot of banks, three exhibition halls and a conference centre, RÉSO is really the main part of Montreal’s central business district Visiting RÉSO Tourists will be very surprised by this network of tunnels which connects the whole of downtown Montreal The best way to get there is underground – there are a number of different metro stations, and the most popular is McGill But it’s easy to get lost down here, so be sure to carry a map One thing you won’t need is a coat – the temperature is always comfortable and it never rains! Unit b Find these numbers in the text on page What they refer to? half a million 2 32 3 –30 4 2,000 BETTER READING: 5 40 6 1,200 INCREASING READING SPEED When we read, we usually focus on the content words (for example, verbs, nouns, adverbs and adjectives), and we don’t focus on the function words, such as auxiliary verbs and articles This helps us to read quickly c Answer the questions Why is it a good idea to visit RÉSO in the Canadian winter? Why is the phrase ‘underground city’ not completely correct? What sport can you play in RÉSO? Does RÉSO close at night? How you know? What is ‘McGill’? Why don’t you need an umbrella to walk there? Do the reading tasks below • Read paragraphs and of the text on page and time yourself Calculate your words-per-minute reading speed (there are 134 words) • Work in pairs Underline the content words in paragraphs and Then read the paragraphs, focusing on the underlined words and time yourselves Calculate your reading speed (there are 93 words) • Repeat with paragraphs and – this time without underlining content words, just focusing on them, and again calculate your words-per-minute reading speed (there are 106 words) d Find words with these meanings A large building or group of buildings with many parts (paragraph 1) A person on foot, not in a car (paragraph 2) A big shop with different areas selling different things (paragraph 3) Long corridors, usually under the ground (paragraph 2) Places to meet and dance at night (paragraph 4) Places for very large business meetings (paragraph 5) A display of artworks or other things (paragraph 4) Something like a spider’s web (paragraph 6) SPEAKING a Ask and answer the questions with a partner There are flats in RÉSO Would you like to live in one? Why / Why not? Do you prefer markets, shops, shopping centres or online shopping? Why? Cambridge English Empower A2 © Cambridge University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE READING PLUS Cambridge English Empower A2 Unit Different brother SPEAKING a Ask and answer the question with a partner Do you think siblings (brothers and sisters) usually get on well together? Why / Why not? READING a Look at the title of the text below What you think the article will be about? The ways that girls and boys are different How to be a good parent (mother or father) Why siblings don’t usually have the same personalities The life and career of the writer’s brother Why is my brother so different from me? by Darius Collins My brother and I share the same parents We grew up in the same house We had the same hobbies as kids – we both bought guitars, we both wore the shirts of our favourite football teams, we both spent time building models Now, as adults, we look a bit like each other, but that’s all In terms of personality, we’re completely different I’m single, self-employed and you’ll never see me wearing a suit and tie My brother is married with kids and a conventional job and has over a hundred ties So what happened? According to research, it is quite common for brothers or sisters to look the same but have very different personalities In fact, siblings have the same personality in only 20% of cases There are a number of possible reasons One possible reason is that siblings compare themselves with one another So, let’s say for example that you were quite good at sport as a child, but your sister was very good at it In that case, you perhaps saw yourself as not being very good at sport and you lost interest in it Perhaps after that you chose a different interest instead, such as art Another possible reason is that the family you grew up in is actually very different from the family your brother or sister grew up in If you were the first born child, then with you your parents had to learn how to be parents from zero They were probably quite strict If you were the child born last, your parents already knew how to look after children They were probably more easy-going with you Cambridge English Empower A2 © Cambridge University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE There is a big difference between being an oldest or youngest child, according to research People say that the oldest child is usually more hard-working and does better at school The oldest child usually gets a better job They say that the youngest child is more fun-loving and creative The youngest child may choose a more unusual career Which brings us back to me and my brother For us, research seems to be wrong I am the oldest child, but I chose a more unusual life My brother is the youngest, but he worked harder at school and got a better, more ‘normal’ job He got married and had children I became an artist and never bought a house So you see – research can tell us what most people do, not what all people But my brother is very different from me, so at least the research got that right! Unit b Read the article and check your prediction from exercise 2a BETTER READING: SKIMMING TO IDENTIFY THE MAIN IDEA IN A PARAGRAPH When you’re reading, it isn’t always necessary for you to understand every detail – you just need to understand the main idea, or gist, of the text We can also use this strategy to identify the main ideas in each paragraph What is the gist of each paragraph in the text? Match paragraphs 1–6 with topics a–f below a b c d e f Strict or easy-going parents Research isn’t always right My brother and I are different The differences between first and last child Siblings compare their abilities Research on the personalities of siblings c Find words in the text with these meanings the opposite of married the past tense of wear the opposite of easy-going the past tense of buy the opposite of serious the past tense of know the opposite of conventional Cambridge English Empower A2 © Cambridge University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE d Choose the best endings for the sentences The writer and his brother … a look different b have the same hobbies c had guitars when they were children In 80% of cases, siblings … a have different personalities b have the same personality c look the same When they have their first baby, parents … a already know how to look after a child b learn how to look after a child c are usually easy-going The youngest sibling usually … a works harder b gets a conventional job c does something more unusual The writer … a is an uncle b is a parent c has a conventional job SPEAKING a Ask and answer the questions with a partner Do you have siblings? Compare yourself with them Think about appearance, jobs, interests and personality If you don’t have siblings, what are the advantages and disadvantages of being an only child? Cambridge English Empower A2 READING PLUS Unit Travel READING a Look at the travel photos from two different places Where you think they are? Why? c b a e d BETTER READING: INFERRING Sometimes you can get ideas from a text which are not explicitly stated Answer the questions below about both blog post writers Say yes, no or I don’t know and give your reasons Do you think the writer … ? planned the trip carefully Javiera Alexis b Read the blog posts on page quickly Were you right about the photos? lives in the country they are describing Javiera Alexis c Read the blog posts again and find words and phrases travelled alone Javiera Alexis for the things in the photos is a sociable person Javiera Alexis d Read the blog posts again more carefully and decide if the sentences are true or false If they are false, say why Javiera travelled to Quito in order to visit the Galapagos Islands False She decided to go to the Galapagos while she was e Find the words below in the blog posts Use the context to guess the meaning Underline words that help you in Quito, not before Most penguins live south of the equator The sea lions weren’t interested in Javiera Alexis was able to talk to other passengers because he speaks Russian Building the track across the Amur River was difficult Alexis didn’t go all the way to the end of the railway Cambridge English Empower A2 © Cambridge University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE goggles ancient wildlife stopover delicious lakeside goggles swimming with goggles so that I could see under the water f Would you like to go on one of these trips? Why / why not? Can you think of another interesting travel idea? Compare with a partner Unit Ancient tortoises, swimming lizards and cool sharks Javiera M The Galapagos Islands are a dream holiday for animal lovers like me, and so when my brother and I had the chance to visit last July, we took it We were in Quito, Ecuador, and the islands were just a short flight away I wasn’t disappointed – it was like being in a TV wildlife programme The animals there aren’t afraid of people, and they don’t mind if you stand right next to them We saw the famous giant tortoises Some of them are ancient – over 150 years old! There are penguins too – this is the only place in the northern hemisphere where they live I loved the ugly marine iguanas This is also the only place in the world with lizards that can swim But my favourite part of the trip was swimming with goggles so that I could see under the water The baby sea lions were so friendly – they actually come and play with you One time while I was in the water, I saw a group of sharks a few metres below me I didn’t want them to see me, so I didn’t move, but I was terrified Fortunately, they weren’t interested in me! Following the last tsar’s tracks Alexis V I once took a trip across Russia on the Trans-Siberian railway, from Moscow to the Pacific Ocean That’s a very long train ride – 9,200 km, across eight time zones! It takes seven days non-stop, but it took me longer because I had a stopover for a few days I speak a little Russian, so I could talk to some of the other passengers I learned about the history of the railway The work was started in 1891 by the last tsar and finished 20 years later – the last piece to be finished was the bridge over the Amur River That was a big engineering challenge! When the Communists came to power, the tsar was transported as a prisoner on the same railway he built! I broke the journey for a few days beside the deepest lake in the world, Lake Baikal I stayed in a lakeside village There was a café, really just a room in one of the colourful wooden houses, and some people were playing folk music there I had my violin with me so I joined in They invited me to a party the next day We played music, and we cooked and ate delicious fresh fish on the beach It was the best part of the whole trip! Cambridge English Empower A2 © Cambridge University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE Cambridge English Empower A2 READING PLUS Unit Fantastic sports SPEAKING a b Do you (or anyone you know) any outdoor sports or activities? Tell a partner If no, would you like to any outdoor sports? READING a Read the article on page Match the sports with these pictures a–d mermaiding BASE jumping skeleton urban free climbing d a c BETTER READING: INTENSIVE READING Sometimes we need to read a text very carefully in order to understand or remember as much detail as possible b Read the article again and answer the questions Which sport … ? can you without having special clothes doesn’t take you to high places is part of an international competition starts with falling you usually in winter 6 is not like anything an animal does people normally in cities takes you to a place with no air Read the first paragraph of the article very carefully Note down everything you can remember about mermaids and mermaiding in as much detail as possible d Use your own ideas to answer the questions Compare your ideas with a partner In mermaiding, why can’t you breathe sometimes? In BASE jumping, what happens if you don’t have a parachute? In skeleton, how you stop? In urban free climbing, why don’t the police stop the climber before the top? c Find words in the article with these meanings 1 animal not real taking air into your body clothes which help you fly the ‘arms’ of birds; they use them to fly a piece of equipment to make you fall more slowly 10 with your head going before your body strong, not afraid connected to the city, not the countryside very tall buildings Cambridge English Empower A2 © Cambridge University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE SPEAKING a Ask and answer the questions with a partner Which of the sports in the text would you like to try? What other dangerous sports you know? Have you tried any of them? Why people dangerous sports? Unit BORED OF BEING JUST A REGULAR HUMAN? Look at these strange and fantastic sports! Swim like a fish: ‘Mermaiding’ A mermaid is a sea creature in old stories, with a woman’s upper body but the tail of a fish Mermaids may be imaginary, but the sport of mermaiding is real In this sport, you simply have to swim with your legs together in a big fishtail made of plastic There’s a skill to being a mermaid – you have to be able to swim like a fish You also have to be able to go for a long time without breathing Fly like a bird: ‘BASE jumping’ For this sport, you need a ‘wingsuit’ This is something you wear which can turn you into a bird You just need to find a very high place to jump from This can be out of a plane or from a mountaintop It helps if you aren’t too afraid of high places! When you’re falling, you’ll be able to open your arms and legs to make wings and fly away It’s a great feeling – there’s nothing like it But make sure you’ve got a parachute – if not, your flight won’t end well! Go like lightning: ‘Skeleton’ In this sport, you lie on a board and go down a hill or mountain on a road of ice, head-first at 130 km/h The board, and the sport, is called a ‘skeleton’ You wear a special hat and suit to make you go faster You have to be brave, because when you start you can’t stop You go as fast as lightning, and there’s no way of making the board go more slowly Skeleton became an Olympic sport in 2002 Climb like a spider: ‘Urban free climbing’ Our tallest buildings have walls of metal and glass – who could climb something like that? But there are people who can it – Alain ‘Spiderman’ Robert, for example This Frenchman can climb just about anything, and without the help of any special equipment He is able to climb some of the most famous skyscrapers, including the world’s tallest – the Burj Khalifa in Dubai His main problem is that free climbing of buildings is not allowed in most countries, and the police are often waiting for him at the top! Cambridge English Empower A2 © Cambridge University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE Cambridge English Empower A2 READING PLUS Unit Airport shopping SPEAKING a Look at the photo and the caption and answer the questions Do you think the things at duty-free shops are cheaper than at normal shops? Do you ever buy things at duty-free shops? Why / Why not? READING a Read the article and match paragraphs 1–5 with titles a–e below a b c d e Souvenir shopping Is it really cheaper at the airport? The first hour in the departure lounge The path through the shop The busy shops WiseWallet Guide to Airport Shopping Airport security takes a long time, right? So when you finally arrive at the departure lounge, what you want to do? Well, it seems that for most of us, the answer is ‘spend’ According to research, in the first 60 minutes after getting through security, passengers are usually in a buying mood That’s why businesses call this the ‘golden hour’ – it’s a golden opportunity for them to sell! We travellers need to know about their tricks, so here’s our WiseWallet guide Airport departure areas are getting more and more like shopping centres, and make no mistake – everything is planned The path they make you take through the duty-free shop is winding: they know that will make us spend more The reason is that in airports, we buy what we see – we don’t go in with a shopping list We see something, we like it and decide to buy it A winding path means we see more of the things on sale Why people buy at duty-free shops anyway? You think you’re getting something cheap, but the fact is a lot of those things are cheaper outside the airport or online Just because a sales assistant tells you their product is cheap, that doesn’t mean it’s cheap, right? We WiseWallet readers are too clever for that! Airport shops are usually placed together in groups so that it feels something like a high street According to research, people shop more in busy places, and of course that’s exactly what airport businesses want us to So now you know And last but not least, there’s this old trick: make the customer believe it’s their last opportunity to get something good You can see a lot of cheese in Amsterdam airport, chocolate in Zurich and coffee in Rio de Janeiro It’s your last opportunity to buy something special to remember the city by, so the price is sky-high Luckily, WiseWallet readers bought their souvenirs before coming to the airport, right? The joy of duty-free – but is it really cheaper? Cambridge English Empower A2 © Cambridge University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE Unit b Read the article again and find the words and phrases below Match them with meanings 1–8 c Read the text again and decide if the sentences below are true or false Correct the false sentences People often spend more money than normal while they’re waiting for a plane Travellers call the first 60 minutes after security the ‘golden hour’ Passengers don’t usually go to airport shops to buy something they planned to buy in advance Most things are less expensive in duty-free shops The airport is a good place to buy cheese in Amsterdam tricks winding make no mistake fake high street last but not least souvenirs the price is sky-high final important point it’s very expensive know what is true and what isn’t where the important shops are in a town centre something tourists buy to remember a holiday not straight false, not real clever ways to make you something BETTER READING: SPEAKING a Ask and answer the questions with a partner Do you enjoy air travel? How you spend time at airports? Are you a careful shopper? IDENTIFYING THE WRITER’S ATTITUDE You can often guess how the writer feels about the topic, even if he or she does not write it clearly Which option you think best describes the writer’s attitude? Underline sentences in the text which support your answer The writer … doesn’t like the way airport departure areas are changing in recent years thinks airports are much more interesting now than they used to be thinks airport shopping is a good way to pass the time waiting for a flight thinks most passengers are too clever to pay the high prices of airport shops Cambridge English Empower A2 © Cambridge University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE Cambridge English Empower A2 READING PLUS Unit 10 The Amazon online VOCABULARY c Find the words below in the text and match them with meanings 1–5 a What the letters WWW stand for? What you know charity destroying government mine traditional about it? the group of people who run a country damaging, breaking connected with the old, local ways of doing things b Look at the words below Which theme are they connected to: rainforest or technology? Write r or t Check in a dictionary a group that gives help where it is needed a place where people take something valuable from deep in the ground canoe digital age online hut satellite selfie tribe village d Choose the best endings for the sentences READING Amazon tribes are starting to go online … a but they aren’t posting selfies b and they’re using the Internet to get satellite equipment c and some of them are using the Internet to keep the rainforest safe The people working in the Suriname goldmines … a didn’t want the police to find them b used GPS technology to map the rainforest c were in danger from the people of the Trio tribe The digital technology arrived in the Waura village … a very late at night b and began a very long journey c by river The Waura are using the Internet … a to share information with the large farms b to get help from the government c to learn about the problems of the rainforest a Read the article on page quickly Does the writer think the Internet is good or bad for people in the Amazon villages? b Read the article again and match paragraphs 1–4 with titles a–d below a b c d A difficult journey Amazon tribes on the Internet Fighting the farmers Against the goldmines BETTER READING: PRONOUN REFERENCE Good readers need to understand what the pronouns in a text refer to It is essential to follow the links across the text created by pronouns Find the highlighted pronouns in the text What they refer to? a they (paragraph 1) b They (paragraph 2) c them (paragraph 2) d it (paragraph 3, line 3) e it (paragraph 3, line 4) f this (paragraph 4) Cambridge English Empower A2 © Cambridge University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE SPEAKING a Ask and answer the questions with a partner How you use the Internet? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the Internet? Unit 10 THE AMAZON GOES ONLINE sometimes surprising to learn of the places that recently, in the Xingu Reserve in Brazil, Ittheis World More Wide Web reaches, and of the different ACT helped the Waura tribe to get connected to ways people use it in those places There are tribes in the Amazon who have very little contact with the outside world This is the strangest place to find people using the Internet But some of them are online, and they are using the Web in the most interesting ways With the help of charities such as the Amazon Conservation Team (ACT), tribes are getting Internet access through satellite equipment and computers, and they aren’t just posting selfies Some of them are using the Web to fight against companies that are destroying the forest one project, ACT put the Trio tribe in Suriname Inonline and gave them GPS technology to map their land At that time, the greatest danger to their rainforest home came from people coming to find gold Gold mining wasn’t allowed there, but those people were able to work without the police knowing But the tribe knew the forest better than the police They found the mines and the paths leading to them and used GPS to put them on the map In one case, a goldmine was closed as a result Cambridge English Empower A2 © Cambridge University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE the Internet Getting the satellite equipment to the village was a problem It is hard to imagine a more difficult journey – it began with a very long trip by road and then by canoe down the river But when it finally arrived, the villagers had a party with food, music and dancing late into the night Now, their new digital age technology is sitting inside a traditional wooden hut – a strange mix of new and old of the Waura are using Facebook to record Some their traditional way of life for the future But they are also using the Internet to fight against people who are destroying their rainforest, just like the Trio tribe in Suriname They are using the Web to share information about the large farms which are moving onto their land By doing this, they hope that the government in Brasilia will learn about the problem and something to help them Perhaps the Internet can help to save the rainforest