Unit 03

Unit 3 Page 30 READING Exercise 3 AN EMBARRASSING DAD If you think you have the world's most embarrassing dad, then think again. American teenager Rain Price was waved off to school from the bus stop outside his house, by his dad, every day for a whole school year. OK, so that doesn't sound too bad, but this was no ordinary goodbye, because each day Rain's dad did it while wearing a different fancy-dress costume! It all started on 16-year-old Rain's first day of high school. Like many proud parents, Rochelle and Dale, Rain's mum and dad, sent him off to school with a big wave from the doorstep. That evening Rain made the mistake of complaining about how embarrassing they were, which gave Dale a great idea. The next morning, as Rain stepped onto the bus outside his house, he could hear all of his school friends laughing at something. He turned around and to his horror, there was his dad waving him off, dressed as an American football player, complete with ball and helmet. But that was just the beginning. For the next 180 school days, come rain or shine, Dale waved goodbye to his son dressed in a different costume. One day he was a king waving his sword and shield, the next a chef in his hat and apron, the following a pirate. Then there was Elvis and Wonder Woman. Dale even got other members of the family involved, using Rain's younger brother to play Batman alongside his Robin. Amazingly, Dale only spent $50 on all of the costumes. He got loads of costumes from the family fancy-dress collection and then there were several friends and neighbours who were happy to help. Some of Rain's friends didn't find it funny, but most of them looked forward to seeing what Dale would be wearing every day. And Dale found an international audience for his dressing up, too, as each day Rochelle took a photo of her husband in fancy dress and put it on their blog, waveatthebus.blogspot.com, which became a hit on the internet. Even Rain was eventually able to see the funny side and realised that his dad was pretty cool after all. For the final farewell on the last day of school, Dale dressed up as a pirate and stood next to a sign which said: 'It's been fun waving at the bus. Have a great summer.' But all good things don't always come to an end. The new school year began, and Dale was there again, in fancy dress, to wave at the bus.

Page 33 LISTENING Exercise 8 & 9 Hello, and welcome to True Tales. I have a very moving story to share with you today. It's the story of an American father from Michigan, Ricky van Beek, and his thirteen-year-old daughter Madison. The two share a love of the outdoors and they have competed in many outdoor races together. Now, I know this may sound like an average father and daughter story, but it is much more than that. Madison has cerebral palsy and van Beek is a devoted father who has carried his daughter across many miles of land and water. Together they have completed some of the most difficult triathlons. When they began training for their first marathon, in 2008, van Beek was a heavy smoker and very unfit. But seeing just how much joy Madison got from being bumped along roads in a buggy, really motivated him to get fit. For them both, the Grand Rapids Marathon was a life-changing event. Van Beek gave up smoking and Madison found something that she truly loved. Madison was diagnosed when she was just two months old and learning that his daughter would never walk or talk was heart-breaking for Ricky. It was in fact one of the worst days of his life. Since then, he has been her legs and she has been his motivation. The Sanford and Sun sprint triathlon of 2012 is one of many events they have competed in together as 'Team Maddy'. Van Beek swam 0.3 miles, pulling his daughter through the water behind him in a kayak. He completed the 12.4-mile bike ride pulling Madison behind him in a cart. He then ran 3.1 miles pushing Madison in a buggy. Seeing them participate together has been an inspiration to loads of people. Together, they have competed in more than seventy events, some half-marathons, some triathlons, all very intense and all with one aim – to make Madison happy. This devotion and love for his daughter has resulted in people calling van Beek 'the father of the century'. For van Beek, the motivation is love and he says, 'That will never fade. She is my heart and I am her legs, though someday she might not physically be able to be there with me, she will always be in my heart, quietly cheering me on.' Their story has touched many people and I think you'll agree, his determination to make his daughter happy is an inspiration to us all.

Page 34 READING Exercise 2 TO SHARENT OR NOT TO SHARENT 'I can't believe you put that photo of me on Instagram!' Does this sound familiar? Do your parents post photos of you online? Are there photos out there that you really don't want the world to see? We all know that parents just want to do their best for their children. However, parents around the world are creating a digital footprint for their children before they can give consent. Future employers might be able to access those images online. French police have warned that parents could face future lawsuits from their children for violating their privacy. Under French privacy law, you are currently not allowed to publish a photo of someone without their consent. Some children have publicly asked their parents not to share photos on Instagram or on their blogs. Children grow up fast and parents must respect that. 'Mom, we've discussed this. You may not post anything without my consent.' Apple Martin famously wrote the above comment under a selfie taken by her famous mother, Gwyneth Paltrow, of the two of them skiing, and a media storm followed. The daughter of Christie Tate, a mummy blogger, found lots of essays and photos of herself online when she googled herself. She did ask her mother if the content could be taken down, but her mother refused. Ray Fitzgerald, a parenting coach, advises his followers to stick to the 'three P rules of posting': ●PRIVACY – Make sure private images stay private and check that your privacy settings are as tight as possible. ●PERCEPTION – If you were a teenager, would you like your parents to share that picture of you online? If the answer is no, then don't post it. ●PERMISSION – Always ask a teenager's permission before posting an image. I asked some teenagers and here are some of their comments: 'I don't usually mind. My mum and dad have given me a very happy childhood. They've been great parents. But then last week my mum shared a picture of me and her in the park. It was such a bad picture. I was so embarrassed. Sharenting is bad news.' SAM 'My mum has so few followers, I don't mind. But it's different if your parents are famous or have thousands of followers. Gwyneth Paltrow is very famous and so many people saw that skiing picture. I do think her daughter was right to be angry.' JACK 'I did see the picture and I do follow Gwyneth Paltrow. I didn't think the picture itself was so terrible. However, I do understand her daughter's anger,' JENNY After much discussion, most people seem to agree that it's time to stop sharenting when your children are about 12 or 13. The pictures can be so embarrassing and they're out there forever. Where do you stand on this issue? Page 35 PRONUNCIATION Exercise 1 & 2 Hannah's such a good tennis player! Did you see the match yesterday? Yes! It was so exciting! She didn't win, but she did play really well. It was such a pity she lost! She tried so hard. Yes, it was such a difficult match. I know. Anyway, I do think she's amazing! Page 35 PRONUNCIATION Exercise 3 Hannah's such a good tennis player! Did you see the match yesterday? Yes! It was so exciting! She didn't win, but she did play really well. It was such a pity she lost! She tried so hard. Yes, it was such a difficult match. I know. Anyway, I do think she's amazing!

Page 36 Literature Exercise 2 About a Boy by Nick Hornby Marcus is a schoolboy who lives with his mum, who is depressed. Marcus has a hard time at school – he gets bullied quite a lot, especially because of the clothes his mum makes him wear. Recently, Marcus has started to become friends with Will, a rich, lazy man who buys him new trainers. Here, Marcus and his mum are going home after visiting Will at his flat. 'You're not going round there again,' she said on the way home. Marcus knew shed say it, and he also knew that he'd take no notice, but he argued anyway. 'Why not?' 'If you've got anything to say, you say it to me. If you want new clothes, I'll get them.' 'But you don't know what I need.' 'So tell me.' 'I don't know what I need. Only Will knows what I need.' 'Don't be ridiculous.' 'It's true. He knows what things kids wear.' 'Kids wear what they put on in the mornings.' 'You know what I mean.' 'You mean that he thinks he's trendy, and that [...] he knows which trainers are fashionable, even though he doesn't know the first thing about anything else.' That was exactly what he meant. That was what Will was good at, and Marcus thought he was lucky to have found him. 'We don't need that kind of person. We're doing all right our way.' Marcus looked out of the bus window and thought about whether this was true, and decided it wasn't, that neither of them were doing all right, whichever way you looked at it. 'If you are having trouble, it's nothing to do with what shoes you wear, I can tell you that for nothing.' 'No, I know, but – ' 'Marcus, trust me, OK? I've been your mother for twelve years. I haven't made too bad a job of it. I do think about it. I know what I'm doing.' Marcus had never thought of his mother in that way before, as someone who knew what she was doing. He had never thought that she didn't have a clue either; it was just that what she did with him (for him? to him?) didn't appear to be anything like that. He had always looked on being a mother as straightforward, something like, say, driving: most people could do it, and you could mess it up by doing something really obvious, by driving your car into a bus, or not telling your kid to say please and thank you and sorry (there were loads of kids at school, he reckoned, kids who stole and swore too much and bullied other kids, whose mums and dads had a lot to answer for). If you looked at it that way, there wasn't an awful lot to think about. But his mum seemed to be saying that there was more to it than that. She was telling him she had a plan. If she had a plan, then he had a choice. He could trust her, believe her when she said she knew what she was doing [...] Or he could decide that, actually, she was off her head [...] Either way it was scary. He didn't want to put up with things as they were, but the other choice meant he'd have to be his own mother, and how could you be your own mother when you were only twelve? He could tell himself to say please and thank you and sorry, that was easy, but he didn't know where to start with the rest of it. He didn't even know what the rest of it was. He hadn't even known until today that there was a rest of it.