Unit 06

Unit 6 Page 56 READING Exercise 3 Looking out for a hero Hi Matteo, I'm so excited! Comic Con London is next month. Would you like to go with me? It's the biggest comic event in the UK. I know you love comics and graphic novels, so I think you'll enjoy it. You can find every type of comic or graphic novel there. It's amazing. Also, you'll meet some of the authors and artists, which is cool. Please say you'll come. There are lots of people there who share the same interests as us. They watch the same shows as us and they love all of the characters as much as we do. You can spot them by their costumes. Now, I know you aren't keen on dressing up, but I think you should wear a costume. The first time I went, I didn't dress up and it was nowhere near as much fun. And don't worry. Some of the costumes are terrible, so our costumes don't have to be perfect. If you're worried about making your costume – don't be! I'll help you if you want. You know I love sewing and I'm pretty creative! Besides, the more amazing your costume is, the more people you meet. Wearing the costume makes you feel a lot more self-confident, too. Lots of people come up and ask you for a selfie. You've seen all my selfies from last year. People may be dressed as a superhero, but they are not nearly as intimidating as you think they'll be. There are workshops, too. You can learn how the artists draw the characters and how the authors build a comic book world. I went to one on Cosplay last year. I learned that Cosplay is a shortened form of two words – costume and play. I also learned that it started in Japan. There is a Casual Cosplay Showcase. Everybody can take part. There are prizes for the best costumes and performances. It's a lot more fun to compete in than to watch. There is also the EuroCosplay Championships Final. There are participants from 25 countries and the judges choose the winner. We must go to that. I really enjoyed it last year, and the costumes get more and more creative every year. First, however, we'll visit Comic Village. All the latest comics and all the old favourites are there. You can buy comic books, postcards of your favourite characters and badges. I got some really cool things last year. The Comic Cons get better and better every year so I'm sure it will be great fun. Of course, it won't be nearly as much fun it you don't come. Will you come? Let me know soon because we have to make our costumes! Amy Page 57 PRONUNCIATION Exercise 1 Would you like a cup of tea? Do you know what? I'd really prefer coffee. Oh! Did you buy some when you went out? No. Didn't you? Don't you remember? I told you we didn't have any coffee! Do you know what? Tea sounds great! Page 57 PRONUNCIATION Exercise 2 Would you like a cup of tea? Do you know what? I'd really prefer coffee. Oh! Did you buy some when you went out? No. Didn't you? Don't you remember? I told you we didn't have any coffee! Do you know what? Tea sounds great!

Page 59 LISTENING Exercise 10 & 11 Today's story on Best Buddies comes from Carlotta, and she's here to tell us about her friendship with Lily. Please welcome Carlotta. Now, Carlotta, I know that you met Lily at school – in Kindergarten, in fact. Yes, that's right. It was on our first day of school. We were sitting next to each other and we were wearing the same school jumpers. We had the same hairstyle and hair colour, brown hair, tied back in a ponytail and the same eye colour, too – green. In fact, we looked like two peas in a pod. We found that we had the same hobbies, too. We got on like a house on fire. We shared secrets. We laughed at the same things. And if I needed a shoulder to cry on, Lily was always there. Your friendship went on for years. Yes, it did – all through elementary school, we did everything together. My mum used to say we were joined at the hip. But then something happened, didn't it? Yes ... yes it did. We fell out. And whose fault was that? Mine actually. I did something terrible. When we were about nine, at the end of the school year, there was a fancy-dress competition. Lily was very excited about it. She told me all about her ideas for her costume. Then one day, our Art teacher asked us all, 'What are you going to make?' I wasn't very creative and I had no idea. It came to my turn and I said, 'A dragon costume.' Of course that was Lily's idea for her costume. I described all the details Lily had described to me and the teacher said, 'That sounds amazing. Well done.' Lily didn't say anything. She just looked very sad. She didn't speak to me after that. And did you bury the hatchet? Yes, we did but it was several years later. We were on a school trip to the seaside. It was a hot day and everyone was swimming. I couldn't swim but I decided to paddle. The sea wasn't very deep, so I walked further and further out. Suddenly, I took a step and the water was up to my neck. I panicked and screamed. People waved at me and smiled. They didn't know I couldn't swim, but Lily knew. She knew me inside out, you see. She knew all the things I loved and all the things I hated. So she saved your life? Yes, she did. But we didn't become friends again immediately. It took a while to clear the air and for her to trust me again. But we did it and we're still good friends today.

Page 60 READING Exercise 2 CoderDojo COOLEST PROJECTS INTERNATIONAL Every year, kids from all over the world come to the RDS in Dublin to demonstrate the apps, websites, games and hardware projects they have developed in their local Dojo. At the first event in 2012, there were 19 projects and 100 attendees, but in 2018, 10,000 people attended the event, from 114 countries, and 1,000 kids showcased their projects. Back in 2011, James Whelton, the founder of CoderDojo, set up the first coding club at his school in Cork, in Ireland. He had only just turned 18. After that, James became well known and was invited to speak at the Dublin Web Summit. He spoke about how he had hacked his iPod Nano to turn it into a watch. James had won the iPod Nano at an awards ceremony, and, bored on the plane on the way home, he had started to play around with it and accidentally hacked it. Then, before he went to bed that night, he wrote about it on his blog. When he woke up, he saw that a quarter of a million people had viewed the blog. After that, all his schoolmates wanted to know how he had done it and asked if he would teach them to code, too. He agreed to set up a coding club at his school and he started to teach basic HTML and CSS to his fellow students. Later that year, he met Bill Liao, an entrepreneur who saw what a great idea this club was. Bill wanted to expand the project to other cities and to other countries, too, and the pair set up CoderDojo. CoderDojo is run by volunteers and it can be set up anywhere. There is no set curriculum at the clubs. Children from seven to 17 work on what interests them and they learn far more than just coding skills. They also develop problem-solving skills, and learn how to manage a project, work in a team and design something they feel passionate about. And what's really amazing is that many of the kids' inventions have had a significant social impact. Here are two examples from the event in Dublin: The Best International Prize was won by a Romanian team, for their project AZ-Tech Teddy. Their e-health project aims to help prevent childhood obesity. Tech Teddy is a teddy bear for a child to feed and take care of. Children who play with the teddy bear need to track its eating habits carefully. The young coders believe this will teach young children about healthy eating habits. Freddie from Wales won the Openet Innovator Prize for his facial recognition door entry system which he designed for elderly people with dementia. 'Safe' people can register their face so that when they come to the door they will be recognised. The system will then tell the homeowner who is at the door and whether to let them in or not.

Page 62 Literature Exercise 2 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott Little Women follows the lives of the four March sisters, Jo, Beth, Meg and Amy, who grew up during and after the American Civil War (1861-1865). Mr Laurence, a wealthy old gentleman who lives next door to the family, is especially fond of Beth, as she reminds him of his little granddaughter. In this extract, Mr Laurence has sent Beth a gift and the sisters and Hannah, their only servant, are all very excited. Beth hurried on in a flutter of suspense. At the door her sisters seized and bore her to the parlor in a triumphal procession, all pointing and all saying at once, "Look there! Look there!" Beth did look, and turned pale with delight and surprise, for there stood a little cabinet piano, with a letter lying on the glossy lid, directed like a sign board to "Miss Elizabeth March." "For me?" gasped Beth, holding onto Jo and feeling as if she should tumble down, it was such an overwhelming thing altogether. "Yes, all for you, my precious! Isn't it splendid of him? Don't you think he's the dearest old man in the world? Here's the key in the letter. We didn't open it, but we are dying to know what he says," cried Jo, hugging her sister and offering the note. "You read it! I can't, I feel so queer! Oh, it is too lovely!" and Beth hid her face in Jo's apron, quite upset by her present. Jo opened the paper and began to laugh, for the first words she saw were ... "Miss March: "Dear Madam--" "How nice it sounds! I wish someone would write to me so!" said Amy, who thought the old fashioned address very elegant. "I have had many pairs of slippers in my life, but I never had any that suited me so well as yours," continues Jo. "Heartsease is my favorite flower, and these will always remind me of the gentle giver. I like to pay my debts, so I know you will allow 'the old gentleman' to send you something which once belonged to the little granddaughter he lost. With hearty thanks and best wishes, I remain Your grateful friend and humble servant, JAMES LAURENCE" "There, Beth, that's an honor to be proud of, I'm sure! Laurie told me how fond Mr. Laurence used to be of the child who died, and how he kept all her little things carefully. Just think, he's given you her piano. That comes of having big blue eyes and loving music," said Jo, trying to soothe Beth, who trembled and looked more excited than she had ever been before. "See the cunning brackets to hold candles, and the nice green silk, puckered up, with a gold rose in the middle, and the pretty rack and stool, all complete," added Meg, opening the instrument and displaying its beauties. "Your humble servant, James Laurence. Only think of his writing that to you. I'll tell the girls. They'll think it's splendid," said Amy, much impressed by the note. "Try it, honey. Let's hear the sound of the baby pianny," said Hannah, who always took a share in the family joys and sorrows. So Beth tried it, and everyone pronounced it the most remarkable piano ever heard. It had evidently been newly tuned and put in apple-pie order, but, perfect as it was, I think the real charm lay in the happiest of all happy faces which leaned over it.

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