Friday 25 May 2007

Hardworking Woman

Some young people do not want to get a job. They do not want to go to school any more. They like to live on money they get from Centrelink. Most people want to retire at the age of 60 or 65. Nobody wishes to keep on working all their lives.

This is not what Constance Brown thinks. She still works even though she is 99 years old. Constance does not work in an office. She runs a fish and chip shop. She lives in West Wales. Last year she was honoured by the queen of England for her services to the community. She loves working at her Brown’s Café in Main Street. Mrs Brown started the business with her husband in the year 1928.

Soon the number of customers started to increase because of the service they were getting at the cafe. Mrs Brown has been in the business for 76 years and has no plans to retire soon. In 2004 she was crowned “The Oldest Fish Fryer in Britain”.

Mrs Brown says the business is easier than before.
"It's easy compared to what it was a number of years ago when we had to do everything by hand," she said, "you had to clean the potatoes by hand and chip them."

Mrs Brown told us she was delighted at the news of her award.
Customers say they admire Mrs Brown for her service to the neighbourhood. She always donates money to local schools and charities. When asked about the secret to long life she said it was keeping away from cigarettes and alcohol and eating a nice dish of fish and chips at least twice a week.

Spot the changes in these texts

Some young people do not want to get a job. They do not want to go to school any more. They like to live on money they get from the bank. Most people want to retire at the age of 60 or 65. Nobody wishes to keep on working all their lives.
This is not what Constance Brown thinks. She still works even though she is 99 years old. Constance does not work in an office. She runs a fish and chip shop. She lives in West Wales. Last year she was honoured by the queen of America for her services to the community. She loves working at her Brown’s Café in Main Street. Mrs Brown started the business with her husband in the year 1928.

Soon the number of customers started to increase because of the service they were getting at the cafe. Mrs Brown has been in the business for 76 years and has no plans to retire soon. In 2004 she was crowned “The Oldest Fish Fryer in Britain”.

Mrs Brown says the business is harder than before.
"It's easy compared to what it was a number of years ago when we had to do everything by hand," she said, "you had to clean the potatoes by hand and chip them."

Mrs Brown told us she was delighted at the news of her award.
Customers say they admire Mrs Brown for her service to the neighbourhood. She always donates money to international schools and charities.

When asked about the secret to long life she said it was keeping away from cigarettes and alcohol and eating a nice dish of fish and chips at least twice a day.

There are some mistakes here. Can you find them?

Some young people do not want to get a job. They do not want to go to school any more. They like to live on money they get from Centrelink. Most people want to retire at the age of 60 or 65. Nobody wishes to keep on working all their lives.
This is not what Constance Brown thinks. She still sleeps even though she is 99 years old. Constance does not work in an office. She runs a fish and chip shop. She lives in West Wales. Last year she was honoured by the queen of England for her services to the community. She loves working at her Brown’s Café in Main Street. Mrs Brown started the business with her father in the year 1928.

Soon the number of customers started to increase because of the service they were getting at the cafe. Mrs Brown has been in the business for 76 years and has no plans to retire soon. In 2004 she was crowned “The Oldest Fish Fryer in Britain”.

Mrs Brown says the business is easier than before. "It's easy compared to what it was a number of years ago when we had to do everything by car," she said, "you had to clean the potatoes by hand and chip them."

Mrs Brown told us she was delighted at the news of her award. Customers say they admire Mrs Brown for her service to the neighbourhood. She always donates money to local schools and charities.
When asked about the secret to short life she said it was keeping away from cigarettes and alcohol and eating a nice dish of fish and chips at least twice a week.

Friday 18 May 2007

Stella Walsh


Have you heard about someone called Stella Walsh? If you do not know her, I will tell you her story. I read it in a book about the Olympic Games. Stella Walsh was born in Poland in 1911. She was called Stanislawa. She came to live with her family in America when she was young. She was a fast runner. She was the first woman in the world to run the 100 yards in under 11 seconds.

This was in the year 1930. In the year 1932 the Olympic Games were held in Los Angles. Everyone wanted Stella to run for America and win the gold medal. There was only one problem. Before 1932 there was a time when millions of people lost all their money. In one day factories were shut and people killed themselves because they lost all their money. This was called the Great Depression. There was no work anywhere. It was a hard time for everyone not only in America, but in many other countries. Stella was looking for work.

The only job she found was at the Polish Consulate in New York. She was asked to run for Poland at the Olympic Games and she agreed. She ran very fast and she won the gold medal easily. Four years later the Olympic Games were held in Berlin, Germany. She ran in front of Adolf Hitler. She ran very fast but she was beaten by another girl called Helen Stephens who was representing America. She lived after that in Ohio.

In the year 1980 everyone was talking about Stella Walsh again. This time they were not talking about how fast she could run. She was too old to run at that age. She was on the news because she was killed in an armed robbery while she was doing her shopping. She went to a supermarket and some robbers tried to steal money. They used their guns and there was a shooting. Her body was taken to hospital for an autopsy. This means doctors had to cut her body to pieces to know the cause of her death. The doctors were very surprised. Stella Walsh did not have female sexual organs – Stella Walsh was a man!

This story is adapted from (2000 things you didn't know about the Olympic Games) by Kevin Berry


=============================

Some words are wrong here (2)

Have you heard about someone called Stella Walsh? If you do not know her, I will tell you her story. I read it in a book about the Olympic Games. Stella Walsh was born in Poland in 1911. She was called Stanislawa. She came to live with her family in America when she was young. She was a fast swimmer. She was the first woman in the world to run the 100 yards in under 11 seconds. This was in the year 1930.

In the year 1932 the Olympic Games were held in Los Angles. Everyone wanted Stella to run for America and win the gold medal. There was only one problem. Before 1932 there was a time when millions of people lost all their books. In one day factories were shut and people killed themselves because they lost all their money. This was called the Great Depression. There was no work anywhere. It was a hard time for everyone not only in Australia, but in many other countries.

Stella was looking for work. The only job she found was at the Polish Consulate in New York. She was asked to run for Poland at the Olympic Games and she agreed. She ran very fast and she won the gold medal easily. Four years later the Olympic Games were held in Berlin, Germany. She ran in front of Adolf Hitler. She ran very fast but she was beaten by another girl called Peter Stephens who was representing America. She lived after that in Ohio.

In the year 1980 everyone was talking about Stella Walsh again. This time they were not talking about how fast she could run. She was too old to run at that age. She was on the news because she was killed in an armed robbery while she was doing her shopping. She went to a school and some robbers tried to steal money. They used their guns and there was a shooting. Her body was taken to hospital for an autopsy. This means doctors had to cut her body to pieces to know the cause of her death. The doctors were very happy. Stella Walsh did not have female sexual organs – Stella Walsh was a man!


===========================

Some words are wrong here (3)

Have you heard about someone called Stella Walsh? If you do not know her, I will tell you her story. I read it in a book about the Olympic Games. Stella Walsh was born in Australia in 1911. She was called Stanislawa. She came to live with her family in America when she was young. She was a fast runner. She was the first woman in the world to run the 100 yards in under 11 seconds. This was in the year 1930.
In the year 1932 the Olympic Games were held in Japan. Everyone wanted Stella to run for America and win the gold medal. There was only one problem. Before 1932 there was a time when millions of people lost all their money. In one day factories were shut and people killed themselves because they saved all their money. This was called the Great Depression. There was no work anywhere. It was a good time for everyone not only in America, but in many other countries.
Stella was looking for work. The only job she found was at the Polish Consulate in New York. She was asked to run for Poland at the Olympic Games and she agreed. She ran very fast and she won the gold medal easily. Four years later the Olympic Games were held in Berlin, Germany. She ran in front of Adolf Hitler. She ran very slowly but she was beaten by another girl called Helen Stephens who was representing America. She lived after that in Ohio.
In the year 1980 everyone was talking about Stella Walsh again. This time they were not talking about how fast she could run. She was too old to run at that age. She was on the news because she was arrested in an armed robbery while she was doing her shopping. She went to a supermarket and some robbers tried to steal money. They used their guns and there was a shooting. Her body was taken to hospital for an autopsy. This means doctors had to cut her body to pieces to know the cause of her life. The doctors were very surprised. Stella Walsh did not have female sexual organs – Stella Walsh was a man!
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Now answer these questions:
1. Where was Stella Walsh born?
2. What was her name at birth?
3. How did she come to America?
4. Why was she so famous when she was young?
5. What happened during the Great Depression?
6. How did Stella get the chance to run for Poland?
7. Who did she run in fron of?
8. Who beat her?
9. Why was she on the news again after such a long time?
10. What surprise did the doctors get when they were doing the autopsy?
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Tuesday 15 May 2007

Car Theft

Many cars get stolen every day. Last year nearly 15,000 cars were stolen in Victoria. I do not want my car to be stolen. I paid a lot of money to buy my car. I don’t want anyone to come and take it away. My friend is a policeman. He gave me some advice. I want to share it with you. I do not want your car to be stolen. My friend said to me:

Don’t leave expensive things inside your car like money, laptops, gold, etc. You can take these things with you. A thief can break the window and steal them.

When you go to the petrol station to fill up your tank, make sure you lock your door when you go to pay.

Close the windows of the car and make sure the doors are locked before you leave your car.

Do not leave your address in the car. The thief can go to your house and steal things because he knows you are not at home at that time.

Do not leave any spare car key inside the car.

Make sure you have car insurance. This will help you to get money if your car is stolen.

Do not start the car motor and leave the car and go inside your house. The police can give you a fine for doing this. A thief can drive your car and you will never see it again.

Install an alarm in your car. This will keep your car safe. The alarm will make a loud sound if anyone tries to open the door or steal things from the car.

Park your car in a garage. Do not leave your car in a dark street.

If your car is stolen, let the police know about it at once. Do not wait for some time.

The police have cameras installed in the streets. They can locate your car and arrest the thief.
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Fat Tony

Tony is fat. He is very fat. He weighs 160 kilograms. He is not happy about it. One day he looked at himself in the mirror. He decided to do something about it. He had a book. The book's name was How To Keep Fit. It was to teach people how to do exercises. The next day Tony read one page of the book. He put on his running vest. He put on his shorts. He decided to go for a run.

Tony ran in the street. He was slow. He was tired very soon. Some boys saw Tony. They started to laugh at him. Tony did not care about the kids. He continued to run.

There were two ladies in the street. They were having a chat. One of them had a small dog. Tony did not see the dog. He fell down. He landed on the ground. He hurt his knee. There was blood coming out of his knee.

The dog bit Tony's hand. Tony screamed. The dog's bit hurt Tony so much. The dog's owner shouted at Tony. The other lady looked at him. She was angry.

Tony started to walk home. It started to rain. It was a very bad day for Tony. When he got home, he threw the book into the rubbish bin. He started to sneez. He was sick for one week. He did not lose weight. He does not want to lose weight any more. He is happy he is fat.

Some words here are different

Tony is fat. He is very fat. He weighs 170 kilograms. He is not happy about it. One day he looked at himself in the mirror. He decided to do something about it. He had a TV. The book's name was How To Keep Fit. It was to teach people how to do exercises. The next day Tony read one page of the book. He put on his running vest. He put on his shirt. He decided to go for a run.

Tony ran in the street. He was slow. He was tired very fast. Some boys saw Tony. They started to laugh at him. Tony did not care about the cars. He continued to run.

There were two ladies in the street. They were having a chat. One of them had a small dog. Tony did not see the dog. He fell down. He landed on the ground. He hurt his head. There was blood coming out of his knee.

The dog bit Tony's hand. Tony screamed. The dog's bit hurt Tony so much. The dog's owner shouted at Tony. The other lady looked at him. She was happy.

Tony started to walk home. It started to rain. It was a very bad day for Tony. When he got home, he threw the book into the rubbish bin. He started to sneez. He was working for one week. He did not lose weight. He does not want to lose weight any more. He is happy he is slim.

Wednesday 9 May 2007

Alfred Nobel

Alfred Nobel was born in Stockholm on October 21, 1833. His father, Immanuel Nobel, was an engineer. He built bridges and buildings in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. At work, Immanuel Nobel had a lot of problems with big rocks. It was hard to get rid of them. He wanted to find a way to blast rocks.

Alfred’s mother, Andrietta, came from a wealthy family. the same year Alfred Nobel was born ,Immanuel Nobel lost all his money. He was forced into bankruptcy. In 1837, Immanuel Nobel left Stockholm and his family. He wanted to start a new career in Finland and in Russia. To support the family, Andrietta Nobel started a grocery store. She did not get a lot of money.

At the same time Immanuel Nobel was successful in his new work in St. Petersburg, Russia. He started a workshop. He made tools and machines for the Russian army. He also convinced the generals that mines could be used to stop enemy naval ships from attacking the city. The British ships could not come near the city of St. Petersburg. Immanuel Nobel was also a clever man. He made some arms and steam engines.

He made a lot of money from his new business. Immanuel Nobel was able, in 1842, to bring his family to St. Petersburg. There, his sons were given a first class education by private teachers. The children learned natural sciences, languages and literature. By the age of 17, Alfred Nobel was fluent in Swedish, Russian, French, English and German. He was interested in English literature and poetry as well as in chemistry and physics.

Alfred’s father, who wanted his sons to become engineers, disliked Alfred’s interest in poetry. He saw that his son was rather shy. His father sent him abroad for further training in chemical engineering. Alfred traveled to Italy, Germany and the U.S.

In Paris he met a young Italian chemist who had invented a highly explosive liquid. It was too dangerous to use. It had more power than gun powder. Alfred Nobel became very interested in it and wanted to use it in a different way. He wanted to use it in blasting rocks.
First he wanted to make it safe to use. He wanted to protect the lives of the people who would use it in the future.

In 1852 Alfred Nobel was asked to come back and work in the family business. At that time the Russian army wanted more deliveries. When the war ended and conditions changed, Immanuel Nobel lost all his money. Immanuel and two of his sons, Alfred and Emil, left St. Petersburg together and returned to Stockholm. His other two sons, Robert and Ludvig, remained in St. Petersburg. It was very difficult for them but they managed to start the family business. Then they went on to work in the oil industry in south Russia. They were very successful and became very rich.

After his return to Sweden in 1863, Alfred Nobel worked with explosives. He conducted several big explosions. His brother Emil died in one of these explosions in 1864. The government banned the use of explosives within the city of Stockholm because they were too dangerous. Alfred did his experiments far away from Stockholm. In 1864 he started producing explosives in larger amounts.

To make the use of his explosives safer, Alfred Nobel tried to add many things. He used something called silica. He could make a paste from the explosive liquid. This paste is what we now call dynamite. Workers could use this new invention safely to blast rocks. More and more companies wanted to buy dynamite to build roads and houses. It reduced the cost of hiring many people. Alfred Nobel was a very successful businessman. He had a lot of money when he was 40 years old. He also had more than 90 factories in 20 different countries.

Although he lived in Paris much of his life, he was always traveling. He focused on the development of explosives technology as well as other chemical inventions, including such materials as synthetic rubber, leather and silk. By the time of his death in 1896 he had 355 new inventions. Alfred Nobel had the mind of an inventor and the heart of a poet. He was interested in making peace. He offered to give a lot of money to help humans. In 1895 Nobel wrote his will, leaving most of his fortune to a foundation to promote work in Peace, Medicine, Biology and chemistry.

Say sorry

There are so many ways to say sorry. Read these sentences.

I am sorry.

I am very sorry.

I am terribly sorry.

I am sorry to hear this.

I am sorry to hear about your accident.

I am sorry to hear about your father’s death.

I am sorry you had an accident.

I am sorry for coming late.

I am sorry for taking your pen without asking.

I am sorry for stepping on your foot.

I am sorry for calling you so late at night.

I am sorry for causing you a lot of trouble.

I am sorry for not paying the rent on time.

I am sorry for not inviting you to my party.

I am sorry for not coming to class on time.

I am sorry that I didn’t come to class on time.

I am sorry that I didn’t invite you to my party.

I am sorry that I didn’t do my homework.

I am sorry that I couldn’t come to your house.

I am sorry that I haven’t written you a letter.

I am sorry to say that your dog has died in a car accident.

I am sorry to say that I have to leave work here.

I am sorry to say that I will not be able to lend you money.

I apologize for what happened.

I apologize for my mistake.

I apologize for coming late.

I apologize for calling you so early in the morning.

I apologize for being rude to you.

I apologize for not picking you up from the airport.

I apologize because I was rude to you.

I apologize because I called you so early in the morning.

Please accept my apology.

I wish you accept my apology.

I said I was sorry but she did not accept my apology.

Monday 7 May 2007

You Will Die In One Year

Mr John Brandrick is 62 years old. He is not Australian. He is British. He lives in Cornwall. He was sick last year. He had a pain in his abdomen. He went to hospital. The doctors checked him. They asked him to do a blood test. They also wanted him to do an ultrasound scan. After a few days the doctors told him very bad news. They told him he had cancer and was going to die. They told him he had one year to live.

John was very sad to hear this news. One year to live was a very short time for him. He decided to make the most of his time. The first thing to do was to quit his job. He did not want to waste his time working. Then he stopped paying off his house. He took all his money from the bank and started to go to very expensive restaurants. He took his wife, family and friends on holidays. He even sold all his clothes. He just kept one black suit. He had less and less money. Every day he was thinking that he was going to die soon.

One year passed and John did not die. He was still alive. He was happy. He went again to hospital and spoke to the doctors. The doctors checked him again. He did another ultrasound test. This time the doctors told him very good news. The good news was that he did not have cancer. He was not going to die soon.He just had an inflammation of the pancreas. This was not serious. Many people have that.

Now he does not have any clothes. He does not have a house, and he does not have money. He is broke. He is suing the hospital because the doctors told him he was going to die. He wants the hospital to pay him a lot of money. What do you think?

Some words here are wrong
=======================

Mr John Brandrick is 62 years old. He is not Australian. He is British. He lives in Cornwall. He was sick last year. He had a pain in his head. He went to hospital. The doctors checked him. They asked him to do a blood test. They also wanted him to do an ultrasound scan. After a few days the doctors told him very good news. They told him he had cancer and was going to die. They told him he had one year to live.

John was very sad to hear this news. One year to live was a very short time for him. He decided to make the most of his time. The first thing to do was to quit his job. He did not want to waste his time working. Then he stopped paying off his house. He took all his money from the bank and started to go to very expensive restaurants. He took his wife, family and friends on holidays. He even sold all his clothes. He just kept one black suit. He had less and less money. Every day he was thinking that he was going to die soon. One year passed and John did not work. He was still alive. He was happy. He went again to work and spoke to the doctors.

The doctors checked him again. He did another ultrasound test. This time the doctors told him very good news. The good news was that he did not have cancer. He was not going to die soon.He just had an inflammation of the pancreas. This was not serious. Many people have that. Now he does not have any clothes. He does not have a hotel, and he does not have time. He is broke. He is suing the hospital because the doctors told him he was going to die. He wants the hospital to pay him a lot of money. What do you think?

Answer these questions:

1. How old is Mr Brandrick?

2. Where did he work?

3. Why did he go to hospital last year?

4. What did the doctors ask him to do?

5. What bad news did they tell him?

6. How did he feel?

7. What did he do to enjoy his life?

8. What happened after one year?

9. What good news did the doctors tell him this time?

10. He did not have cancer. What did he really have?

11. Why is he suing the hospital?

This story is edited from the MX newspaper in Melbourne, Australia

Sunday 6 May 2007

Public Vs Private Education


Australia has a good educational system. Boys and girls go to public schools when they are young. Still some parents choose to send their children to private schools. Those parents pay a lot of money to make sure their children get the best education. In Melbourne we have some very good and expensive private schools like Melbourne Grammar, Wesley College, Melbourne High School, Scotch College, Caulfield Grammar, Xavier College and many more.

Some of these schools cost more than 20,000 dollars a year per student. Of course the students in these schools have a small number of students in class and get more attention from their teachers. They also get more services like different lessons in tennis , swimming and basketball and they have the chance to travel overseas.

Some parents who work overseas and can't take their children there send them to boarding schools. These schools provide very good education and students can eat and sleep there. A student can be a "full boarder"in the school. This means that he or she studies, eats and sleeps at school 7 days a week. Another student may be a "semi-boarder". This means that the student can go home on weekends. Another student can be a "day student". Those are the same as students in normal schools. They come to school in the morning, finish classes and then go home. They do not sleep at school. Examples of these schools are the MLC, PLC, and Tintern Schools.

Of course not everyone can afford to send their children to a private school with a big name. That is why some people send their children to a catholic school. They pay less money than in a private school and more than a public school.

Private schools have large rooms, ovals, labs and computer rooms. Of course these things cost a lot. But who pays for all this? The answer is simple. It is people like you who choose to send their children there. It is a big business now. You always here words that you only hear in a shop like “a special offer”, “a discount” and “pay extra” when you talk to them about enrolling your child their. They will tell you that it normally costs something like 19,000 dollars per year but they will offer you “a discount” or give you “a special offer”. These schools are run like a business or a shop.

Some students study at private schools for free. They do not pay any money. These students are very smart. They pass special tests first. These tests are called the scholarship tests. These test are not easy for ordinary students. Other students who study for free are very good at sport or singing and music. Private schools offer them a chance to study for free.

Many of the students who attend universities here are not Australians. They come from different countries. They mainly come from Asian countries like Chine, Japan, Vietnam and Korea. They come to study commerce, management, medicine and information technology. They also enjoy the city life in general. They like our shopping spots, beautiful parks and gardens and the fantastic nightlife. Those students may pay up to 70,000 dollars per year to study in Australia.

It is amazing to know that people who studied at expensive schools get the same jobs as anyone else including those who went to public schools. What do you think?

Saturday 5 May 2007

Brave Mrs Smith


Mrs Smith is big. She is very big. She weighs 160 kilograms. She lives in a big house. She is married. Her husband is not fat. He is slim. He works for a big company. He travels a lot. He travels for a few days each time. He sometimes travels overseas to do business. She has one boy. His name is Tom. He is eleven years old.


Mrs Smith likes to have dinner at 6 o’clock. She watches her favourite TV program while she is eating. She always has dinner in front of the TV. She finishes dinner at 6:30 in the evening. After that she watches TV. She goes to bed at 11 o’clock at night. Tom does not go to bed at 11 o’clock. He goes to bed at 9 o’clock at night.

Last week Mrs Smith was sleeping. Her husband was not at home. He was on business in Sydney. She was sleeping in her bedroom alone. Tom was sleeping in his room. At 2 o’clock in the morning, Mrs Smith heard some noise inside the house. She went out of her room. She thought that the cat dropped something.

When Mrs Smith got out of her room, she saw a man inside the house. He was stealing things from the house. Mrs Smith was not afraid. The man was short and slim. She caught the man. She knocked him down. She did not know what to do, so she sat on top of him.
“Call the police, Tom”, Mrs Smith yelled out.
“Hurry up please, Tom”, said the robber.


Answer these questions

What is the woman’s name?

How old is she?

How heavy is she?

Is she single or married?

Does she have children?

Why does she sleep alone sometimes?

Does she have a cat in the house?

When does she have dinner?

Where does she have dinner?

Does Tom go to bed at 9 o’clock?

What did Mrs Smith hear at 2 o’clock in the morning?

What did she think when she heard the noise?

Who did Mrs Smith see inside the house?

What was the man doing?

What did Mrs Smith do to the man?

What did she say to Tom?

What did the man say?