Oral and Listening ( Term 2 )
Unit 014 – 027
014
Section 1 : Clever spider
….The crafty spider is thought to be a new member of the genus Cyclosa, a family of spiders which has created decoys before….
Extended Topic for Discussion :
- Amazon rainforest
- cyclosa
- Spider-Man
Section 2 : Reinventing the wheel
….Creativity and showmanship count as much as mechanical expertise in the Red Bull Soapbox Race…..
Section 3 : Art or vandalism?
….That, according to many commentators, is not the same as walking up to a muchloved painting in an art gallery and scrawling on it with a….
015
Section 1 : Depardieu to hand back passport
….He is prone to more than just the occasional outburst but this time Gerard Depardieu is at the centre of an almighty political storm. Last week, the….
Extended Topic for Discussion :
- Gérard Depardieu
- Salaries tax
- PERSONAL INCOME TAX RATES
Section 2 : Swimming samurai
….The feared warriors developed this form of swimming around the 15th century. They had to bravewaves and currents…..
Section 3 : Genetically modified cows
….Allergic reactions to cow’s milk are common in babies. Up to three percent treat it as dangerous with their immune systems….
016
Section 1 : The Great Firewall of China
….One comment left on the website of the news magazine Caijing, said Xinhua’s officials should be arrested for jumping the wall. Another ventured….
Extended Topic for Discussion :
- Xinhua News Agency
- Firewall (computing)
Section 2 : Flyboard takes off
….The board is attached to a jet ski by a hose. The water pressure allows the pilot to hover up to 10 metres in the air…..
Section 3 : Family belongings
….In the past, it is unimaginable people like these poor farmers or peasants could have access to a television or a telephone… They still….
017
Section 1 : Spell as you pronounce?
….difficulty in learning how to read and write, and by having, actually, a phonetic alphabet, then you don’t have this problem….
Extended Topic for Discussion :
- International Phonetic Alphabet
- Lost in Translation
Section 2 : A clean sweep
….Some bin men in Rio have to abseil down shanty town hills to retrieve what others have left behind…..
Section 3 : Nepal’s poverty battle
….The government’s been talking for years about introducing a scheme like this. Those involved are delighted that the process has….
018
Section 1 : Texting turns 20
….But the spread of mobile technology, combined with the cheapness and brevity of texts, ensured that they became a global phenomenon, changing….
Extended Topic for Discussion :
- Vodafone
- Mobile phone
- Mobile technology
Section 2 : Life’s big questions?
….This bar owner in Corigliano d’Otranto serves up drinks and cards with questions like: “Why have I been born?”….
Section 3 : Lost love on the Tiber
….Now I’m looking at thousands and thousands of little padlocks strung along the chains on the wall of the bridge. Each a symbol of eternal love….
019
Section 1 : Carla Bruni: no need for feminism?
….”There are pioneers who opened the breach,” she says, “but I’m not at all an active feminist. On the contrary, I’m bourgeoise. I love family….
Extended Topic for Discussion :
- Vogue magazine
- Feminism
- Carla Bruni
Section 2 : Stagecoach
….Mexicans hardly ever scrap their buses. These, donated by Japan over 20 years ago, have beenreborn as community centres and shops…..
Section 3 : Cocaine chicken
….They called it a remarkable seizure, saying they never expected to find thousands of dollars’ worth of drugs….
020
Section 1 : Tick numbers increase
….”Deer are very important in the life cycle of the ticks that transmit the diseases because they provide a place for the ticks to… over winter… to reproduce and….
Extended Topic for Discussion :
- Deer
- Lyme disease
Section 2 : Peaceful La Paz
….ts name may mean ‘peace’, but the Bolivian city La Paz is not normally noted for its calm. That is, apart from on the annual day of the pedestrian…..
Section 3 : Global waste: food for thought
….Delegates to the conference in Sweden were told that about a quarter of the food we produce worldwide never reaches….
021
Section 1 : Sarkozy questioned over donations
….But the allegation is that in the final few months of the 2007 election, Mr Sarkozy took advantage of the ageing L’Oreal heiress, persuading….
Extended Topic for Discussion :
- Nicolas Sarkozy
- Liliane Bettencourt
- French presidential election, 2007
Section 2 : Air guitar championships
….Eighteen contestants battled in front of an audience of 5,000 for the ultimate prize for imaginaryinstrumentalists…..
Section 3 : Driving on Mars
….InSight will put seismometers on the surface of the Red Planet and listen for ‘Marsquakes’. From the pattern of signals it picks up, the spacecraft….
022
Section 1 : Italian writer warns of English invasion
….But the author is worried about the health of the language in which he works. Speaking earlier this week he took issue with the country’s politicians for peppering their speeches with English words and phrases. Terms like ‘welfare’, ‘governance’, ‘devolution’,….
Extended Topic for Discussion :
- Mario Monti
- Andrea Camilleri
- Venice Film Festival
Section 2 : Retiring elephants
….The owners have brought in healthy elephants to boost funding for food and medicine through tourism…..
Section 3 : Snail racing
….Master of ceremonies dressed in drag launches the start of the races – around 80 competitors place their snails on slippery tables with a red circle in the middle that acts as the starting point. The rules are pretty simple….
023
Section 1 : Iran’s approaching medical crisis
….Manuchehr was only 15. He was a haemophiliac who lived with his family among nomadic tribes outside the city of Dezful in the south. Earlier….
Extended Topic for Discussion :
- Cancer
Section 2 : Tango therapy
….Doctors in Argentina have found it helpful as a rehabilitation technique for patients getting over heart surgery or coronary problems…..
Section 3 : Ancient Italian shipwreck
….The divers’ spokesman said that study of the vessel could help add to understanding of commercial activity at that time and that it might even be possible to bring the entire ship to the surface….
024
Section 1 : China’s economic targets
….Judging by China’s recent performance, Hu Jintao’s target might be seen as easily achievable. It implies economic growth of about 9.6% a year, which is….
Extended Topic for Discussion :
- Leadership of the People’s Republic of China (data up to year 2013)
- Mr. Hu Jintao
- Mr. Xi Jinping
- Mr. Wen Jiabao
- Mr. Wu Bangguo
- Mr. Jia Qinglin
Section 2 : Hong Kong’s clean-up operation
….Environmentalists are concerned that the pellets will absorb dangerous toxins, which could enter thefood chain…..
Section 3 : Nigerian oil theft
….Nigeria has for years suffered from the illegal syphoning off of large quantities of its oil production. The practice, known locally….
025
Section 1 : Government app
….And if you want to govern an island nation of 60m people in the North Atlantic there’s an app that can help with that – only so far it’s available….
Extended Topic for Discussion :
- Mobile app
- Amazon Appstore
- Apple App Store
- BlackBerry App World
Section 2 : The oldest underwear?
….These bras, discovered in a medieval castle in Austria, reveal that the undergarment may have been worn as far back as the 15th century. ….
Section 3 : Chugging
….I don’t like being put on the spot so I’d rather – if I wanted to give money to charity – have a think about it and select the charity rather than get my credit cards….
026
Section 1 : Challenges remain after Sandy
….The clean-up is still going on across New York and New Jersey a week after superstorm Sandy smashed into the East Coast. Hundreds of….
Extended Topic for Discussion :
- Hurricane Sandy
- United States elections, 2012
Section 2 : Who wants a lift?
….Czech artist David Cerny is The London Booster’s creator. The sturdy double-decker seems to be doing well for a 1957 model…..
Section 3 : The cod delusion
….Dawkins is an expert in evolutionary science – very simply, that’s the science based on Charles Darwin’s theory that animals….
027
Section 1 : China compensates wrongly jailed man
….China’s legal system has long been criticised by human rights groups for producing a high number of wrongful convictions and, for those….
Extended Topic for Discussion :
- Chinese man receives payout for wrongful conviction
Section 2 : In the picture
….Twenty South Korean artists spent months working on this interactive 3D art exhibition. The 83 oil paintings are now on display in Hangzhou, China…..
Section 3 : Missiles over London
….The surface-to-air missiles would be placed at six sites around London including in a public park and the most controversial – on top of a residential tower block. The intention is to boost London’s existing air defenses….