1、a bush school- the classrooms are made of bamboo and the roofs of grass. It takes me only a few minutes to walk to school down a muddy track. When I reach the school grounds there are lots of “good mornings” for me from the boys. Many of them have walked a long way, sometimes up to two hours, to get
2、 to school. Theres no electricity or water and even no textbooks either! Im still trying to adapt to these conditions. However, one thing is for sure, Ive become more imaginative in my teaching. Science is my most challenging subject as my students have no concept of doing experiments. In fact there
3、 is no equipment, and if I need water I have to carry it from my house in a bucket! The other day I was showing the boys the weekly chemistry experiment when, before I knew it, the mixture was bubbling over everywhere! The boys who had never come across anything like this before started jumping out
4、of the windows. Sometimes I wonder how relevant chemistry is to these students, most of whom will be going back to their villages after Year 8 anyway. To be honest, I doubt whether Im making any difference to these boys lives at all. You asked whether Im getting to know any local people. Well, thats
5、 actually quite difficult as I dont speak much of the local English dialect yet. But last weekend another teacher, Jenny, and I did visit a village which is the home of one of the boys, Tombe. It was my first visit to a remote village. We walked for two and a half hours to get there- first up a moun
6、tain to a ridge from where we had fantastic views and then down a steep path to the valley below. When we arrived at the village, Tombes mother, Kiak, who had been pulling weeds in her garden, started crying”ieee ieee”. We shook hands with all the villagers. Everyone seemed to be a relative of Tombe
7、s. Tombes father, Mukap, led us to his house, a low bamboo but with grass sticking out of the roof- this shows it is a mans house. The huts were round, not rectangular like the school buildings. There were no windows and the doorway was just big enough to get through. The hut was dark inside so it t
8、ook time for our eyes to adjust. Fresh grass had been laid on the floor and there was a newly made platform for Jenny and me to sleep on. Usually Kiak would sleep in her own hut, but that night she was going to share the platform with us. Mukap and Tombe were to sleep on small beds in another part o
9、f the hut,. There was a fireplace in the centre of the hut near the doorway. The only possessions I could see were one broom, a few tin plates and cups and a couple of jars. Outside Mukap was building a fire. Once the fire was going, he laid stones on it. When hot, he placed them in an empty oil dru
10、m with kau kau (sweet potato) corn and greens. He then covered the vegetables with banana leaves and left them to steam. I sniffed the food; it smelled delicious. We ate inside the hut sitting round the fire. I loved listening to the family softly talking to each other in their language, even though
11、 I could not participate in the conversation. Luckily, Tombe could be our interpreter. Later, I noticed a tin can standing upside down on the grill over the fire. After a short time Tombe threw it out of the doorway. I was puzzled. Tombe told me that the can was heated to dry out the leftover food.
12、They believe that any leftovers attract evil spirits in the night, so the food is dried up in the can and the can is then thrown out of the hut. Otherwise they dont waste anything. We left the village the next morning after many goodbyes and firm handshakes. My muscles were aching and my knees shaki
13、ng as we climbed down the mountain towards home. That evening I fell happily into bed. It was such a privilege to have spent a day with Tombes family. Its getting late and I have to prepare tomorrows lessons and do some paperwork. Please write soon. Love, Jo THE WORLDS MOST USEFUL GIFT CATALOGUE Wou
14、ld you like to donate an unusual gift? Then this is the catalogue for you. The gift you give is not something your loved one keeps but a voluntary contribution towards the lives of people who really need it. Choose from this catalogue a really useful gift for some of the worlds poorest and bring hop
15、e for a better future to a community in need. When you purchase an item, we will send you an attractive card for you to send to your special person. You can use the cards for any special occasion- weddings, births, birthdays, Christmas or anniversaries, etc. Unit 5 KEEP IT UP, XIE LEI Chinese studen
16、t fitting in well Six months ago Xie Lei said goodbye to her family and friends in China and boarded a plane for London. It was the first time she had ever left her motherland. “After getting my visa I was very excited because I had dreamed of this day for so long. But I was also very nervous as I d
17、idnt know what to expect,” Xie Lei told me when I saw her waiting in a queue at the student cafeteria between lectures. Xie Lei, who is 21 years old, has come to our university to study for a business qualification. She is halfway through the preparation year, which most foreign students complete be
18、fore applying for a degree course. Xie Lei highly recommends it. “The preparation course is most beneficial,” she said. “Studying here is quite different from studying in China, so you need some preparation first.” “Its not just study thats difficult. You have to get used to a whole new way of life,
19、 which can take up all your concentration in the beginning,” explained Xie Lei, who had lived all her life in the same city in China. She told me that she had had to learn almost everything again. “Sometimes I felt like a child,” she said. “I had to learn how to use the phone, how to pay bus fare, a
20、nd how to ask a shopkeeper for things I didnt know the English for. When I got lost and had to ask a passer-by for directions, I didnt always understand. They dont talk like they do on our listening tapes,” she said, laughing. Xie Lei lives with a host family who give her lots of good advice. Althou
21、gh some foreign students live in student accommodation or apartments, some choose to board with English families. Living with host family, in which there many be other college students, gives her the chance to learn more about the new culture. “When I hear an idiom that I dont understand, I can ask
22、my host family for help,” explains Xie Lei. “Also, when I miss my family, its a great comfort to have a substitute family to be with.” Xie Leis preparation course is helping her to get used to the academic requirements of a Western university. “I remember the first essay I did for my tutor,” She tol
23、d me. “I found an article on the Internet that seemed to have exactly the information I needed. So I made a summary of the article, revised my draft and handed the essay in. I thought I would get a really good mark but I got an E. I was numb with shock! So I went to my tutor to ask the reason for hi
24、s revision. First of all, he told me, I couldnt write what other people had said without acknowledging them. Besides, as far as he was concerned, what other people thought was not the most important thing. He wanted to know what I thought, which confused me because I thought that the author of the a
25、rticle knew far more than I did. My tutor explained that I should read lots of different texts that contain different opinions and analyze what I read. Then, in my essay, I should give my own opinion and explain it by referring to other authors. Finally he even encouraged me to contradict the author
26、s Id read! At first I lacked confidence, but now Im beginning to get the idea and my marks have improved. More importantly, I am now a more autonomous learner.” Xie Lei told me that she feels much more at home in England now, and what had seemed very strange before now appears quite normal. “Ive jus
27、t got one more thing to achieve. I have been so occupied with work that I havent had time for social activities. I think its important to have a balance between study and a social life, so Im going to join a few clubs. Hopefully Ill make some new friends.” We will follow Xie Leis progress in later e
28、ditions of this newspaper but for now, we wish Xie Lei all the best in her new enterprise. She deserves to succeed. Peru Peru is a country on the Pacific coast of South America. It has three main geographical areas: a narrow coastal belt; the Andes Mountains running parallel to the coast; and high,
29、flat plains in the southeast. In the high plans area is Lake Titicaca, the highest lake in the world, on which boats can travel. Peru has abundant plants from desert grasses to vast areas of jungle. Once the centre of the powerful and extremely wealthy Inca Empire, much of Southa bush school- the cl
30、assrooms are made of bamboo and the roofs of grass. It takes me only a few minutes to walk to school down a muddy track. When I reach the school grounds there are lots of “good mornings” for me from the boys. Many of them have walked a long way, sometimes up to two hours, to get to school. Theres no
31、 electricity or water and even no textbooks either! Im still trying to adapt to these conditions. However, one thing is for sure, Ive become more imaginative in my teaching. Science is my most challenging subject as my students have no concept of doing experiments. In fact there is no equipment, and
32、 if I need water I have to carry it from my house in a bucket! The other day I was showing the boys the weekly chemistry experiment when, before I knew it, the mixture was bubbling over everywhere! The boys who had never come across anything like this before started jumping out of the windows. Somet
33、imes I wonder how relevant chemistry is to these students, most of whom will be going back to their villages after Year 8 anyway. To be honest, I doubt whether Im making any difference to these boys lives at all. You asked whether Im getting to know any local people. Well, thats actually quite diffi
34、cult as I dont speak much of the local English dialect yet. But last weekend another teacher, Jenny, and I did visit a village which is the home of one of the boys, Tombe. It was my first visit to a remote village. We walked for two and a half hours to get there- first up a mountain to a ridge from
35、where we had fantastic views and then down a steep path to the valley below. When we arrived at the village, Tombes mother, Kiak, who had been pulling weeds in her garden, started crying”ieee ieee”. We shook hands with all the villagers. Everyone seemed to be a relative of Tombes. Tombes father, Muk
36、ap, led us to his house, a low bamboo but with grass sticking out of the roof- this shows it is a mans house. The huts were round, not rectangular like the school buildings. There were no windows and the doorway was just big enough to get through. The hut was dark inside so it took time for our eyes
37、 to adjust. Fresh grass had been laid on the floor and there was a newly made platform for Jenny and me to sleep on. Usually Kiak would sleep in her own hut, but that night she was going to share the platform with us. Mukap and Tombe were to sleep on small beds in another part of the hut,. There was
38、 a fireplace in the centre of the hut near the doorway. The only possessions I could see were one broom, a few tin plates and cups and a couple of jars. Outside Mukap was building a fire. Once the fire was going, he laid stones on it. When hot, he placed them in an empty oil drum with kau kau (sweet
39、 potato) corn and greens. He then covered the vegetables with banana leaves and left them to steam. I sniffed the food; it smelled delicious. We ate inside the hut sitting round the fire. I loved listening to the family softly talking to each other in their language, even though I could not particip
40、ate in the conversation. Luckily, Tombe could be our interpreter. Later, I noticed a tin can standing upside down on the grill over the fire. After a short time Tombe threw it out of the doorway. I was puzzled. Tombe told me that the can was heated to dry out the leftover food. They believe that any
41、 leftovers attract evil spirits in the night, so the food is dried up in the can and the can is then thrown out of the hut. Otherwise they dont waste anything. We left the village the next morning after many goodbyes and firm handshakes. My muscles were aching and my knees shaking as we climbed down
42、 the mountain towards home. That evening I fell happily into bed. It was such a privilege to have spent a day with Tombes family. Its getting late and I have to prepare tomorrows lessons and do some paperwork. Please write soon. Love, Jo THE WORLDS MOST USEFUL GIFT CATALOGUE Would you like to donate
43、 an unusual gift? Then this is the catalogue for you. The gift you give is not something your loved one keeps but a voluntary contribution towards the lives of people who really need it. Choose from this catalogue a really useful gift for some of the worlds poorest and bring hope for a better future
44、 to a community in need. When you purchase an item, we will send you an attractive card for you to send to your special person. You can use the cards for any special occasion- weddings, births, birthdays, Christmas or anniversaries, etc. Unit 5 KEEP IT UP, XIE LEI Chinese student fitting in well Six
45、 months ago Xie Lei said goodbye to her family and friends in China and boarded a plane for London. It was the first time she had ever left her motherland. “After getting my visa I was very excited because I had dreamed of this day for so long. But I was also very nervous as I didnt know what to exp
46、ect,” Xie Lei told me when I saw her waiting in a queue at the student cafeteria between lectures. Xie Lei, who is 21 years old, has come to our university to study for a business qualification. She is halfway through the preparation year, which most foreign students complete before applying for a d
47、egree course. Xie Lei highly recommends it. “The preparation course is most beneficial,” she said. “Studying here is quite different from studying in China, so you need some preparation first.” “Its not just study thats difficult. You have to get used to a whole new way of life, which can take up al
48、l your concentration in the beginning,” explained Xie Lei, who had lived all her life in the same city in China. She told me that she had had to learn almost everything again. “Sometimes I felt like a child,” she said. “I had to learn how to use the phone, how to pay bus fare, and how to ask a shopk
49、eeper for things I didnt know the English for. When I got lost and had to ask a passer-by for directions, I didnt always understand. They dont talk like they do on our listening tapes,” she said, laughing. Xie Lei lives with a host family who give her lots of good advice. Although some foreign students live in student accommodation or apartments, some choose to board with English families. Living with host fami
