Transkrypcje nagrań MY PERSPECTIVES 1

UNIT 1 Test 1

I don’t have many interests at the moment. I think it’s because I have so much school
work to do and also because I have to travel by bus, which takes 45 minutes one way.
It takes even longer in the winter when there’s lots of snow on the roads. I like riding
my bike with my friends, and sometimes we go all over the town together. We also
play online games in the evenings. My mum gets a little angry because I spend a lot of
time in front of the computer screen, but I speak English quite often with other players,
so it’s good for me. I’m into strategy games mostly, where you have to think carefully
and calculate which move is best. In my opinion, this helps me in my school subjects,
too. Some of my friends are crazy about driving or shooting games, but for me they’re
not very interesting. I know the graphics are absolutely amazing in games like that, but
you don’t have to think very much while you’re playing. At the moment, I’m also
learning to play the guitar. It’s not very easy, but I’m getting better all the time. I want
to play my favourite songs, but I’m not good enough yet!
Transkrypcje nagrań MY PERSPECTIVES 1

UNIT 3 Test 3

When you go to the doctor, they usually ask you a lot of questions. These are about
your lifestyle, your diet, and your general health. They might also ask you about your
family. This is because they want to know if anyone in your family has an illness that
you could have. Sometimes, talking to the doctor is enough to make the patient feel
better, and they don’t need any tablets. Young people are usually healthy, but older
people need more help from doctors because they often have health problems.
Sometimes, the doctor has to visit them at home because it is difficult for them to
travel to the clinic.

So what can the doctor check during your visit? Well, they may look into your eyes,
your ears or your throat to see if you have an infection. If you have a cough, they also
listen to your chest to see how bad it is. They can test your pulse because this tells
them the heart is working properly. Another thing they often do with children is
measure their height and weight. They do this to see if the child is growing at the
correct speed and to make sure they aren’t too heavy for their age. Being overweight
causes a lot of health problems.

So, next time you go to see the doctor for a check-up, watch and listen to them
carefully. You can also ask questions, of course. It’s the doctor’s job to give you advice
on how to be healthy. But they don’t give you a prescription every time you visit.
Transkrypcje nagrań MY PERSPECTIVES 1

UNIT 5 Test 5

In many countries, a sweet sixteen birthday party is an important event. It is mostly

Traditionally, a girl would invite a small group of friends to her house for a party and
maybe a sleepover. Today, however, some people want a large event in a ballroom
with a DJ or live music and a full meal. Girls sometimes spend a large amount of money
on a dress and jewellery, a visit to the beauty salon to have special make-up done, or
an expensive trip to the hairdresser’s. Some even hire a big limousine to take them and
their friends to the party.

Most parents want their daughters to celebrate their sixteenth birthday, but it can be
difficult to agree on what kind of party it should be. When they are sixteen, many young
people want some independence from their parents and they don’t like when their
parents tell them what to do. They are not yet adults, but they want to behave like
adults.

The way to organise a sweet sixteen party is to agree on some rules before you start
arranging the event. You should decide how long the party can be, how much noise is
allowed, and the type of behaviour that is acceptable. You also have to be careful so
that you don’t have too many guests. Some girls have posted information about their
parties on social media and hundreds of people have turned up for them! You don’t
want your house full of people you don’t know all night!
Transkrypcje nagrań MY PERSPECTIVES 1

UNIT 7 Test 7

We need to grow more food for our growing population, but do we have enough
space? One idea that scientists have is to plant crops inside, not outside. This sounds
impossible because there is no sunlight in a building, but we can now make lamps that
produce light similar to the sun’s rays. It might be surprising, but plants don’t need a
lot of minerals to grow. There is even a system where they can develop in a gel or in
water, and the “farmers” produce food that is as good as that from a traditional farm.
If they use this method, they can have many multiple levels in one location, like books
in a bookcase. This means they can produce a lot more on the same area of land.

Another idea is to cultivate crops in cities, but how is that possible with blocks of flats
and streets everywhere? The answer is to use the rooftops. This has many advantages.
Firstly, they provide a nice, flat space with a lot of sunlight. Secondly, they are far above
the city streets, so there is less pollution and more fresh air. Finally, they are very close
to the shops where people do their shopping, so you don’t have to transport the fruit
and vegetables long distances. There are even people who keep bees in big cities. If
the colony is close to a park or gardens, the bees can easily find enough nectar, and
they don’t fly to fields where farmers use a lot of chemicals on their crops.
Transkrypcje nagrań MY PERSPECTIVES 1

Semester Test Unit 1-4

Living in a cold country can have benefits, for example the possibility to do winter
sports. One problem of living in this climate, however, is that you have to keep your
house warm during the cold months of the year. One solution to this is to live in what
are called passive houses. The idea is that you can have a building that is so warm, that
you do not need any heating at all. It seems impossible if the temperature outside is
way below zero, but there are more and more homes like this.

The most important thing to remember when building a passive home is the materials
you construct it from. The walls must be very thick, or they must be made of something
that effectively keeps the cold out. People who build a passive house must forget about
having windows on the north wall. These lose a lot of heat and there is no sunshine
from the north. Instead, passive homes have a lot of windows to the south, where they
get a lot of sun when the weather is good.

However, sunshine may not be enough in a cold climate to keep you warm, so passive
houses also have solar panels on the roof to use the sunlight. One type heats up water
for washing and cleaning. This type even works on cloudy days, although it’s not as
effective in bad weather. The second type of solar panel produces electricity. During
the day, when there is usually nobody at home, not much power is necessary so the
extra energy produced goes back to the electricity company. They pay you for the
electricity you produce, so a passive house can even earn you money!
Transkrypcje nagrań MY PERSPECTIVES 1

Semester Test Unit 5-8

My family is quite big, so when we all get together for a family event there can be a lot
of people. The last time my grandparents invited everyone round for a Christmas meal,
there were almost 60 people. That doesn’t happen very often, of course, and you have
to share the preparation for an event like that. Sitting round one table is impossible,
and we usually eat in groups at different times. I know it doesn’t sound like a typical
way to celebrate Christmas, but it really is good fun. You don’t have to be so formal, so
the small kids can run around and have fun, which gives their parents more time to talk
to other members of the family.

There is a lot of organisation required for such an event, for example making the food.
My grandparents generally decide what we are going to eat, but then they give each
family one dish to prepare and bring with them. You might have to prepare a dessert
or a salad, or maybe bring a meat dish. This means that different people spend time in
the kitchen, so everybody can relax and enjoy themselves. There are also many hands
to help with clearing up. It’s amazing how quickly you can tidy up after a meal for so
many people.

We haven’t had an event like this for about two years, so I haven’t seen some of my
cousins for a long time. Hopefully, there is going to be a celebration soon. My cousin is
planning to get married this year, so if they decide on a date, I think there will be a big
party.
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End of Year Test

One way that companies try to attract more customers is to be socially responsible.
They advertise their products as good for the environment and being made of natural
materials. This isn’t always completely true, especially if the company can make a lot
of money selling its goods in rich countries. It would be fairer if these businesses made
their products in the same location they sell them, but this almost never happens. The
clothing industry is a good example of this. Companies design clothes in Europe and
then manufacture them in factories in India and other Asian countries. This is the best
solution for them because they only have to pay their employees local salaries, which
are a lot lower than in the West.

Nowadays, there are more and more organisations that try to promote ethical
treatment of workers. These organisations make firms pay their workers more and
provide good working conditions. Hopefully, this will change the situation of many
people in developing countries and they will have a better standard of living than
before. This is also true for children, because in many poorer regions of the world they
also have to go to work, sometimes at a very young age.

So what can we do to help? One way to support these positive changes is to buy
products that come from factories with higher standards. We can also buy directly from
farmers in poor countries. This means that more money goes directly to the producers,
and not to supermarkets or other large, global corporations. If more people do this,
the market will slowly change to make the world a fairer place for everyone.