First time in trouble

A Max Clifford: Fighting. When I was 15, I was warned by the police. It was very much 'Now listen, son, you behave or we’ll be round to see your parents.' I was just high-spirited.

B Ralph Steadman: When I was seven, I stole a box of paints from a shop in town. I put them inside my coat and a lady came up and took them out – she didn’t say anything, which made me feel worse, somehow. I never stole again.

C Jackie Collins: Forging my mother’s signature on a note saying, 'Jackie can’t attend school. She’s got a really bad cold.' I did it several times until she caught me doing it one day and gave me the most awful look. I hated school.

D Ray Davies: Stealing apples from a farm. The farmer’s son chased us on his motorbike and my mate Dave couldn’t run as fast as me and got caught. He got the blame and I managed to get away. I guess that’s the story of his life – and mine.

E Michael Bogdanov: My best friend John and I found some pots of brown paint. We decided the doors of our block of flats needed painting and we went round doing it. The caretaker caught us at it. I was forced to repaint over the brown bits as a punishment.

F Chris Eubank: When I lived with my grandmother in Jamaica, she was very strict. On this occasion she was angry because I was late for dinner. I’d been told to come inside to eat, but I was playing with my cousin who was pulling me along on a large banana leaf. Playing was more important, but the result was a lot of shouting and black looks. I was afraid of her anger and disapproval.

Notes

high-spirited	пылкий, горячий
to forge	подделывать
to chase	преследовать
blame	вина
caretaker	смотритель, дворник
black looks	сердитые взгляды
disapproval	неодобрение

Comprehension

Ex.1 Which person expressed the following?

1. I’ve always been lucky in my life.

2. It was the way the person looked at me that was terrible.

3. I’ve learnt from the experience.

4. I wasn’t bad, just full of youthful energy.

5. I had to put right what I’d done wrong.

Discussion

Ex.1 Answer the following questions.

1. Do you remember the first time you were in trouble? Did you finally manage to sort it out? Tell the class.

2. Do you always learn from the negative experience?

3. What practical advice can you give to people who are in trouble?

Compulsory cooking classes

English teenagers are to receive compulsory cooking lessons in schools. The idea is to encourage healthy eating to combat the country's spiralling obesity rate. It's feared that basic cooking and food preparation skills are being lost as parents turn to pre-prepared convenience foods.

Cooking was once regarded as an integral part of education in England — even if it was mainly aimed at girls. In recent decades cooking has progressively become a peripheral activity in schools. In many cases the schools themselves have given up cooking meals in kitchens on the premises. But the rising level of obesity, has led to a rethink about the food that children are given and the skills they should be taught. Ed Balls is the minister in charge of schools.

'What I want is for young people to be taught how to do basic, simple recipes like a tomato sauce, a bolognaise, a simple curry, a stir-fry — which they can use then at home and in their later life, experiment with, discover the joy of food, having got the basics under control.'

The new lessons are due to start in September but some schools without kitchens will be given longer to adapt. There is also likely to be a shortage of teachers with the right skills, since the trend has been to teach food technology rather than practical cooking. Also the compulsory lessons for hands on cooking will only be one hour a week for one term. But the well known cookery writer, Pru Leith, believes it will be worth it.

'If we'd done this thirty years ago we might not have the crisis we've got now about obesity and lack of knowledge about food and so on. Every child should know how to cook, not just so that they'll be healthy, but because it's a life skill which is a real pleasure and we deny children that pleasure.'

The renewed interest in cooking is primarily a response to the level of obesity in Britain which is amongst the highest in Europe, and according to government figures half of all Britons will be obese in 25 years if current trends are not halted.

Notes

obesity	ожирение
convenience food	пищевые полуфабрикаты
integral	неотъемлемый
on the premises	(зд) в школе
to be in charge of smth	возглавлять что-либо
shortage	нехватка
hands on	практический
to halt	остановить

Comprehension

Ex.1 Answer the following questions.

1. Why are teenagers to receive cooking classes in schools?

2. What was the situation in the past?

3. What is going to be taught at these lessons?

4. Why will some schools be given more time to adapt?

5. Why is it important to know how to cook?

Discussion

Ex.1 Answer the following questions.

1. Do you think cooking classes sound like an interesting lesson to attend? Why? Why not?

2. Will this measure help to halt the obesity rate? Can you think of any other solutions?

Ex.2 Make the summary of the text.