Why is it that people seem to think that the newest technology is always the best? From highspeed trains to high-speed internet, you could be forgiven for thinking that faster is always better. We decided to investigate a few simpler, more low-tech solutions to the world's problems.
Meet the slow theatre
Much of our popular entertainment these days is action-packed, expensive and based in cities. So, the Rural Academy decided they wanted to offer an alternative. Touring the United States, they take a horse- drawn theatre, and a bicycle-powered silent cinema on the road with them. They want to celebrate and call attention to life in more rural locations, in opposition to what they see as the global urbanisation of our culture, economy, media and art. By using a carriage pulled by horses, rather than a vehicle that runs on petrol, they offer a less expensive, low-tech alternative entertainment, which they hope will include more people and move at a slightly slower pace.
The roundabout water pump
Access to a clean water supply is still one of the biggest problems for people living in rural villages in Asia and Africa. To try and solve the problem, a company in South America has invented a way to use children’s high energy levels to help pump water from underground. The Playpump is a water pump that is powered when the children use the roundabout. As they play, the water is pumped from below the ground into a storage tank. Before the pumps were installed, many young girls had to spend hours of their day walking to collect water, rather than going to school. With the new pumps, however, the girls don’t need to miss school, so they get a much better education.
Bus stop libraries in Bogota
The invention of the eBook has meant that books are now slightly cheaper and a lot lighter to carry. But in Bogota, Colombia, they had a far better idea for helping people to read on the go. The city wanted to improve the access that young people had to books, but not by buying new tablets. They decided to install colourful book libraries around the city, in the parks and at bus stops. What could be better than to sit in the sunshine and read a book while waiting for your bus?
(Adapted from New Frontiers')
Task 1. Complete the sentences with the clues from the text.
1. New ____________________ tends to make things faster and more efficient.
2. Popular entertainment (theatre, cinema, music concerts, exhibitions) is often __________________
and based in cities.
3. In many villages in Asia and Africa, access to ____________________ is still a huge problem.
4. The citizens in Bogota, Colombia wanted young people to have more access to _________________.
Task 2. Answer the questions.
1. How is the Rural Academy (slow theatre) different from other theatre companies?
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2. Why might people living in rural areas appreciate this type of theatre?
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3. How does the Playpump help children to solve the problems of access to water?
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4. How has the pump changed the lives of the young girls in particular?
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5. How has the invention of the eBook changed how people read?
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6. Where have they put the new libraries in Bogota?
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III. Read the article, and do the tasks that follow.
What life was like for your grandparents
Maira: “Grandma Advika was born in a very poor family in India. Only boys in her family could go to school because books were expensive. Girls weren’t allowed to go, so Advika helped her mother at home instead.
But Advika was ambitious, and she wanted to be a teacher. She used to study with her brothers in her free time. Eventually, she moved to the US and she got a job in a factory there. She sent money to her parents every month, and saved for college, too. She passed her college exams when she was 29, and later taught Maths in high school. She’s very inspiring to me, because she never gave up on her dreams.”
Jane: “My granddad Bill got good grades at school, but he preferred playing sports to studying, and he left school as soon as he could. He helped in his parents’ shop for a few years, but he didn’t use to enjoy it very much. When he was 18, he joined the Navy. He went around the world on ships. Sailors were often allowed to stay in each new city for a few days, which was great for my granddad. He often used to travel
during this time, to see as much of each country as he could. He told me that travelling was his “college”.
Granddad has inspired me to travel, too, one day, but my parents won’t allow me to travel alone yet.”
Rachel: “My grandma Carmen lived with her aunt and uncle on a farm in Mexico because her mum and dad died when she was young. She used to be a lazy student. She was often late for class, and she didn’t use to do her homework. She loved helping with the farm animals instead. She wanted to leave school early, but she wasn’t allowed to. Her aunt and uncle said that if she studied hard and got college qualifications, she could be a vet and help sick animals. They inspired Carmen, who later got excellent test scores in college. She loves her job as a vet, and she often tells me it’s important to choose a job I love, too.”
(Adapted from i-Discover) Task 1. Answer the questions. Write Advika, Bill or Carmen.
Who ...
1. couldn’t leave school when they wanted to? _________________
2. couldn’t go to school? _________________
3. enjoyed discovering new places? _________________
4. studied with relatives? _________________
5. didn’t live with their parents? _________________
6. never went to college? _________________
7. didn’t use to be a good student? _________________
Task 2. Read the article again. Answer the questions.
1. Why didn’t Advika use to go to school?
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2. How did Advika pay for college?
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3. Why didn’t Bill want to carry on working in the shop?
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4. How is Jane similar to her grandfather?
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5. What did Carmen use to enjoy doing when she was young?
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6. What wouldn’t her aunt and uncle allow her to do?
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IV. Read the passage and do the tasks that follow.
What Was Life Like One Hundred Years Ago?
A hundred years ago people all over the world lived very differently from how they live now. Let’s look at some ways in which daily life has changed enormously since then.
Washing: A hundred years ago, washing clothes was much more difficult and time-consuming because people didn’t have washing machines. In most parts of Britain, for example, there was no running water and people washed their clothes in huge tubs of boiling water. They often collected this water from a public tap in the village and then heated it on a wood fire in the kitchen. To wash all the family’s clothes, they used about sixty buckets of water a week. Keeping clean was not a priority as it is now, and most people had a bath only once or twice a month, also using the tub in the kitchen.
Keeping cool: Keeping cool was a priority, however - especially for people in hot countries. Nowadays, we have air conditioning to keep our houses cool but then, no modern air conditioning existed. In some places, like Spain and Turkey, people lived in houses which were partly caves: large holes cut in the rock
in the side of a mountain. The air in these “cavehouses” was always cool and pleasant. Other houses often had high ceilings and large windows. And houses in the Middle East sometimes had “wind towers” which helped to keep the air moving in the house.
Entertainment: The most popular entertainment in the home nowadays involves TVs and computers. In Japan, for example, young people spend an average of two and a half hours watching TV or playing computer games every day. This is a dramatic change from a hundred years ago. Then, Japanese young people often spent time doing origami (a special kind of art with paper) or practising calligraphy (a special kind of artistic handwriting). It was also traditional for the whole family to get together every evening to talk and have tea. Sometimes these sessions included the children doing performances of music or drama for the other family members to enjoy.
(Source: Internet)
Task 1. Find words in the passage that mean...
1. taking a lot of time (paragraph 2): __________________
2. open containers with a handle used for holding liquids (paragraph 2): __________________
3. a large round container used for washing clothes in (paragraph 2): __________________
4. something that you think is more important than others (paragraph 3): __________________
5. very great, and often surprising (paragraph 4): __________________
6. periods of time for a particular activity (paragraph 4): __________________
Task 2. Read the passage again and answer the questions.
1. In Britain, how did people heat water to wash their clothes?
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2. How much water did they use for washing the family’s clothes a week?
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3. How often did people in Britain wash themselves?
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4. Why did people in Spain and Turkey live in “cave-houses”?
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5. In the Middle East, why did houses have “wind towers”?
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6. In Japan, what two kinds of artistic activities did people do?
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7. How often did Japanese families get together?
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8. What did they do during these family times?
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E. Speaking
• Talking about a typical traditional Vietnamese dish
I. Give a talk about broken rice (com tam), using the notes given below.
The name of the dish: Broken rice or Com tarn
The basic ingredients: rice, grilled pork, grilled spring rolls, dipping sauce and fried eggs When it is eaten: at first a cheap meal for workers, and students, then for many people Whether you like it or not:
humble origins, becomes a signature dish in Ho Chi Minh City and all over Viet Nam
Hello everyone, I would like to introduce one of the dishes I love most.
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Why don't you try it next time?