A. Things boys play with are not like objects girls play with. Boys often have more freedom to run about and they get guns, train sets, toy trucks and toy cars. Electronic games are very popular among young boys. Toys for girls are much quieter and more passive. Young girls often get things like dolls, dresses, and pictures to colour.
B. “Teddies” are an important part of British culture. Most people in Britain have a teddy bear when they are young, and most people are very fond of their special bear, even when they are 30 or 40 years old! Many famous people like film stars or pop stars or politicians collect “teddies”. These people have donated their old friends to the teddy bear museum which is in Stratford-on-Avon in England. Many tourists go to this place, because it is the birthplace of Shakespeare, but they often love the teddy bear museum more.
C. Computer games are a multimillion dollar industry, but people who really enjoy games are not satisfied with playing against the computer. They want to play against real people and most computer games allow you to do that just by joining up with other players on the Internet. Regular players say that this is where their true enjoyment of games can be found. With some games up to 60 people can take part. It's a good way to meet people and it gives you something to talk about.
D. The big American company General Motors has developed a vehicle that uses the power of the sun instead of petrol. The vehicle is called Sunraycer which means "ray of the sun"+"racer". Sunraycer has just taken part in a race against 25 solar-powered vehicles. Sunraycer covered the great distance in 45 hours at a speed of 41 miles an hour at temperatures as high as 48°C. It is certainly the car of the future.
E. Computers are a great technological invention of the 20th century. Their advantages are numerous yet much can be said against them. The main disadvantage of computers is that looking at a screen for long periods of time is bad for the eyes, and sitting on a chair for hours is not healthy. Also, people who use computers have a tendency to become anti-social and stay at home. The strongest argument against the use of computers is that the more jobs which are done by computers, the less are done by people.
F. Thirty years ago few people realized that computers were about to become part of our everyday lives. This short period of time has seen great changes in business, education and public administration. Jobs which took weeks to do in past, are now carried out in minutes. Schoolchildren have become as familiar with hardware and software as their parents were with pencils and exercise books and they don’t worry about mistakes having a computer.
G. Generous granddad Martin Rossiter, from Macclesfield, has built a treehouse for his grandchildren – costing £35,000! The top-of-the-range two-storey treehouse features a series of rope walkways between the sycamores, oaks and pine trees in Martin’s garden and took builders five days to make. He plans to add running water, electricity and bunk beds to make it perfect play-den. Martin has 12 grandchildren – aged from 2 to12 – but the rest of his family believe he secretly made the house for himself!