The tale of Gluskap and the baby

Gluskap the warrior was very pleased with himself because he had fought and won so many battles. He boasted to a woman friend: “Nobody can beat me!”

“Really?” said the woman. “I know someone who can beat you. His name is Wasis.” Gluskap had never heard of Wasis. He immediately wanted to meet him and fight him. So he was taken to the woman’s village. The women pointed to a baby who was sitting and sucking a piece of sugar on the floor of a teepee.

“There, ” she said. “That is Wasis. He is little but he is very strong.” Gluskap laughed and went up to the baby. “I’m Gluskap. Fight me!” he shouted. Little Wasis looked at him for a moment, then he opened his mouth. “Waaah!Waaah!” he screamed. Gluskap had never heard such a terrible noise. He danced a war dance and sang some war songs. Wasis screamed louder. “Waaah!Waaah! Waaah!”Gluskap covered his ears and ran out of the teepee. After he had run a few miles, he stopped and listened. The baby was still screaming. Gluskap the fearless was terrified. He ran on and was never seen again in the woman’s village.

Text 1

Chocolate

Chocolate was invented by Mayan and Aztec people hundreds of years ago. Those days, the people did not eat chocolate; the cocoa bean was used to make a chocolate drink. Later, the cocoa bean was brought to Europe.

In 1824, John Cadbury opened a small shop in Birmingham. One of the items he sold was cocoa powder to make into drinks. In 1831, he opened a small factory to make cocoa powder. Some time later Joseph Fry invented a way to make chocolate bars, and for the first time people started eating chocolate instead of drinking it. At first, only the rich people could afford it. Later, as more and more chocolate bars were produced and sold, it became cheaper.

Milk chocolate is made by adding milk or milk powder. Cadbury introduced their first milk chocolate bar in 1897. Their most famous chocolate, Cadbury’s Milk Bar, introduced in 1905, has been a best seller in Britain and around the world for nearly 100 years.

Text 2

Welcome to Wexford History Museum. I’d like to tell you a little about the museum before you start your visit. It was opened in 1923, and the building we’re in was once an old school. During your visit you will learn all about the history of fishing. Some of the things in the museum are over three thousand years old.

Our guides will be happy to give you a tour. The twelve-fifteen tour has nearly finished, but there is a tour at one-fifteen, and another one at two-fifteen. They’re every hour from eleven-fifteen until five-fifteen. It doesn’t cost anything to look round the museum by yourself, and it’s only two pounds each for the tour.

Now I am sure you will enjoy a visit to our shop, which sells lots of lovely things. For those of you who are on holiday in Wexford, you can buy postcards here. If you need any stamps or envelopes, the post-office is just next to the museum. Our shop also has books on many subjects- history, language, cooking, plants and animals - and there are maps as well. You will certainly find lots of ideas for presents. Enjoy your visit today.

Text 3

Journey to the Arctic

Presenter:Today I’m pleased to welcome Professor Pickard onto the show. Professor Pickard has recently returned from a scientific visit tothe Arctic. Tell us, Professor, what were you hoping to find onthis particular journey to the Arctic?

Professor:Well, Iwas there as part of a special research team and we were looking for signs of global warming and how the Arctic ice has been affected.

Presenter:And what did you find?

Professor:We found that the ice is melting, temperatures are warmer and it is already affecting the animals that live there and depend on the ice for survival.

Presenter:Which animals are most affected?

Professor:Well, the number of polar bears in the Arctic is going down very quickly. If we don’t do something very soon, these animals will become extinct.

Presenter:Why these animals in particular, Professor?

Professor:As Isaid, they need the ice for hunting on and the ice is disappearing. Presenter:Not all scientists think global warming is happening.

Professor:Very, very few scientists think like this. And those scientists should go to the Arctic and see for themselves. Perhaps, if they see the bodies of polar bears that have died in the water they might understand how important this is.

Presenter:Professor, thank you very much for coming on the show.

Professor:Thank you for asking me.

Text 4

Stories of Great People

Balzac, the famous French writer, was a man of great talent. But he himself was proud of his ability to tell a person’s character by his or her handwriting. He often told his friends that he could tell anybody’s character exactly by his handwriting.

One day a woman friend brought him a young boy’s exercise book. She said that she wanted to know what Balzac thought of the boy’s character.

Balzac studied the handwriting carefully for a few minutes. The woman, however, told him that the boy was not her son and that he might tell her the truth.

“All right,” said Balzac. “I shall tell you the truth.” And he said that the boy was a bad, lazy fellow.

“It’s very strange,” said the woman smiling. “This is a page from your own exercise book, which you used when you were a boy.”

Mark Twain, the famous American writer, was travelling in France. Once he was going by train to Dijon. That afternoon he was very tired and wanted to sleep. He therefore asked the conductor to wake him up when they came to Dijon. But first he explained that he was a very heavy sleeper. “I’ll probably protest loudly when you try to wake me up,” he said to the conductor. “But do not take notice, just put me off the train anyway.”

Then Mark Twain went to sleep. Later, when he woke up, it was night-time and the train was in Paris already. He realized at once that the conductor had forgotten to wake him up at Dijon. He was very angry. He ran up to the conductor and began to shout at him. “I have never been so angry in all my life,” Mark Twain said.

The conductor looked at him calmly. “You are not half so angry as the American whom I put off the train at Dijon,” he said.