Expressive English Language

Making conversation

Read the extract and then answer the questions that follows it.
1 In the 1840s and 1850s, gold was frequently being transported by jewellers and goldsmiths between London and Paris. Robberies had been attempted and so security had been increased.

5 On 15th May 1855, gold with a value of £12,000 - more than £1.25 million today - was to be taken by train from London Bridge station to the port of Folkestone in Kent, across the English Channel to Boulogne, and then by train to Paris. The gold was
10 sealed in three boxes, bound with iron bars.

At 7.40 p.m. on 15th May, the three sealed boxes were delivered by Mr Chaplin to London Bridge station. The boxes were weighed and then put into the railway company's iron safes. The safes were locked and 15 required two keys to open them, each key held by a different railway employee. The safes were placed in the guard's van at the rear of the train. The guard, James Burgess, had worked for the railway company for thirteen years and had always been found to be
20 honest and reliable.

When the train arrived at Folkestone, the boxes were removed from the train and carried onto the Lord Warden, a steam ship that took them across the 25 given keys to the safes.
channel to Boulogne, France. The ship's captain was
25 given keys to the safes.

In Boulogne, the boxes were removed from the iron safes and weighed again. It was noted that one box appeared to be 40 pounds (18 kg) lighter than it should have been, and yet there was no sign of 30 damage to the box. The boxes were then transported to Paris and weighed again. They were found to be unchanged from the weights noted in Boulogne. When all three boxes reached their final destinations, they were opened and found to contain nothing but a large
35 quantity of heavy lead shot.

Skills Boost: Using context for understanding

When you read a text, you may sometimes find that you lose understanding.
Try some of these techniques to help you correct that misunderstanding.
• Reread the sentence or paragraph you did not understand.
• Read it yet again, more slowly. Which word or phrase do you not understand?
• Look at the context of that word or phrase: the rest of the sentence and the text.
Use it to help you guess the meaning of the word or phrase.

1. The word 'bound' in the following sentence from the extract on page 10 could be confusing because it has several possible meanings.

The gold was sealed in three boxes, bound with iron bars.
The word 'bound' can mean:
• tied or wrapped up
The book was bound with leather.
• on the way (to)
The plane was bound for Lagos.
• leap or jump
She cleared the hurdle in a single bound.
• inevitable or unavoidable
I could see the crash was bound to happen.
What do you think 'bound' means in the sentence from the extract above? Write an explanation in your own words.
2. Look at the sentences below. Each one contains a nonsense word. Use the contex of each sentence to suggest what each nonsense word could mean.
a) I was sleeping when a loud crash spadoddled the house.
b) She sat down and ate a huge crangle of ice cream.

Activity 1: Identifying and linking key ideas
To answer the questions below, you will need to identify key information from the extract on page 10. For some questions, you will need to gather information from different parts, therefore you'll need to read the extract again, carefully.

1. The extract describes the route along which the three boxes travelled. Note down the four stages of that journey.

2. At what point in the journey did someone realise that the gold had been stolen?

3. Note down all of the security measures taken to stop the gold being stolen.

Activity 2: Selecting information

When you write a summary, you need to select only the key information from a text.
Look again at the second paragraph of the extract.

On 15th May 1855, gold with a value of £12,000 - more than £1.25 million today - was to be taken by train from London Bridge station to the port of Folkestone in Kent, across the English Channel to Boulogne, and then by train to Paris. The gold was sealed in three boxes, bound with iron bars.

This paragraph contains the following ten pieces of information.

A 15th May 1855
B gold worth £12,000
C more than £1.25 million today
D taken by train
E from London Bridge
F to Folkestone
G across the Channel to Boulogne
H by train to Paris
I sealed in three boxes
J bound with iron bars

1. Look at points B and C. Which is more important?

2. Select the five pieces of information from the second paragraph that you would include in a summary of the extract.

3. Write one sentence containing all five pieces of information.

Activity 3: Using your own words

When you write a summary, do not simply copy words from the text. Aim to rewrite the key information using your own words.
Look at the sentences below. Rewrite each sentence in your own words.
a) The guard had always been found to be honest and reliable.
b) The boxes were weighed again when they arrived in Boulogne.
c) When the boxes were opened, they found bags of lead shot.
How do I do that?
• Look at the key information.
• Try restructuring the sentence.
• Replace some words with synonyms.
The safes required two keys to open them.
Two keys were required to open the safes.
Two keys were needed to unlock the safes.

Activity 4: Writing a summary

The extract on page 10 contains approximately 300 words. You are going to write a summary of the extract in 100 words or fewer.
Gather information

1. In Activity 2, you selected key information from the second paragraph of the extract.

a) Look again at the first paragraph of the extract. Note down any important information from this paragraph.
b) Look at paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 in turn. Note down any important information you find in each one.
Paragraph 3：
• Boxes weighed
• Locked in safes
Write

2. Write your summary, using all the information you have noted. Include the sentence you wrote in answer to Activity 2, question 3: your summary of the second paragraph.
Review

3. Count the words in your summary.
a) Are there more than 100? If so, complete the rest of this question. If not, move on to question 4.
b) Have you used just a few words too many - or many, many more than that? Use your answer to this question to guide your choices in question 3c.
c) Look through all the information you have written. Cross out the less-important words or pieces of information.
Adjust the sentences, if needed, so that your summary still makes sense with words cut out.

4. Look again at each sentence in your summary.
a) Re-write each sentence in your summary, using your own words.
b) Finally, count the number of words in your re-written summary. Do you need to cross more out?

Read the article about a woman called Li Daniels, who ia a chef, and then answer the following questions.

Li Daniels grew up in the Malaysian city of Malacca, eating food influenced by Malay, Chinese, Indian and other food cultures. When she moved to Liverpool in the UK to study economics, she found things tough. Everything seemed so different, but the hardest thing to get used to was the food. I missed Malaysian food so much, says Li. And she had no idea how to cook.
Malaysians usually learn from their mothers, but Li's mother had always banned her from the kitchen. So, Li taught herself. She made mistakes at first, but soon grew to love cooking.

Li arrived in the UK ten years ago. She is now married to Chris Daniels, a businessman, and they have a three-year old son. They live in Liverpool, though their intention is to move to London in the next few months. 'It'd be more convenient for me, says Li.

Besides cooking family meals, Li enjoys organising dinner parties for friends. About a year ago, someone suggested Li should try The Big Taste, a cookery competition on television. 'It was Gina, a colleague from the bank l'd recently joined, says Li.''d moved there from an insurance company!
Li had never dreamed of entering a cookery competition, let alone winning one and becoming a full-time chef. 'It's incredible how my life's changed because of what Gina said, says Li. I'm even opening my own cafe later this year!

Li entered The Big Taste with 50 other hopefuls.
She survived ten weeks of challenges, from creating a tasty packed lunch to preparing a five-course meal for a special celebration, before reaching the final. 'Cooking for a top hotel was my personal highlight, says Li.

It was an emotional experience for Li. 1 was really excited at first, but when the final became a possibility, I got very nervous. In the last round, however, she was calm and cooked a wonderful seafood dish to win the contest. 'It was extraordinary,’said one of the judges.

Li won over viewers from the very first episode.
They loved her warm character, and while many probably knew little about Malaysian cooking, they adored her creative approach. Her success brought her lots of attention from industry experts. Soon after her win, a publisher invited her to write a cookery book, and simply titled Cooking with Li, it has just been published. Li was also asked to supply some well-known restaurants with recipes and she says that will happen by the end of the year.

Li bases her recipes on traditional south-east Asian dishes, but she experiments with them.
Her sister and a few friends help her with ideas, and her husband tastes every recipe she comes up with. 'His opinion's important to me, she says.

Before she started work on the cookery book, Li had concerns about whether she was a good enough writer. Those doubts soon disappeared, but there was one unfortunate consequence of working on lots of new dishes: she put on over five kilos in weight. It's one of the dangers of the job, she says.

Li is now busier than ever. Besides looking after her family and promoting her book, she gives demonstrations at food festivals and in restaurants. She is also preparing to launch a cookery school next year, and she is in discussions with a television company and hopes to start filming a documentary series about spices in the coming few months.
'The Big Taste changed my life, says Li. 1 do so many different things now. I couldn't survive without my diary. I depend on it more than my cooker or my kitchen knives!'

1. How did Li learn to cook?

2. Where was Li working when she entered the cookery competition?

3. Which part of the competition did Li enjoy most?

4. How did Li feel during the competition final?

5. What made Li so popular with television audiences? Give two details.

6. Who else always tries out Li's new dishes?

6. What problem did Li have when she was writing her book?

7. What does Li think is her most important possession nowadays?

8. What plans does Li have for the future? Give four details.

x

Whatever you don’t use, you lose.
if you tie your arm to your body, leave it there long enough, you’ll never use it again.
the only way to use your arm is to keep using it.
if you quit, you lose.
the same thing that goes for your arm, goes for your brain, mentality. the same thing goes for all the human virtues.
Ambition! unused, declines.
strong feelings! unused, diminishes.
FAITH! unused, decreases.