Listening practice for 9 - Graders - Thấm Tâm Vy

Nội dung text: Listening practice for 9 - Graders - Thấm Tâm Vy

1. jumpers for boys and girls instead of shirts and ties. That kind of uniform is LISTENING PRACTICE FOR 9-GRADERS definitely better. Personally, I’m against uniforms. Do you agree? Are you happy with your school policy? What is your uniform if you have one? Ring us with your\opinion, or if you prefer, send us an email. Our number is 2. A MYSTERY FROM PERU Today our unexplained mystery comes from Peru, in South America. High up in the Peruvian desert, 400 kilometres south of Lima, is a strange sight. It’s called the Nazca lines, hundreds of strange symbols made with long white lines. The most mysterious thing about the Nazca lines is that on the ground it’s impossible to see the shapes they make. In order to see what they represent, you have to look at them from above. So, although a Peruvian archaeologist 1. WEARING UNIFORMS? discovered them in 1927, it wasn’t until planes flew over the desert for the first time, in the 1930s, that all the weird and wonderful shapes became visible. The Tonight’s discussion topic isn’t new, but a lot of young people have strong lines are an incredible collection of gigantic animals, birds, fish, insects, feelings about it: school uniforms. Nowadays many countries in the world have geometric shapes and strange symbols. Among approximately 900 figures uniforms but just as many countries don’t! In Germany, where pupils don’t wear there’s a spider, a monkey, a pelican, a killer whale, and a shark, as well as uniforms, a government minister recently suggested that they should be humans, trees and plants, all in an area 80 kilometres long. The largest figures introduced, and this started a national debate. So what are the arguments? are over 200 metres wide. People in favour of uniforms say that they make pupils feel proud of their Of course, once people realised what the lines were, they started to investigate school, and create a feeling of everyone working together as a team. In a their origins. According to experts, they were created by the local Nazca culture uniform, rich and poor look the same, and no one has to think about what clothes between 400 and 650 AD. The lines were made by removing the small reddish to wear every morning. Also, no one can wear the latest fashion or a particular stones on the surface of the desert to uncover the white sand beneath. They’ve cool style, so pupils can focus on studying, instead of worrying about how they existed unchanged for at least 1,500 years as a result of the dry, windless desert look. climate and because few people ever go there. The Nazca probably made some People who disagree say that uniforms are often expensive and uncomfortable. of the shapes by using wooden poles to keep the long lines so straight. And because teenagers grow so fast, they may need new clothes every few But what they were for is still a mystery. One theory suggested the lines were months. One ex-secondary school headmaster told me that he’s against uniforms designed so that aliens could land. However, the surface of the desert is too soft because when pupils break the rules, teachers have to spend time monitoring and for spaceships to land on, and this theory doesn’t explain all the different shapes. punishing them, when they should be concentrating on teaching. He also thinks Another suggestion was that the lines were connected to studying the planets, the fitted blazers, white shirts and ties are not practical for many school activities stars and the night sky, but there is no real evidence for that. Other theories are like science and art: anything not done at a desk. He also says that no one has that the lines show underground canals, or have some other religious shown that wearing a school uniform improves learning or behaviour anywhere significance like asking their gods to bring water. We’ll probably never know, in the world. but the Nazca lines became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994, and so will But does it depend on what uniform? I remember at my school we used to wear continue to amaze us all for hundreds of years. a stripy jacket, blouse and tie, a long skirt and flat shoes. I hated it! At least now girls can wear trousers, and many schools have introduced polo shirts and [Source: EYES OPEN 4 - Workbook] Thẩm Tâm Vy, June 5th, 2019 LISTENING PRACTICE FOR 9-GRADERS - 001