For rendering

 

Morocco advance to World Cup semi-finals   (12th December, 2022)

The 2022 World Cup is continuing to produce shock results. The latest is Morocco's defeat of European powerhouse Portugal. Youssef En Nesyri's soaring 42nd-minute header saw Morocco advance to the semi-finals. In so doing, they become the first African or Arab nation to get to the last four. Many soccer pundits argue the 1-0 result was not a shock. Morocco are only one of three teams to reach the quarter-finals stage undefeated. They have also conceded just one goal. They defeated one of the pre-tournament favourites, Belgium, at the group stage, and then eliminated former world champions Spain in an earlier knockout stage. Their performances have been full of grit, attacking flair and determined defending.
         Dubbed the Atlas Lions, Morocco look forward to opponents France in their semi-final on December the 14th. They are one game away from a historic appearance in the final. Their win against Portugal ignited an outpouring of joy and raucous celebrations throughout Morocco and the Moroccan diaspora across Africa. So momentous was the win that at the final whistle, congratulations from world leaders flooded social media. The ruler of Dubai tweeted: "It was an unprecedented victory for Arab football." Somalia's president tweeted: "This is testimony that Africa is rising and we are a force to be reckoned with." Morocco coach Walid Regragui said his team would, "write history for Africa".

 

SPORTING EVENTS: How great are these sporting events? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	Great Things	Not So Great Things
Soccer World Cup
Summer Olympics
Winter Olympics
Formula 1
Wimbledon
Tour de France

FOOTBALL ROLE: Rank these with your partner. Put the best roles at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

·         Coach / Manager

·         Goalkeeper

·         Defender

·         Central defender

·         Midfielder

·         Winger

·         Forward

·         Substitute

 

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

1.	powerhouse	a.	An expert in a particular subject or field who is frequently called upon to give their opinions to the public.
2.	soaring	b.	A person or thing of great energy or strength.
3.	pundit	c.	Failed to prevent an opponent scoring a goal or point.
4.	conceded	d.	Completely remove or get rid of something.
5.	eliminated	e.	Flying or rising high in the air.
6.	grit	f.	Stylishness and originality.
7.	flair	g.	Courage and resolve; strength of character.

    Paragraph 2

8.	dubbed	h.	Aroused or inflamed an emotion or situation.
9.	ignited	i.	Of great importance or significance, especially in having a bearing on future events.
10.	raucous	j.	Given an unofficial name or nickname to.
11.	diaspora	k.	Making a loud noise.
12.	momentous	l.	Never done or known before.
13.	unprecedented	m.	The grouping of any people from their original homeland.
14.	testimony	n.	Evidence or proof of something.

 

Before reading / listening

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).

1. The article says Morocco's win is the biggest World Cup shock so far.     T / F
2. Morocco is the second African nation ever to reach the semi-finals.     T / F
3. Morocco let in just one goal in the earlier stages of this tournament.     T / F
4. The article says Morocco have showed grit and determination.     T / F
5. The Morocco team is nicknamed the Sahara Lions.     T / F
6. The Moroccan diaspora celebrated all across Africa.     T / F
7. Dubai's ruler described Morocco's win as being "unprecedented".     T / F
8. Somalia's president tweeted that Morocco is rising.     T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1. shock
2. defeat
3. pundits
4. conceded
5. flair
6. dubbed
7. raucous
8. momentous
9. reckoned with
10. testimony

1. nicknamed
2. let in
3. evidence
4. noisy
5. loss
6. style
7. experts
8. taken into account
9. upset
10. significant

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1. The 2022 World Cup is continuing to produce
2. soccer
3. They have also conceded
4. eliminated former
5. Their performances have been full of
6. a historic appearance
7. Their win against Portugal ignited
8. raucous
9. at the final
10. testimony that Africa

1. in the final
2. is rising
3. grit
4. pundits
5. an outpouring of joy
6. just one goal
7. shock results
8. whistle
9. world champions Spain
10. celebrations

Press

 

Satellite launched to map Earth's water

A U.S.-French satellite has been launched with a mission to map all the world's oceans, lakes, reservoirs, rivers and other waterways. The satellite has been dubbed SWOT – Surface Water and Ocean Topography. It went into space just before dawn on Friday. Scientists hope data from the satellite will help them to monitor how climate change is adversely changing water levels. The U.S. broadcaster PBS said: "The satellite is needed more than ever, as climate change worsens droughts, flooding and coastal erosion." A NASA spokesperson spoke of the mission's importance. She said: "It's a pivotal moment.…We're going to see Earth's water like we've never seen it before."

The SWOT satellite is about the size of an SUV (sports utility vehicle). It took 20 years to develop, at a cost of $1.2 billion. High-precision radar equipment will measure the height of water on more than 90 per cent of Earth's surface. It will survey millions of lakes, as well as 2.1 million kilometres of rivers. Scientists will identify potential areas of water loss that could threaten local populations and coastlines. NASA said SWOT is a marked technological upgrade from its predecessors. A spokesperson said: "SWOT will give us a ten-fold improvement in the [accuracy] and spatial resolution of our measurements of water height." It will help scientists to better understand, "the critical role the oceans play in climate change".

 

 

 

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).

1. A Sino-American satellite will map the world's water.     T / F
2. The satellite is called SWOT - Satellite for Water and Ocean Topography. T / F
3. The satellite was launched early Friday evening.     T / F
4. The broadcaster PBS said the satellite was very much needed.     T / F
5. The satellite is the size of a sports utility vehicle.     T / F
6. The satellite will survey 2.1 million kilometres of Earth's rivers.     T / F
7. The satellite has the same level of technology as earlier satellites.     T / F
8. The satellite will help scientists understand climate change more.    T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1. mission
2. dubbed
3. dawn
4. adversely
5. pivotal
6. develop
7. precision
8. survey
9. identify
10. role

1. daybreak
2. part
3. vital
4. inspect
5. nicknamed
6. exactness
7. journey
8. recognize
9. negatively
10. create

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1. The satellite has been dubbed
2. climate change is adversely
3. climate change worsens droughts, flooding
4. It's a pivotal
5. see Earth's water like we've
6. sports utility
7. High-precision
8. Scientists will identify potential
9. threaten local populations and
10. the critical role the oceans

1. vehicle
2. never seen it before
3. coastlines
4. areas of water loss
5. and coastal erosion
6. SWOT
7. play in climate change
8. moment
9. radar equipment
10. changing water levels

Analytical reading

 

Text: A Magic Ring 

Once upon a time there lived a young farmer. He worked very hard but was very poor. One day when he was far from home in the forest, an old woman looking like a peasant came up to him and said, «I know you work very hard, and all for nothing. I will give you a magic ring! It will make you rich, and your work won’t be in vain. When you turn the ring on your finger and say what you wish to have, you’ll have it at once! But there is only one wish in the ring, so think carefully before you wish.»

The astonished farmer took the ring given to him by the peasant woman, and went home. In evening he came to a big city. There he went to a merchant and showed him the magic ring. When the merchant heard the astonishing story, he thought of a plan. He invited the farmer to stay in his house for the night. At night he came up to the sleeping peasant, carefully took the ring off the man’s finger, and put on another ring, which looked exactly like the one he had taken off.

In the morning when the farmer had gone away, the merchant ran into his shop, shut the door, and said while turning the ring on his finger, «I wish to have a hundred thousand pieces of gold.» And down they came, on his head, shoulders, and arms, like a rain of gold! The frightened merchant tried to get out of the shop, but in vain. In a few minutes he was dead.

When the farmer returned home, he showed the ring to his wife. «Take a look at this ring,» he said. «It’s a magic ring! It will make us happy.”

The astonished woman could hardly say a word «Let’s try. Maybe the ring will bring us more land,» she said at last.

“We must be careful about our wish. Don’t forget there’s only one thing that we may ask for,» he explained. «Let’s better work hard for another year, and we’ll have more land.”

So they worked as hard as they could and got enough money to buy the land they wished to have. «What happy people we are!» said the farmer.

“I don’t understand you,» answered his wife angrily. «There’s nothing in the world that we can’t have, and still we spend days and nights working as hard as before, because you don’t want to use your magic ring!”

Thirty, then forty years had gone by. The farmer and his wife had grown old. Their hair became as white as snow. They were happy and had everything they wanted. Their ring was still there. Although it was not a magic ring, it had made them happy. For you see, my dear friends, a poor thing in good hands is better than a fine thing in bad hands.

 

For summary

 

The story «The Law of Life» by Jack London

 

The old Indian was sitting in the snow. It was Koskoosh, former chief of his tribe. Now, all he could do was sit and listen to the others. His eyes were old. He could not see, but his ears were wide open to every sound.

“Aha.” That was the sound of his daughter, Sit-cum-to-ha. She was beating the dogs, trying to make them stand in front of the snow sleds. He was forgotten by her, and by the others, too. They had to look for new hunting grounds. The long, snowy ride waited. The days of the northlands were growing short. The tribe could not wait for death. Koskoosh was dying.

The stiff, crackling noises of frozen animal skins told him that the chief’s tent was being torn down. The chief was a mighty hunter. He was his son, the son of Koskoosh. Koskoosh was being left to die.

As the women worked, old Koskoosh could hear his son’s voice drive them to work faster. He listened harder. It was the last time he would hear that voice. A child cried, and a woman sang softly to quiet it. The child was Koo-tee, the old man thought, a sickly child. It would die soon, and they would burn a hole in the frozen ground to bury it. They would cover its small body with stones to keep the wolves away.

“Well, what of it? A few years, and in the end, death. Death waited ever hungry. Death had the hungriest stomach of all.”

Koskoosh listened to other sounds he would hear no more: the men tying strong leather rope around the sleds to hold their belongings; the sharp sounds of leather whips, ordering the dogs to move and pull the sleds.

“Listen to the dogs cry. How they hated the work.”

They were off. Sled after sled moved slowly away into the silence. They had passed out of his life. He must meet his last hour alone.

“But what was that?” The snow packed down hard under someone’s shoes. A man stood beside him, and placed a hand gently on his old head. His son was good to do this. He remembered other old men whose sons had not done this, who had left without a goodbye.

His mind traveled into the past until his son’s voice brought him back. “It is well with you?” his son asked. And the old man answered, “It is well.”

“There is wood next to you and the fire burns bright,” the son said. “The morning is gray and the cold is here. It will snow soon. Even now it is snowing. Ahh, even now it is snowing.

“The tribesmen hurry. Their loads are heavy and their stomachs flat from little food. The way is long and they travel fast. I go now. All is well?”

“It is well. I am as last year’s leaf that sticks to the tree. The first breath that blows will knock me to the ground. My voice is like an old woman’s. My eyes no longer show me the way my feet go. I am tired and all is well.”

He lowered his head to his chest and listened to the snow as his son rode away. He felt the sticks of wood next to him again. One by one, the fire would eat them. And step by step, death would cover him. When the last stick was gone, the cold would come. First, his feet would freeze. Then, his hands. The cold would travel slowly from the outside to the inside of him, and he would rest. It was easy…all men must die.

He felt sorrow, but he did not think of his sorrow. It was the way of life. He had lived close to the earth, and the law was not new to him. It was the law of the body. Nature was not kind to the body. She was not thoughtful of the person alone. She was interested only in the group, the race, the species.

This was a deep thought for old Koskoosh. He had seen examples of it in all his life. The tree sap in early spring; the new-born green leaf, soft and fresh as skin; the fall of the yellowed, dry leaf. In this alone was all history.

He placed another stick on the fire and began to remember his past. He had been a great chief, too. He had seen days of much food and laughter; fat stomachs when food was left to rot and spoil; times when they left animals alone, unkilled; days when women had many children. And he had seen days of no food and empty stomachs, days when the fish did not come, and the animals were hard to find.

For seven years the animals did not come. Then, he remembered when as a small boy how he watched the wolves kill a moose. He was with his friend Zing-ha, who was killed later in the Yukon River.

Ah, but the moose. Zing-ha and he had gone out to play that day. Down by the river they saw fresh steps of a big, heavy moose. “He’s an old one,” Zing-ha had said. “He cannot run like the others. He has fallen behind. The wolves have separated him from the others. They will never leave him.”

And so it was. By day and night, never stopping, biting at his nose, biting at his feet, the wolves stayed with him until the end.

Zing-ha and he had felt the blood quicken in their bodies. The end would be a sight to see.

They had followed the steps of the moose and the wolves. Each step told a different story. They could see the tragedy as it happened: here was the place the moose stopped to fight. The snow was packed down for many feet. One wolf had been caught by the heavy feet of the moose and kicked to death. Further on, they saw how the moose had struggled to escape up a hill. But the wolves had attacked from behind. The moose had fallen down and crushed two wolves. Yet, it was clear the end was near.

The snow was red ahead of them. Then they heard the sounds of battle. He and Zing-ha moved closer, on their stomachs, so the wolves would not see them. They saw the end. The picture was so strong it had stayed with him all his life. His dull, blind eyes saw the end again as they had in the far off past.

For long, his mind saw his past. The fire began to die out, and the cold entered his body. He placed two more sticks on it, just two more left. This would be how long he would live.

It was very lonely. He placed one of the last pieces of wood on the fire. Listen, what a strange noise for wood to make in the fire. No, it wasn’t wood. His body shook as he recognized the sound…wolves.

The cry of a wolf brought the picture of the old moose back to him again. He saw the body torn to pieces, with fresh blood running on the snow. He saw the clean bones lying gray against the frozen blood. He saw the rushing forms of the gray wolves, their shining eyes, their long wet tongues and sharp teeth. And he saw them form a circle and move ever slowly closer and closer.

A cold, wet nose touched his face. At the touch, his soul jumped forward to awaken him. His hand went to the fire and he pulled a burning stick from it. The wolf saw the fire, but was not afraid. It turned and howled into the air to his brother wolves. They answered with hunger in their throats, and came running.

The old Indian listened to the hungry wolves. He heard them form a circle around him and his small fire. He waved his burning stick at them, but they did not move away. Now, one of them moved closer, slowly, as if to test the old man’s strength. Another and another followed. The circle grew smaller and smaller. Not one wolf stayed behind.

Why should he fight? Why cling to life? And he dropped his stick with the fire on the end of it. It fell in the snow and the light went out.

The circle of wolves moved closer. Once again the old Indian saw the picture of the moose as it struggled before the end came. He dropped his head to his knees. What did it matter after all? Isn’t this the law of life?