3. What health problems do people traditionally connect with eating chocolate?
4. What facts prove that chocolate can be good for our health?
31
1. Read the article and say in 23 sentences what it is about.
DOLPHIN DOCTORS?
Dolphins have helped a 10-year-old boy to talk for the first time in his life. The boy, from Bristol in England, took part in a dolphin interaction programme at a research centre in Florida, USA. Now he has begun to use words to communicate instead of signs and gestures. He is one of many children who have been helped by dolphins to overcome disabilities.
How does it work? When the children have close contact with the dolphins, they become very stimulated. They concentrate and are very attentive. This helps the children learn. Dr Nathanson says that there is nothing magical about the therapy. He uses the things that children love to stimulate them: water, animals and music.
Scientists confirm that dolphin therapy can help children learn. Research at the centre showed that children who had only classroom therapy did not respond as well as the children who received the dolphin interactive therapy. David Cole is a scientist. He has studied what happens in children's brains when they swim with dolphins. He has found that the children become very relaxed. This state of relaxation may protect them from illness as well as help them learn. Cole also believes that some dolphins can influence positively unhealthy parts of body.
Not everyone agrees with dolphin therapy, however. Animal rights groups remind us that dolphins are wild animals with wild instincts. It is wrong to think that they are harmless. Sometimes dolphins seriously injure* the humans that swim with them. In the USA, there were 18 reported injuries to people by dolphins between 1989 and 1994.
There are some people who say that the therapy is not good for the dolphins. The dolphins become used to life in aquariums. They cannot return to the wild because they are no longer able to look after themselves and often die. Dolphin therapy can be of great value to a lot of sick children. At the same time, it is necessary to protect the dolphins as well as the children who swim with them.
Interaction - , injure
2. Did dolphin therapy help an English boy? Read aloud the extract which says about it.
3. How does the therapy work? Use facts from the article.
4. Why do some people speak against dolphin therapy?
32
1. Read the article and say in 23 sentences what it is about.
DO VERY CLEVER CHILDREN NEED HELP?
In our history, there have been some remarkable children. Mozart is a famous example. After he had heard a piece of music a couple of times, he could write it down on paper. He composed symphonies while he was still a child. Today we also hear stories of very gifted children.
Ruth Lawrence, from the UK, became famous at the age of 12, when she began her studies at Oxford University. She was the youngest student ever to attend a university in the UK. Before going to university, Ruth was taught at home by her father. While she was a student, her father was always by her side. He attended all her lectures with her. Ruth did very well at Oxford. She got a first class degree in mathematics. Now Ruth is a mathematics professor. These young people are, however, extremely special. Because of that they naturally feel different to other children of their own age. They can become lonely. Michael Howe, a professor of psychology says, "It is good to be good at something while you are young, but if you do not have friends or other experiences you will not have a satisfying life." Gifted children who understand quicker than their classmates can also become lazy. They can behave badly in class because they are bored. If parents find that their child is especially talented, they have to take some important and difficult decisions. They have to help their child develop but they cannot push their child too hard. If they do, the child may have serious problems later in life. However, if a child is especially gifted, it is clear that they need a special kind of education. These children need to be motivated. This means that they have to study with people who are older than them. But at the same time they must be allowed to be children too.
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Despite her great success, Ruth Lawrence does not want her own children to be brought up and educated in the same way she was. They will be sent to a normal school and she has said that she wants them to develop and grow only in a natural way.
Gifted
