A HEALTHY APPETITE?
In Britain, school children usually have lunch at school, and recently the Government has encouraged schools to
offer healthier food.
At the start of the autumn term, John Lambert, the head teacher at Rawmarsh Comprehensive School in Yorkshire,
introduced healthier school meals that he says help the children to concentrate better. He also reduced the lunch
break from one hour to thirty minutes, and banned children from going out to local takeaways during the break.
But two mothers, Mrs Critchlow and Mrs Walker, believe that the new rules don’t give pupils enough choice or
enough time to enjoy their lunch. So two weeks ago, they started passing burgers, fish and chips and fizzy drinks
over the school fence. Soon, they were delivering up to 60 food orders!
Mr Lambert has described the two mothers as unwise, and said they were undermining the school and their
children’s education. He claims there have been improvements in behaviour and learning in the afternoons since
the new healthy eating regime was introduced.
After a meeting with Mr Lambert, the two mothers have agreed to stop their deliveries while they try to resolve
the problem. Speaking before their meeting, Mrs Critchlow argued that the children have the right to choose their
food. ‘We are not against healthy eating – it’s about the freedom of choice.’
Read and listen to the text and answer the questions.
1) When did the school introduce the new rules?
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2) What has the school banned students from doing during lunch break?
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3) Why are the two mothers unhappy about the new rules?
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4) What did the mothers do after the new rules were introduced?
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5) What are the benefits of the new regime, according to the head teacher?
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MIND OVER MATTER?
A. FIREWALKING
Walking across burning coals or red-hot stones has a long tradition. 1
It became popular in Europe
and the USA in the 1970s, and many people went on training courses to learn the skill. They believed that
firewalking was good for their mind and body and might even give them mystical powers. Actually, the
ability to walk over hot coals has more to do with physics than mind over matter. The heat doesn’t pass
quickly from the coals to the walkers’ feet, particularly if they keep moving. If you do it properly, there
is little risk of injury.
2
In 2002, 30 managers from the KFC fast food chain went on a team-building trip which included
firewalking. Twenty of them had to go to hospital in order to get medical treatment for burnt soles. They
used red hot wood instead of coal.
B. HYPNOSIS
In the 1770s, a doctor called Franz Mesmer started to treat his patients in Paris with a strange new
technique, he help their thumbs, pressed their stomachs, and then played music on an instrument made of
glass. 3
Mesmer didn’t know it, but he was using a form of hypnosis. These days, hypnosis still has
medical uses, but most people are familiar with it because of stage hypnotists. These performers ask for
volunteers from the audience so that they can hypnotise them. In this state, the volunteers do all kinds of
strange and funny things: they eat onions as if they were apples, or they act like animals or giant babies.
The hypnotist seems to have control over their minds. Although the main purpose is entertainment, some
people find the idea of mind control worrying. The British Government even passed a law in 1952 in order
to protect the public from irresponsible hypnotists! 4
Most scientists believe stage hypnotism does
not involve real mind control. The volunteers are extroverts who want to help the performer to put on a
good show.
C. TELEKINESIS
In the nineteenth century, scientists became interested in the posibility that some people had the power to
move a physical object without touching it. They named this power telekinesis, and over the years several
people have claimed to have it. In 1980, American James Hydrick became famous overnight after
appearing on a TV show. Millions watched him as he made the pages of a book turn without touching
them. 5
But James Randi, an American magician, was sceptical. He knows the different tricks people
use when they pretend to have psychic powers. Randi appeared on a live TV show with Hydrick in order
to test his claims. He put small pieces of polystyrene around a book and then challenged Hydrick to turn
the pages using telekinesis, without moving the polystyrene. Hydrick couldn’t do it. Later, Hydrick
publicly admitted that he had never had special powers. So, how did the pages move? Simple: he blew
them! But he had practised blowing hard without moving his lips or chest.
Read the text, ignoring the gaps. Match each section of the text (A-C) with two of the questions (1-6).
Which mind-over-matter activity:
1. is sometimes used by doctors?
2. caused an injury?
3. did orninary people start practising?
4. was first studied in the 1800s?
5. often takes place on stage?
6. was an American performer suspicious of?
Match sentences a-f below with gaps 1-5 in the text. There is one extra sentence that you do not need.
a. However, using the wrong materials can be a disater.
b. On the other hand, many people doubted that his powres could be genuine.
c. It has been part of ceremonies in many different countries for at least 3,000 years.
d. Most viewers were convinced that he had genuine psychic powers.
e. Many of these patients showed dramatic improvements.
f. In fact, this was probably unnecessary.
Answer questions 1-5 about the underlined parts in the text. Use a different clause expressing purpose from
that used in the text.
1. Why did people go on training courses? (Text A)
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2. Why did the managers go to hospital? (Text A)
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3. Why did the performers ask for volunteers? (Text B)
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4. Why did the British Government pass a law in 1952? (Text B)
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5. Why did Randi appear on a live TV show with Hydrick? (Text C)
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